[liviu pastravanu]

Thanks Hector,

I know what you mean but in my opinion in carpet cleaning business you need to build a client base if you want to be successful and i don't want my client base to be full of quick cheap jobs because they will expect you to be cheap every time they're using you.

I'm happy you're doing well and wish you good luck with your new business. I am also looking into opening another business soon that will make me money without having to do the work myself.

Regards
Liviu

[Mike Halliday]

Hector I was'nt replying to your post, just giving my thoughts in  General about the perils of putting a price on actual time.

People are not paying for our time to for a result, if they were paying for time then I could clean a carpet with a rug doctor and take an hour, if I charged £50 an hour then I would make £50 but what if I paid £25k for a truckmount and cleaned the carpet in 20 minutes at £50 an hr I make £20 ish .........so I pay out £25k to earn less money ........ and the customer may get a worse clean. That's the problem with putting a price on time.

It's pointless talking about time because everyone takes it personal, you say £50/hr is not enough and everyone who makes £50/hr takes it as an insult on their business &  professionalism. Then they come out with comments to back up why £50 is enough for any business. I could run my business  on £15 an hour  doesn't mean I have to

[derek west]

why do people assume that if you're not out cleaning, you are sitting on your backside watching telly.

I'm with mike on price, The dearer you are the less you have to worry when the phone doesn't ring.

My life has so changed since i learnt target marketing.

[*Hector*]

Derek... I am not most people...
I was generalising ... I know that when you are not out cleaning .... You are keeping McDonalds afloat... 

I also agree.. I worked both price ranges.. and Latterly when LM only, was at the top end of the price range, and never earned so much for so little time cleaning... Wish I had done it earlier on...

[derek west]

Derek... I am not most people...
I was generalising ... I know that when you are not out cleaning .... You are keeping McDonalds afloat... 

I also agree.. I worked both price ranges.. and Latterly when LM only, was at the top end of the price range, and never earned so much for so little time cleaning... Wish I had done it earlier on...

busted lol.

[Simon Gerrard]

Interesting discussion.
If someone wants to clean a suite for £25, so what, it might be good money to him, yet laughable to others, he may also do just as good a job as the guy charging £250.
Price is no indicator of quality, I know of people botching jobs for £25 and £250, the £250 guy thought he was the dog danglies because he charges £250 yet the quality of his work didn't match the price tag, or so his former customers tell me.
Pricing is also about lifestyle. There are those that only want to work a few hours a day and have the weekends off and charge top dollar for what they do. There are others who charge the same price but work six days a week and print money. Who's right, who's wrong?
As far as I am concerned, we are in the 'make hay while the sunshines' business and so if there is work to be done at 'my price,' I'm on it, baby.
By the weekend we will have completed a job worth £40,000. Does this client book us because we are the most expensive? No they don't. They book is because they know the job will get done on time, with no hassle and the quality will be second to none, not my words, but the clients words. And because of that they are willing to pay, 'our price,' which, by the way is the only price that matters.
So regardless of how much, or little you charge, work very hard on the quality of what you do, so that when you get a customer, you keep them because you have put them in a position where  they can't get what you do anywhere else. Do that and you WILL be successful.

Simon

[Matt Eyles]

The problem with setting a price when your quiet is what happens when the customer phones you up in 9 months time to repeat the sofa clean and you are flat out with work busy? Are you going to turn around and say sorry the price is usually £150 so thats what it will be this time!?! The customer would tell me to go and do one!
I know from experience when I have under priced the job accidentally that when they come back and use me again I am gutted doing the job because I am under charging for my service.... mentally I don't want to be there I don't enjoy my job!

[tim handley]

travel time was about 20 minuters each way..........  chemical costs on a brace of sofas?? not huge, its mainly water, customers water........      road tax/van insurance? im paying that even if im sat at home twiddling my thumbs, sorry i mean marketing my business!!!  personally, i would rather be out earning  100 squid this time of year.........   i suppose there will never be any agreement on a pricing thread, some consider  £800 a week to be doing well, some  would laugh at that, we all have different needs, we are all different ages with different energy levels etc etc, personally a good day for me is £300 and home with the missus for 2.00/ 3.00,
the £600 a day care home jobs pay for my holidays, but i will take £100 for a pair of sofas quite happily this time of year........
£25 for a pair of sofas is just fecking stupid, and i had a long conversation with the client about my methods, the  potential pifalls in cleaning upholstery etc etc they just heard £25 versus £100... fair enough, not my type of client, moving on..................

