[Joe H]

I charge £55 and people round here baulk at that price.
We talking normal 3 piece here or leather/suede??
How long does it take you??
I do one in about 1hr 40mins.
John

John
Where you from by the way - your profile is a bit sparce.

How long does it take for me to do a 3 piece? - a good 2 hours plus a bit

[John Kelly]

John, how does it take you 3 hours? Usually takes 1.5 to 2 max with a truckmount. Secret is to work methodically. We used to remove all the cushions, do tests on the inside of a chair, then pre-spray chair, agitate and rinse off with handtool. Then next chair frame, then sofa frame. Then the cushions, stacking them on the sofa until all finished them any grooming and leave cushions pyramided to aid drying.

[John Gregory]

John, how does it take you 3 hours? Usually takes 1.5 to 2 max with a truckmount. Secret is to work methodically. We used to remove all the cushions, do tests on the inside of a chair, then pre-spray chair, agitate and rinse off with handtool. Then next chair frame, then sofa frame. Then the cushions, stacking them on the sofa until all finished them any grooming and leave cushions pyramided to aid drying.

I must be a bit slow . pre vac test , only got a drimaster hand tool at the moment saving up for either the new hydramaster tool or prochem 1

John

[JandS]

Joe
Am from W.Yorks just outside Leeds.
The standard of living where you live must be better because I've even lost jobs quoting £55.

"£55 is a silly price, no one will go to work for that, it not worth setting up for!"

What a stupid quote.
Your telling me that no one will go to work for £27.50 an hour.
4 of those in a day £220 for the day.
For domestic work in the current climate that's pretty good.
You must live in an affluent part of the country.

[Joe H]

I get the feeling, but may be wrong John, that you are into domestic and/or office cleaning? So am I.
If so, then £27 per hour may seem a lot (and it is)

I dont think Warrington is any different to Leeds in respect of potential clients.
There are very affluent areas and others not so affluent and everything inbetween.
I am sure Leeds is the same.
You may be suprised where the £95 clients will come from.

However, if you want to get EVERY job from clients who contact you, then you would have to be the right price every time. A lot of the time you will have to be dirt cheap - probably less then your £55, as you have found out. Do you want that?
Probably most on here have found a comfort zone where clients are prepared to pay a price for a quality service - that maybe £55 for someone, £75 for another, £95 for another, £125 for me, and more for Shaun.  All are acceptable to the carpet cleaner.

But a lot of us have been just where you are now. Not getting every enquiry at £55, then someone pops up and suggests you could get £95 or £125 or more. And logically you say"yikes, cant do that, wont get any work".  Been there, done that (but dont wear the t-shirt).

IT IS POSSIBLE - and where you live.

[Mike Halliday]

4 of those in a day £220 for the day.
 

4 suites in a day, yep that's how i want to work to earn my daily wage!

I get £140-£160 in Hull (voted crappiest town in England) if there is no money in Leeds obviously there aren't any BMW dealerships (or Merc's).

but if you get and are happy with £55 then I won't knock it, each to there own.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Don't forget what you are offering for their money, if it's wet through or badly done then at £55 or £155 you are offering poor value for money.

Suite cleaning offers poor value for money for most customers until you sell it well, ask Mike Halliday he sells a good story sorry Mike.

Shaun

[JandS]

Don't mean I clean 4 a day.
Try to mix them in as I'm not keen on doing them anyway at any price.
Can make a lot more on the carpet side.
Might even try quoting £95 then if I do get them I'll be that bit happier.

2 questions:
What do you find works best as a pre spray and extraction chemical.
I use Prochem Fabric Restorer and follow up with Fibre and Fabric Rinse but don't find these 2 chemicals as good as there carpet cleaning range so any other thoughts appreciated.

What you think about advertising outside your area?
I have static caravan in York and was thinking of an ad in the local rag up there so I could spend more time there especially in Summer.
Would having an ad with a non local area code put people of you think?

Regards
           John
 

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Caravan cleaning would be dependant on the site manager as that is where you will get the most from and also some sites will only let you use their tradesmen.

A mobile number would do and I would leaflet them.

Shaun

[JandS]

No I meant domestic carpet cleaning.

John   

[clinton]

John

Were you the guy that was doing someb site marketing with rabby

[Mike Halliday]

John I think an 0800 number would be better than an out of town number, and you can get them quite cheap.

prochm FR is a good chemical perhaps a bit more dwell time might help, and a good scrub is always helpful

[JandS]

And the extractor.
By the way why does my keyboard not always type the letters I hit.
have to hit some letters about 3 times

[JandS]

Forget the keyboard just realised it's cordless and requires batteries from time to time.
Had it about 2 years and never had to do it.
 

