[andy east sussex]

im starting carpet cleaning could u please email me prices opn which i should charge cheers guys
andy_vine@hotmail.co.uk

[andy east sussex]

come on guys please help me

[Len Gribble]

Andy

Hotmail? Charge what you think you are worth! But a starting point is the min wage

Len

[andy east sussex]

i just would like some prices which are resonable ok dont email me just leave me messages guys cheers.

[keen2clean]

Ive herd it is good to go on a ashbys marketing course in ket about £90 a day and they teach you everything to do with that side to the business, find more details at www.ashbys-uk.com
im a new starter and would be glad of any advice you have for me thankyou

[therapist]

I would not expect someone with no experience, whether they'd completed a course or not to charge what I or any experienced individual charge for our services.

A novice, in any walk of life, is  ' unproven '.

What you can expect to earn, if you are reliable, competent and good at what you do, will be in the range of ten pounds to around ninety pounds per hour.

But............you're not even a novice yet.

Sometimes I have to remind my son to make decisions, himself, instead of relying on other peoples judgement.

rob m

[the red carpet]

problem with that is,
if you charge a cheap price now, how are you gonna convince customers to come back a year or so down the line and then charge them double, they will prob think your taking the pi##.

I say start as you mean to go on, and aim high, your customers have no way of knowing your new to the buisness, unless you tell them or you lack confidence or your rubbish.

[therapist]

I knew this type of comment would appear and while I understand the thinking, I totally disagree.

A novice charging high prices, for a service in any walk of life, is never welcome in my home.

I am quitting this thread,as I will have to disagree very strongly if similar views are expressed.

With no experience your true worth and the true value offered has to be questionable.

There is no need to set up a fully functioning  'business' to find your feet, it can be achieved easily by working part time while learning and gaining experienc.

r m

[Buster Ingram]

I can only mirror Len’s post by saying charge the minimum rate but take into account the over heads it take to complete the job, ie: cost of Chemicals cost of machinery, travelling to and frow the clients address. And then explain to your clients that you are just starting out in this profession so you are offering your service at discounted prices just to see and get the feel for the job. If they look a bit vague at you explain you have received the best training money can buy and now its time to start putting it into practise.
When I first started recruiting customers for my direct debit system the last thing I told my first client was “you’ll be my first”. Now 3 years I haven’t looked back.
One thing to keep in the forfront of your mind is proffit if there is no proffit in what you do there is little piont in doing it.


Dave 

[John Kelly]

Contrary to opinion the actual cleaning of carpets and upholstery is not the hardest part of running a carpet & upholstery cleaning business.
Come on it's not rocket science, you do need some training but even then experience is what gives you the confidence.
You start a business and from day one your objective is to make that first customer a regular client. Charging low prices at the start makes it very hard to justify charging that customer a much higher price when they ask you to return maybe in a years time. Explaining that you are charging more now because you are more experienced won't wash.
In any business you need to set your prices to enable you to cover your overhead, invest in capital equipment including renewal when needed and also to make a resonable profit/wage for yourself.
All to often people come into this trade and don't charge enough ending up packing in after a few months or a year because they can't afford to fix their van/machine etc.

[the red carpet]

iv got to agree with the last post,

im not saying charge the earth but you need to take enough to cover fixing unexpected things like van/machine breakdowns etc.
Do not even think about charging £10-£20 a hour, or you do risk loosing everything down the line.
I started in september and so far have had to deal with.

New exhaust for van                  £130
water pump and pipe for van     £110
2  sets of wheel trims for van       £50
New lock for van                         £110
New security lock                          £18
repair to hand tool hose               £37
repair to hose                               £12
repair to hose                                 £5
repair to hose                               £10
new vac for machine                   £260
new connector on wand                £10

and every time somthing go's wrong its another day of work sorting it all out.

plus im waiting for the garage to open tomorrow as i need a new set of brake pads,
and the machine and van are due a service.

I personally aim for £30-£40 a hour, wich is cheap compared to some and a fortune compared to others, but im happy with it.
i charged that from day 1 and every single customer has been happy and i am now getting referals and have my second repeat to do on the 7th so i dont feel im comprimising on quality.

[Steve Weatherley]

I am the same as the red carpet (£2 - £3 per square metre equating to £30 - £40 per hour).  You must get proper training though if you are to do the job properly and stay in business.

