[spindle]

here we go

i love my porty!!!( might change if/when buy t/m)

it earns me £50 ph .what is  there not to like.......

it is cheaper to maintain....uses custy power......not more expense like a  t/m (diesel/petrol)
 and most importantly it fits in the back of my car! along with everything else i need

no cost of running a van

ok so i am only earning 50ph but more of the money belongs to me and not paid out  for running costs...

interesting question..how much does it cost to run a t/m per hour??
how much does servicing cost on a t/m?? presumming that serviced every 100hrs??
what do t/m owners use when the t/m breaks down or need servicing???
do you cancel jobs or tell custy i gonna do a reasonable job with porty  but not that great???


no argument just curious

disagree with above post..........simon is always rubbing someones nose in it whether porty or t/m

[PaulKing]

this is going to run and run.

I don't think simon is putting the boot in to portable users any more than he would to a user of a less powerful truckmount.

I do think it could do with splitting into several different threads as it is getting quite long to read from he start

 

[john rees]

Hi All,
        
        My running costs are quite reasonable I think as I run mine on gas instead of petrol which is less than half the price of petrol, I service them myself every 50 hours and buy the service parts from the states and make quite a big saving there too, If the truckmount does breakdown it wouldn't be a problem as I would take the spare one out instead, which was payed for within a year by the first truckmount as well as the van to put it in. So the running costs don't really come into it for me as they are really small compared with what they earn.

                 All the best
                                   John

[Len Gribble]

Chris

Are you free tomorrow afternoon as there is someone I would like you to meet, bring your machine

Jim

Think the ship has long sailed on insurance work

Len

[Simon Gerrard]

Darren,
No I am not putting the boot in porty  users. If you read the opening post of this topic you will see that I started my business with a Prochem Steameasy 400 and gradually worked my way to doing medium to large commercial jobs with a twin vac machine and rotary scrubber. Then I got a Truck Mount, a small one at first and then came the RX20 and then twin capable Truck Mounts and next week a will be taking delivery of a  triple capable Truck Mount, one of the most sophisticated and powerful Truck Mounts on the planet, capable of running three RX20 simultaneously and cleaning 1,500 sq yds of carpet in under four hours.
I am not doing this to put the boot into anyone, least of all portable operators, nor am I doing it because I am a show off. What I am showing you and everyone else in the industry is that if you aspire to be something more than you are today then anything is possible.

From the emails and phone calls I get I seem to inspire more people than I p off and the people I p off are the kind of people who don't want to be inspired in the first place but hate to see successful people doing better than they are and do everything they can to bring them down.
Oh well, that's life, I suppose.

Simon

[*paul_moss]

Simon your 24 hrs has expired 
Hope the missus is ok.

[carpet guy]

Just came across your post Mr Halliday and you are absolutely right as you always are. I am nothing but a fool, with no knowledge, or experience, or training, or consideration for others and absolutely crap at cleaning carpets.

But .............strange thing is, I get my phone ringing daily, with requests to clean carpets and suites, either from previous customers or recommendations and no, it's not because I'm the cheapest although, at around the £50 an hour mark you might think so and it's not because of my heavy saturation advertising, I don't do any.




 

[spindle]

ok sorted....cya 2moro

[turneylogan]

Darren,
No I am not putting the boot in porty  users. If you read the opening post of this topic you will see that I started my business with a Prochem Steameasy 400 and gradually worked my way to doing medium to large commercial jobs with a twin vac machine and rotary scrubber. Then I got a Truck Mount, a small one at first and then came the RX20 and then twin capable Truck Mounts and next week a will be taking delivery of a  triple capable Truck Mount, one of the most sophisticated and powerful Truck Mounts on the planet, capable of running three RX20 simultaneously and cleaning 1,500 sq yds of carpet in under four hours.
I am not doing this to put the boot into anyone, least of all portable operators, nor am I doing it because I am a show off. What I am showing you and everyone else in the industry is that if you aspire to be something more than you are today then anything is possible.

From the emails and phone calls I get I seem to inspire more people than I p off and the people I p off are the kind of people who don't want to be inspired in the first place but hate to see successful people doing better than they are and do everything they can to bring them down.
Oh well, that's life, I suppose.

Simon

Simon,

You and I have communicated before by email and you seem to be a reasonable guy but I'm getting a little fed up with the inflammatory comments and sweeping statements being made.

Your last post suggests that porty owners do not wish aspire to anything greater and don't like to see more succesful people than themselves.

You may not have meant to say this, but this is what comes across.

For the avoidance of doubt, there many succesful porty operators, as can be read somewhere in this everlasting post, its just that you don't seem to be capable of listening to others' points of view, again as others have tried to point out to you.

At the end of the day it is all about commercial sense and what people want to achieve for their lifestyle.

