[JandS]

" Lets face it if I wasn't in this business there advertising would work on me"

Hit the nail on the head there.

[robert meldrum]

Although it will be condemned by every Tom and Dick but maybe not Harry, if you are literally SKINT and there can be many reasons why some one might be, you need to generate money to simply get by.

What 99% of businesses do when times are tough is to HAVE A SALE / OFFER DEALS / ADVERTISE WHERE IT'S NOTICED and that is still in your LOCAL NEWSPAPER.

IT REALLY DOESN'T MATTER A DAMN THAT THE " TYPE " OF CUSTOMER YOU GET WILL MOST LIKELY BE " ONE OFF'S " AS YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR MARKETING ANY TIME YOU LIKE TO TARGET SPECIFIC GROUPS.

Cash flow is KING ( obviously there needs to be enough profit involved ) and if you are fit enough and capable enough of doing five or six jobs a day it will do you no harm whatsoever to work the lower end of the market for a while. I don't mean the BOTTOM of the market, but it should be relatively easy to generate work that will return you around £25 plus per hour.

I know that's a lot less than some will claim they won't get out of bed for and is less than I aimed for 20 years ago, but times ARE tough right now so you do what you have to do.

[benny d]

^^ Thanks, thats got me motivated to go around all the tralier parks in West Sussex.^^

My new advert headline...

" No trailer too small. And a free spittoon with any cleaning"  

[bennymon]

Hi at the moment my site is high on the generic and is hovering around the top of Adwords I put out 20,000 leaflet per month I also contact previous customers . It's odd I get work from previous customers but it not usually the ones I've contacted it's ones looking for me . My latest plan of action is putting leaflets in local shop windows so fingers crossed   del

[JandS]

"3 bedroom house £119"

If times were that hard you could undercut that
and still make a decent living.
You could do it at £100.

[david@zap-clean]

"3 bedroom house £119"

What does that mean though?
 
I've just completed a 5 bedroomed house which took me a day and a half.
At the prices above I'd have been paid about £150.  I charged far more than that!

But I cleaned every square inch of the carpet, properly, and did a little washing up, and unblocked their sink, and moved loads of furniture. Oh, and patted the dog on the head.

[Simon Gerrard]

 A day and half for a five bedroom house Crikey, that's three hours to me and that's with stopping for a brew.

[david@zap-clean]

A day and half for a five bedroom house Crikey, that's three hours to me and that's with stopping for a brew.

Blimey... at my prices, and your efficiency, that's, er... 5bed house x 3hrs x 3 jobs per day x 6 day week x 52 weeks per year = £1,000,000.01p a year turnover 
 

[Steve Barnett (Carpet Care Plus)]

There's 5 bedroom houses and 5 bedroom houses.

I did one last month. £3 million quid and over 5000 ft2 of carpet alone, that's without all the marble floors and bathrooms.

I spent the first 2 hours just running the hoses and protecting everything.

a day and a half's work and a lucrative job ticket price.

[Simon Gerrard]

David,
'Efficiency' is the word

[Shaun_Ashmore]

I have no idea what David charged or what Simon would charge but a day and a half' work could be £1000 where as 3 hours could be £100 !!! I'm sure you can see my point anyway.

Disclaimer there are other cleaners and prices available.

Shaun

[Simon Gerrard]

I think there is an issue with saying to a client that it will take a day and a half just to clean the carpets in a 5 bedroom house which with the right equipment and an efficient work ethnic can be done in a matter of hours.

Simon

[JandS]

Just meant a bog standard 3 bed, living room and hsl.

[david@zap-clean]

I think there is an issue with saying to a client that it will take a day and a half just to clean the carpets in a 5 bedroom house which with the right equipment and an efficient work ethnic can be done in a matter of hours.

Simon

There are so many variables - e.g. size of the rooms, and how much furniture needs shifting - this one had a grand piano, and a dining table that was so heavy I couldn't easily lift a corner up to get my sliders under... amongst other things.

[*Hector*]

When it comes to moving furniture.. If it is going to break or give me a hernia.. it stays where it is unless the custard moves it.......

[Shaun_Ashmore]

I quoted a customer to clean her lounge carpet she asked if I would be there all day, people's perceptions are different.

Shaun

[COLIN BRIGHT]

i do,every now and then get a run of price shopping peasants but most of my work in the last 3 months have been rec or repeats so the price isnt an issue, make them a great offer and they will ring..especially now spring is in the air....IS THAT SNOW ON THE HILLS?

[Simon Gerrard]

I think there is an issue with saying to a client that it will take a day and a half just to clean the carpets in a 5 bedroom house which with the right equipment and an efficient work ethnic can be done in a matter of hours.

Simon

There are so many variables - e.g. size of the rooms, and how much furniture needs shifting - this one had a grand piano, and a dining table that was so heavy I couldn't easily lift a corner up to get my sliders under... amongst other things.

David,
I seriously hope you aren't moving all of those things, if you are you'd better tell your insurance company.
We won't move heavy tables, pianos. bookcases, wardrobes etc and I can't remember the last time someone considered that an issue.
How much did you charge for that job, if you don't mind me asking?

Simon

[david@zap-clean]

I think there is an issue with saying to a client that it will take a day and a half just to clean the carpets in a 5 bedroom house which with the right equipment and an efficient work ethnic can be done in a matter of hours.

Simon

There are so many variables - e.g. size of the rooms, and how much furniture needs shifting - this one had a grand piano, and a dining table that was so heavy I couldn't easily lift a corner up to get my sliders under... amongst other things.

David,
I seriously hope you aren't moving all of those things, if you are you'd better tell your insurance company.
We won't move heavy tables, pianos. bookcases, wardrobes etc and I can't remember the last time someone considered that an issue.
How much did you charge for that job, if you don't mind me asking?

Simon

I tried PMing you - no PM button.

No, I don't move that type of furniture either... I didn't move the piano.  However, I did have to lift the very heavy table (leg by leg) as it was on top of a huge wool rug, which needed shifting out of the way.  There was a large amount of 'other' furniture to be moved, like sofa's (5), more dining tables (2), some big armchairs (er, 6), coffee tables (lots) etc etc... I would guestimate I spent 3 hours shifting furniture in total.

I worked really hard on this job - 7 hrs no break on day 1 (yes, I was kn*ck*r*d).  I might not be super efficient, but I can't imaging doing the job more than 10% quicker if I was.

[Simon Gerrard]

David,
You can email me if you wish.
simon@gerrardscarpetcleaners.co.uk

Simon