[Matt Lindus]

A small sole trader hand makes shoes for £1000 per pair from his shed. He feels sad that he only has 1 upmarket major customer and sells only 100 pairs per year. Most suppliers turn him down because of his stupidly high pricing, this upsets him greatly. He’s never really busy but has more than enough money due to very little overheads. He spends most of his time with the family at home and abroad.

His competitor has state of the art equipment that cost him £250000, he also employs staff, an engineer and rents his building. Because of this investment he can produce shoes on a large scale for £5 per pair. He produces 20000 Pairs of shoes in one year alone!!!! and supplys 25 major customers and wins almost every contract!!!! He's so pleased with himself, and laughs when he see's his competitors pathetic small set up in a shed.
Because of this volume of work he rarely see's his family, but he’s not bothered, he’s busy and earning!


Who’s the real winner, you do the maths.

Matt

[Simon Gerrard]

Matt,
You and the other doubters should arrange  a'ride along' with someone like Glyn Waterworth, or Steve Knight. If you saw the jobs they get through and the money they make, your scepticism would disappear in an instant. It's the nearest thing you can get to legally printing money!

[Matt Lindus]

Simon,
is that not fact what I have posted above?
That sort of thing happens all the time in business, carpet cleaning especially.

Matt

[Warren Aldridge]

A truckmount is not comparable to a huge operation.
A sole trader with a truckmount still has plenty time for holidays and spare time

Truckmounts make you more money than portables. Provided you have the customer base.
Having said that though. If you can run an effective van mounted operation with hose reels and tanks and a triple vac, you would save yourself about £300 per month on fuel compared to a TM setup, not to mention the servicing costs.

[Matt Lindus]

Executive recruitment is the nearest thing I have seen to printing money. I sat alongside a freind in 2003 who made two 15 minute phone calls that resulted in him receiving a 27K finders commission.
So what does that work out at, £108000 per hour!

Matt

[Billy Russell]

It was Steve Knight that i went out with before i bought my truckmount!!! Jesus that boy can move and theres no compromise on quality!!!!! He gave me a lesson and a half on cleaning carpets!!! He's nearly as good as me!!!!!!   

[derek west]

A small sole trader hand makes shoes for £1000 per pair from his shed. He feels sad that he only has 1 upmarket major customer and sells only 100 pairs per year. Most suppliers turn him down because of his stupidly high pricing, this upsets him greatly. He’s never really busy but has more than enough money due to very little overheads. He spends most of his time with the family at home and abroad.

His competitor has state of the art equipment that cost him £250000, he also employs staff, an engineer and rents his building. Because of this investment he can produce shoes on a large scale for £5 per pair. He produces 20000 Pairs of shoes in one year alone!!!! and supplys 25 major customers and wins almost every contract!!!! He's so pleased with himself, and laughs when he see's his competitors pathetic small set up in a shed.
Because of this volume of work he rarely see's his family, but he’s not bothered, he’s busy and earning!


Who’s the real winner, you do the maths.

Matt

 

never mind, i can't be bothered.

[richy27]

It was Steve Knight that i went out with before i bought my truckmount!!! Jesus that boy can move and theres no compromise on quality!!!!! He gave me a lesson and a half on cleaning carpets!!! He's nearly as good as me!!!!!!   

now billy all you need is a lesson in golf from myself

[Simon Gerrard]

Matt,
All you've pointed out is a way of looking at things, nothing else. Like I said, if you've got doubts about the raw productivity and earning power of a TM, have a day out with Glyn or Steve, then if nothing else you'll be speaking from experience.


My daughter is in executive recruitment in Melbourne and yes, they make big bucks when they do a deal, but what you don't see is all the networking and sheer graft that goes into finding the right person to fill a particular role.

Simon

[Simon Gerrard]

You could have a similar story where the small shoe manufacturer sees a competitor with state-of-the-art equipment who can produce twice as many shoes as he can at the same price and makes twice as much money!
Simon

[jasonl]

Lets be honest , TM  set ups make more money if busy .  Why has everyone not got one?


