Over the past 30 plus years of running a carpet cleaning business, I've had a one, two and a three truck operation. I've had a workshop with an office and I've also had just a home office. And I've ventured into fire and flood restoration for a number of years as well as concentrating solely on cleaning carpets and upholstery.
It seems to me that success is often measured by how many trucks you have. Or how large the business is.
Now, that I'm once again an owner operator working from a home office, I've come to realize that residential carpet cleaning is a great opportunity for a good lifestyle. There are so many benefits in this industry to remaining small.
In no particular order, here they are:
Far, Far Less Stress
Ask any business owner their number one headache and it will usually involve employees that need parenting! That seems to be particularly the case with carpet and upholstery cleaning.
Good employees are hard to find but it’s harder to find employees who know how to deal with people and can present themselves to high-end homeowners. After all, we work in peoples’ bedrooms! Customers have to feel very comfortable with whoever is going to do that and really need to trust them.
Each job is unique. There are probably dozens of different decisions to be made on each job. Employees don’t care as much as you do. My last employee moved a table with a very expensive Tiffany lamp balancing on one end…and it fell off!
The employee thinks about your cost of replacement – you think about what the customer will tell others about you!
I've once booked in an old customer who hasn't used us for a number of years. He responded because I sent him an irresistible offer. He finally told me that he kept hesitating to use us again because the last time the carpets were cleaned the skirting boards had been damaged with the wand. Yet, he’d never mentioned it on the Report Card. People don’t like to complain…they just go somewhere else!
And then, you don’t have to worry about terminating employment and being taken to an Industrial Tribunal.
I've had staff try to take me to a tribunal. (fortunately I took advantage of the National Carpet Cleaners Association (NCCA) free legal helpline) and I've known a colleague who sacked an employee for theft only to have to pay him compensation for “not following correct procedureâ€
Loyal Happier Customers
Who would you prefer to perform a service in your home? The owner, or one of his employees? Customers prefer to have YOU and quality minded consumers will pay a premium to have the owner. And, unlike a large firm, they know who will turn up to do the work.
A while ago I had a new driveway on the front of my house. The owner of the business brought a new member of staff to do some of the ‘grunt’ work of cutting the bricks for the edging while he presumably managed another job. He’s now been back twice to replace many of the bricks that the ‘employee’ fitted. Am I happy? Yes. Would I use him again? Not unless he’s doing the work himself.
Low Expenses
No office required, no employee liability insurance, no Employers National Insurance Contributions (currently 13.8%!), no sick pay, no holiday pay (currently 5.6 weeks!), no P60’s to prepare at year end, no spare equipment needed in case of breakdown, no losing money and paying staff at the same time when it does etc etc.
There’s also considerable savings on training staff perhaps to have them leave after a month (as I have) or to start their own cleaning business (as I have).
And here’s one of the myths of a larger business. That if there’s “sufficient Gross, there must be some Nett around here somewhere.†Big numbers do not always translate into more take-home pay for the owner.
Yet it’s just the opposite for an owner operator: low investment cost, low overhead and high profit margin!