Clean It Up

UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: craigp on November 13, 2008, 09:07:25 am

Title: Tough Business
Post by: craigp on November 13, 2008, 09:07:25 am
Who can remember these;

Dan (Red Carpet)
James (Pile Profile)
Matt Jones

They have all packed in I beleive, Its sad they all tried hard to make it work all kept going around the same length 2 to 3 years, all invested alot of time and money. Even with the help of this forum could not make it work.

Goes to show how tough and competitive this business is.
Title: Re: Tough Business
Post by: Ian Gourlay on November 13, 2008, 09:22:42 am
  Craig

Looks like you are right about DAN  RED CARPET  just clicked his link on my Web Site and it says he has expired.

I think his big mistake was the truckmount,

Not so sure about Fastrack perhaps those who were with him could comment

Shame as he had peanty of enthusiasm

Several of my friends in The Window Blind industry have also found it necessary o close
Title: Re: Tough Business
Post by: Glynn on November 13, 2008, 10:27:36 am
Well James changed careers and went into fixing cars in motor racing.
Title: Re: Tough Business
Post by: Dennis on November 13, 2008, 11:35:25 am
Wasn't Dan the chap who semi-retired when his wife had twins?
Title: Re: Tough Business
Post by: Doctor Carpet (Ret'd) on November 13, 2008, 03:15:48 pm
Very Freudian, Ian


Several of my friends in The Window Blind industry have also found it necessary to close

Boom tish
Title: Re: Tough Business
Post by: Amethyst on November 13, 2008, 03:53:16 pm
James's decision was based on more than just business reasons, some personal stuff was involved as well. He did a superyacht with me at the start of this year and the business he built lives on within my company now. I hear from him from time to time.
Title: Re: Tough Business
Post by: Shaun_Ashmore on November 13, 2008, 05:46:42 pm
What about Mark Betts, he was a photographer aswell, does Phil at Deep clean still come on?

John Flynn has now retired!
Remember the guy who moved to Filey and his house burned down and he had no insurance? we all set up a fund for hime to get going again,

Shaun
Title: Re: Tough Business
Post by: Barry Livingstone on November 13, 2008, 09:23:51 pm
Hope john's back isnt giving him too much trouble he was a good guy.
Title: Re: Tough Business
Post by: Mike Osbourne on November 13, 2008, 09:27:24 pm
Here's my theory for what it's worth.

Any idiot can start in carpet cleaning, I did. And you don't need too much money to get going. So there are very few barriers. It's a bit like double glazing sales recruitment, there's no qualifications required, no track record, just see who sinks and who swims.

So whilst loads start, very few finish. But.. the twist is if you make it in such a competitive field (because there's no bar to entry) you develop immense skills in marketing, selling and tenacity as well as a new network of other potential possibilties that will reward you far more for your skills.

Just imagine a chap who decides to build his own web site, then wonders what the hell SEO is, then he starts applying multi step selling to it, opt ins, multi media etc. Suddenly his CC firm is doing very well thank you but the by-product is a whole new raft of skills that can be applied to make £££ withot touching a wand. :)

That Red Carpet guy was obviously switch on, I bet his CC business didn't 'fail', he found something better.
Title: Re: Tough Business
Post by: Shaun_Ashmore on November 13, 2008, 09:32:41 pm
Mike I think you are spot on, if we all did a business like double glazing where the profit per spend is far higher and looking at the amount of time we put into all of the things said above we would be close to being millionaires.

CC makes a good wage but not a millionaire.

Shaun
Title: Re: Tough Business
Post by: Mike Osbourne on November 13, 2008, 09:38:50 pm
I think most people on here enjoy 'doing' the job and unfortunately if you want to be a millionaire it means letting other people do it, or siphon of profits into something that doesn't mean swapping time for money.
Title: Re: Tough Business
Post by: clinton on November 13, 2008, 09:52:11 pm
Same here mike and all the free time we have too and the early finishes rather than work for someone :)

Title: Re: Tough Business
Post by: murky on November 14, 2008, 02:21:17 pm
I googled red carpet cleaning and a massive website  comes up. I believe he went up to Royston and went for the FT method.

If you look at the website his team has '35 years experience' in cleaning, I thought that sort of b@llocks was illegal now. Especially as he had only been doing carpet cleaning for a few years.

I've got 20 years experience and can prove it.

I think he is Truckmounters now as is Phil from Deep cleen.

I tried to get on there as I have a TM but I thought what a load of twaddle, chassis no, machine type, put up a picture etc etc.

Much rather be on here.

Murky
Title: Re: Tough Business
Post by: Ian Gourlay on November 14, 2008, 03:01:37 pm
Asked jim about Mark Betts AS THEY ARE BOTH IN kETTERING but Jim did not know him.

If Phil   Deep kleen is on truckmounters he was his mate.

