Will the high gas prices effect your company?

Discussion in 'General Carpet Cleaning & Upholstery Discussion' started by vivid, Mar 21, 2008.

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  1. vivid New Member

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    Gas prices has been going higher and higher every day. Today we just filled up on our box truck and it was at $90 even!!! Like just going out to 1 job cleaning 1 room paid for my gas today. We have to fill up on our vans almost every day! its insane...what about you guys?
    vivid, Mar 21, 2008
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  2. TMF New Member

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    yea when are they going to come out with hybrid carpet cleaning machines haha...
    TMF, Mar 23, 2008
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  3. raz New Member

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    lol hybrid carpet cleaning machines. The high gas price is really affecting my company and everyone in this industry for sure. There's not much we can do :\
    raz, Apr 29, 2008
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  4. Rob Allen Administrator

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    We have raised our prices!!! Raise your quality and RAISE your products!!!

    Rob.
    Rob Allen, Apr 29, 2008
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  5. VCS New Member

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    I agree with this but it still hurts us ALL!:(

    KS.
    VCS, Apr 29, 2008
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  6. aguerro New Member

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    Yes, high increase in prices will really effect my company. They need to raise ther prices as well in parallel they need to increase in salarys of the emplyoees. Sothat even eployees can survive with the increase in the prices.
    aguerro, May 1, 2008
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  7. jimmy crawford New Member

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    In the present climate we have no option other than to rise our prices, in a funny way the new financial year has just began so customers expect an increase in price but, this continuing fuel increase has stopped me going further afield because this has a magor effects my profit margins?
    jimmy crawford, May 2, 2008
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  8. VCS New Member

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    Gas is still cheaper than some soda,beer and water by the gallon. So it's all in your perspective too. Everthing goes up and so must we!
    VCS, May 5, 2008
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  9. cleanmaster New Member

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    Offcourse incresee in gas price will defenetely effect my company in some way either in direct or indirect way. It even effects the life of us, we need to cut down some of our unwmated expenses to meet the increased rates.
    cleanmaster, May 7, 2008
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  10. TheEyeball Well-Known Member

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    My customers are paying the difference and they don't even know. If I can just do a few extras a day (repairs/stain removal) and charge a fair price, my customers are happy and I have more than enough to pay for fuel.
    TheEyeball, May 18, 2008
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  11. TMF New Member

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    we have started a service charge of $5 for local city and any city further it goes up to $10 - $15 - $20 if we have to drive an hour out to the job. So far so good. And we have also increased our quality of our service, spending more time with the customer and increased our prices along with the service charge. We gotta eat to ya know? These options have been for our new customers, our older customers we still work out deals for them because they have been using our service for so long.
    TMF, May 18, 2008
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  12. VCS New Member

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    Service charges are good and bad. Some customers don't mind and some do. Perhaps just raising your prices is better...
    KS.
    VCS, May 18, 2008
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  13. TheEyeball Well-Known Member

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    ICS magazine had a good article about this a few years ago. I can't remember the author but he said to raise your price by 10% every couple years. I tried it two years ago and it worked. Not one customer said a thing about it.

    I think maybe it's time to try again.
    TheEyeball, May 19, 2008
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  14. Rob Allen Administrator

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    I'm gonna try that as soon as I get back from Connections...10% sounds good!
    Rob Allen, May 19, 2008
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  15. Glides-R-Us 1-757-486-3532 I sell glides

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    Actually Raz, if you run a direct drive TM there is something you can do to drop your operating costs almost in half. Switch the engine to run on natural gas or Propane. It has only half the cost of gasoline and your engine will last almost twice as long on it in some cases. Many of the slidein units will run on this as well, but you need a good mechanic to do this for you.

    Other options include switching over to electric TMs and letting your customer pay most of the power to clean the carpets. In 2009 you will be able to run your van on electric as well, so things are improving in terms of choices.
    Glides-R-Us 1-757-486-3532, Jun 18, 2008
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  16. Duane Oxley MIA

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    "In 2009 you will be able to run your van on electric as well, so things are improving in terms of choices."

    An electric van will not be a very good source for heat. Even with electric heaters, the power would consume battery life so fast that you'd have to plug it in every chance you got, just to be able to drive home...
    Duane Oxley, Jun 18, 2008
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  17. Jim Martin Active Member

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    not yet I am holding fast not to raise my prices..........I have taken out the surveys and news letters to compensate the gas prices and so far i am still in the green...........
    Jim Martin, Jun 18, 2008
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  18. Glides-R-Us 1-757-486-3532 I sell glides

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    True Duane. That is why I said MOST. The heating system will still have to use Kero or Propane for heat, regardless of wether the motive power is electric or Air at that time.:D
    Glides-R-Us 1-757-486-3532, Jun 18, 2008
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  19. TMF New Member

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    Just to let everyone know, I have a suprise for TMF members and *how* to get low gas prices! Some might not know about it and some might. Stay tuned folks! :)
    TMF, Jun 18, 2008
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  20. Rambo New Member

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    It has definently cut into our profits, but my main concern is how it effects our customers. CCing is something they can put off (residential). Commercial cleaning is not effected in the same way. I am focusing on more commercial work now. I for one will be glad when the elections are over.
    Rambo, Jun 19, 2008
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