[mark_roberts]

Living social rang me today.  Basically they only want at least a 50% offer or people wont go for it.  They take 50% of the deal price.

They tried to tell me how people will buy more when on site, get their carpets every month in future etc etc to make up the money and how its a really effective and cheap way to get lots of work quick.

When I tried to explain that Id be A)  not making money and in fact B) doing the job below cost didnt seem to register.

The guys I see doing it seem to be very new to the business and will Im afraid learn the hard way.

Mark

[Helen]

Living social rang me today.  Basically they only want at least a 50% offer or people wont go for it.  They take 50% of the deal price.

They tried to tell me how people will buy more when on site, get their carpets every month in future etc etc to make up the money and how its a really effective and cheap way to get lots of work quick.

Get their carpets cleaned every month?........ooh I've split me sides laughing
They are right it is a cheap way to get lots of work quicker Just don't think about the cost of doing that work :


When I tried to explain that Id be A)  not making money and in fact B) doing the job below cost didnt seem to register.
Of course it wouldn't....they don't give 2 wotsits whether you are making money or not......just interested in making themselves money


The guys I see doing it seem to be very new to the business and will Im afraid learn the hard way.

Maybe.......maybe not

Mark

[cozy]

A member on the window section explained it best with this post, classic.


For heavens sake guys. You really need to think carefully about this. Cozy and others have made some excellent points that I think a few may have missed.

Groupon is in the business of making money for .... Groupon! They have a clever business model which sells Jack the five magic beans in exchange for his cow.

Jack is the tradesman. He's a builder, a cleaner, a tattoo artist, a shopkeeper, an honest working man/woman who does a good job but is having trouble filling those 40 hours a week with paid work. The magic beans are the promise of the extra work to fill the 40 hours. The cow is the labour of Jack, which he often attaches no value to. Jack thinks that if he's working for £6 an hour then he's better off than if he's sat at home getting under his missus' feet.

Jack often forgets to factor in his overheads. His fuel, his wear and tear on equipment, his pure water, his sandwich for lunch, even his daughter who has suddenly developped a taste for nice clothes. As long as Jack is 'Hauling sixteen tons' as the song goes, he's making progress.

From what I have seen the Groupon system takes about 2/3 of revenue and then expects a hefty discount to be pushed towards the customer. So Jack is now working for maybe 25% of his usual expected earnings. That's fine if he is making money. But in the world we live in today Jack is now running at a loss. He is actually paying for the privilege of hauling sixteen tons.

Nobody should sell themselves short. Work has a recognised value. I never noticed Tesco giving me a 75% off voucher as I walked in on a Monday morning because it was their quiet time. If you're not busy then get a good leaflet and go and leaflet as many houses as you can. Find customers who value your work for what it costs, not giggling 23 year old housewives who have spent a day surfing the net for your slave labour and who will drop you as soon as they can't afford a night out on Friday.

And don't forget if half a day's leaflets only brings you one customer then that's the equivalent of 4 Groupon customers and maybe more

Scoop

[neil kellett]

As John Kelly pointed out,you`d have to be young and fit to do all that
Work !
What about the jobs you do where the customer complains about the
Shrinkage,colour running or whatever else they complain about??
Do you go back,or what is the situation here ?
Thanks for replies.


Lewis  Doubtfire
 
 :

Yeah, you'd want one of Johns prowlers too. Jacked up on a Flux Capacitor running on plutonium.

[Ricky M]

As John Kelly pointed out,you`d have to be young and fit to do all that
Work !
What about the jobs you do where the customer complains about the
Shrinkage,colour running or whatever else they complain about??
Do you go back,or what is the situation here ?
Thanks for replies.


Lewis  Doubtfire
 
 :

Yeah, you'd want one of Johns prowlers too. Jacked up on a Flux Capacitor running on plutonium.

that would be ace !!

[The Great One]

Hi

been giving this a load of thought and I'm with Jason on giving it a try, he's relocated and it is a good chance to build up a customer base.

What is bothering me a little is that Groupon will be earning just as much with no effort or outlay and the point to groupon is to hopefully upsell extras which all groupon people hope to do But there is no certainty that they people having their carpets, meal etc even will have extras done, you have to go in hoping they will.

That's my only niggle

Martin

[wynne jones]

All it proves is marketing know how is king.

They have created a fantastic marketing machine and that includes marketing to businesses like yours. They take a huge chunk of your profit and get you to offer your blood sweat and tears for bargain basement prices.

If you are good at marketing yourself and you are a one man band why on earth would you ever consider it? But if you can't market then maybe it's a big price to pay but worth it. 

[L.Doubtfire - The Blade Runner]

Hi Martin,members.Perhaps as far as we the cleaners are concerned
The percentage figures are `out of kilter`.
If  Groupon take 65% then only take 5% themselves that leaves us
With 30%
Groupon are agents,usually agents are refered to as `Mr. 10% `.
They would have to take a cut to make it viable.
There`s an old saying, “ You have to let the dog see the rabbitt “
I don`t know where VAT stands in all of this.

