[Adam P]

JUST THOUGHT i'd jump in and say this week we got rid of the last of our annoying customers and it feels so great to have got rid of them i strongly advise you both to go do it asap. it may sound silly but it's a big distraction having to think about the ones you don't like that pay little money, stopping you from getting on with the important jobs. i used to hate the day it come to cleaning theirs but now i cannot wait.

[tabitha]

Clean Surrey ,Thats exactly how i feel,i dread going there all week and once i've cleaned there and gone i feel so happy until it comes closer again to the next week!how did you go about it?

[Adam P]

i'm going to be very basic with this as it'd take a long essay to explain fully.

pretty much we have a minimum charge for commercial sites but we decided to split the charge for one customer between 2 of their small offices that are close to each other and work it out that from start to finish of both would be about ok for us.

eventually customer called me in to say how we're there too quick and expected 2 hours at each site. i explained that'll leave about £2.50 profit and would need more money. in the end he said good bye and i was trying so hard not to smile. i had spent all day thinking to myself how am i going to say we don't want to do theirs any more so i was so relieved when he said stop immediately.

only issue now is he said he'll get back to me about what he wants to pay for last 3 months that he owes us for one of the sites. will wait and see how that plays out but i'm sticking to it that we deserve our wonderful £20 per week.

[tabitha]

Well least you've got rid of him now and who is he to decide what he is going to pay for your services,i can,t believe the cheek of it!

[Adam P]

yeah that was my thought. there was no problems with the cleaning, we've never had one complaint or mention of anything so i said to him if he's had a problem he should have said something but he hasn't. he was probably just trying to be the big shot thinking as we're small business he can get away with it but it's very cheeky as you say.

[Missy dusty]

Hi missy dusty,I have that problem also with a couple of my customers,i never feel satisfied when i've cleaned their house.You can't really tell  it's been cleaned as there is so much clutter.But that's the least of my worries,i just can't stand the creepy customers that hang round me all the time. I have taken on another lady to help me. I really want to expand because i don't want to be cleaning for the rest of my life even though it is good money.What are you planning to do with your business?

 Hi Tabatha ,we seem to be pretty much in the same boat ,although I have another buisness too ,I see my cleaning as my main income.Within 10 years time Id like to have a successful cleaning buisness with a reasonable amount of staff, and a very reliable supervisor who I could take over the buisness,and carry on running it for me whilst Im elsewhere,either busy with my other buisness or living somewhere else ,doing something else .I know of someone in this postion and envy her,but I know it didnt all come to her easy.

 Recently Ive had a opportunity come up in my other buisness but I need more hours ,and thats why Im thinking this could be a good excuse to get rid of this clean.I see the lady this weeek,she is such a busy /flustered person and very sweet,I wanted to tell her ,but I just didnt have the heart.Im going to feel really guilty saying goodbye to a client on top of xmas,and Im not sure how much notice is going to be enough at this time of year?I also informed one of my clients I would be moving her day of clean as from December,...she wasnt too impressed,I felt abit annoyed as Im not giving the elbow ,just giving her the option of another day !

 I currently work on my own, and have recently turnt down more work,due tto the fact I just havent got the hours available,I have to do a school run ,and my other buisness...take somebody else on springs to mind,but I know of so many others that have taken on staff and its all gone pete tong and it just scares me,my worst case senario,taking extra work on and my member of staff not turning up,and Im like yourself I dont want to be cleaning  for the rest of my life ,but you know atleast if your doing it yourself ,your takin more pride over it.

 Im not sure which road Im going to be going down at the mo,who knows,just wish I had a crystal ball to see to the future.                                 

[tabitha]

Hi missy dusty, I took on a lady about a year ago and i was so worried on how it was going to work out as i'm such a perfectionist but it has worked out ok.She only does about 20 hours a week so this isn't to bad if she isn't able to work as most of the time i can manage to cover the jobs.The only thing is i wouldn't want to leave her on her own cleaning as i feel she isn't quite up to my cleaning standards she's good but i really do pay attention to detail and i guess this stops me moving forward.I did take on a new lady recently but she was a nightmare,she was a brill cleaner just a bad attitude so i had to get rid of her.It is frustrating because i do wonder how other people do it,how do they get to a point where they can trust someone enough to leave them on their own!