[Stoots]

Its all relative to your situation and past earnings surely

For me earning 500 a week would be LOT of money because prior to starting a business i was on £8 per hour employed.

so when you talk of 100 in 2 hours being a pittance i am shocked, but ill best there millionaires laughing at your 400 a day as well so its meh

[tim handley]

quite agree, it all relative...............    but im always happier out earning...............

[liviu pastravanu]

For exmple i have a big customer that i do a lot of work for and he wanted about 100 arm chairs cleaned. I did not give him a price until we've agreed on having a demo first. Took the worst 3 out and cleaned them, called the guy out to have a look and give him my price. When he saw how clean they came up he did not wanted to hear about the price, just said when's the earliest you can start.
Chraged him £24 a chair and i do them on regular basis.

Would i have won the job if i were to give a price over the phone? You need to stick to your prices, give them value for money and top aftercare not just a low price. It's all about marketing.

It happened to me too Matt Eyles when i used compete on price. I've undercut myself in the past just to get the jobs and i still do work for some of them, what can i do now, dump them?

[tim handley]

food for thought  Liviu, food for thought indeed.......

[liviu pastravanu]

True Tim,

Each to their own. I am not knocking anyone charging less than me just sharing my limited experience.

When i first started i started the wrong way and failed. Started again a couple of years later but i did it the right way this time and it works for me.

Regards
Liviu

[dek]

you know its a funny old game this cleaning business.At one end of the scale Adam above just starting is way happy with £500.00 per week after being on £8.00 an hour employed.( not knocking you Adam your beginning a great journey ).
On the other hand old money bags Simon ( not Knocking you either ) is at the top of the game but probably stressed as feck !
Each and every one of us has there own agenda and work life attitude.
Me I flipping love it and the dosh is not bad either,

[wayne zabel]

Good post above.Before I was a CC I was a skilled Print Finisher in a declining industry.

I managed to find a job after losing 2 others but with a 35 mile round trip and a 37.5 hour week.

I don't charge what I consider daft prices as if someone wanted £200 plus to clean my sofas I wouldn't pay it.

I charge what some would consider cheap and what I consider sensible and I earn a lot more in half the hours than when I had a proper job.I'm usually as busy as I want be for 9 or 10 months of the year and let hope it continues.

Its all relative to our personal situations.

[CleanerCarpets]

Its all relative.

Liviu has said £100 is too cheap to clean a 3 and 2 seater. But when offered a chance to clean 100 armchairs he charges £24 per chair which if you work your cost on number of seated places and number of arms, is actually a cheaper rate than charging £100 for a 3 and 2 seater. So in reality - even though he wants prime customers and prime jobs, he has actually discounted there if he does indeed charge way more than £100 for a 3and2 so has not 'stuck to his prices' but has been tempted to discount.

We all strive to get the best customers and best price we can, but in honesty if we have the chance of a lucrative deal or a quiet spell to fill, we cut our cloth to fit.

[liviu pastravanu]

If i clean 100 arm chairs at £24 in 3 days what's the day rate? And my discounted price it's higher than others standard price.

As i've said each to their own, i'm not knocking anyone's pricing just tried to share my experience and help others.

Regards
Liviu

[CleanerCarpets]

Liviu i am not knocking you at all - i am just saying we all negotiate a little when the cap fits

You are better off negotiating slightly from a high price than from a low price and getting the job!

I agree you are better working less hours for more money, we all want to do that 

[Robin Ray]

This is all relative to many things business running costs, the condition of the item being cleaned, the distance the job is away from the first  etc etc... You cant put a specific label on "the cost to clean upholstery" or "the cost to clean carpet" I used to clean windows at an average of £17.50 per property some were £200+ others were £5 I made the same profit doing this  as I do now. The real question is "How much profit is there in cleaning upholstery?" the profit bit should be constant regardless of the price.