[cheryl new]

Following on from another post on setting prices and subsequent replies :

I did my first 12x24 polyprop tight loop pile lounge y'day and in total it took me 4 (four!) hours.

Arrived at 10 a.m.
30 mins to set up
10 mins to move furniture & cover
15 mins to prespray & agitate cleared area
40 mins to do sides
1 hr+ to rinse & extract
10 mins to place furniture back & place protectors & recover
15 mins to prespray & agitate cleared area
1hr to rinse & extract
30 mins to repack van in disorganised manner (have tarps and protective sheeting rolled up all over the place :)

Albeit that I only have 1 twin stage vac, my downfall was repeatedly extracting areas because I detected a small spray of water in the tool window and felt certain I wasn't extracting well enough - at one point I thought the vac had stopped because there was no moisture, only to discover that the carpet was at that point practically bone dry :

By the time I left, the room was touch dry.  This is great, but definitely time wasted.  I feel I should be acheiving similar results in 2 and a half hours tops & charging £90 (some in my area advertise a 12x24 at £30!).

On Tuesday I have 3 bedrooms and hsl.  The bedrooms will go quickly, but its the hsl I'm dreading.  Again loop pile polyprop but its embossed (little squares) and the vac struggles to pull all the moisture out of the little dips.

What are your time saving tips (apart from turbo driers) and how do you deal with these dreadful embossed carpets?

Best regards
Cheryl

[simbo]

hi cheryl
 
firstly what chems did you use, and did they do a good job.
secondly if you don't mind me asking what did you charge as this is something i am trying to get right myself.
thirdly how do you agitate as i am thinking of buying sebo duo right from start , which will be mid jan as i know it will be hard to get jobs then reverse psychology
 good luck with this i find really interesting simb0

[Dynafoam]

Cheryl,

Don't beat yourself up over the time taken.

Considering the machine you are using, extraction will be slow if you are to achieve acceptable results. With practise and confidence you will cut down on these times somewhat.

Whilst building a reputation the result is of paramount importance.

on your schedule I would make a few comments:

You do not mention a time for pre-vac'ing - which you did do (?)

30 minutes set-up is slow, but it was your first job.

Ten minutes seems a long time for moving furniture. Did you mean that the furniture was covered by tarpaulins? This should not be required if you work with reasonable care.

The pre-spray and agitation of areas normally covered by furniture can probably be reduced, as can the extraction time as faster wash-strokes can be taken in lightly soiled areas.

You are not trying to run before you have mastered walking and this is a good thing. Like any other skill, wanding takes time to master and this stage of your career each job should be viewed as much as an opportunity to practise and learn as generation of income. You probably did not have another job to dash off to, so does the time taken matter that much? What you learn on these first jobs goes foreword with you for the rest of you cleaning days, so take the time to maximise the learning on each and every job.

To produce the best result possible, with the equipment you are using, an experienced cleaner could easily take 2.5 hours to complete the job.

[Dave_Lee]

Cheryl,
You are always going to struggle, if you are (and obviously you are) trying to do a great job, with your machine, it just hasnt got the power. These modern type embossed carpets are very common at present, but clean up a dream with no problems usually. Im a bit confused about the covers issue, I never have to cover up anything when cleaning carpets and only occasionaly some nearby furniture or marble fire suurounds when cleaning upholstery. What did you charge for that job, £ 90 is about right to me.
Dave.

[Ian Gale]

I too have just started this week.  I have found what was said by John to be very good advice my first job was 3 piece suite h,s,l and lounge carpet and my attitude was very much not bothered how long it takes just make sure no one else can do a better job.  I beleive that if you do take your time get the job right the customer will see why she is paying a more than the the "i'll do the whole house for £45 bigade".  Just comong to the end of my first week now and finding my times in all areas are alot quicker as I'm getting to know how to use the equipment better and which spotters to use for differant stains.  But I also think that in the time estimation,  put some time to one side for a cuppa with the customer too.  Its amazed me how many more jobs I got off them and they tell you what they look for in CC which when doing your customer DB you can add comments.

[Phil Marlor]

Cheryl,

Why dont you try to spend some time with another CC in your area and watch how you might improve on saving time.

