[carpet guy]

Found the response to this post astonishing, particularly with the lack of specifications and the quoted £8.50 per hour.

Post is DREAM CLEAN

My reason for posting on here is the fact that several carpet cleaning companies are showing interest.

[Jason Hedges]

£8.50 per hour is good money for general cleaning in my area.

For carpet cleaners though no way.

[Art]

£8.50 per hour is good money for general cleaning in my area.

For carpet cleaners though no way.

 Jason,

Surely you don't mean companies are quoting contracts at that price ?

Arthur

[Jason Hedges]

Hi Art,

My mum uses a great cleaner thats charging £7.50 per hour. She works on her own though. Not sure about cleaning companies, not my field.

All the best,
Jason.

[Art]

Hi Art,

My mum uses a great cleaner thats charging £7.50 per hour. She works on her own though. Not sure about cleaning companies, not my field.

All the best,
Jason.

Jason, for that sort of money i doubt if she'll have insurance or anything else. I come up against prices like that all the time. Very annoying but what can you do.

Arthur

[Jason Hedges]

To be honest Art I know my mum wouldn't be bothered about insurance or anything else. She likes her and she does a good job and my mum pays her her money. She's been cleaning for her for years and she trusts her. Even gives her keys to water the plants when she's on holiday.

I know its different than regular cleaning perhaps I shouldn't have brought it up.

All the best,
Jason.

[spencer davies]

To employ someone at minimum wage level costs you as the employer £12.60 per hour when holiday pay, insurance, ni,cover, etc etc is taken in to consideration.

Regards

S

[Jason Hedges]

I think thats the problem across the board Spencer. My mum is happy paying a retired person that she trusts and does a good job £7.50 an hour.

A cleaning company may cost £12.50 an hour but will she trust them and will they do such a good job?

Same as splash and dash carpet cleaners. Some may be good but others bad.

Its a big open book on good and bad, cheap and expensive and no-one can define the two. Apart from the individual customers expectations.

My mums happy and thats all that matters to me

All the best,
Jason.

[Ian Rochester]

Spencer,

I'd like to see your formula for calculating that figure, I think you are way off the mark.

We pay more than minimum wage, we charge less that what you believe it costs.......... and we make a profit!

[carpet guy]

Agree with Ian

We charge £10.46 for services and made a net profit of £40 k after directors salary and all expenses from around £4,500 per week.

The £12.60 figure is absolute nonesense

[Art]

Agree with Ian

We charge £10.46 for services and made a net profit of £40 k after directors salary and all expenses from around £4,500 per week.

The £12.60 figure is absolute nonesense

Rob, that's a little misleading for anyone that doesn't have staff

Arthur

[turneylogan]

I don't know how you make money on the general cleaning side at these prices. We had about a hundred domestic customers a week and three vehicles with two/three cleaners in each. We paid from £6 to £7.50 an hour on wages. We charged per job, but our effective hourly charge to customers was just under £25 before VAT. Profit was eaten up by salaries, products, vehicle leasing, insurance, fuel, advertising, uniforms, back-up staff, small breakages/claims and all the other usual small business costs. I can earn more as a sole trader carpet cleaner as my hourly rate is considerably higher and my over heads are significantly lower.

[carpet guy]

Tuney

You have hit the nail, as they say, my c/c is a separate entity and I have been suggesting to my wife, that we get rid of the other business, as all it really does, is give employment to other people.

All night I have been rewriting policies on Recruitment / Confidentiality and Equal opportunities..................to satisfy growing government legislation, the last mentioned is a nightmare and has made us realise, WE HAVE NO SAY IN WHO WE EMPLOY and the legislation being forced upon usm uuch of which goes against our natural instincts and personal morality makes us no longer wsh to be employees.

Although our business is closely controlled by being contractors to local authorities the legislation covers all employers and does not make happy reading.

Back to the documentation.

[garyj]

I'll second and third that. Constantly chasing payments, customers are getting worse and looking for reasons not to pay, have 4 court cases running now including an industrial tribunal  , staff that don't give a damn and most hardly speak English.

Much happier out on my own cleaning carpets knowing the job is getting done, I'm getting paid and of course the job satisfaction as well as earning a far better rate and very often getting paid on completion.

Commercial office cleaning is a thankless task and the paperwork is never ending.

[Ian Gourlay]

I think Jason is correc
Beside not getting the wife to go out and do it I looked into maids Contract Cleaning etc and found companies charging £9.50 hr around here

[Phillip Mold]

Love it, its just me and the van, no employees, no VAT and its staying that way!