Does anyone work for cheaper in the off season?

[juniorc82]

As my acorns I put away for the winter have been gone I have found myself needing some cash as most of us have. I have been hitting the street particularly in lower middle class neighborhoods and lower end retail and office mainly pay day loan companies. I have found when you offer these clients a good deal the7 are pretty suseptable to impulse spending. I have picked up a few little $75 and $100 jobs wheeling and dealing just so I can get through this month. I dont give a shit if people call me a hack Im just tryin to get the bills paid until june or mid may when all of our cleaning dreams come true, and we are so busy we bitch and moan about never getting a day off lol. Do any of you guys lower your minimum or work for a bit less in the off season ? be honest too!

 

[Jim Nelson]

No.

 

[joeynbgky]

Of course, we all do. I took some lower paying janitorial jobs this winter, which helped alot. Next month I will probably tell the accoutns we cannot do it any more. Were getting to busy. I'm sitting here at my office doing laundry. (towels) 6 loads so far today. I just did 7 loads Wednesday.

 

[Steve Lawrence]

Of course we offer cheap in the off season.

January and February our clients get 20% off any cleaning except emergency work.

But, it's spring now. We still promote about a 10-15% discount for $200+ jobs. Smaller pay reg price.

 

[Ron Werner]

try the middle-upper middle class. They look for a good deal, and have the money to spend a little more.

I used to drop my price, but more often I reduce the work I'm doing so they don't pay as much.
Or , rather than charge them a restoration fee for some job I know will take some work, I'll give them that at my reg rate.
I don't like giving my work away.
I did do a trade to have my in tank filter modified and I worked such that he got the better of the deal, but in some instances its good to give more. He did an awesome job for me.

 

[Nate The Great]

No, we don't have a winter here. We do have our slow months, but all our eggs aren't in 1 basket.

 

[Ron Werner]

esp at Easter

 

[Dolly Llama]

As my acorns I put away for the winter have been gone I have found myself needing some cash as most of us have. I have been hitting the street particularly in lower middle class neighborhoods and lower end retail and office mainly pay day loan companies. I have found when you offer these clients a good deal the7 are pretty suseptable to impulse spending. I have picked up a few little $75 and $100 jobs wheeling and dealing just so I can get through this month. I dont give a shit if people call me a hack Im just tryin to get the bills paid until june or mid may when all of our cleaning dreams come true, and we are so busy we bitch and moan about never getting a day off lol. Do any of you guys lower your minimum or work for a bit less in the off season ? be honest too!

I figure all do, Junior .
'bout the only ones that might not, are the owner ops who have wives with good jobs and bennies .
and "maybe" a few one man show owner/ops that have other sources of income and don't care if they work much.
But pret' near every biz lowers their price during slow times.
Might be % off specials, free piece of upl with order, discounted or free protectant, etc


forget about the "hi-rollers" that would tell you leave the van in the drive rather than discount.
They don't have your bills to pay.
Do what you gotta do, cause a "little" profit is better than NO profit...indeed, you're LOSING money when the van sits in the drive, cause you still have ins at a minimum to pay even if you own the equipment free and clear


..L.T.A.

 

[Able 1]

try the middle-upper middle class. They look for a good deal, and have the money to spend a little more.

I agree with Ron on that... Seems like those are the custies I have calling me now. I will give a little softer estimate when times are slow(Jan. and Feb), just cause any money is better then nothing. I have found with custies that you give deals to expect it the next time so... I don't know. :?

 

[John Buxton]

I've been in business now 18 years, I've done it all. Stood firm, dropped my prices, acted like my shit don't stink, you do what you have to. If my kids were hungry I'd put on a panty hose on my face and rob the quicky mart. Your a fool to think that you are the only one that can do what do you.

 

[Brian R]

Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

As long as you can stay profitable.

If you cut your prices only to cut your own throat you might as well stay at home or get a day job.

 

[Derek]

most def.

 

[carpetcleaner]

I don't change my prices for the slow season. I also don't charge as much as a lot of cleaners in the busy season. I like to have steady work year round, year after year.

We only have 2 weather choices in the Phoenix area - hot or really hot, so our slow season isn't as slow as other parts of the country.

 

[randy]

I have had winters that required just about anything to get through to Spring cleaning. This year things started rocking pretty good around the first of March but December, January and February were absolutely dismal. The thing that all new cleaners must learn is to live on much less during the peak season so you aren't dead broken when winter comes around. If you are in trouble during the winter it's because you aren't managing your cash flow well.

Keep this in mind.
1) Most cleaners spend way too much on equipment. Chances are most newbies would be better off not buying that truck mount of their dreams until they have been in business 3-5 years. Even then if you are spending more than around $15,000 for your rig (not counting the truck) you are setting yourself up with payments that are too high. Don't get suckered into buying every little gizmo that comes out. The rotovac 360 and some of those $500 upholstery tools are perfect examples of wasted money. A $80 PMF internal jet tool will clean a sofa just as well as that new whizzbang tool that is not worth the $500 they want for it. I see a bunch of cleaners hocking their bad purchases on Ebay every year trying to get through the off season.

2) Get commercial accounts- recurring monthly revenue is very important to a seasonal business and carpet cleaning is a seasonal business.

3) Charge enough to save for retirement, and for the short term. Some winters (off season) can last from December-April and that's when lots of carpet cleaners disappear. This year I have seen an enormous number of carpet cleaners go under, but when you tried to warn them that a long, cold winter was coming they mock you. Sometimes it's funny to watch guys whine about how bad the off season is when two months ago they were bragging about that week long vacation in Hawaii or how they just can't keep up or hire enough people. The off season is the great bullshit eliminator in this business.

4) Skip that carpet cleaning seminar that promises you the world. That $1500 that you spend on airfare, hotel etc will come in real convenient during the off season. There are a ton of ex-cleaners out looking to pick your pocket with Bullshit that doesn't really help you make a buck. If their ideas are just so wonderful why aren't they doing it. If they had such a great company how come it went under a year after they sold it. If that guru really had a million dollar a year carpet cleaning business, how come every cleaner I know in the same city tells me he was a one truck failure ? You won't make an extra $1800 a week cleaning mattresses GUARANTEED, regardless of what that brochure says. Save your money for the off season.

 

[ACE]

Words of wisdom Randy. I do VCT and janitorial that really help fill in the gaps with carpet cleaning. There is no shame in taking lower end work as long as you can still make it profitable. I have a propensity for leaving money on the table and end up kicking myself later. That’s something I am going to have to address if I want to stay in this game.

 

[renegade_cowboy]

Yeah buddy whhel and deal away, I do it. I got a squid marketing CD you can have if you want it.

 

[Lee Stockwell]

Awesome post Randy....for a terrorist.

:-)
Lee

 

[Jim Williams]

I always mail my regulars a 15% off postcard that is good for Feb. and March. The last 2 weeks my phone rang off the hook with folks trying to get that discount. Last week I did 10 jobs for repeat customers. Not bad for the slowest month of the year.

I also have a winter cleaning special on my website for 15% off. Picked up 3 new customers last week from my website trying to get the discount. It really does help in an otherwise slow month.