[carpetguy]

Glad this hasn't ended up a slagging match , as a lot of good can come from this kind of discussion.

Although I was taught many years ago, that a business should charge what the market will support, I was also taught, that, unless you have a unique service, or product, the market will expect you to charge the, average, or 'going rate'

On the other hand, if you market yourself as Joe Soap, Carpet Cleaners, you are regarded in the public eye, as, just another Carpet Cleaner.

Unfortunately, there will be many really superb 'Craftsman Standard', operators who due to lack of charisma or strong personality, will never realise their potential, while some less capable but stronger personalities will expect more, ask for more and on occasions, get more, but they might not get the referrals or the repeat business and will spend more money and time in marketing.

That's life

robbie

[Matt Read]

 It is good that we can discuss this in a civil manner as robbie said. All trades will have top notch specialist's who charge the earth but its not the norm.

I don't think many carpet cleaners will be able to call europe and mainland england their customer base,which although dave is doing very well it doesn't really relate to your normal carpet cleaning business.

With the new ultra safe, idiot proof cleaning  products now available i do wonder what makes a specialist these days. Stain Removal is a specialist service,but even then the guys i look to as the most experienced in the trade always pre qualify to their customers first about the possible failure to remove.

It must boil down to how you sell at the end of the day, if you can convince people you have a service thats worth paying a lot of money for all well and good,one thing i have learned about the british public though is they hate to feel overcharged !

[The Great One]

Hi

If you're banking these massive amounts of cash would you be willing to prove it with a copy of your end of year figures or bank statements (sanitized)?

Regards

Martin

[lee_gundry]

martin

these are not massive amounts of cash,its just the norm for established tm users.

i know of a few carpet cleaners who earn over 100k per year applying stain protector alone. (through furniture /carpet retaile shops) & i only do approx 15kper year on protector which is far less than the guys who market themselves.

when i first started in 93/94 in the first 6 months of trading i made a gross of £860.00 yes £860.00 in 6 months.then each year it began to rise.

you have to sell yourself dont just place a add in the yp and sit there waiting for the phone to ring.

i have been marketing the tile & groute cleaning to my customers over the last 3 yrs & now it proves to be a good income approx £1200.00 per month add this to the income of carpet /upholstery cleaning & its boosts the monthly income.

if you look past over the posts in the carpet cleaning forums you never really see a tm user looking for advice on leaflet drops,which places are the best to advertise.

this is because he has no  need to.

i am quite shocked that earning 4/7 hundred pounds per day is such a vast & unreal amount of earnings.


i speak to  carpet cleaners in birmingham & surry who earn vasts amounts of money far more than 100k per year.

1 big office job (7 floors) alone earned him 15k took 4 days.


ps
who much do you think a established tm user earns on average per week?

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Motivation is the key word.

TM owners just can handle more work as it's quicker to use and less taxing on the body.

Shaun

[lee_gundry]

also  do you think shaune ashmore who has a few houses ,nice car,his own dry cleaners earns  £200 per day.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

£3.00 dinner money given to me by the boss

Shaun

[gmccleaning]

£3 lucky u ,have to make my own sannys

 George

[Liahona]

At this point it is easier to just agree ( I do anyway) with Shaun and Lee as opposed to trying to write something. Other than this.... Martin, one day and I am sure it will not  be in the near future you will realise that the monies being talked about on here and I mean the higher earnings are relatively easy to obtain. However it is usually attained by those using a truckmount. As long as "cleaners", yourself included are happy using other types of machine as their choice to clean with then they and you must accept and be happy with earning what it is they and you earn. Best, Dave. P.S.If cleaners want to earn more they have to offer the customer the best poss clean that "this" industry can offer. If this is not on offer then perhaps changing to make it so will be a step in the right direction.

[rich hand]

I just cant get over the fact that the general public miss the fact that cc is so simple and then pay big for it. Carpet cleaning is EASY and straight forward, granted that upholstery is a little more of a b*ll ache.

I often employ the building trades for renovating houses, something else I do. Was speaking with a joiner today who was stating his gear came to near £10,000, TM £? On site he can earn 600/week and private work can pay upto around twice this. This seems to be approx the same for most trades. Most building trades involve a greater degree of skill and require far more edjucation than carpet cleaning. A day as a cc is play school compared to building work.

Im comparing with building trades since they are the most wide spread example of 'a guy going into someones house to do a job'.

We are cleaners with a fairly expensive piece of kit, thats it. We are lucky to get away with it arent we? That is, lucky the public are so naive that we can keep the wool pulled over their eyes, isnt it?

I do realise everyone would become greedy if it was this easy, i would accept 500/job if the cust would hand it over so myself included.