Just checked out Red carpet Web site and that is not Dan  he had red hair and was much younger.

Dans web site was vip carpet cleaning
Title: Re: Tough Business
Post by: Doctor Carpet (Ret'd) on November 14, 2008, 03:43:54 pm
And who was the guy who used to leave betting tips?
Title: Re: Tough Business
Post by: Doug Holloway on November 14, 2008, 04:41:17 pm
Hi Guys

Roger , he gambled his equipment on the 2.30 at Doncaster ::)

Ian is right, Dan was the Red carpet on here but VIP carpet cleaning.His website has dissapeared and is for sale, which suggests he's gone, shame really.

In hindsight his Woodbridge TM decision was one he regretted.

Yes CC is a tough business and there will be many more before this recession is finished.

I had just restarted when the last recession hit and the only thing which saved me was going out selling, I am not a natural salesman but can sell if I put my mind to it and I am sure there are lots on here who could sell.

Big advantage is it's cheap.

Cheers

Doug
Title: Re: Tough Business
Post by: ady on November 14, 2008, 04:51:27 pm
woodbridge t/m no good?
Title: Re: Tough Business
Post by: gwrightson on November 14, 2008, 04:58:25 pm
why do you say that ady ?

geoff



Title: Re: Tough Business
Post by: clinton on November 14, 2008, 05:00:00 pm
Was to ask the same question about the truck mount ???

Think you also need a bit of luck too :)

Think it might be a hard early 2009 ::)
Title: Re: Tough Business
Post by: clinton on November 14, 2008, 05:06:24 pm
Hi geoff

Think its part of the post that doug said about his decision to buy a truckmount was the wron gone

cheers clinton
Title: Re: Tough Business
Post by: murky on November 14, 2008, 05:24:58 pm
He bought a Woodbridge on special offer as did Deep clean, but 'Red' had a lot of problems with his, I think he nearly went to Court against them, but they said he was putting dirty water through it.

He actually went up to Altec to get it fixed rather than back to Woodbridge as he wasnt happy with their service.

I think the trouble with Red was that he tried to get too big too fast, he bought a van that went wrong and then the TM,  then he possibly crashed and burnt. Perhaps there is someone on here that goes over to TMers and can find out, he certainly deserved to make it, he was a tryer thats for sure.

Murky
Title: Re: Tough Business
Post by: mark_roberts on November 14, 2008, 06:49:40 pm
Did they make  the same mistake millions of others have made too.  Buying stuff you cant afford on credit.

£500 a month on loan dosent sound much if your turnover is £6000 a month but its getting the £6000 a month in sales is the very hard part esp in the first few years.

The thing i hate about this business (mainly on this board in particular) is the amount of fresh faced newbies trying to run before they can walk.  Thinking carpet cleaning is an easy way to make money.  They forget or dont realise the business side of things.  You can nearly tell who will fail by the way their talking Im sad to say.

Although from Reds point of view he seemed to have bad luck re the TM and van.

Mark

 
Title: Re: Tough Business
Post by: craigp on November 14, 2008, 07:23:54 pm
I agree with you Mark, anyone can start a c/cing business and earn a couple of hundred a week, but to make a real living or more and actaully do well is very difficult. I think he did take on to much fastrack payments plus TM payments to find each week, plus I recall a huge ad in Y/P. HE did have bad luck with the tm, everything possible went wrong, look at his old posts a whole list of things! maybe he had a duff one as quite a few on here have woodbridge and are happy with theirs.

Someone on here is by me was a taxis driver wanted to get out of it started c/cing six months to a year ago, his kits now in the for sale section as we speak.

sadly this story must have repeated itself thousands of times.

Im sure alot of guys see our vans and think 'I could do that'

Title: Re: Tough Business
Post by: Nigel_W on November 14, 2008, 07:29:07 pm
The only winners are the suppliers who get to sell lots of carpet cleaning starter packages. It is in their interests to allow the myth of easy money to be perpetuated.

Nigel
Title: Re: Tough Business
Post by: Len Gribble on November 14, 2008, 08:18:29 pm
Nigel

Yes you have a point but not always starter packs ;); our pears have to take some responsibility :-X, get this thus promoting a product. ;)

Len
Title: Re: Tough Business
Post by: ady on November 14, 2008, 08:24:35 pm
sorry Geoff when I put( woodbridge no good? )not having ago at woodbridge as getting one myself ,what I should have put was , are woodbridge no good as I am buying one and red seemed to have a few probs, :-[   
                  Honest Ady from sacrborough
Title: Re: Tough Business
Post by: Ian Gourlay on November 14, 2008, 08:38:17 pm
I think it would be wrong to judge Woodbridge on this case study

I cant remember what the monthly expenses were but they were frightening.

More than my shops total expenses.