Something interesting happened to me a couple of weeks ago.  My friend and fellow NCCA member, Jim, called and asked me to help.  He wanted me to talk to his nephew, about becoming a carpet cleaner.  Phil Brown (aka the nephew…there you go Phil I promised I’d mention your name in my blog!) is keen to try his hand at his own business.  He lives in Leicester so it’s easy for me to pop over and give him advice, practical help and so on, basically give him the low down on how to work carpet cleaning magic for customers; how to make a tired looking sofa look fresher and newer; how to spring-clean curtains without taking them away…well I could go on (and on…).

Anyway I met up with Phil and I was (almost) speechless when he told me that Jim had asked no fewer than 3 other NCCA members to help Phil with his business planning.  Apparently 2 of them had complained that this was unfair competition and they didn’t want other carpet cleaners to know their secrets…  and the 3^rd said he was considering putting in ‘an official complaint’ to the NCCA.

Incredible, but true and also very short-sighted.

It reminds me of a discussion I had some years back at a networking event. I was promoting the idea of sharing good practice across an industry as a proven method of creating higher standards and even a major factor in industry innovation.  Yes, there was dissension and uncertainty, but most people accepted my ideas before the end of the evening.

My thoughts were like this:

if there are more people out there cleaning more carpets…then more customers are going to be talking about getting carpets cleaned… and the more popular the topic becomes, the more people will want to get their carpets cleaned too… which means we need more carpet cleaners to do the work…

Not only that, but also the more carpet cleaning that is being done, the more interest there is from inventors and developers to come up with innovations and new technology.  This, incidentally, also means that the cost of buying new equipment will be driven down.

…which goes to prove my belief that competition drives innovation and makes us all better off!

So I was more than happy to spend time with Phil, getting him ready to start his carpet cleaning business and I heartily wish him good luck too.

Bring on the competition!

Well what a busy month April has been!  The change from bitterly cold weather to the appearance of sunshine has brought in a welcome rush of requests for carpet and upholstery cleaning.

Luckily I had my commercial contracts and consultancy work to fill my diary, but I do have to say I missed what I like to call the social side of my business.  There’s nothing I like better than to spend time with my customers chatting away whilst I work my magic on the carpets, sofas and curtains.  Always sends me home with a smile on my face.

Only this weekend I spent a happy afternoon with Mrs Patel. I made her carpets look amazing and she plied me with equally amazing snacks… I can thoroughly recommend her ‘Bombay Mix’ style cornflakes.  Yes it may sound unorthodox, but trust me, if you like popcorn you would love this…I’d offer to share, but there’s none left.  In fact by Monday morning I was considering being an Oliver Twist and asking for more.

Meanwhile, back to work; since spring has finally decided to arrive, and with it the need for some Spring-Cleaning, lots of customers are asking me about getting their suites cleaned.  The most frequent question I’m asked is how soon they can sit on their sofas and chairs again.  That’s easy to answer – if I clean a suite in the morning, it will be dry enough to sit on again by the evening, although I usually recommend giving it 24hrs to air thoroughly.  That way it feels fresher for longer.  If the suite is made of leather, however, it will be dried, aired and ready to sit on by the evening.

One thing I ought to mention before I sign off is how full-to-bursting my diary is over the next few weeks.  So anyone wanting to book me in to get that Spring-Cleaning out of the way, contact me as soon as you can.  Those customers who like me to remind them that their refresher clean is due, don’t panic, I’ve already pencilled you all in, and I will be in touch as promised.

Bye now, friends!

It’s December already – where did the year go?! Christmas is almost upon us and we all know what that means: friends and loved ones coming to your home to celebrate the holiday season, trampling dirt, mud and goodness knows what else in to your carpets. As great as it is to spend time with these people, the subsequent clean up can be problamatic. It’s time to consider professional carpet cleaning from leading Leicester carpet cleaner, SJS. … More

Cleaning carpets in Leicester, not how you want to be spending your Saturday afternoon is it? Cleaning your home carpets is one of those more mundane tasks that are continually pushed back until the damage to your carpet is severe, and then often quite tough to remove. … More

Like most people, at SJS carpet cleaning in Leicester, we love a good list, they are easy to read and perfect for picking up a few quick, concise tips. And so please feel free to peruse my list below of the best ways to prolong your carpets life until its next visit from a professional: … More

Whilst the majority of carpet manufacturers would suggest that a deep carpet clean in domestic households is performed between every 12-18 months, a professional carpet cleaner would in fact say that this hard and fast rule is not always correct. … More

Wednesday – Busy, busy, busy at the moment!  Plenty of calls coming in for carpet cleaning – early Christmas Shopping as I like to say!  Lots of my customers like to get their houses looking clean and smart at this time of the year – there are so many celebrations coming up, Halloween, Diwali, and Christmas, all squashed into the last few weeks of the year.  My diary is fit to bursting some weeks.  That’s why I’ve decided to set aside time for quotes each week.  As you know I like to visit people, meet them and give a quote in person, rather than quoting over the phone.  I find it’s one of the most enjoyable parts of my job.  This afternoon, then was set aside for quotes.  All sorts of jobs booked in: carpet cleaning; leather sofas to clean; curtains to clean in situ; and even a very large Chinese Silk rug to restore.

Thursday – After a quick catch up on my paperwork this morning, I was off to 2 carpet cleaning jobs, both of which were referrals from happy customers.  This is my all time favourite part of my job.  If a happy customer asks me to do carpet or upholstery cleaning for a friend, I know I’ve done my best.

Friday – As always, BNI at Leicester Tigers this morning.  A sad one today, Kim Campion, from The Alternative has reached the end of her membership with us.  She’s always been a great BNI supporter and has real skills in keeping information up to date.  Like everyone at BNI I wish her all the best.  Kim’s been a good customer over the years, regularly having her home and also her consulting room carpets cleaned.  She definitely understands the importance of making a good 1^st impression and clean carpets will help any business do that. Come to think of it, Kim’s a great Homoeopath too – give her a call on 0116 210 7680 (and don’t forget to look at those carpets!)

Weekend – Bit of time off and some early Christmas shopping for me and the other half….  Plus my youngest Grandson is 3 on Monday, so we got some lovely pressies for him too.  I also fitted in a couple of ‘emergency call outs’  One for a customer who’s dog had had an accident on the carpet and the other for a couple who’s little boy had been ill and left a stained sofa cushion.  I like to help my regular customers when I can, it’s a win-win for everyone.

Monday – Back up to the North East today to see some state of the art, speed drying in action.  A lovely Monday morning queue on the A1 gave me plenty of time to catch up on phone calls, and to arrange visits for carpet cleaning quotes.

Tuesday – Start of a large commercial carpet cleaning job today, working with Harbot Builders.  Chris Harbot is one of very small group of reliable, honest and totally professional builders.  I highly recommend anyone to give him a call for any building job: 0116 255 8881.  I even passed his number onto my Mum-in-law – that shows how good he is.  Luckily I think the feeling is reciprocated, because whenever he needs quality carpet cleaning doing, I’m his first port of call!