I am just trying to put carpet cleaning into context with the rest of society.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

£3.00 a year

Shaun

[Mike Jones]

These posts contains pure bullpoop. I have been involved in the cleaning industry for 20 years. Whilst some CCs may on ocasion earn £500 plus per day this will be an exception. An acurate assesment of a business is profit not daily takings.

The more you flag potential income, the more you will enthuse others to take it up and the harder you will strugle to earn what you used to earn.


LOOK WHATS HAPPEND TO PLUMBERS.

[Dave_Lee]

Of course Carpet Cleaning is easy, it really makes you wonder why all those customers that have previously tried and failed to clean their own carpets, really bother to call in a professional. I mean have they called the Pro in because, they just wanted to splash some cash his way, even though they could so easilly have done the job themselves, and got the same fantastic results.
Yeah, its easy, easy to, Over wet, shrink, run colour, cause browning, ripple, pill, delaminate, mildew, furniture stain, etc.
Or is that after their diy experience they realised that "It's not that easy after all".
Dave.

[mark_roberts]

Ive been cleaning for almost 7 years.  I think with continous education and experience it becomes easier in that its automatic but I think your wrong to say carpet cleaning is easy to master and we are hoodwinking the public.

When I first started my plan was to make £250 a week after expences and tax as thats what i was earning then.  Since then I have made more of an effort to implement a business plan.  Ive continually looked for ways to become more productive and more effective at selling.  Selling is the secret.  Since March 06 Ive had to go VAT reg and on track to increase sales 20%  this year on my own.  I tell this not to brag but to tell you it can be done but you need to know how but also you need to have an open mind to change.  If you think people wont pay more than £50 for a suite cleaning then they wont because you havent asked them.

Im still learning and may take Lee Gundry up on his offer of a day out just to see his procedures of how to earn more.  Also Im interested in learning off Dave how he gets his work.  In other words business is a process but its down to you.

Hope this helps the 40% who aim for £200 a day.

Mark

[jasonl]

No bull at all..... I use bonnet method, and old kleenrite extractor, and do £500 a day , 2 days a week, because I CHOOSE TO DO OTHER STUFF REST OF WEEK. I drive a £500 van, looks smart though, also an E class merc and a Boxster depending on mood , all paid for, come and see it check my diary, call for a quote, cc is easy, you just need to be able to explain simple concepts,be of smart appearance,have customer care skills, and be quite good at cleaning, (not even brillant .)

[Neil Grainger]

Its not just about Carpet Cleaning though. Cleaning a standard polypro carpet is easy but what about Carpets with potential colour run or dies that run into each other when cleaned. Re-tufting carpets and all the others things that we need to no about. The average Joe bloggs can really do all that cant they.

If all you do is get the wand out and glide it over the carpet than it is easy but if you do all the other things you are alot more than just a cleaner.

You are a Salesman, Office Manager, Accounts Payable, Marketing Manager all this adds up. I know if I left the business that I have built up I could get a very good job in Business because of all the experience that I have picked up and thats just in 2 Years.

You are more than just a cleaner. I know I am and thats why I deserve a lot more than £30 an hour.

[john rees]

and not forgetting it's really hard physical work too! and there's an awful lot of people out there who will always be more than happy to pay a professional who will produce a far better result in a far quicker time and with no need for them to even break into a sweat!
                      all the best
                                        John

[Shaun_Ashmore]

how many times have I heard "there's know wonder your thin".

It can be a physical job that's why as we get older we will slow down and not have the profit of previous years that's why I urge you to make your money now!

Shaun

[Damian]

how many times have I heard "there's know wonder your thin".

It can be a physical job that's why as we get older we will slow down and not have the profit of previous years that's why I urge you to make your money now!

Shaun

Haha Shaun too right mate! The truth be out. Last time i saw you(under a year ago you still looked a fit guy ) This work keeps ya as fit as a fiddle. People pay a fortune at gyms when we get it FREE GRATIS Maybe slow down-i dunno i keep thinkin of the lovely cash waiting in the waste tank!! Metaphorically speaking

[rich hand]

Its not just about Carpet Cleaning though. Cleaning a standard polypro carpet is easy but what about Carpets with potential colour run or dies that run into each other when cleaned. Re-tufting carpets and all the others things that we need to no about. The average Joe bloggs can really do all that cant they.

If all you do is get the wand out and glide it over the carpet than it is easy but if you do all the other things you are alot more than just a cleaner.

You are a Salesman, Office Manager, Accounts Payable, Marketing Manager all this adds up. I know if I left the business that I have built up I could get a very good job in Business because of all the experience that I have picked up and thats just in 2 Years.

You are more than just a cleaner. I know I am and thats why I deserve a lot more than £30 an hour.

Who isnt more than just their trade?