I know its early days but 4 hours is much too long.
Having said that you will get quicker, but you are not going to make much profit taking so long.

Maybe I am being a bit harsh, I was slow for the first few jobs (still am!), I am just a bit concerned that when you get much busier you might struggle to cope.

I think a more powerfull machine would help.

Phil

[rs_cleancare]

Cherly,
I have now been cleaning carpets for 3 months. I try to work on a basis of earning £30 an hour which works for most jobs. Give it a few more jobs and you will soon speed up i find a lot of time is taken up with setting up and packing away. I wouldn't worry if it takes you longer than you planned because it's all experence and you will find ways of speeding up. I find the first thing you need is a strong bladder to hold the many cups of tea.
Good luck,
Rob.

[cheryl new]

Oh I forgot to add agitate!  I did do it honest, I wouldn't be without my sebo duo considering the time saved and it's ease of use.

I have to say I wish I'd gone for the Exel.  I was worried about the weight of the machine, but moving the dx in and out of the van/house is relatively easy.  In time I will move on to a bigger model but for now I guess I have to make up for it's lack of power with extra time spent extracting.

Another time save might have been to forego rinsing and extracting the edges specifically.  The wand reached close enough to the skirting boards to suffice unless there are particularly dirty areas of concern.

I had to cover the furniture for 2 reasons.  This was a £3000 leather lounge suite (blinkin heavy too) and I was using a dodgy pump sprayer which spurted everywhere when switched off.  I had to cover the end with a towel and quickly put the nozzle end into a bucket to stop any spills.  You might say it was pittling everywhere.  So I just thought I best be safer than sorry.

Now I have childcare sorted out for my youngest I'm going to get in touch with a couple of sweeties that offered me their time previously but which I've not so far been able to take up.

As for time constraints, unfortunately and fortunately, I do have them.  I have to pick the kids up from school at 3.30, so it's a 9.15 start and a 3 pm finish for me.  Not ideal, but I can't have my cake and eat it.  When I get busier (and hopefully I will), then obviously I have to look into after-school clubs.

I charged £90 for the job.  I based it on what time I thought it should take even though I knew it would take me longer.  A bit like whipping my own back

I used microsplitters because I think they are the safest for any cc who flunked chemistry and is baffled by science.  I used No. 3 on a table leg/dye stain which lightened/softened the stain but didn't remove it altogether (prequalified with client like a pro).

Well, I opened a bottle of champers 2 hours ago to celebrate as my client sent me a text message to thank me as she's really pleased with her lounge and will pass my details to her friends.  Unfortunately I have larengitis (probably spelt wrong - still waiting for the spell checker :) so I can't sing from the rooftops.  Or I could, but nobody would hear me

What discount do you give to friends?  30-50% depending on how much you like them/how much biz they could bring you?

Best regards to all
Cheryl

[cheryl new]

2 glasses of champagne and I'm waffling incoherently.  I meant I did vacuum and I wouldn't be without my sebo 36.

I think I should just go to bed.

Night night.

C

[Doug Holloway]

Cheryl,

Well done , I hope you fel O.K this morning

You will definitely get quicker as you become more experienced .

On the friends discount I would say don't , they will soon have you working for nothing!
Look at why you would give a discount , presumably to get the job.Your friends will use you anyway so why give them a discount.If a friend gets you more work you could give her a small discount on her next job .

When they go to work do they say' I'll only work for 60% of my salary today' ? no of course they don't so why should you!

Cheers,

Doug

[Ken Wainwright]

Congratulations Cheryl on collecting your first, hard earned, cheque for £90.

As others have already said, production rates will improve, but we've all been there.

I think you'd save a little time if you didn't analyse so yourself so much and timed each procedure

We all have our own tool/wand techniques which we have developed to suit ourselves and our equipment. I'm not a fan of "see through" sections in our tools as it can be very tempting to keep on cleaning until the last tool stroke produces clear water. There is always the danger, especially with inexperienced technicians, to over wet a carpet with consequent problems to follow. I always work with a little phrase running through my mind. "Is this as clean as it can be safely?" I know some disagree with my viewpoint.

