Are you running your business differently today?

[Bob Foster]

Isn't it odd that we have more efficiency to running our business systems, more information available, more suppliers, more methods but we all are faced with business being more challenging to be profitable now more than ever?

What have you done different to make your business "better" or what do you see your company or yourself having to do different to not only survive but thrive?

Have you had a fundamental change in attitude of what you should expect out of your business or yourself?

What is the biggest thing you will not do going forward over the next few years?

 

[Jimmy L]

What I have done over the years is to cut out apartment complexes and restaurants.

I now also do more time saving with different methods of carpet cleaning to make me more efficent like bonnet and SHAMPOO .

I also seek out more referrals from customers and go after the commercial that I want.

Spend more time is developing relationships with customers rather than slam bam thank you head on down the street don't talk to them attitude.

 

[jwojtusik]

i watch my payroll like a hawk and keep my pricing where it needs to be in order to be profitable.

 

[Jack May]

About 6 months ago or slightly more, I did a few things.

First was to go through the accounts and cut a lot of unnecessary spending.

Then I looked at purchasing of chemicals and products and now on higher use stuff, I always ask at what volume do a I get a price break. So where ever possible, I purchase in bulk and have found I can often save 25-40%.

As a result of those two areas alone, we've shaved our monthly bills by about 35-40% while still having sales about 10% up on last years volumes.

Secondly, I had my receptionist go through and work out a 'daily break even point' for each van.

Total expenses last year. Add 10+10% for growth and increasing supply costs. Add any additions that are new.

Take total and divide by total number of vehicles, divide by 48 (weeks of work allowing for annual leave)

Divide that figure by 5 days a week and you have a very rough daily break even point.

Now consider what margin you want/need over and above that figure and you'll be very surprised.

If you have staff, tell them what that figure is... all of a sudden, they may realise that you're not 'raking it in' as much as they thought.

When you do that, you start looking closer at other areas that may not be as profitable and then you can either drop the service OR lift pricing to correct.

If you haven't done these, I suggest you do... it'll take you less then 20 minutes and will open your eyes.

I'm sure those of you that have done the SFS or other programs will have already done something a lot deeper than this but it's quick, easy and fairly close to accurate.

John

 

[Dolly Llama]

continue to diversify in services unrelated to "cleaning"

stay focused on being more efficient in work practices and tools/chems


..L.T.A.

 

[Jimmy L]

Does that mean you give pedicures to old ugly fat women?

 

[Dolly Llama]

Does that mean you give pedicures to old ugly fat women?

if it's profitable, we'd give YOU a pedicure

you have to remove those CROCs first...


..l.T.A.

 

[roro]

About 6 months ago or slightly more, I did a few things.

Take total and divide by total number of vehicles, divide by 48 (weeks of work allowing for annual leave)
Divide that figure by 5 days a week and you have a very rough daily break even point.

John

Take total and divide by 45 and you will be even more accurate John as you are not allowing for the statutory days.

roro

For any USA readers wondering how this works out ; our laws give all workers four weeks annual leave and in addition we have numerous statutory days e.g. 2 at Christmas 2 at New year 2 at Easter etc. If a tech works on a statutory day in addition to paying him at time and a half we must give him a further day off in lieu.

 

[Jim Williams]

The biggest thing I have done is discovered the power of the internet. If you don't have a website you really should get with the times. Even my cheesy homemade website pulls in 4 or 5 new customers a week. After 4 years I finally made it to the point of mostly repeats and referrals,,,wasted alot of advertising $$$$ along the way though.

Also am steadily raising prices and watching my job average go up,,,,weeding out the bargain hunters.

 

[Harry Myers]

As long as prices are being raised on me . I have to raise my prices as well. This is a simple fact in life to profit. Or work with no profit.

 

[Steve Toburen]

Good ideas above.

When we went through a particularly viscious recession in the 1980's I saw the need to have a constantly updated status report on where the business was at any given point. So we developed something we called our "Flash Report". On just one page it detailed cash on hand, aged accounts receivable, work in progress and what our payables were, both in fixed expenses and any unusual bills that were on the horizon. It also had our percentages of up-sells for the last week and how they compared for the year to date plus the same data on call backs. The idea was to give a "photo" of the business at that moment in time plus anticipate problems coming down the road. My Operations Manager prepared the Flash Report for the previous week on Monday morning and it was on my desk by noon.

Steve Toburen
Director of Training
Jon-Don's Strategies for Success

PS To a certain degree any recession is as hard as you choose to let it be for you personally. I bought out my business partner in 1984 and he went on to found a computer supply house for the sign industry. They sell like $40,000,000.00 a year in supplies and equipment to sign companies. (Whom have startling resemblances to carpet cleaners.) Chris and I were recently talking about the economy and his business and I liked what he said, "Steve, we are still making money. We're just having to work a lot harder to do it."

 

[Steve Toburen]

Dear CBD,

Thank you for not including me in the Civil War period. It has been 16 years, six months and 12 days since I sold my operation. (I don't keep track of the hours.) Time really does fly. However, staying involved on a daily basis in the triumphs (and travails) of our SFS members has a way of keeping a person honest and hopefully relevant. If I stray away from the topic at hand our members are not shy about holding my feet to the fire!

Island Boy

PS BTW, Terry, how are YOU running your business differently today?

 

[hogjowl]

Mean while, back to the topic at hand ... :roll:

I've not thought about it until this thread, but upon reflection, I've found myself much more "business like" in my way of operating and managing my business.

 

[Desk Jockey]

he bought Croc's !

The same as always with 1-exception, we are spending a lot more on marketing.

