[absolutecleaning]

Have just got back from a site - covering for a friend who runs her own company but is away on holiday.

We did builders on 2 x 3 bed 3 bath 3 storey townhouses.  Total man hours approx 33.

She has only charged £175 per house making her hourly charge not much over a tenner with materials, petrol, admin etc etc still to come.

Is she being ripped by the builders with promises of future work or have prices really gone this low?

Si

[pdl]

All the big boys are asking for price reductions.

[John Kelly]

She is obviously underpricing. Unfortunately our industry is plagued with this. She may be happy earning that kind of hourly rate but do you really want to be running a business and earning what you could earn stacking shelves in Tescos with non of the hassle.

[Andy Foster]

Have had a quote queried by a company I have done cleans for in the past, the closest quote to me was almost half my price!!!

They told me to go out and emply some Poles and then come back with a new price!!!

Seems this is what we are up against now.

 

[shelton]

She is obviously underpricing. Unfortunately our industry is plagued with this. She may be happy earning that kind of hourly rate but do you really want to be running a business and earning what you could earn stacking shelves in Tescos with non of the hassle.

Where is this Tesco's that pay £10/hr?  I have a couple of nieces who may be interested!!

[cleanmac]

Shelton, do you run a business?

[BDCS]

Rival firms employing poles is only the start, there are gangs of poles taking over whole sites with an interpretor in charge. I know people on here are in favour of employing poles etc but will they change their tune when they loose contracts to immigrants. The local employment agency ran a large advert in what looked like polish ( lots of Z's ) and a small one next to it in english, I don't want to start the whole " they pay their Tax" argument but they don't have to pay our mortgages Rates.

[Andy Foster]

The main bone of contention is that they are working for less than the minimum wage in some circumstances.

They are renting houses and 10 or so are staying in them so that the cost of living is so small that they don't need much to live on.  In other situations, a company is renting a house for them and paying their food, bills etc then paying them a couple of quid an hour and scraping through the law by equating their rent etc to enough to make up their wages to the minimum wage.
I am not making this up as a couple of landlord friends of mine rent some of their houses to them!!!

Unfortunately, they are not breaking the law by doing this, but because they are earning very little on paper, they are in fact NOT paying their taxes!!!!!

Fortunately, a couple of the builders I do work for have seen the quality of work diminish and are coming back slowly, but for those who don;t care about the quality then they are going to keep squeezing the price down... I wonder how long before even the Poles will not work for the money on offer!!!

I am not bashing the Poles, they are simply making hay while the sun shines... who can blame them!!!

Andy

[Ian Rochester]

We have Poles, Lithuanians, etc working around us, mainly in the hotel and food service sector.  I know some of them are on £90/week, however they are given lodgings, etc.

[John Kelly]

Aldi pays £8 an hour. If you are earning £10 an hour running a business, after your overheads and taking into account the stress and headaches involved then you are really working at well below the minimum wage.

[Andy Foster]

You're right John, but for the first 2 years of running my business, I was effectively paying the company to work ! (Getting it back now though        )

[shelton]

Shelton, do you run a business?

No, I come on here to pass the time.

 

[Paul Kettless]

Its always the same when we start discussing pricing, that someone has to come along and suggest that the other does not know how to run a business because they charge x per hour.

The reality is that not all people running there own business wants to be the next alan sugar, and are more than happy just turning over a living (me included)  What we are forgetting is that the headaches are only one of the bad points, the fact that I am working from home, collecting my boys from school, days off when I want them, choose my working hours, golf days, the list is endless, but priceless.

Do I want to go back to working as a waiter on a fixed salary, average 70 hour week...no

Round my parts Aldi certainly do not pay £8, as my son's girlfriend works there for only £5.85.  It is a fact that cleaning companies in the majority need to be price driven.  I have just increased my prices by only 50p an hour and already had regular customers cancel due to being too expensive.

[shelton]

Aldi pays £8 an hour. If you are earning £10 an hour running a business, after your overheads and taking into account the stress and headaches involved then you are really working at well below the minimum wage.

What a silly statement.

I despair sometimes, I really do.  Luckily enough, I'm too busy having a life (apart from tonight!) to frequent these boards to often, but it's nice to see not a lot changes, apart from the names (although Paul Kettless sums it up quite nicely).

[John Kelly]

Aldi were advertising wharehouse/shelf stacking jobs in one of the roughest parts of Newcastle not long ago at that rate.
Paul, I understand what you are saying, self employment does give you a degree of freedom and making a wage suits some people. However I get customers in my shop every week worrying where the next crust is coming from, threatening to pack it all in and get a job etc etc. The biggest problem I identify is low pricing and secondly poor marketing.

[John Kelly]

Shelton, you posted whilst I was replying. What is a CMS.
What is rediculous about that statement. I did a business studies course back in 1994 before I became self employed. It was identified then, 14 years ago that it was essential to turnover at least £20 an hour to make a success of any new start business.

[shelton]

OK, so the money I pay into my personal account every month which pays for my family holidays, nice cars, kids clothes, PlayStations, Wii's, etc. is through pure luck . ..  Hmmm, I must be really lucky to have grasped the economical behemoth that if you spend less than you take, you make a profit.

I can only suggest you review your overheads.

Oh, and I also suggest you stop jumping to conclusions . ..  where does it say what my hourly rate is?

[John Kelly]

Shelton, you need to chill. My posts and references to hourly rates were aimed at the original post by absoluteclean. I have no idea what your rates are and I was generalising about rates in general. If you look at my previous post you will see that I am aware that a lot of people are happy with their lot, however a lot struggle and low pricing is one of the main problems facing their business.

[shelton]