Pest perspectives EP 27 -Nathan Clark - Pestforce Leicestershire - Pest Perspectives

Hello and welcome to Pest Perspectives episode 27.

Leave it already at 27. So that's 26 guests down.

It's good to it's good. I didn't think I'll be able to

get this many things on the podcast, but so far we're

actually booked up to obviously not the week of Pestech because

I'm at Pestech, but I'm booked up to the week after and it so

this week we have actually something another local person,

the last local Pope. Well, closest to us was George

and George and his dad from Pest force Northampton.

And they're technically they're not that far down the road.

And the closest one I've got to me is now Nathan Clark from

Force, Leicestershire, which he's, he is within my area and

it's we're all within different. I go 25 miles from Oakham,

Bertie. Depends if it's worth it.

But yeah, you're very local to me, Nathan, didn't you?

You even seen you seen the van the other day, but I weren't in

it. Yeah, no, you're skiving, but

yeah, no. Dad he's oblivious to anyone.

He doesn't know anyone. It's like AI seen.

I don't know if you know. Do you know the EM pest control?

He just a bees Elliot. Yeah.

I met him the other day so I recommend him for loads of work

and I rang him. I said niche for the on the

roundabout. He was coming over.

I was behind him and he rang me. I said do you want to say hello

because I've never met you? So we pulled over at Co-op car

park and shook his hand and I met him finally.

I'd never met him before that. I got to know him because of the

I'm in the British Molecatch's register and he's in it too and

that's how I got to know him. He said oh I do B work and

that's I've always recommended him ever since the B stuff

because it's not something we do.

It's good when you can recommend local people.

Yeah it is. And you also don't realise how

many pest controllers are actually around you that you

don't even know. I know the majority of them I

would say I know well there's a couple I probably don't know,

but I know most. I'm weird because I I I wave it

of a pest controllers in in the van.

I can't like that honestly, they must think ever aren't weird

though, or I'm taking the meeting.

I do. There was this guy in Stamford

from a pest control company called health guard.

I won't say hello told about about my podcast.

I'm going to get some cards and say listen to my podcast.

I promote my podcast. That's what I was doing.

It was but he might have listened.

He might not have done. But anyway, how are you doing?

Yeah, I'm good. Thank you.

Keeping busy? That's the main thing.

It's not as mental as it was though.

Is it still mental for you or is it slowed down slightly?

But what's? It's busy, what's has slowed

down a little bit with the weather and different bits and

bobs, but you know, I've had more.

I will now I've started to see rodent jobs going back a bit

more. Yeah, no, I mean, I've had a few

rhino, but a rhino Pest management, it's just said.

Whereabouts in Leicestershire? You, Nathan.

So I'm based at Tilton on the Hill.

Oh, you're well. Or not my door.

That's not far at all. Tilton on the hill.

That's well. It's I was actually born and

bred in Oakham. Oh yeah.

Yeah. I wasn't.

I was born at Leicester. My dad was born in up with him.

Actually was born in up with him.

He was, but we moved over to Oakham.

But fair enough. Can't say any more than that if

you're born and bred there. But yeah, thanks Ryan O Pest

Management for for watching. Sorry, carry on.

No, no, you are. Go on.

Thanks Ryan O Pest Management for watching.

He's over in Leicester too, somewhere.

Yes, think he's out towards zip stock way if I remember rightly.

Yeah, he's been. He's been watching stuff up.

I've noticed any like in the post and stuff recently.

I have. So are you one of these people

that wanted to be in pessimize? Did you fall into it like a lot

of people did? Didn't like like when you left

school? Did you know it was a thing?

I didn't know. I didn't know about it.

No. So going back that age, crikey,

it is my things back then was shooting and I wanted to be a

mechanic, which that was that never put two and two together

or multiple things. And I've done a whole list and

yeah, the multitude of jobs in my life.

So yeah, it's been. I never really knew about it

before A. Lot of people don't, yeah.

So how did you land in pest control?