John

[gwrightson]

Never charged as low fo £55 for 3pc , from the very start of my c/c life I charged from £85 upwards , always a little hesitant to go over the £100 mark , but as Mike pointed out over the £100 mark is the norm now and yes I also live in the same area as Mike "the crapiest town "  yet only half a mile for me a road exsits were actual house prices have continued to rise The only road in the country I believe"  People still have money where ever you are, I am busier than ever and had to work untill 12 .30 last night to accomodate at prices way above the £27 per hour mark , infact a total of £960 for the day.
5 floors of corridor  L/profile @ £130 per floor    Encap.                  £650.00
1 small entance of block paving to same building power washed     £60.00
 Removal of tar spots from custy brand new carpet                          £50.00
 and finaly cleaning an office   L/profile                                             £200.00

A good day, with a 3 hrs break in the evening   and although this amount is unusual it is not an exception by any means in fact not far of what I will be doing  over a few days in the next couple of weeks.  Yes its great , makes up for those quieter days before people point this out :

J & S   if your happy  with your rate good for you, but I suggest you increase  , I get the feeling some of the c/c on hear are been scarmongered by all the news

Geoff



 
 

[derek west]

why are some people so blinkered in business.
ErrrrErrr £55 quid a suite, 2 hours, Errr errr thats £27.50 an hour, WOW!!!!! i'll be rich, stacking shelves at tesco's doesn't pay anywhere near that amount.
sorry, not having ago, its just annoying when people charge so little for work and end up folding after a year cos theyve not done there sums right.
£55 quid a suite, you'll be lucky to break even with out a wage. 4 jobs a day, where they gonna come from? jobs don't appear out of thin air ya know, ya have to pay a lot of money to get someone to ring you never mind 4 a day, and you have to work hard to get them to ring you back the following year.
you have to drive there, unless you can fly. you have to have equipment, chemicals, you have to repair the equipment, you have to insure things, you have to buy new equipment, you have to pay tax, phone bills, mobile phone bills, internet fees. accountants fees, van tax, tyres, van repairs,
if your charging £55 a suite and not doing it in under an hour then you won't make any money, and if you are doing it in under an hour then you can forget repeat customers
joe
£55 is not a silly price for a suite its a suicidal (business related) price for a suite.

ps
this is my opinion and i could well be wrong, but seriously though, i'm not, but i could be, but i'm not,

derek

[JandS]

Only clea 1 or 2 suites a week and don't travel more than 10 or 12 mles to do them and usually done in conjunction with another job.
£27.50 is not a kings ransom but it pays the bills.
You state tha £55 is too little yet on another thread you quote £1 per sq metre for cleaning 150 sq metres     of office carpet   that's suicidal
Think some people on here big themselves up a little bit, not everyone but some.
Just rung 6 local carpet cleaners and the dearest was £60 and the cheapest£48 so come on guys.
I suppose it comes down to how many others are out there as well, in my case a lot.

"and just to make you feel super fast, i did a large living room on my own today, took me 2 hours, but that included bacon and egg butties several cups of coffee and several roll ups from the owner, had nothing else on so made a morning of it."

Just made me wonder whose prices get the work.

John

[Susan Dean (1stclean)]

Only clea 1 or 2 suites a week and don't travel more than 10 or 12 mles to do them and usually done in conjunction with another job.
£27.50 is not a kings ransom but it pays the bills.
You state tha £55 is too little yet on another thread you quote £1 per sq metre for cleaning 150 sq metres     of office carpet   that's suicidal
Think some people on here big themselves up a little bit, not everyone but some.
Just rung 6 local carpet cleaners and the dearest was £60 and the cheapest£48 so come on guys.
I suppose it comes down to how many others are out there as well, in my case a lot.

"and just to make you feel super fast, i did a large living room on my own today, took me 2 hours, but that included bacon and egg butties several cups of coffee and several roll ups from the owner, had nothing else on so made a morning of it."

Just made me wonder whose prices get the work.

John

buddy i was the same as you only two years ago but alot cheaper ! a im still only getting 60 pounds for a suit i realy cant go into deal tails on here as my spelling is not the best how ever im more then happy to spk to you buy phone for an hour and talk you though any probs you are thinking about .......

or and ive just spent a poop load ogf cash on a new van and kitting it out for my t.m. so belive me when these guys tell you to up your game i did and have never looked back ! trust me

[gwrightson]

£1per metre isnt bad for commercial if its large enough area,
considering around 250 sq metres can be acheived an hour  , already stated above  5 floors of corridors   130 sq metre  @ £1per m    each floor taking around 3/4 an hr    .
As for your question , who,s prices gets the work?

obviously yours   so you work your B****cks of all day to earn the same who perhaps does 2 jobs for less work, .
I know what I would do
But everbody to their own, work hard all day for the same as others who have an easier day, and can afford to choose their jobs.
geoff

[gwrightson]

Susan ,
I remeber your posts well from a couple of years ago, pleased to hear you took note and doing well,
geoff

whilst I remember . J & s  the other cleaners you have just phoned for prices, out of interest did you pick them out of the local free press " no offence to c/c who advertise in them " or did you choose at random from y/p or internet ?   
and how strange every cleaner you have phoned gave you a price over the phone    makes you wonder what type of c/c youre phoning !!!! " again , no offence to c/c who phone price "

Geoff