Also another problem was because i worked on my own for a while some customers were a bit funny when i said i will be bringing someone else to work with me,there so used me but then its like they are limiting you. So with any new customers i get now i always take my lady with me. So then its not so personal.

I had to move one customers  clean one hour forward and she was so upset saying im really unprofessional and she doesn't like change.She said she likes to be in her kitchen by a certain time! I gave her the option of having two of us clean so she could be in her kitchen by that time but she wasn't intrested.I think sometimes some customers get used to you and think they can treat you in such a way,i mean i have worked for her for three years never had a day off and she talks to me like that! I think because you work on your own they don't see you as running a business thats why i like someone working with me.

You just have to take that chance missy dusty.If you take someone on part time and work together you can keep a eye on their work ,least thats a step forward.

[fayellen]

Hi Tabitha. wow £20 an hour the most I get is 8.50 an hour. Saying that I can fully understand where your coming from.
I would drop this clean too, there is nothing worse than someone following you about, but I'm just like you with the issue of how to give a client up. I've cleaned for a client for nearly 4 years now and as nice as they are she is always in and to be quite honest I am sooo bored with it everyday the same old + school holidays are an absolute pain house full of people getting in my way!!..but I don't know what to say about giving up, every Monday I say I will then I chicken out gosh it's so hard isn't it!
I have another I've cleaned for nearly 4 years who has just started her own business which is clearly doing very well judging by the amount of new things she's buying  for the house and yet I said about a pay rise to her and she started going on about how she doesn't get a wage, she pays me 6.70 an hour all my others pay me £8, another I want rid off!
Let us know how you get on I'm hoping to find the guts to give up a few before the year is out!!

[Adam P]

get rid of them all fayellen and go work at macdonalds. you'll get more per hour and more potential of an increase. working for your own should mean an increase in prices you get not a decrease. heck you could even work for another cleaning company and get more. e.g. £7 per hour plus holiday is 75p per hour = £7.75, and then you don't have to deal with the customer problems or even find more work as it's all covered for you. plus you get sick pay etc. why bother for £6.70 per hour when you're running your own business that's crazy.

[tabitha]

Hi fayellen, How comes you charge so little? When i started cleaning i was at college and just did it for the extra money, but i realised i could make more money doing cleaning as a business than working as a chef. So what i did i told the customers i had at the time i was going to start a cleaning business.You see they were paying me £8 hr but i made it clear to them that as it is  a business, rates will be going up. Some customers were funny at first but because i'm good cleaner they didn't want to loose me.Are you doing this as a proper business or is it just a bit of extra money?your best bet is to just say that your putting the rates up and that might make the ones you don't like get rid of you without you having to make any excuses.

[fayellen]

Oh no whenever I put anything on here I get told off for charging too little!! I do it as a way to earn extra money I don't earn enough to pay tax and to be quite honest I wouldn't have a clue how to run a business.
It suits me, I like the freedom it gives me, If I want a day off I swop them all around and have a day off, I go on holiday when I want and it leaves me time for my favourite hobby of running.
I don't want to work in Mcdonalds I hate been tied to a regular job and having to book a day off or fixed holidays.
I just like the flexibility and most of my customers are lovely

[tabitha]

Hi i wasn't having a go just thought it was a bit cheap to be charging that if your running a business, if it's extra money thats completely different. The best thing to do with your customer is just ring her a tell her you can't work ,least you wont have to face her then

[Adam P]

you could work for a cleaning company as a flexible cleaner working as and when and end up with more money. i guess if you're doing nothing other then cleaning it's no different but still you can earn more money and far less stress dealing with customers. i'd say a price increase to at least £10 so that you can then put £1 an hour away for "holiday pay". think of it like this, if a customer doesn't think you're worth a very low £10 per hour why are you cleaning for that customer?

people pay £14 plus vat per hour so customers will pay it. if you're too shy to mention a price increase try making a nice professional yet personal looking letter saying as of new year your prices are going up to such and such because of x y and z.

say at the moment you're doing 10 customers a week at 2 hours per clean thats 20 hours a week at £7.50 approx per hour totalling £150 a week. when your price increases say you lose 2 customers brining you down to just 16 hours a week, but at £10 per hour you're now earning £160 but doing a whole day a week less.