Spickandspan says " it just scares me sometimes how much some people charge i fear for our industry sometimes, it not as though its brain surgery is it and i know we have to buy all our equipment and i know we pay for training and i know we have to run our vans etc etc etc but its semi skilled work at the end of the day. I am not pulling our industry down have been doing it for 17 year but some times i look how much some guys charge it makes my hair stand on end."
Carpet Doctor says "I think £100 an hour is sensible in this day and age. Not saying i get it, but i will try"
These attitudes and mindsets show exactly why our industry is often undervalued and underpaid by the public. But it explains why so many carpet cleaners struggle whilst others flourish commercially, financially and personally.
Let me explain.
I'm a professional carpet and upholstery cleaner. I run a 1.5 man band! I live in West Devon, one of the lowest earning parts of the country.
The average earnings for those actually working within the West Devon district was only £13,500 in 2006 (figure from West Devon Borough Council published statistics)
And I charge a minimum £250 per day for my services and regularly get up to £400+ in a day! And I don't run a truck mount. I aim for an average £300+ a day. And I
Why do I charge a minimum £250 per day and get it?
Well, for starters, I have calculated my costs for the year and divide it by 48 to get an average weekly cost. I divide by 48 as I take 4 weeks holiday a year, - (I need it!)
My costs include the following: Vehicle finance cost, vehicle depreciation, diesel, road tax, vehicle repair and service, tyre replacement, vehicle insurance, finance for quality equipment, equipment depreciation, equipment servicing, cost of quality chemicals, business insurance ( including employee & public liability & treatment risk), regular training, cost of travel to training, cost of B & B whilst at training, cost of travel to other trade events, seminars and exhibitions,, cost of NCCA membership, cost of IICRC certification, finance of laptop/printer, cost of software, cost of printer consumables, depreciation of laptop/printer, cost of business stationary, cost of telephone rental & calls, cost of mobile telephone & calls, yellow pages advert costs, local press advert costs, several parish magazine advert costs, leaflet printing and distribution costs, postage costs, rental of very small premises for storage and rug cleaning, .... and more.
Once I know my TRUE weekly costs I can easily calculate how much it costs to run my business each day before I clean my first carpet or chair.
Workers earning £13500 pa cannot afford to pay me my desired renumeration for cleaning their carpets, i.e. £250 minimum per day.
So I simply target all of my marketing efforts at higher net worth individuals (professional and wealthier retired people) and businesses. Those who can afford to pay me what I want! Location has very little to do with it.
These target customers will have spent many thousands of pounds purchasing their soft furnishings and most of them do not mind paying good money for regular professional cleaning.
In return I provide superb, superior cleaning on every job. And I get very satisfied repeat customers who are usually more than happy to give me glowing testimonials and recommend my services to their friends and neighbours. It's a win-win situation for both me and my customers. They see true VALUE in my services.
Customers often tell me that their previous cleaner only charged about £100 a day but provided barely adequate cleaning. This doesn't surprise me as I know that by having costed my services correctly, it would be impossible for me to provide first rate cleaning for £100 per day without going bust.
But believe me, I NEVER undersell myself and I clean on average 4.5 days per week, 48 weeks of the year! And there are many others doing a lot better than me!
So for those of you who find it difficult to achieve more than £100 - £150 per day on a regular basis , I'd say you are lacking in one or several of the following,
a) Basic business skills
b) Cleaning skills
c) People skills
d) Common sense.
Two of these can be learned.
So please stop knocking those businessmen cleaners who are showing honest profit by understanding their costs and supplying good value for good money.
But I suppose if one doesn't understand all this after 17 years in this business, one never will.