[carpetclean]

reply to red carpet. understand how you feel about the  van being in for repair most of the time. but have you thought about buying a new one. no oeffense . as i used to buy second or third hand for years and realised how this is not cost effective now i have two brand new ones and find them much cheaper to run. i used to lease - buy a new van for a while which is 100% tax deducatable but then after 4 yrs you have to sell it to a a dealer. last year i bought my new vans and for the top of the range trafic i pay £240 a month. i know of a place where you can buy one for £10.700 with air con and at 3% interest , they also have several other makes at silly prices. i think the scudo is less than 6k if anyone is interested get in touch and i will explain how its done. pete

[the red carpet]

hi carpet clean,
I make you right you have a good point, but this thread is about people starting up and as iv not long started myself im just trying to pass on my limited experience.

I personaly think its best to test out this buisness using a  used van and used equipment as im sure you would agree not everybody is cut out for this sort of work, that way if you decide its not for you a few months or a year down the line you can recoupe most of your money, if you spent £10.000 on a van and £5000 on equipment and then decided it wasnt for you a year later you would loose a small fortune.

Also when you start you prob wont be making that much money and you will be paying loads in advertising, if you are lucky and you grow, refine your advertising and start to get referalls and repeat work i think this is the time to get new equipment and van.
 
And all going well i plan on new equipment and a better van for myself this year.
Dont know if i would go brand new though i think you get better value from a nearly new used van and you can still get finance and a warranty from a dealer. New vans loose so much value so quick.

[cleaning co]

hi red looking at your post i think your van and gear is falling to bits lol nearly 8 hundred pounds on repairs in 3 months !!!  i aint paid out a penny in 3 months
gary

[carpetclean]

hi red carpet fair comment. though i still think new at discounted prices is more cost effective than buying second hand. in fact i should imagine that buying a second hand van from a dealer thats a year old will be i similar price for a new one from the contact i have   and the apr is better. just trying to help , pete

[Neil Grainger]

Gents

Try Vansdirect I have just bought a Brand new Fiat doblo Cargo SX for £7500 discount is £4500.

I am doing the pay over 4 years with a ballon at the end and this is costing me £120 a month. 3 Years warranty so if anything happens I just throw it back at them.

I have an Vauxhal Combo that is just to old as it does not set the right image when I turn up asking someone to pay big money for Jobs. 

This will inable me to go for jobs thats I could not have done before.

Andy

Get a few Carpet cleaners to come in and quote you for cleaning your carpets and you should get a good view of the prices to charge. Its how I found my way with pricing.

Cheers and Best of Luck

Neil

[mark_roberts]

Of course theres always hyndsight (sp) to consider in the longterm.

I scrimped when I first started.  Secondhand machines, beat up van for £1000, cheap garden sprayers from B&Q etc.

But now after a few years and with the benefit of hyndsight i wish Id taken out a loan for £30k and got new van, Tm etc etc.

My advice is to forget equipment for a second and identify if you have what it takes to run a business and sell yourself.  This is paramount to your success.  Many buy a machine but cant cold call or talk on the phone and fail.  The rest is easy.  Monkeys could do it.

Mark

[BRSL]

Mark you hit the nail on the head for me 

Ive been cleaning carpets for years, but working for some one, I got the odd job and a lot of referals, so being a bit cocky thought id work for myself piece of P***

How wrong was I, dont get me wrong I can graft like the best, but running a business is a real eye opener, ive got a brand new TM but my van is three years old, looks like new though a real bargain, but my advice is new equipment so you can rely on it and save some monney on van unless you can get it that cheep,

What ever you buy remember your equipment is a represantation of your business and you and should be imaculate no mater what 

If I was to hire a builder which one would I hire ther one with the newish van and smart uniform, or old van and ripped jeans  : , but if the smart guy turned up with a CLEAN old van and the jeans guy turned up with a dirty dented new van     Go figure.

(Probably the one with T/risk and P/liability) 

James

[Alan Brooker. Aqualink Carpet Care]

Andy, I've been doing this for nine years now and the single biggest mistake I ever made running my business was competing on price. It's the quickest route to going under.
Work out all your regular overheads, your anticipated tax and your wage (be realistic, if you were starting a new job you can't expect a big pay packet without any training or experience.)

If you haven't bought much kit yet then STOP!!! There are so many shiny toys in this trade! I have a heap of hardly used equipment that I just dont use. Why? Because I bought without fully knowing my trade.
If you've got a credit card or money saved up . Get in contact with Alltec and do some training. You will cut out years of time spent wasting money on what YOU THINK might work. You can pick some professionals brains and get a feel for what's needed and what's not.

Try it your own way and THEN do the training and I guarantee you'll be kicking yourself!