[Steve Chapman]

Hi all,

I've been asked by a local business if I offer a mat rental & clean service, so they can have constant

clean barrier matting for the entrances to their shops,  ( they have a few locally ) ive never given this

much thought before and ust wondered whether anyone offers this service and how to go about it, i.e.

sourcing mats, pricing etc.

Seems like a good idea at the moment but probably depends on volume of customers also to be

successful.

I havent said yes or no yet just thought i'd do some research first,

Any info would be welcome   

Regards
steve

[jasonl]

I used to do it , you need a morning to collect/swap on a "Round" then clean..with a pressure washer, dry then re deliver.  At 15 quid a time  it was hardly worth it. Big volumes were needed to make a profit comparable to straight cleaning.

[Steve Chapman]

Hi Jason,

How often was the turnaround for £15 ? weekly or monthly ?

Just trying to guage whats involved and whther viable as an ad on service, did u supply the mats as well ?

Regards
Steve

[Shaun_Ashmore]

We sometimes get the smaller ones in at our shop, they go in the big washer but drying is usually a hanging affair but far drier than a PW or carpet cleaner.

Shaun

[robert meldrum]

This was a massive business for " Initial " who were taken over by OCS .......don't know if it's still done.


Yep.. still done and now owned by Rentokil on a fortnightly basis.

[Carpet Dawg]

Its a good idea if its done on big scale!

What would it take to get the companys logo and name embroidered (not the right word!) into an entrance mat? Get someone to create a custom mat, then rent them out to that company and the mainatance (i.e. washing of the mats) will be included in the rental. You could then rent them out for more.... the question is how much?

[robert meldrum]

I think it would take an awful lot of cleans before you were in profit and remember, you would be up against a company whose been doing it for at least 30 years and only as a part of the many other services they offer...........

Considered going for toilet cleaning contracts with new technology about 10 - 15 years ago, but it's a sector that had been targetted by Rentokil and others and no one could see a reason for changing.

They don't just clean toilets and door mats, take a look at the Initial web site.

[Steve Chapman]

From a bit of web research there doesn't seem to be that many companies that do it, so there must be bit of an opening there, the biggest factor has to be cost of the mats, so would need to buy at cheapest wholesale price to make it profitable,

I was thinking also having the customer sign a 12 month contract to at least ensure a return on investment,
I'm sure lots if businesses would like a local company instead of national one so there's that aspect as well.

Although not as profitable as carpet cleaning it is also a steady stream of income but using same equipment so no additional outlay for that !

Steve

[jon barnes]

Hi Steve

Robert at Spurgeons used to do this service - but that was before their big 'fire',
but not sure if they still do it - but give  him a ring on 01293 560063


Terry

[Steve Chapman]

Thanks Terry,

I will give him a ring,

Cheers
Steve

[John Kelly]

Johnsons Apparelmaster do this on a massive scale. My mate a manager there. £2-3 per mat. In my view its not worth bothering with.

[Matt Lindus]

Hi guys,

We have a logo'd 5x4 ft mat as you enter the reception; (trade and public are coming in for wires, dishes and the like). We use Initial and they come and replace with a fresh Mat every month in summer and every other week in winter. £167.30 for set up fee with logo'd mat + £2.99 per mat swap thereafter.

They have the reputation of a huge company and if we have a problem, which we seldom do, they have a Customer Care Line you can ring to deal with issues and it is sorted ASAP.
The biggest advantage to using a large organisation for this type of service, including cleaning is... 1/ Issues are dealt with straight away, you’re not having to chase after some individual who doesn't have time to answer his/her mobile. 2/ They have the flexibility of a large organisation to accommodate and work round staffing problems or other issues. In other words, were not going to have the one man band ring us explaining that he can’t turn in because the mothering law is ill. 3/ They are a 'one call does all type of business', which means offices are not messing around with tens of thousands of business cards which ultimately means the same amount of calls and no doubt answer messages to leave in the vain effort of trying to get stuff organised with the one man bands ect. We can ring one head office number and say something as simple as "Clean our yard, windows, toilets and empty bins before week is out" and it is done to the word at a price that we understand without several phone calls to various self employed people for quotes, then the organising of when it can be done (working round their ill mothering laws ect), and also hoping the work is done to a good standard.

I hope that makes sense. Need to work now.

Regards
Matthew     

[Mike_Roper]

You would need to buy Milliken from Denmark , but they wouldnt sell you them anyway  on small scale . No other mats will do .
The best way to do it if you can generate enough business is to get in touch with big players ie Initial ,Johnsons, Canon etc  get a preferencial rate off them dlivered to you then you swap them with your clients . You skim a margin off it without faffing about cleaning and drying which takes ages and you need lots of room. You would have to have a significant round to start with to make this work.
Mike

[Steve Chapman]

I sense alot of negativity in the room 

Matthew,

I can see your point, self employed one man bands are just a pain the arse 

A couple of points in my favour tho,

1 I already have the room ( workshop etc )
2 I have other people who work for me, so not just doing it myself
3 I have a fairly large database of commercial clients already that use us
4 We are a fairly well known business in our local area

In my opinion lots of business go for the local smaller business than national companies as they know they can get service at short notice and a bit more personal attention.
I think the local aspect would be the usp and would probably market that.

The thing i need to know is where to source them cheaply enough

I did a bit of investigating also at the weekend and some businesses that i came across had some extremelt dirty entrance mats, looked like not been cleaned for several years

So there must be an opening somewhere here, maybe Initial dont cover this area ?

Think if I did it, would have to be more than £2 - £3 a mat,

Regards
Steve

[peter maybury]

It is dificult to compete with the big boys on this service you can contract the work out to cannon hygene for a cut that is probably the best way to do it. You will not make a fortune but it is regular income and an add on you can sell to your existing customers.

Peter
www.carpetcleanercardiff.com

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Peter not sure if your site is working properly, well I can't get it to work properly.

Shaun

[Neil Williams]

Used to do one business which was collect 3 mats, clean and return a week later and do the same with the other 3.
Yes for £15 it was easy money until you do the maths on driving to collect, doing them and driving to drop off/collect next lot.
If you do it on a grand scale then clearly it can be a good earner, but on a small scale too much time expended driving around.