1) Lack of capital / access to finance

2) If they can afford a cheap used unit they do not have the mechanical knowledge to fix them/ running it becomes uneconomic- I have seen a few £1000+ repair bills from dealers .

3) Not enough work to justify the expense - they can get through what they have with a porty.


None of these reasons , which I have had personal experience of at some time or other  have anything to do with the results the TM can produce , it is very clear that a combustion engine will produce far and away more heat, vac , and pressure  than an electric cable ever will ,  that is not the reason more people do not own them.

[Matt Lindus]

Besides, I own all of you lot. You poor retches. Bin seeking bitches.

[mark_roberts]

Theres a few ways to clean a carpet...........

on your hands and knees with a sponge or
with a rug doctor or
with a professional 3 vac portable or
with a petrol engine TM
etc
etc

You choose the method you can afford for the forcasted  work you have to do.  Someone starting a professional carpet cleaning business will usually start around the rug doctor stage ie. with a one or two vac machine.  When funds and work allow they get a 3 vac machine and so on.

You can clean a carpet equally well with a sponge as with a TM it just takes a lot longer.

Went business grows a TM will save time esp on multiple room jobs or commercial.
Went business grows again a two man team with a TM can do some serious work and make more money etc.

However the problem is keeping the work coming in as the TM WILL cost you more money to run, around £2500 a year on fuel from experiance, but this is offset against the time saved and the extra work completed.

Its a business model decision if you buy a TM.

Do not be fooled into buying toys for the boys or thinking a TM will get you work as it wont.

Personally I think, and have seen in the states, a good electric system with heat and 100ft of hose max, a few fans, would be a good system for domestic work.

Mark

[peter maybury]

It is wise word wasted trying to explain some things to some people, as Simon said most truckmounters are protable operaters that have taken pride in what they do and have wanted to progress their business  and use the best equipment. We all have portables which we use occasionally. Many have moved on from scorpians these machine are  absolute pants in comparison to our main machines this is reminded to us on the rare occasions when  we have to take our portables out. We have the machines side by side to compare. For the newbies you have to decide whos advise to take. I myself am happy that not everyone is truckmounted as it would increase the competition for me. As for my business I just could not do the areas that I do with portable anyway and my machine makes the productivity of domestic work so much more profitable. You portable guys can stay where you are as I can do what you do better and faster and I am happy with that.

Peter

wwww.carpetcleanercardiff.com

[Glynn]

Very , very well said Peter.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Years ago I had 2 vans with Bane clean machines in (electric nearly TM) when my tech left I went petrol TM and productivity doubled so I covered the work of 2 and the TM was far cheaper to run than my old tech.

Depends on if you have the money to buy one and also if you have the customers.

Shaun

[peter maybury]

Bane cleans are very expensive machines and do not really compare to the petrol or diesel models.

Peter
www.carpetcleanercardiff.com

[happy mondays]

It is wise word wasted trying to explain some things to some people, as Simon said most truckmounters are protable operaters that have taken pride in what they do and have wanted to progress their business  and use the best equipment. We all have portables which we use occasionally. Many have moved on from scorpians these machine are  absolute pants in comparison to our main machines this is reminded to us on the rare occasions when  we have to take our portables out. We have the machines side by side to compare. For the newbies you have to decide whos advise to take. I myself am happy that not everyone is truckmounted as it would increase the competition for me. As for my business I just could not do the areas that I do with portable anyway and my machine makes the productivity of domestic work so much more profitable. You portable guys can stay where you are as I can do what you do better and faster and I am happy with that.

Peter

wwww.carpetcleanercardiff.com

It has been confirmed "by a few members" recently Peter, a truckmount doesnt always make a business profitable   no profit... and you dont pay any tax.

Can you explain these wise words and where the portable guys like myself are going wrong in making a profit "even with a good accountant" and paying tax  

[AshWhite]

I don't think the merits for tm vs portable have any relevance to whether or not some people are or aren't paying enough tax, and is being pedantic for the sake of it.

Ash

[happy mondays]

I don't think the merits for tm vs portable have any relevance to whether or not some people are or aren't paying enough tax, and is being pedantic for the sake of it.

Ash

Ash, sorry but profit is important to me