As for the perimiters, I always use my hand tool to clean the edges first. It's primarily a safety thing as we are often working in freshly decorated rooms, so you are less likely to damage new, soft paintwork. Same applies when working around furnishings which will not be moved for cleaning.

The carpet you have cleaned, as above, being polyprop the fibres have virtually nil moisture retention. You were very wise to dry vac as much as possible because gravity will take much of the moisture used down to the backing. The same will happen on the textured polyprop you have described, but you will have an inferior wand seal to the carpet which will give you a relatively high airflow through your tools but a poor vacuum seal/lift. I would definately be tempted to make several quicker wand rinse passes to minimise overwetting. The pile will still feel relatively dry, but try kneeling/sitting on the carpet, and you'll feel the dampness quite quickly. When you clean Nylon and Wool, you'll find them wetter to the touch as the fibres will retain more of the moisture than the polyprop, so moisture "drainage" into the backing is a lesser issue.

You're working by using your head rather than your heart and that's good. Enjoy your new career.

Safe and happy cleaning
Ken

[Ian Gale]

What I've found to work when doing friends houses is when they ask how much I say "just pay me what you think the job is worth".  This puts the pressure on them as no one wants to known as a skin flint and I have always been paid more than I would of charged anyway.  Also you then find out if they are real friends as they know that you are just setting a bussiness up and money is tight.

[des]

Cheryl so the butterfly,s are getting better after your first job.
I would only book one job in every day to start with. This will take the pressure of you Next try and get the best equipment that you can afford as soon as possible.Then see if you could spend some time with a carpet cleaner near you The time that you take will get better as time goes on .When you buy a new bit of equipment think that its you that has to lug it in and out of the house  Hope this helps des at mister clean

[cheryl new]

Thanks everyone.

Your advice and encouragement is greatly appreciated.

Best regards
Cheryl

[Dave_Lee]

Cheryl,
Regarding your machine choice, dont worry too much about it, if you can charge £90 for that job using what you have AND have a very happy client, you are obviously doing something right even if it doesnt seem the right way to do things to some of us old timers. I suppose us old pro's think you should start off with equipment similar to what we are currently using, or not bother at all. However, few start of that way. I for example progressed like this.
              1st year Hand Shampooing, Carpets & Upholstery.
              2nd  year Von Shrader Shampoo Deterger System.
              3rd to 20th year Stimvac Junior HTW Machine
                                 (Single 3 stage vac, 50 psi pump)
              20th year Prochem Cheyanne 3 HWE machine.
                                 (Twin 3 stage vacs, 100 psi pump)
              21st to 23rd years, Cheyanne 3, and Pro Plus HWE machines
                                 (Both twin 3 stage vacs, 100 psi pumps)
              23rd to 25th (Present) Steamway Sidekick TM HWE machine. 

Each time I have upgraded, I would never go back to what I was previously using, so if youve got the money get the best if as is the more usual case, finance is limited it is of course always going to the case of, get the best you can afford and do your best with it.
I will just add that after a little time if you decide you want to carry on and really give this business a go you will really need to upgrade to a true professional machine as soon as you can. These machines not only do a better job with less effort,  but the client is more impressed and this leads to more repeat and refferal work.
Dave. 

[ian richards]

Hi Cheryl

Congratulations on completing your first job! Well done!

Reference the discount to friends, i do it one of two ways.

1. Full price/No discount.
2. Clean for free.

If you charge full price to your friends, but they have a problem and complain then you won't have a problem going round to sort it out, they are after all a paying customer!

If you do it for free....They shouldnt complain, after all they had it done for free.
( bearing in mind that you dont ruin the things!!)

Make no mistake, if you clean their carpets and give them 50% off they still won't have a problem coplaining.
I think the idea of charging full price and offering them a commision if they get you any business is a good one, thats exactly what i do.
   
Ian
 

[easi-kleen]

Cheryl

! agree with ian on friends issue.

Good friends and family who would do something for me... No charge

Everyone else normal rate..


Sometimes if I'm feeling charitable I'll knock £10 off £100 job for people I know.

Good luck for the future

Phil