Well, the pest control itself, so how it all come about was and

it wait, it is quite a coincidental that it was

actually pest force that I spotted at the time, but it

would have been 16 or 18 years ago now that I was reading, I

think it is the Basque magazine at the time and there's an

advert in the back. Become a pest controller cost

you this much, become a franchise and so forth.

You know, inquired about it and I didn't go through with it

because I didn't have the money. That was that simple.

I was probably no more than 2020, early 20s sort of age and

never thought no more about it from then done gamekeeping,

things like that. Gamekeepers.

What kind of what kind of gamekeeper did he do all right?

So it is. It was just small, like

syndicate shoots, nothing kind of commercial scale, sort of

just fell into it really just with the job that I'd done.

He also ran shoots, started to get involved and yeah, I ended

up doing most of it myself. Reared pheasants from day olds

right through to put them into the pen till we hang them up and

plucked and that was that OK. So yeah.

I'll tell you what, there's been a lot of people on this podcast

that have mentioned gamekeeping. A lot of people have recently.

But it's a route. It's a route in it is.

Yeah, obviously you did a bit of pessimizement within the within

gamekeeping obviously. Yeah, it's a big part of it.

It is a big, big part of it. Yes, you get your rats, but the

more so is the more the Land Management side.

So your fox is dealing with them.

If there is a problem, then you'd have to take care of them

and so forth and so forth. Oh, that's, that's coming.

A big problem this country. There are.

And I think, I think the government needs to educate the

public about what's going on. It's I mean.

Around here you don't really get many.

The bigger deer, most of them around like the lesson area.

It's Montreal. Yeah, but I'll tell you one day,

right? We were going down the road.

I can't remember where it was. I said to my dad, be careful,

boy. We were going down this road and

it was on the other side of the fence, right?

I wish I'd got a photo. And it was the biggest stag I've

ever seen. It's on the opposite side of the

edge. It's my dad slowed down a bit.

They could just jump, can't they?

Luckily it never came out, but this stag massive.

But yeah, you're right. There's mainly monk track around

here. It is, to be honest, it is, but

but yeah, it's I have seen a lot though.

I was there. Wasn't it somewhere near

Stamford? And I'd never seen deer in the

wild. I mean as in, you know, in the

open fields, you know, they call them herds or packs and there

was like 20 or 30 of them and I'd never seen them all together

running. I thought it was, I've got a

video. It was so cool.

But people thought I was driving in the videos.

My dad was driving. Oh, I thought it was so cool.

I've. Never seen it before.

It wouldn't. Be cool if they put they all

came out of you. It wouldn't be, but I've never

seen it before. Oh yeah.

So you take detour by by by deer there.

Sorry about that. So then how, how did you jump

from gamekeeping then to actually getting into the pest

control industry? Did you work for like other

companies before you went into passport?

No of apart from the gamekeeping side before I took this role on,

which is a long story, but before this I was a HGV mechanic

so I always had a full time role as well as do doing a bit of the

gamekeeping and different bits and bobs.

So I was an HGV heavy goods mechanic before I decided to

take the leap and it all just come about where pesos obviously

They've kept me details. I had a bad car accident which

wasn't my fault, but things happened.

I had a fractured back, fractured collarbone.

So I was off a few weeks and GAIL that does all the

franchising on take at the time. She just emailed me and as all

sat literally more or less in this place different sofa, but

Satya hires the kite on codeine. I thought I'll do that.

And it is a sort of point in life where I mean, you'll

probably know what I mean when I say this, but you work your ass

off for someone else. You work all the hours, you do

everything. Yes, you get a benefit of being

paid extra, but when you actually sit down and think,

well, they gain from it more than you do.

So if I was going to do something, it's a sort of a case

of, well, I might as well do it for myself and do something that

I enjoy. Yeah, I had a shit job for 16

years, shouldn't have stayed there.

And I started to realise that they'd really worked out long

things, like they weren't that bothered about.

It was certain things that happened that where promotions

and stuff I never got. But yeah, I'm the one that used

to open the gates and under the case box you can do it yourself.

I'm not doing that anymore. But in the end they've they've

gone busting now. But yeah, I know exactly what

you mean. You think you thought of, but

you're not really. Yeah.