Personally, a porty allows me to work the hours/days I want to, and provides me with the return I require (which is not necessarily any less than I would have if I had a TM, just less capital expenditure). Increasing my capital expenditure and decreasing cleaning time wouldn't really benefit me, and I am 99% domestic properties.

But to say that days of the portable operators are over (which you implied in an earlier post) is just plain rubbish.

[Mike Osbourne]

I think most people on here run their own business. And one of the main reasons they run their own business will be to do things the way they want to do them and not be dictated to by someone else trying to tell them how they should run theirs.

There are also two thinly veiled assumptions in Simon's posts. One is that all porty users are paupers because the only reason they don't have a truckmount is they can't afford one and the other is they are idiots for not having a truckmount if they can. While this may be true for some a) it's patronising and b)it takes no account of an individuals work/lifestyle choices.

[Simon Gerrard]

Turney and others,
I have NEVER knocked portable operators, as I have said repeatedly I started this business with them. If you look at the opening post of this topic you will see that I held Ken Wainwright up as a shining example of what can be achieved with a portable machine, and I meant every word of that, perhaps you conveniently hadn't read that bit.

The trouble is every time there is this TM / portable debate you portable guy's go all defensive and come up with all of the clichéd arguments for why you don't need a TM, even though the majority of you quite readily accept that TM's are in lots of ways better.
The other really fascinating thing is that the majority of you have never had or used a TM and your arguments as to whether or not you need one in your business are therefore baseless when making exchanges with people who have had both but and know the benefits first hand.

The other thing here Turney is that like you, I too am allowed to express my opinion and if you and others want to be childish and read things into what I have said then you go ahead and be childish but at the very least avail yourself of the facts first. Just because I say things that you do not agree with does NOT mean that I am knocking you or anyone else, it simply means that I have a different point of you than you do, so what?

Simon

[spindle]

 ronaldo went to play football in the park.........

while ronaldo was is the park he saw some other boys playing......
ronaldo then joined the boys and was  playing nicely but then ended up telling everyone how great he was and how the other players were just not up to his standard or level.......and how he won this trophy and that title.........and how he had the 1st new adidias predator football boots...........

the other boys in the park decided that they were no longer interested in playing with ronaldo because no matter what they did it would never be good enough for him........and he would always put the other players down...

point being is that ronaldo never agrees with anyone.... ronaldo is the best ....  ronaldos s==t doesnt stink...........ronaldo never makes mistakes.......

[carpet guy]

If this subject was taken to it's logical conclusion, it's reasonable to say that, the newest technology, ie, the latest method of doing something that provides the highest productivety, is the only way to go and any one failing to comply will fail.

Fortunately, this is not the case and if it was, then you would be abandoning your t/m's and using the machines / methods, which would return the highest profit.

After all and strictly from a business point of view, it would be foolish to ignore the system or method ; -

That provides the highest productivety -  which returns the highest return on investment - which gives you the MOST MONEY for each hour you work  ( the reason for being in business )

Now, if you could reduce your costs still further ( retaining more profit ) by using a smaller vehicle. Would that not be fantastic ?

Just think. You would find parking an absolute doddle.

Now, what if you could do away with trailing hoses, no more worry about the potential damage claims.

What if you could do away with the need to lug around massive amounts of water ?

In other words and remember we are talking about the principles of running a business, the objective being MAXIMUM RETURN ON INVESTMENT.

There has been a growth in the US and Canada over the past 3 years of a method which answers most of the above and gives huge CUSTOMER SATISFACTION with excellent results and very quick drying times.

From a business pointof view, it seems incredible that anyone could ignore such a method.

Sure, in terms of HWE the TM is king, but in terms of profitability and THAT'S WHAT RUNNING A BUSINESS IS ABOUT another better, more advanced, greener, alternative, has been developed and is being adopted  by more operators each year, because it works and does what it claims to do.

I know some people have played around with it and some just don't believe in it, but , if I were coming into this industry and fully understood th realities of business, ther would be one system at the top of my agenda.

But then, what do I know ?

[turneylogan]

Simon,

Unless others think so I don't think my post was 'childish'.

I do think your your arguments are flawed, do not take into account others business needs, and at the very least patronising.

I think you are simply trying to carve yourself a niche as being an industry guru.

There are many on this forum whom I would deem to be 'gurus' on here but purely on their knowledge and experience, and not by their own self-promotion.

Live and let live, I say. There are many ways to clean a carpet, and each will have reasons for their methods.

As somone else said on this thread...Simon, you're not listening.

[Simon Gerrard]

Turney,

There you go again, making assumptions. Can't you make a reasoned point without resorting to twisting and turning other people's opinions to mean what you want it to mean?

