Business help

[Lyman]

This year has been my busiest ever and that is good. My problem are all the cheapo landlords I do work for now. They are cutting in to my profit margin. Which means, I can make more per hour at mrs piffs house then cleaning a 2 bedroom apt for 75 bucks. Do I just raise them up or turn the work down. Most of them are just shit holes with fleas and today there was saw dust all over. I always book them at the end of the day, but I am booking people out to far and mrs piffs are irratated waiting 2-3 weeks for work. What should I do?

 

[Royal Man]

Doing apts for 75 bucks sounds like you are on a race to the bottom.

Too many cleaners are busy and broke.

Wouldn't it be better to work less and make more?

If you are making 80% of your profit on 20% of your work.

It might be time to shake off the 80% that is not worth the effort.

Decide on what kind of company you want.

 

[Brian R]

Don't turn the work down....Turn the work up.

Tell them you need to raise your prices. Or just raise them and see if they pay....I'm not sure of your relationship with them or agreement.


Schedule your money jobs first......or leave time open for them. Prop Mgrs generally have a deadline, so see if you can get that info and have it done by then.


If it's THAT big of a pain and you think you can fill your day with money jobs.....Drop them like Mikey drops Marty.




Oh, and if they don't want to pay the higher price....Drop them. If they come back and decide to pay.....take them back and take their money.

It all comes down to how much time you're spending to make the money....If your time is more well spent in other areas....spend your time there.

 

[Jamesh921]

If you drop them, will you be wanting them back this winter?

If so, they may take you back - at a lower price, of course. :shock:

 

[boazcan]

You already know the answer to your question, but are afraid to put into action. Understandably so, any change is hard. Those accounts served their purpose to keep you growing while you added more profitable accounts.

Carpet cleaning is mostly bought on impulse by the customer - whether repeat or new. You are losing good business because of the wait times. How many referrals are not even calling you when Mrs. Piff recommends you and then says but he is booked up for 3 weeks? You need to sit down and figure what would happen to your bottom line if you lost most of the prop mgrs. Probably not much. With the additional time, you will be servicing your current and new clients better as well as be able to do more - which you will. You will be looking for it more and not worried about getting to the rat holes. Plus you can spend more time in each home for add ons.

You either need to be set up to do mostly one or the other - or you will be frustrated trying to serve two masters. I vote for the residential. Way easier work, cleaner carpet, it's fun to sell stuff, good work pays off to more profitable referrals.

 

[Dolly Llama]

if you're consistently booked solid 2 to 3 weeks out , raise your prices .

i don't know how late you typically work, but if you're an average BD that likes to be done for the day by 4pm or so ....AND you can actually make a profit at $75 bucks a pop, what about plugging in a man on the truck and have the van work a second shift a couple/three days a week??

It's easier to find a good man for apt work than res work.
Cause they don't need the "people skills" that res requires and the appearance of that bloody skull tattoo on their neck with snake coming out of the eye socket isn't as big a deal....


..l.T.A.

 

[Mikey P]

Simple answer.


Two trucks.

Get a used back up (market is saturated with great set ups) and train a part time guy asap to do the Apartments.

 

[Brian R]

I run into this same problem with my Deal of the Day jobs. I get a couple hundred jobs that need to be scheduled.

It won't leave time for my regulars, referrals or Google jobs.

So I only schedule 2 deal jobs per day....and schedule a month out. Of course I can do that with the deal jobs...you might not be able to with the props.

So like they said....add another truck if you can....But be careful not to over extend yourself with expensive equipment, payments, insurances etc if it's down in the winter....Like someone just said.

Busy time means busy work and long days.....If you have a slow season and "need" those prop jobs....You may have to wing it a bit.


Adding another truck is oportunistic....just be careful not to jump the gun and get in over yer head.




Sometimes....just adding a part time helper will double your productivity.