[alisonh21]

hi all
im a new member to this site, im a cleaning supervisor in the north east and i also have my own caravan valeting business that ive just started in may this year, ive 2 sites at the min and things were going good at the start but work seems to be drying up, is there anyone who does the same business as me and could tell me if this is normal this time of year, any info would be great
Alison 

[Colin Day]

Hello Alison and welcome...

I would have thought that your better/busier times would be pre/post-season. I do rather a lot of holiday cottages which tend to come up after the October half term or just before it starts getting busy with holiday makers. I did have to clean one last week because "Monty Don's Dog" had made a mess of the new carpets, so unless someone leaves (in your case) caravan in a bit of a state, I would expect caravan cleaning to almost certainly be quiet at this time of year.

Cheers, Colin....

[Paul Nevins]

Hi Alison, welcome to the forum, Im new on here too!

I am an oven cleaner, but have recently developed the business to include carpet cleaning due to demand.

My area has many static caravan and chalet sites, there are also a number of them which are residential for 11 months of the year. Having cleaned ovens in them, I got speaking to the customers and it seems the need is for a very quick turnaround with everything left as good as dry by the time youve finished. I offer a full package if required which consists of Carpets & Upholstery, Oven and full exterior clean. Ask your customers while youre doing the Carpets about the oven, might be worth thinking about a small portable tank?

Might be worth thinking about leafleting all houses with a Touring Caravan parked on the drive? Offer a mobile service and do the car as well for a discounted price?

All food for thought! 

[alisonh21]

hi

some good ideas for me to think about there thank u, at the min im just cleaning the sales van but the weather here has been crap so im wondering if thats the reason, one of the sites is for park resorts and im not sure if they are having a cash flow problem, i do offer deep cleans which include carpet washes and exterior washes to, ive sent over 200 emails to companys offering my services and only recived 10 replys and they were all telling me they were sorted, my next plan is to knock on residents caravans and offer deep cleans will they are off site for a month so im hopin this might bring some work in, very nervous about giving up my full time job and going self employed for good as my wage pays our bills, maybe next year might be better for that

Alison

[Paul Nevins]

I am just waiting on being made redundant Alison, so understand how you feel about taking the plunge, its daunting. Over the past 3 months Ive set up my oven cleaning business which is on track, started doing the caravans on request (no advertising yet) and I'm putting the wheels in motion for domestic and commercial carpet cleaning.

I think that my looming redundancy has been the push that Ive needed to get things going. I intend to get my fingers in as many pies as possible to make the business work.

If things look good by the time I'm laid off,  I wont mind chucking a big lump of my redundancy money into the business, but at the moment Im on a very tight budget, I'm pumping all my oven cleaning money back into the other areas of the business. I'm looking to get the best used equipment at the cheapest possible price, compromising on the end result is never an option for me.

My only advice to you would be keep going and try different things? Very much a recommendation game where I live, so things will take time naturally.

Good Luck! 

[Colin Day]

With oven cleaning you can build up regular customers (6 Monthly) so easily. With carpet cleaning it's just that bit more difficult to get a customer to commit to letting you book them in for their next clean in 12-18 months time, even when you've exceeded their expectations.

I don't think I'd have been too bothered about going into carpet cleaning if I'd started oven cleaning first to be honest, oven cleaning's a cheaper business to run by far... But I won't pack carpet cleaning in, because cleaning carpets is a breath of fresh air to cleaning a minging oven....

[alisonh21]

hi paul

sorry to hear about you been laid off it must be very scary for you at moment, im a great beliver in everything happens for a reason so i think you will do very well in your new business, i also intend getting my fingers in as many pies as possible its the only way i think and you never know were it can lead, i havnt done much advertising yet as i havnt had much time, on putting a web site together at the moment, i will say one thing thou it can be very frustrating when there is no work comming in, ive just bought myself the new vax carpet washer its not to bad but cant go for anything much bigger as they wont fit in caravans or my van, i have just bought myself a big water tank which when set up should make washing outsides a lot faster, been new to this type of cleaning im hoping that it been so quiet at the moment is just the time of year and the crap weather we are having, i know were you are comming from colin with oven cleaning its the one thing i hate about doing caravans but wish you good luck with your business paul

alison

[Colin Day]

A Vax isn't the best tool to be frank, there is no way you'll ever recover enough moisture from a caravan's carpets and you risk leaving them with a damp/mold problem. You could quite easily set up a much bigger twin vac machine to be worked from the back of your van. Though to be honest, the only time I'd ever seriously consider buying a Truck Mount, would be if I got a whole heap of caravans to clean.

[richy27]

A Vax isn't the best tool to be frank, there is no way you'll ever recover enough moisture from a caravan's carpets and you risk leaving them with a damp/mold problem. You could quite easily set up a much bigger twin vac machine to be worked from the back of your van. Though to be honest, the only time I'd ever seriously consider buying a Truck Mount, would be if I got a whole heap of caravans to clean.

and trust me colin you can get a mountain of caravans done with a trucky  lol.

[Colin Day]

A Vax isn't the best tool to be frank, there is no way you'll ever recover enough moisture from a caravan's carpets and you risk leaving them with a damp/mold problem. You could quite easily set up a much bigger twin vac machine to be worked from the back of your van. Though to be honest, the only time I'd ever seriously consider buying a Truck Mount, would be if I got a whole heap of caravans to clean.

and trust me colin you can get a mountain of caravans done with a trucky  lol.

I don't doubt it for 1 second. I do get some caravans to clean but not nearly enough to warrant drying my bank account up for 

[alisonh21]

what machine do you use colin

[derek west]

is it cos she is a women that no ones sayin ewt. you gallent lot you.

[Colin Day]

what machine do you use colin

Alltec Advance. Twice as powerful as a TM IMO.....

[alisonh21]

what do u mean derek, why they been gallent?

havnt seen one of them machines colin, how much are they if u dont mind me asking

[cannon]

Hi Alison

Where abouts in durham are you based? Ive just come back from a weekend camping and spent quite a few hours searching internet last week for camping/caravan sites, theres quite a  few throughout durham.

[alisonh21]

hi cannon

im near sedgefield, i have 2 sites in harlepool, ive sent loads of emails to sites all ove county durham and the ones that did reply were all sorted but at least they have my no. if anything does come up

[cannon]

Ive done a couple of vans at crimdon dene before, i would imagine this time of year they will be in constant use.

I would say adding oven cleaning was one of the best things i did, awfull job but theres quite a demand for it.

[alisonh21]

im at crimdon dene at the moment but things very quiet, oven cleaning sounds like a good idea i might give it a try, do u use any special stuff for cleaning them which makes the job easier or is it just a lot of elbow grease

[cannon]

Im having a heated dip tank made in the next week or two, its being made to my measurements and is an upright tank so takes up minimal room in the van. The tank takes care of the racks, grill pan, pan supports etc then some elbow grease for the rest.

E-mail them all again in a month or so, or better still send a letter or even better spend a day or two driving and visit the sites.

[Colin Day]

The downside with an upright Dip tank is that it needs to be full, whereas a flat dip tank takes 20-30 litres... Cheaper on chemicals in the long run...

The machine cost just over £3k Alison...