[Byford Cleaning]

Has anyone ever worked out how much it costs to do a job in cleaning solution etc? I assume most just replace as needed rather than budgeting per job.

Im writing a business plan to try and get help from the princess trust in setting myself up in business and this one has me stumped so any input would be great.

Thanks

[Jonathan Evans]

Hi Stefen  never worked it out to the nth degree but the solutions work out in pence, if you are using a portable it is only the wear and tear on the machine so again pence,
Even when factoring in my Truck mount on an average job it is only costing me around £5.00. I have recently (this year been making a note of all costs including travel, @ 48p per mile and including travel to quote etc which appears to make a big difference to costs.

The area I would concentrate on for costing is advertising as this is my biggest cost. I have a spread sheet and list all the jobs where they have come from how much I have made back from my spend or ROI.

This showed me a few things like leaflets were the most expensive to do but brought in a better roi. Internet was a lot better at bringing in enquiries but the roi was not as good and I do a lot more referral and repeat work   which is better.

[Simon Gerrard]

It's not an odd question.
Every business should know its costs, right down to the last penny, so that at the very least you can calculate you breakeven point, which is a value of sales your business needs to reach every week in order to stay afloat. (breakeven is the point where you have neither made nor lost money)

Fuel and chemical costs are the two main costs that you only incur when you go out to work and are called 'variable costs because they vary to the amount of work you do,  usually about 8% fuel, 4% chemicals, so a variable cost of 12%.
The rest of your costs are call fixed expenses, these cost occur whether you are working or not - these are the ones that catch people out.
I have a full financial planning system on an Excel spreadsheet, you can have a cope if you like.

Hope this helps


Simon

[*Hector*]

What a nice man you are......


So now it begs the question......

who are you? and how did you hack Simon's account??


 

[John Kelly]

Chemspec have done this for their most popular products, anyone want one please email and we'll email one through.

Also Simon has spent 2 years putting together a fantastic piece of work on how to start a successful carpet cleaning business. This will not only benefit new starters but will also be of use to those who have started up recently and want to push their business further.

Available here:

http://www.restormate.co.uk/epages/15094.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/15094/Products/0058

[jasonl]

Staff wages are by far my biggest cost , how to increase fee earning time is my biggest battle, training , holidays , travel time , waiting time , gaining access are all profit eaters , chemical and fuel costs become insignificant if staff costs escalate.

[Simon Gerrard]

What a nice man you are......

So now it begs the question......

who are you? and how did you hack Simon's account??

 

Hector,
I've always been a nice guy, just never to you and you know what that is rag head

[*Hector*]