HARPER said:
I happen to DISAGREE....with d day...!
This is EXACTLY why our industry is and always will be ....considered a UNSKILLED
profession..! When you call a plumber or an electrician..You EXPECT to pay a minimum
service CALL ...
1) The level of skill required to be a competent carpet cleaner is no where near that required for the trades mentioned above. We are not doctors or surgeons, lawyers or accountants, electricians or plumbers. So what? No one "price shops" for a neurosurgeon. But carpet cleaning is not brain surgery, now is it? There is no shame in being a carpet cleaner, so do not let yourself fall into the "self-esteem" trap that causes many o/o's to pass over dollars for no sound business reason but only that of pride.
2) The need for a plumber or electrician, especially at 2 AM, is nearly always out of urgent
need. Carpet cleaning is almost always a
discretionary purchase. Not always, but almost always ... for example, when I used to do water damage, I honestly can say I was never price shopped at 2 AM. They needed me, and they needed me an hour ago!
3) I
never act out of desperation, hence my caution above to make sure the customer knows that the level of service I can provide for a lower price is not going to be equal to the level of service I provide at the higher quoted rate. For as long as there have been carpet cleaning bulletin boards I have read of this "imagined" and much warned of problem of angering one customer because you provide one of their referrals service at a lower cost than that paid by the referring customer. All of my advertising makes clear that I offer three different levels of service, and this is renforced through my contact with the customer. If Sally buys my two rooms for $104 and gets pre-vac through Scotchgard, she will not be angry if her twin sister Suzy buys my two rooms for $60 but gets only pre-spray and steam clean while their mother Betty paid $89 for pre-spray, pre-scrub, and steam clean. Get it?
4) Low-ballers do not last, but those who provide a reasonable quality of service at a fair price thrive so long as they maintain pricing consistent with that quality.
5) a. Keep enough money in the bank to cover
six months expenses
and do whatever you need to do to never, ever have to draw it down. Saving money is hard. Once it is banked, spend it very, very
reluctantly.
b. This is courtesy of my good friend Ken Raddon - In addition to the above six months living/business expenses, save sufficient dollars for January, February, & March living expenses and Spring marketing costs. Winters are much more relaxing and much less stressful if you are sitting on three months living expenses and your spring marketing campaign money. If you have money left over as the spring cleaning season ramps up, add it to your retirement account. Each year you should save anew for the winter dead season.
6) Most of the cliches you read in carpet cleaning internet forums are so far removed from whatever kernel of truth inspired them as to make them not merely worthless, but dangerous. If I had learned this sooner, I'd have had a much easier time during this past recession.
7) Not all money is good money ... but most of it is. Certainly a truck sitting in the yard for a day or two is survivable. But a truck out making $158 has just covered its liability insurance cost for a month or two.
Be real, be realistic, and and do not confuse diligence with desperation. I don't pretend not to know what it is to be desperate. I wish I could say that I am as rich and well-to-do as your typical bulletin board carpet cleaner. But that is not the case. Adhering to many of the bulletin board sacred cows nearly took me down. Adopting the type of good sense exhibited by folks like Ken Raddon and Ken Snow (something to do with the name Ken, perhaps?) allowed me to turn things around and survive.
There is no shame in getting work and keeping work.
And brother, there is no pride in a parked truck.
