[Steven Butler]

Honestly on most jobs I'm asked
Do you know an oven cleaner?
Do you know a window cleaner?
Do you know anyone who cleans patios?
Anyone who cleans conservatories?
Etc etc etc
Carpet cleaning I love and make some real good money out of it but in reality as others have said on recent threads it's never going to make you rich! Well off possibly but not rich.
I'm wondering is it worth becoming a general cleaning company that offers all solutions to domestic cleaning???
Then again then comes the dilemma of whether to sub out or employ... if you get too busy you can't do it all yourself,,,,
I'm still new iSH in my 5th year of carpet & upholstery, just wondered if any of you longer established guys have expanded or just stook with carpets?
Interested in any opinions/advise/experiences

[Doctor Carpet (Ret'd)]

I bought my business which had already been established 10 years.  When I took it on the main business was carpets and upholstery. But it also offered curtain cleaning, pressure washing and dry cleaning solvent cleaning.

I found over the next 2-3 years that as I put my prices up and got more proficient at the carpets and upholstery that the other services tended to wither away. That said I didn't really have an interest in them either.

Of course as soon as I had decided in each case to stop offering these services and to divest myself of equipment was just the time that multiple enquiries would be received for these services.

I didn't regret stopping offering these services and as appropriate would discuss other options available to the client confident that they would retain me for their carpets and upholstery cleaning.

In hindsight I found that I ended up specialising in carpets and upholstery and as such was more than busy enough to be able to charge a premium for what I did clean as many clients considered me to be a specialist rather than a "jack of all trades".

Rog

[Jonathan Evans]

As above taken me a while to understand this but specialise and be seen as a specialist rather than jack of all trades.
Since I have done this things have looked up.
That said most general cleaning companies make more than me but then work harder longer and more unsociable hours.

[JandS]

I diversified into window cleaning as well....bought a round on my doorstep and never looked back
I now find my spend on advertising for carpets is minimal to get me 3 days work a week.......the other 2 days I'm out in the fresh air doing something different.....also because window cleaning isn't scheduled as such any last minute carpet cancellations I can drop onto windows.
It's also got me into conservatory cleaning and gutter cleaning and am loving the diversity.

[Mike Halliday]

If you are a 1 man band then do anything you like as long as it hits your wanted hourly rate,  or if you don't have the work to fill your diary then you could do anything at a lower hourly rate but slowly as you get busier decrease  lower priced work or increase the price until it equals you top earner.

Because of this strategy I have removed my truckmount out of the van and no longer offer a carpet & upholstery cleaning service it didn't hit my hourly rate, until work slows down on the pressure washing I'm just passing on all the carpet& upholstery enquiries.

I'm hoping I never clean another carpet again

[jasonl]

This is why I opened Valley cleaning centre, a one stop shop for all cleaning needs

valleycleaningcentre.co.uk

[caroline stone]

Mike
Why do you not wish to clean another carpet?
Is it just the hourly rate or are you just fed up with it?
Just curious!

[Hilton]

Three people liked it, so I guess that's three other carpet cleaners that wish they never had to clean another carpet, which is odd.

[Stoots]

I offer

Car valeting
Carpet cleaning
Pressure washing
Window cleaning
Gutter  clearance
Conservatory cleaning

The idea behind it was when starting out to offer the lot and more chance of picking up work.

The main focus now is windows anything else is faffing about.

Long term goal is to keep building the windows infinetly and employing then using the customer database to offer the extra services so the add on work will need next to no marketting.

[Mike Halliday]

Mike
Why do you not wish to clean another carpet?
Is it just the hourly rate or are you just fed up with it?
Just curious!

At first it was the hourly rate not comparing  to pressure washing but after a while I realised I was getting peeved off doing single rooms and dragging pipes up stairs for little bedroom jobs, my mate & I realised we would be better  off turning down little jobs and spending the time putting out leaflets to gain bigger earning pressure washing work.

Plus there was a few other little things, the job satisfaction is much higher, the job values are higher. Less stress of working in people's homes.

A big thing was no more working for an hour trying to get a stain out of a carpet only  to get 90%  of it out and the client still not willing To pay for the time and skill used.

