[Mike Halliday]

there's been quite lot said about how much carpet cleaners charge so I thought I'd start a thread on how I see it.

(using myself as a example but not actually using my own earnings)

I aim to earn as much as possible without going over the vat amount so let say thats 70K (as we all stick a couple of cash jobs in our back pockets )

I take 6 weeks holday a year in total so that leaves 46 weeks to earn a living which mean I have to earn just over £1500 a week...............................which is £300 a day

So the biggest question is... HOW MUCH WORK MUST i DO TO EARN £300? the answer to this gives me my prices

here's some examples of a days work (6hours);

I can clean 2 suites a day (so that £150 a suite)

I can clean 2 x 3 bedroom houses.

1 suite & 1 x 3 bed house.

I can clean 4 big through lounges.

I can clean 4 big hall-stair-landings

from this you can see how much I must be charging to hit my earning goal.

but what if I charge £80 for a suite or £60 for a full 3 bed house or £45 for a through lounge? my yearly income will never reach my goal

So to answer how much should I charge just ask yourself how much do I want to earn per year

[sherco]

£67k is the amount for vat, i was vat registered its alright if you do a lot of commercial work but not if most  of your work is domestic. your theory looks good.

[davep]

This brings me back to the other thread, how long do you spend on each job?

Mike can do 2 x 3 bed houses a day, how many are the £60 per house guys doing in a day?

[Dave_Lee]

Exactly, doing the work cheap means you have to do more jobs per day, which invariably means not doing them as thorough as those who spends longer on the same type of job. However as 'You get what you pay for' the customer paying the higher price expects more than the customer paying a low price (Generally speaking) and this is how the low priced operators get away with not spending sufficient time on a job to do it Thoroughly (imo).
With that in mind it is still possible to reach the same weekly turnover as in Mikes example, doing the work cheap, (and its easier to get work if you are cheap), but I think Mike has the work rate in the right proportion, and charges accordingly.
Dave.

[Doug Holloway]

Hi Guys

I think Michael (Pro Dry) would say that he was in the band of CC's rushing around like a loony to earn decent money at cheap rates, whereas he has now joined the more sedate CC's who charge enough to have time for other things .

Basically we are supplying labour, skill and equipment.

I prefer to operate at the more skilled end of the market where customers want stain removal, green chemicals etc, anything to add value, makes the job financially rewarding and gives job satisfaction.

I don't get stressed about cheap CC's because there will always be a market for them, I just do not go after that market.

Cheers

Doug

[Straker Cleaning]

Would rather do five £300 jobs a week than three hundred £5 ones 

[Ian Rochester]

Mike,

Working on your figures you charge more than me for a 3 piece, slightly less than me for a 3 bed house and about the same as me for large through lounge and large stairs.

I know I should be charging more for suites and I don't really like doing them either, however I'm already the most expensive in the area, plus we're vat registered so we appear even more expensive than the competition already.

I would much prefer doing carpets than suites, unless they were leather, which I enjoy.

Anyway, if we all did exactly the same as each other we'd have nothing to gripe about 

Did my £300 (well nearly) this morning, then mowed the lawn, chopped down next doors overgrown shrubs (at her request) and cleaned mine and the neighbours windows.

[jasonl]

So out of the 70k

advertising  10k

chems           5k

Vehicle costs  10k

Repairs and renewals  5k

Phone/office       3k

misc, casual labour, shows,subs,training 5k

Total  38k

32 NET LESS TAX AND STAMP = 7K  TOTAL IN POCKET £500/WEEK.

[lands]

Blimey J

Thats alot on advertising. You need to find why ways of making that cheaper

Pete

[Mike Halliday]

Ian, these prices are just an example, of how to earn the £300,

I personally charge £140 for a suite and closer to the 200 for a 3 bed house, £75ish for an average T/L a big one would cost an extra £10.

I really think a lone carpet cleaner should aim for this yearly income, but to be truthful if you don't have the jobs coming in then its pie in the sky. I'm hitting this amount, but it cost alot in leafleting to bring in The jobs constantly week after week. So my target now is to keep the income high, but without spending so much to bring it in

you could also work it out by using your average job value, if its £100 then you need 3 jobs a day if its £50 then you need 6........ then if you keep going you get to Chris's example.


Jason your figure are bollox £100 a week on chemicals , £100 a week repair & renewals , your £10k on advertising is the only one I agree with

mike

[Doug Holloway]

hi Guys

Jason's figures are obviously exagerated but he makes a reasonable point, if you are taking 1000 a week and spending 600 then you are making 400.

Too many people claim takings as earnings.

Cheers

Doug

[Mike Halliday]

actually Jason now I've thought about it I think you figures are too low!!

last year I had  a lot more expenses that your example and ended up earning very little profit, luckily this meant quite a small tax bill.

but this opens up another can of worms should we spend our money or keep it and pay tax on it. which means we end up with more profit in our pockets, but if we can spend our profit on mutually beneficial expenses(private/business), we can still 'profit ' from it.

[davep]

£100 per week on chems is a lot too 

[lands]

Thats a good point Mike and I do it this way. I have luxurious pack lunches for work yet for tea we eat cheap basic food

Other obvious ways are other halfs diesel, mobile bill, insurance, tax servicing etc

[Ian Rochester]

My breakdown for last financial year as a percentage of turnover:

Capital investment 4.9%
Travel costs 8.03% (vehicles, fuel, insurance, servicing)
Marketing 4.41%
Cleaning materials 0.88%
Other 9.7%

Other is a multitude of little things like phones etc that at the moment don't warrant a separate sub account.

What you should charge should be a profit margin from what it costs you

[carpet guy]

Ian's figures are realistic, something to be added would be depreciaion, which is usually 25% of the capital cost annually.

The man thing I learned about running a business, came when I worked with a large retailer and had to complete weekly sales and more importantly, monthly returns, in which every penny was accounted for.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

At night I go scromping and foraging for food and use that for my daily sustenance saving me money for the finer things in life.

Many a time I've come across an old car battery to use in my van and a car tyre that I have shoe horned onto my van wheels, you'll be surprised what my TM runs on when I found a porcelain chair in an out house!

Shaun

[jasonl]

Those figures were from 1999 .. the last year I did 70k, and my chems were from CD= overpriced my percentage is now about 2% of turnover thankfully

[Doctor Carpet (Ret'd)]

Thats a good point Mike and I do it this way. I have luxurious pack lunches for work yet for tea we eat cheap basic food

Other obvious ways are other halfs diesel, mobile bill, insurance, tax servicing etc

Pete

Technically of course these would be caught on your P11d and be subject to tax.

[Jason Hedges]

At night I go scromping and foraging for food and use that for my daily sustenance saving me money for the finer things in life.

Many a time I've come across an old car battery to use in my van and a car tyre that I have shoe horned onto my van wheels, you'll be surprised what my TM runs on when I found a porcelain chair in an out house!

Shaun

I sympathise with you Shaun,

Know what your saying, its tough round here as well. I find though if I drink enough alcohol of a night and pee in the t/m fuel tank next morning it does me for the day!

Recycling or what