Stop working for 30%

nightrider wrote: I just got back from a customer this morning.....my appointment with him was at 5:00am  took an hour to visit most of the 80,000 sq. feet of carpet to be cleaned.....after I took 97 pictures we went to his office where he showed me an estimate another company gave him a week ago...........are you sitting down.........take a sip of coffee..................... The quote was 3.5 cents / sq foot...................he wanted me to do better..............I thanked him for the tour, the coffee & danish as well for his time ..... and politely said  " I understand the tough economic times we are all facing , and the quote you showed me reflects the hardships and desperation that some companies are experiencing to lower their companies name and employees efforts to zero in order to appease large conglomerates like yourselves just to satisfy your bottom line .   How is that guy going to make any money.....does anyone else here work that cheap.                                                           Nightrider

That's A LOT of carpet! Damn! $2500 though....that's a tough one. You could pay someone $10 an hour to do it, probably take 20 man hours but you'd still make a good amount of money. The way I see it, if they want the cheapest, that's what they'll get. Still, if you did it yourself,that's $100+ an hour which is what you should be making working for yourself anyway. Doesn't sound like a bad deal though. Still, that's A LOT of carpet. I just did one for $.30/sq. ft, 10,000 sq. ft. nursing home. If you've got a lot on your plate then yea, pass it up, but if you're hungry, go for it.

I've done stuff next to nothing just because I was hungry. Did a $1500 flood the other day for $500. But it only took 3 hours, 1 hour on the inital trip, two hours for the reinstall. I gave him the equipment rental for free but used left over pad from other jobs. I had about 2 sq. ft. left over after that.. so it worked out PERFECT. Still though, you take it when you can get it, better than sitting at home!!

I just got back from a customer this morning.....my appointment with him was at 5:00am  took an hour to visit most of the 80,000 sq. feet of carpet to be cleaned.....after I took 97 pictures we went to his office where he showed me an estimate another company gave him a week ago...........are you sitting down.........take a sip of coffee..................... The quote was 3.5 cents / sq foot...................he wanted me to do better..............I thanked him for the tour, the coffee & danish as well for his time ..... and politely said  " I understand the tough economic times we are all facing , and the quote you showed me reflects the hardships and desperation that some companies are experiencing to lower their companies name and employees efforts to zero in order to appease large conglomerates like yourselves just to satisfy your bottom line .

Jack may I buy you a cold "50"?

Nightrider;

I pay 50%. That's fair. They supply their chemicals and gas, I spend hours upon end marketing for jobs and keeping everything in order. It's six one way, half a dozen another. Either put up with the BS of doing the work, or put up with the BS of getting the work, or do both, as I did for about 4 years.

I think a lot of people fail to see what goes on behind the scenes. I spent 12 hours last night updating the website, re-doing the keywords etc. etc. to get better placement. This morning I'm going out and doing three flood reinstalls without collecting any money and I still have to pay my helper. I'm the one with a head ache when things go to hell, I'm the one who works 20 hours when things aren't right to fix it and make sure my guys have jobs on the board.

50% is more than fair. I want my guys to stay with me and live comfortably. I'd pay 20% if I supplied the gas, van and chemicals and 30% on add ons.

I've spent 15 years of my life in the industry and I'm only 30 years old so that tells you something right there. I started telemarketing, then answering calls then working in the field. I'd work for $50/day $100/day, then $200, then $300 and so on and so forth. It's a progession. Everyone thinks they are entitled to more money because they see a large sum coming in but they don't account for the years it takes to build a successful business and a good clientele base. But still, I pay 50% because I want my guys staying with me.

Just some words to consider.


Edited by Atlantis - 14/July/2009 at 12:41pm

I telemarket the residential & commercial jobs , and I give it out to 3 different guys with their own truckmounts, their products.....but my company name and phone number on the trucks, invoices are under my company, I collect the taxes and there is NO CASH JOBS..........I then sub to them and pay 70% of the contract ( any upsell work is theirs to keep.....how they arrange payment is not my concern .

demonsperm wrote: My average tech earns 27% and i supply the truck jobs and supplys.

Could he make more working at Walmart?