To be honest there was  a million little things that have killed my love of carpet cleaning

[caroline stone]

Mike
I must admit i no longer actually enjoy carpet cleaning all that much after 22 years.
The only thing that keeps me going is that i have a lot of great regular customers that i enjoy working for and the freedom the job gives me.
The actual carpet cleaning itself does very little for me now!
Andrew stone.

[Steven Butler]

Cheers for the replies all, some mixed opinions which I was hoping for.
Month on month and year on year I am earning more which to me is success BUT I'm very ambitious and with many many years ahead to work I can't help but think why limit myself to one thing.....that said I am wary of becoming a jack of all trades, however if planned right I'm sure that won't be the case.
I like money a lot......and want MORE at the end of the day that's what we all work for.
Thanks again

[Craigp]

Interesting to read your comments Mike, it's not just me then getting fed up with carpets, but I kind of see it as my bread and butter.

I rather work outside given the choice.

Is there much demand for conservatories?

Would a hose pipe brush do instead of pure water fed pole?

[Mike Halliday]

To be honest I should keep quite about it but there is a massive demand every time I clean one I stand on the tower and look across the neighbours gardens I can see 5 more that need cleaning. My new leaflet has a full side about conservatory roof cleaning.

We use a waterfed pole connected to the hosepipe not pure water to rinse and extending car wash brushes to scrub before rinsing

[Craig A Moore]

If I was you I would We take on most things it helps fill in gaps been doing 7 days a week I enjoy a change as well stops me getting board :-)

[Craigp]

Not to mention of course the carpet cleaning market has become crowed out, all climbing over each other to offer the most desperate cheapest price. I do PW'ing driveways and patios, and hard floor and I really love the change.

I think  after 14 years of carpets you do get a bit fed up with them, and the calls drive you nuts, it's all price shoppers and awkward jobs you don't want, thankfully I have a steady stream of repeats so I can be quite blase with the new enquires.

There's this guy in the states, New York, I met through Google plus and he does carpets, but also windows, building exteriors pressure washing, wood, decking, the lot, and it looks so much more enjoyable work. Have a look through some of his work, it's all shared public https://www.facebook.com/jay.pooler.73?lst=100001680666519%3A100007163943975%3A1492419344

[Carpet Dawg]

I agree and have been saying it for a while now. Its getting over crowed, a lot of new starts popping up and staying around unlike earlier days where it was harder to get the work. Now they can get the high powered machinery very easily from ebay, train themselves via facebook group, forums and youtube videos and then get work from facebook for free, advertising cheap pricing and building their whole business via facebook crap, driving the prices down for everyone.

I find it harder the last couple of years to get a good price, I mean I still do but I do get more price resistance and I can only point blame to the cheap cleaners. Just today I booked in a £170 suite clean, the wife didn't even bat an eye lid. She calls me back after an hour to tell me that her husband has found someone that can do it for £60!! And according to her he's going to do a very thorough job, is fully insured etc etc. So that twit who doesn't value his time or himself has made me look like I am heavily over charging.

Mike and Craig, can you guys not look for PW work all year round? maybe commercial work? There is a company called blast away based in Manchester (I think), and the guy used to post a lot on here on the general cleaning section. Seems to do very well and looks like a piece of p to do with very little that can go wrong.

https://www.facebook.com/BlastAwayCleaning/

[JandS]

The fact that you tried to charge £170 for a suite clean says it all....not just cheap prices killing this game.

[JandS]

You are heavily overcharging.

[Carpet Dawg]

You are heavily overcharging.

Its actually less than 5% of the value of the suite. So an absolute bargain.

Out of interest,
A) who do you think is  going to be the most thorough job, take their time, do the job properly, which will spend time putting down lots of dust sheets, groom the pile, set up air movers, towel all the wet clean sections/cushions, use the best and correct products for the fabric and soil type? vac all the crap on the base and in all the nooks and grannies.
B) And who will be splashing and dashing to get out there as quick as possible? and leaving lovely triangles all over the fabric?

The  £60 cleaner could be doing A's level of clean and service and if he is, then he's an even a bigger fool than I gave him credit for.