[The Great One]

Hi Guys

when people ask you what you do for a living and after you tell them and you get that slight pause and an 'OH'...

Don't forget to also tell them that you are part of an industry that turns over £3.1 billion and growing!

Then leave them to stew on that.

Regards

Martin

[Musicman]

Or if you sell burgers and have a habit of saying 'Have a nice day' you can also tell them you're part of an industry worth £100 billion.

Tell them to chew on that!

Martin what are you trying to say? Are you ashamed of the industry you work in? Are people embarrased for you when you tell them what you do for a living? Do you really get that response from people?

If so you need to work on your personal marketing.

Tell them you're an entrepreneur, you run your own business, you escaped the rat race, you're no longer a wage slave, you're your own boss, you choose the hours you work etc.

I bet you that almost everyone using this forum is in this industry because they enjoy it (and make good money from it). How many people do you know that genuinely enjoy their jobs?

Do you think that if asked what he did for a living Richard Branson used to say that he sold a few records?

If people do react like that then they ain't worth talking to in the first place mate.

[The Great One]

I am never ashamed of anything I do.

This post was about another post on the CC section where people were talking about responses they get from people.

Just wanted to offer an angle for people who do come across this kind of attitude, it was that simple.

Regards

Martin

[Mike Halliday]

I don't like to brag or anything but do you see that  .1 of a billion, thats my contribution

Mike

[Ian Gourlay]

Mike, Ive now got to do some more Maths to see how rich you are I think the answer is Mega

[DP]

I’m  not sure what you say to people, (if they have already categorized your trade), will make any difference to their views. I think if you need to say something then get it wrong, can make it a lot worse, especially if the comments are transparent.

Sometimes a lot of explanation or over reaction can reveal something about the person being uncomfortable with themselves, and any defensive statements could simply compound the matter.

People will always judge other people, its human nature and you wont stop it.  

I would suggest that  "less is more" in these issues and  an all knowing smile can have a real effect and if you feel you have to say something, keep it short and believable. The personal betterment statements rarely convinces anybody unless they were already involved with you before you started.

Anything else and I would be wondering who am I trying to convince them or me.

Just my views.

[Ian Gourlay]

How many other industries is it possible to go from being bankrupt, aquiring a claped out ford escort van, hand painting it , to having ten good condition vans and drive around in a merc in the space of 8 years/

[wreelyclean_servic]

....So you`ve got the rest of my £3.1 billion have you.......give it back you swine....

[PPThomas]

I

[Just a cleaner.]

I get exactly the same response from people when I tell them that I have a cleaning biz.  Some people are just Snobby sods!

[stevey331]

£3.1 billion!!  all i can say to this remark am very proud to be part of this industy.and when people ask wot i do i tell them everyone needs some sort of cleaner so i say dont knock cleaning if you DONT know nothing about it !!

[Kenny_Dobson]

If they come over all lord & lady just stand back take a look at them and say "Where there's muck there's money!"

Wiz

[Fox]

How about 'cleaning is the fundemental need of your business' -  your staff have a basic need to function - for basic living we need - shelter, food, warmth, for sales we need ' an empty bin and clean toilet!'

Fox

[MR WHEELIE CLEAN]

I recently got married (2nd time), when signing the register the registrar asked me what my profession was, was I still an accountant? I said no and was about to say that I was a wheelie bin cleaner and then I realised that actually I'm an accountant, a sales director, a marketing gourou (not sure of spelling), a cleaning operative, a managing director, a customer services representative, the list goes on.  I finally settled on entrepreneur.  Anyone that sneers at this title clearly has no understanding of just how clever I am!!!!!!!! :   Cant understand why my share of the 3.1b is  so small (but growing!).

Nev.

[Rob_Mac]

Guru

[Ian Gourlay]

Mr Wheelie Bin as an Acountant did you not have the chance to pke your nose into lots of enterprises, and find out what their expentiture was in each cateogry to achieve a certain turnover.

With this inside knowledge you should be on your way to dominating the UK market

[George-Reid]

Ian
I think he has done that already
Their are over 25 million wheelie bins in the UK and that is just the domestic market.

We reckon %10 of the population will have their bins cleaned at £3 per fortnight.

World domination here I come.

Cheers

George

[MR WHEELIE CLEAN]

George,

Don't mind if you dominate Scotland but can you leave England for the rest of us?     (not interested in Wales)

Nev.

[MR WHEELIE CLEAN]

Ian,

As an accountant I did get to see different industries although most of those were large enterprises.  Therefore as a sole trader, I  now get to experience all the pressures of all the roles I never did before.  As an accountant it was very easy to just ''count the money'' and tell everybody what was happening and what needed to happen from the financial aspect.  It was then handed over to someone else to decide / worry about how to achieve the sales etc. etc.  I decided to go into wheelie bin cleaning because it reduces several risks that you can get in some industries.  For example, bad debts are reduced by having a large volume / small value sales.  Also a large customer base reduces the risks associated with losing customers. Some companies are reliant upon one or two customers for significant chunks of their turnover, to me this is a risk which is outside of the control of the company. The wheelie bin market is also a growing market with new councils switching to twin bin schemes which can increase the % that require cleaning.  The start up costs are small in comparison to other industries with most of the cost base being fixed and negliable variable costs until you start employing staff!!  

On the downside wheelie bins are dirty and stink and a lot of hard work is needed to grow the business, but I know it will keep growing.

Regards,
Nev.

[Ian Gourlay]

Fantastic Free advise from an Acountantant :

George did I read somewhere that you used to clean carpets.

Looking at your brouchue the other day and what you have just posted I can see why you have switched.

If start up costs are low isnt there a danger of market saturation.

I know Georges system is enviromentally safe etc but a clean wheelie bin is a clean wheelie bin. or am I wrong

Not planning my own wheelie bin empire.