Lewis  Doubtfire

[Steve Rothwell]

Just to make a few bits clear to you Lewis.

Groupon want you to reduce your price by 65% meaning the customer only pays 35%.
of that 35% then groupon take between 30% and 60% (lets say an average of 50%

so you are doing work for less than 75% of your normal charge.
Groupon make the same amount of money per job as you..
#
Sorry by that is not the usual terms for an agent..

[jasonl]

If a groupon deal is £30  groupon take 50% plus vat  ,leaving £12 for the  vendor.


I negotiated a better deal than this though.   It is not about the £12 for the initial visit , one of the strategies  on fast track etc   is to offer a free clean to friends and family , which I did many years ago when first starting out , and still do for commercial customers .  

The free clean , which is effectively what Groupon is  opens doors, and show what you can do. All groupon does is accelerate the finding process for free clean candidates , by paying £28 this eliminates many of the reall freeloaders , though there will be some.  Yes it is a loss leader, yes keeping track of , and up with the work load is work , but that is why we have cleanersmate software, and bonnet systems so multiple vans are quick , easy and inexpensive to put on the road to cope with times of high demand.


There are carpet cleaners doing this TODAY , several have emailed me (respected posters on here) and told me the doors that have been opened by groupon deals .


Ad/marketing costs for new business over the past 20 years have consistently been 30-40 % of the business gained , so in that respect Groupon is  the same cost , with no upfront costs or risk to capital .

[Steve Rothwell]

I still agree with you Jason.

Was just trying to correct Mr Doubtfire.

~Which areas are you intending to advertise in, as Bournemouth has just been done?

[cozy]

Why wouldn't these "respected posters" come on this thread and stand by that then? Go get your magic beans Jason. Sounds great.

If it doesn't work out, you could always get a salesman job at Groupon. Why try and justify Groupon on here? Just do it and show the world that it's the best thing since sliced bread.

I have full respect for anyone who sticks to what they believe, even when so many are against an idea. That takes courage. At least you have that, unlike the "respected posters".

[jasonl]

I still agree with you Jason.

Was just trying to correct Mr Doubtfire.

~Which areas are you intending to advertise in, as Bournemouth has just been done?
[/quote

I am going to do the offer in Sheffield , and a few local cities .

[Steve Rothwell]

The Bournemouth lot are at it in Southampton today

http://www.groupon.co.uk/deals/southampton

[L.Doubtfire - The Blade Runner]

Hi, LMG,members, this is my `take`on it.The `key`to
The whole business from our `side of the fence`is to
`up sell`when ya get to each job.The Groupon system
Being just perhaps a little more refined ( if that’s the
Description) than say leaflet `drops`at £5 per room,then
up selling`when ya get thereand the customer ends up paying anything
Perhaps  up to or over £100.( I understand we keep that)
It`s possibly a `mild `form of pressure selling.
It`s the only way we can make anything realistic out of each
Job surely ? ?
Many of us window cleaners have added carpet cleaning to our
Daily `grind`,myself included .
Years ago,I`ve run errands and fetched old peoples medication
From the chemists for the price of a `cuppa`.I`ve even tuned in
One old ladies TV when the reception was`nt too special.

P. S. Anyone know how long Groupon have been around ?

Lewis  Doubtfire
`

[clinton]

Lewis..the daily grind

Yes thats one part of things i also do those little extras too.

Guessing the groupon is very new to this..

[L.Doubtfire - The Blade Runner]

Hi Helen,my thoughts exactly.£8.99p per room,blimey,that’s
Dear,I thought it was £5. Per room.I`ve always thought ya
Could get a top class professional for £8.99p.(Only kidding ? )
Oaky,right then,up sell when ya get there.
It`s mainly the gullable and senior citizens that will `buy`it,
At any price.
Example,a pensioner books ya to clean his/her carpet for £8.99p
Ya up sell with protector,another room,this that or the other and
By lunchtime early afternoon the pensioner ends up paying ya
£75 ( assuming they have it)
By the same evening the family,grand son etc. etc. phones ya up
Threatening to punch your lights out if you don`t give him/her their
Money back
Same thing applies with the young or gullable.
What do ya do?


Lewis  Doubtfire

[AJB]

Groupon is perfect



















If your the robbing cheating Enterprise cleaning type.

I'm also prepared to bet the Groupon customers are the most picky
and will expect perfection for their money.

[AshWhite]

I've just started a facebook campaign this afternoon, offering the chance to win a free room clean to anyone who 'likes' my page. Should hopefully give me a few people to market to online. I posted it on all the swap/sell pages locally (about 10 in all, over 20,000 members between them). Personally I'm not quite prepared to commit to the Groupon model until I see it working, the proof of the pudding is in the eating as they say. Good luck Jason (part of me thinks this is all going to end up being a wind up a la derek west mind..)

[Billy Russell]

How dare you Ash!!!!! I'll have you know my good friend Derek West doesn't support wind ups!!!!!!!!! :   

There you go Del i've got your back!!!!!!!!!