[Mike Halliday]

Do you think we will be working just the  same in 20yrs?

My wife and I are just sorting out our retirement options, my wife has a brilliant pension that she has paid into from leaving school, but it still will only pay out what I earn In just one and a half days a week. I don't have a pension but believe I can earn a good income just from working very part time.

My son is planning on taking over from me,so even if I just sit in an office and just do quotes I can earn a god income.

Will carpet cleaning change that much in the next 20 yrs, will carpets be self cleaning? Or not even exist 

[Simon@arenaclean]

The mechanics might change, machines, heat, chemicals. It's changed a lot in the 20 odd years i've been cleaning, but i'm 45 and we still use a sink to wash up, a shower to wash and a washing machine to clean laundry. Machines and detergents are better but the process has not really changed much. Maybe advances in dry cleaning powders and encaping?

[Shaun_Ashmore]

In the 25 years I've been cleaning carpets all that has really changed is that we leave them drier, when I cleaned carpets all those years ago I believed that I was doing the best job taking a lot longer though to remove soiling but still leaving a cleaner carpet, products and machinery have made things easier but not too sure on better.

Shaun

[Mike Halliday]

I was talking to mark at dp ensign last week and he's adamant that carpet cleaning is a dieing  market, literally!!

Our core customers are older people who believe in cleaning rather than buying new, as these people die they are being replaced with people of 'the throw away society' who just throw it  out  and buy a new one.

Unless we look for emerging markets there will not be enough of the people who use carpet cleaners to sustain the amount of companies in our industry.... More companies fighting over a diminishing market.

We're all dooooomed I tell yea!!

[gwrightson]

............. ahhh but Mike , more and more younger people are getting patio,s and block paving so you will kept busy.


Geoff

[Carpet Dawg]

lots of my customers are younger 

Mike, did you not make a post not long ago but not being a negative thinking person? 

[Mike Halliday]

Dawg....

I'm actually incredibly positive, I see the downturn in our industry as a positive thing, I'm comforted by the fact that most carpet cleaners are lazy and will happily watch themselves fail rather than put some effort into becoming successful. ( look at CIU you can see them here...... pitifully moaning they have no work)

The beginning of this year is a perfect example, with a prolonged winter it made 3 of my local competitors call it a day. They spewed out negativity about how all marketing was wasted because no one wanted ther carpets cleaned in the bad weather. While Every day i was walking the streets putting out leaflets and earning good money

A smaller market will make more of them give up.....until I'm the only one left

[Shaun_Ashmore]

But Mark is always like that, hes a great lad but it's all doom and gloom he needs to have a week with John Hunter that'll sort him out

Shaun

[Mike Halliday]

Did you know johns in hospital?

He is one of the 3 I mentioned, he's sold up to mike toomy  and is using the money to live in Thailand and is going to work as a teacher of English


..... That was until he fell off a roof and broke half the bones in his body

[Shaun_Ashmore]

I can't work it out I'm doing the same amount of work financially as last year but I'm home earlier in the day.

Shaun

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Oh no is he in hospital in Thailand?

Shaun

[wynne jones]

Twenty years is a looong time to second guess anything. By then your wife might have to wear a berka or you will be in a Chinese labour camp for 'speaking your mind'.

On an optimistic note   is there something you would do anyway, even if retired, that you could find a way to make an income from?    

[Mike Halliday]

Shaun, No he did it here a week before he was due to fly out.

I think he had paid for for the teaching course and flights. Not a bad idea he had really, £1500 for a 6 week course including accommodation and they guarentee  you a job on completion of the course.

[Neil Jones]

I don't know, my turnover has increased year on year for the last five years, i've slowly offloaded valeting and now mainly do carpets etc as well as adding domestic and commercial cleaning with two people doing that for me. I'm on a hard floor course in two week and i'm actually going to start leather cleaning which I have always just dismissed. I've always done pressure washing but recently really pushed it and bought all new gear. I'm hoping that I will just do one or two days a week max valeting by the end of the year, which will be my bread and butter and are just high end customers. That would be my perfect scenario.
Even considering the step up to a truck mount but i'm worried about the step. This week has been my highest ever earning week, I have worked like a trooper though, could of done with an 8th day.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

I'm glad he has had the accident here at least he'll get looked after properly, £1500 for a course may only give him £1500 for the year over there  

Shaun

[Carpet Dawg]

Ladyboys on tap though Shaun!   

[Shaun_Ashmore]

What ever rocks your boat, they'd be alright trying to get money out of my wallet I can peel and orange in their by telepathy.

Shaun

[John Kelly]

I can't work it out I'm doing the same amount of work financially as last year but I'm home earlier in the day.

Shaun

Thats just because you eventually paid to have your watch fixed.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

I took the watch aperture I found the hands trying to get in my pockets.

Anybody would think I'm tight reading this I'm not of course just thrifty.

Shaun

[Paul Clapham]

Mike I don't understand , If you are running your own business why has your accountant not advised you to start a private pension , and use the tax advantages

If you are paying tax each year you can afford to pay into a pension pot, the fact that you are not doing seems like really bad accounting advice !!!