Still trying to control cost of goods sold, TRYING control spending, but new equipment and vehicles cause us to occasionally spend more than I would like to.

When the economy improves, we should be in great shape with all the relationships and networking we have been developing.

and if it doesn't...well, we went down swinging! LOL

 

[XTREME1]

I changed my marketing strategy to a 10-15 mile radius anything over 10 miles is a $10.00 surcharge and have never heard a complaint and I stick to my minimum charge.

I promote my Affordable, Quality Carpet Cleaning and business is booming.

 

[hogjowl]

Well, if you nosey butt cracks MUST know, I've been much more focused on keeping up with my numbers to make sure I am profitable, know how much I am averaging per hour in not only sales, but also s.f. cleaned, and the costs involved.

I am also working with someone to try and put into place a logical and effective marketing program. I have not worried about this since my first 5 years in business.

 

[Ken Snow]

So many things have improved, or been modified

Computerization of our whole operation has brought so much more to us: Order entry system, built from scratch for our On Location & Rug Care Divisions. Orders over the phone can be booked in as fast as 60-90 seconds for repeat customers, rugs are inspected in our drop off centers and input in a fraction of the time, rugs are bar code tagged and easily tracked by anyone anywhere in the world who has access. 180+ jobs a day are routed into optimally efficient crew routes using a routing software that saved us an over 45k a year person including benefits, management and financial reports with a few clicks of a mouse and many other benefits of comupterization.

Continual improvement in work flow in our plant, maintenance and restoration areas have brought more efficiencies.

Relationship in Egypt allowing us to repair rugs with severe damage that are not cost effective to repair in the US, generating over 100k in new revenue.

Call distribution software for phone system, giving us faster processing of incoming calls directly to our cleaning call center as well as to outer showrooms. Call Dist software also gives us management reports on productivity of our Customer Care Coordinators and has overflow triggers that allow managers and other staff to know when to jump in and help relieve during high call volume.

Better hiring and quicker firing is also something we have improved in to insure we have the right people in the right jobs.

Ken

 

[Royal Man]

I pulled out of the YPs. I don't even have a free listing.

I get all of my work from, Networking, Internet, Referrals and Previous customers.

Just doesn't make sense to advertise with all the other carpet cleaners. Let then fight for the price shoppers!

Besides postage/ink to previous customers My advertising cost is almost zero.

Years ago I did 4-5 jobs a day. Now I do 2-3 jobs a day and make much more money on each job.

Sales are up!!

 

[Royal Man]

Terry,

What is there to lie about?

Check My local Yps. I'm not in there.

I get about 1/2 from previous customers and the rest from the other sources.
Mostly from my networking marketing and 3 a Week or so from the Internet.

Did just under 6 grand the last 2 weeks (which is good for me) with the long 4th of July week end and I was home before 3:00 most days.

Stir the pot if that's how you get your kicks.

But, Anyway this is what works for me!!

 

[Cameron1]

It ain't rocket science, just raise prices .

 

[Doug Cox]

continue to diversify in services unrelated to "cleaning"

Larry- Wouldn't that look a little hackish?

 

[John C]

Health, happiness, and time with family has become my number 1 priority. So I cut costs to the bare minimum. Since I do all the work myself I rely on the positive relationship I have built with my customers and the trust that allows them to refer me to their friends. I charge a higher price but service the heck out of my customers with first class work and behavior. They feel comfortable leaving me in their homes and letting me lock up when I leave. I even know the security codes needed to access and leave the premises. Many times they leave me a blank check and tell me to fill in the amount, and that they trust me completely. They are almost like an extended family, and the ladies regularly give me a hug when we haven't seen each other in a while.

Since I don't advertise anymore, in this economic environment some months are a little lean, but others are better, so they kind of average out. I work smarter, not harder. I have basically no night work, and pick and choose my weekend work.

It works for me.

 

[Dolly Llama]

continue to diversify in services unrelated to "cleaning"

Larry- Wouldn't that look a little hackish?

"hackish"??

I'm not sure why.
I'm in biz to make money.
I have two full time Little Genies to try and keep busy year round.
We've become a "full service" service Co to several of our property managment accounts.
(and trying to do that with ALL our PM accounts.
I just don't want the carpet cleaning, we want the painting, fixing and up keep too.
What we can't do,(like when we're too busy, jobs too big or not qualified for) I'll sub out.

it's all good to me and has helped tremendously durring the slow carpet winter months


..L.T.A.

 

[Doug Cox]

I just think that carpet cleaning companies cheapen their reputation by doing home cleaning, painting, drywall etc. Do you have a Carpet cleaning business or a property management business? That just my opinion. No offense intended.

 

[Dolly Llama]

I don't take offense when my friends are wrong, Doug :mrgreen:


our foot is already in the door.
They know, trust and LOVE us already.
It's like leaving money on the table, if you ask me.
it can turn a $125 dollar CCing order into a $1500+ order.



..L.T.A..

 

[Jack May]

About 6 months ago or slightly more, I did a few things.

Take total and divide by total number of vehicles, divide by 48 (weeks of work allowing for annual leave)
Divide that figure by 5 days a week and you have a very rough daily break even point.

John

Take total and divide by 45 and you will be even more accurate John as you are not allowing for the statutory days.

roro

For any USA readers wondering how this works out ; our laws give all workers four weeks annual leave and in addition we have numerous statutory days e.g. 2 at Christmas 2 at New year 2 at Easter etc. If a tech works on a statutory day in addition to paying him at time and a half we must give him a further day off in lieu.

You're right Ross,

but I decided to leave it in there in leiu of the Saturdays we have to work. I reckon they probably more than average out the stats.

It is only an indicator, but thanks for raising it anyway.

John