I know tradesmen who had to do a five year apprentiship that are lucky/happy to earn £20 ph especially in the domestic market. I cant get £170 to clean a 3 piece suit (with people only paying 3-£400 for one from dfs why would they pay that much) and i will also charge as much as i think i will get away with but in my neck of the woods it works out at between £25-£35 ph and if i had enogh work to keep me busy for 4 hrs a day i would be over the moon, as it is i am decorating today and i am not even getting £20 ph.
I am sure that with good marketing and hard work some ccrs are getting huge amounts of money for their work but i doubt they are the majority.
Yes, and I'm sure with that attitude I'm sure you will stay that way, happy with what a well paid job pays someone. If I went back to driving a 40 ton truck between Germany and UK, I'd be on slightly less than 17 quid an hour with expenses. That's a well paid job.
However, take your machine and chem costs off your 21 quid, your insurances, any pension you pay into, vehicle costs etc and see how much is left to pay tax on. Then see if you would stop working for someone else to go and earn that?
I don't care if you have a "I'm lucky to have a job" attitude and go through your day happy to earn a few quid. That's up to you. But if I know that people are ready to pay 170 quid to have a 3 piece cleaned and I was only charging 100, I'd be sick to my stomach.
I have custies that call and ask for a quote, and look shocked when I turn up and give a price. Expecting maybe half of what I quoted. Others say things like "Oh great, if I'd have known it was that price, I'd have had it done sooner".
What I don't do, is second guess them. I know some people buy furniture for 500 quid, and some pay over 2500 quid. I just quote what it would cost for me to clean it, not a price to fit what I think they paid for the furniture.
You are your own worst enemy mate. Get that mental block out of the way, and start quoting what the job is worth. If I'm wrong, I wouldn't get the jobs would I? Or do you think the only way to get the proper price is to threaten the custy with a shotgun? Stop under-valueing yourself.