You seem to be suggesting that people like me have no place on forums like this because I have a uniquely different view to that of your own or others. At no point during this discussion have I sought to persuade you or anyone else that my view on things is right, but I do have a right to express my opinion and I have done so without being in the slightest bit offensive to anyone involved.
And why is it that through my participation on this forum that my only motive is to become some sort of industry Guru, as you put it. Maybe I am just an enthusiastic contributor to this forum, with no second agenda, is that possible, Turney, or do we have to hang on your every word?

Simon

[Mike Osbourne]

The reason this thread has gone on and on is there is a scratch record playing. Accept other people have different views to you. What started out as an interesting and entertaining thread has become very tiresome.

[carpetworx]

If this subject was taken to it's logical conclusion, it's reasonable to say that, the newest technology, ie, the latest method of doing something that provides the highest productivety, is the only way to go and any one failing to comply will fail.

Fortunately, this is not the case and if it was, then you would be abandoning your t/m's and using the machines / methods, which would return the highest profit.

After all and strictly from a business point of view, it would be foolish to ignore the system or method ; -

That provides the highest productivety -  which returns the highest return on investment - which gives you the MOST MONEY for each hour you work  ( the reason for being in business )

Now, if you could reduce your costs still further ( retaining more profit ) by using a smaller vehicle. Would that not be fantastic ?

Just think. You would find parking an absolute doddle.

Now, what if you could do away with trailing hoses, no more worry about the potential damage claims.

What if you could do away with the need to lug around massive amounts of water ?

In other words and remember we are talking about the principles of running a business, the objective being MAXIMUM RETURN ON INVESTMENT.

There has been a growth in the US and Canada over the past 3 years of a method which answers most of the above and gives huge CUSTOMER SATISFACTION with excellent results and very quick drying times.

From a business pointof view, it seems incredible that anyone could ignore such a method.

Sure, in terms of HWE the TM is king, but in terms of profitability and THAT'S WHAT RUNNING A BUSINESS IS ABOUT another better, more advanced, greener, alternative, has been developed and is being adopted  by more operators each year, because it works and does what it claims to do.

I know some people have played around with it and some just don't believe in it, but , if I were coming into this industry and fully understood th realities of business, ther would be one system at the top of my agenda.

But then, what do I know ?

What a load of cods.

[Mike Halliday]

 carpet guy, why be so cryptic, then you would'nt get carpetworx making comments like he has, why not just name the system your talking about..... and please don't say encap'

mike


 

[mark_roberts]

We all have our opinions on this based on our own specific situation.  I do agree that for most portable users (unless they have chosen the 'lifestyle' option) a Tm is out of reach financially because their business is at an early stage of development, their part-time or they just dont turnover enough to justify the expense of purchase and running costs.  There is no shame in this BTW.  It is us who dictate how fast we grow and how much we make.  Ive been in all three situations and a Tm was only purchased when it was needed as a labour saving tool.

And thats what a TM is.  A labour saving tool.  The same results can be got with a spoonge or a £1000 portable or a £4000 portable.  It just takes longer.  This whole argument of TM v portable could easily be mirrored with vax v portable or DIY v professional from a customers point of view.   The principles are the same.

As for £50 and hour or £160 an hour or £100k a year is all possible depending upon you.  I used to think £30 an hour was good until i realised just how much it takes to run a professional carpet cleaning business.  Theres guys i know making over £150k on their own.  They have chosen their market and can charge and make the figures they desire.

I believe the next year or so will be difficult due to the economy.  Its those cleaners who run professional businesses meeting the needs of thier existing and potential customers who will be around for years to come.  Therefore we should be moving our businesses in this direction regardless of portables or Tms.

Mark

[carpet guy]

I know you're not a fan of O/P cleaning and I know you've tried it and it won't be for everyone, but from a business perspective, it makes absolute sense.

Use the method that will make you most money, period!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's been shown recently that cleaning leather could be made much easier and quicker and as a result more profitable, so more people are taking it up.

I'm not talking about the absolute best possible result, I'M TAKING ABOUT EARNING MONEY although it's been shown that O/P cleaning can get fantastic results and be a lot more profitable than HWE.

The question was " Why Not a Truck Mount "

There are a few answers above all perfectly reasonable, and because of the blinkered attitude, I feel the need to give the most important reason of all.

You can earn more, without the big outlay by following the growing in popularity method of cleaning, known as O/P cleaning.

About one fifth to one tenth the cost of a T/M
Only requires a small vehicle
Uses very little water
Easy to use, quick to learn
Green appeal
Fantastic results
Customer satisfaction

You asked the question. You have a few answers. I'm well aware of the cynical responses which will come, but rotaries are not new, been around for half a century, O/P machines have been developed over the past 10 - 15 years.
I imported one about 10 years ago, which I felt was too light and have watched their development along with greatly improved chemicals.

There's more than one way to skin cat and with the high productivety, low start up costs and high potential earnings, it would be foolish to ignore O/P.

The " muck spreading " comments are not justified as anyone who's used used these methods properly will testify.