And you're only benefiting them by you doing that little bit

extra. You only benefit them more than

anything else. And that's where it just like it

was the sort of a thing of hang on a SEC, well, if I'm going to

do it for somebody else, might as well do it for me.

Yeah, that's what I do now. That's that.

Good evening, Sean. Thanks for watching.

So obviously it's like a like move that question, although you

are working for yourself, what made you obviously go with a

franchise rather than say build up your own like pest control

name and brand, what made you go with that versus versus?

It was a thing. So the S Force, it's always been

said that we didn't. We want to do it, obviously, but

not everyone is able to do it. So you've both of us.

So we went down, met with Sean and GAIL, sat down, had the chat

and everything else. And on the way down there's a

sort of thing of, well, we want to do this through the

franchise, but if we don't, I'll set up on my own.

But when you sit down and actually work it out when we was

talking, well, you see a lot of it like where people will set up

on their own, do the full time job and start up just doing this

little bit here and there, just trying to build it up

organically like that. Or you can join a franchise

which is well known in the sense of that.

I mean, now there's within the franchise, I'm sure there's

about 90 bands within the franchise on the road.

They do it to people all the time in the sense of they set a

business up, they help you, they take you through the motions.

And whereas if I do it on my own, I wouldn't have a clue

where to start. I don't know, like about your

Seos, I haven't got a clue about that.

I don't have a clue about Google.

And not just that, but it's all the bits that you don't see,

like your Rams, all the essential bits that you need.

It's already in place with them. So you are hitting the road

running without realistically having to get the nitty gritty

bits or you not worry about it. It just makes life a lot easier.

And it was literally I finished work on that day, start work

that day. That was that.

So with that, do you like they don't just take anyone on as a

franchise? Do you have to be a fit and they

have to like you or they just take any?

They won't take anyone on, no. No, no, no, no.

It's not for everyone. Whether you're not the right

person or whatever, they've not got the right attitude.

I don't know, but it's at the end of the day, we've got to,

it's got to work both ways with them.

You know, that's, I fairly understand because you've got a,

you've obviously got a pest force brand they've built up

over the years. They don't want someone to ruin

it as well. Yeah, exactly.

One of them things protecting your brand as well.

But it's nice also knowing that from my side, because yes, I'm

building the Pest Force brand in Leicestershire, but they're also

protecting that brand that I'm building in Leicestershire and

not just letting any Tom, Dick and Harry, so to speak, come and

do it and potentially ruin it, not just for me, but for

everyone throughout the whole franchise.

Well, that's that's a bad point. That is, have you got like

boundaries or areas you can't go into or have you got like how

does it work? Yeah.

So it's all worked off post codes.

When you buy an area, you you're given a set amount of area with

so many households, they're your post codes.

They're the post codes you serve and that is that.

Say like for instance, obviously so say you don't.

Do you do beekeeper? Did you do bee removal?

Yeah. Oh, you do do bee removal.

Yeah, yeah. So.

Say for instance, then you didn't do bee removal, right,

But you had someone like George or someone down the road, could

you get them to do, would they be allowed to come in your your

area with your permission or? Yeah, Yeah, OK.

I just wonder. As long as we as long as we give

them permission to work in our area, that's absolutely fine.

You do get charged from the franchise a Commission fee

because you're working out your area.

But apart from that, as long as the franchise like myself,

franchiser knows that they're working there, yeah.

Well, that's, I just thought that's so when you had your

gamekeeper and you came into it, were you qualified or did Test

Force put you through your qualifications?

No. So I wasn't qualified because it

wasn't a necessary thing that I needed to do.

Then obviously it is now where so obviously it's a lot

different now, but pesos put us through all our training.

So when you're on board, it's about 3 weeks of training, so

two weeks doing the actual everything else what we need to

do. So you go through principles of

rodents and insects, so forth, you do all the health and

safety. We've got an OP system, so you

trained to use that. And then you spend a week out

with another franchisee. OK.

Oh, is that is that's you, have you had to do this for many new

franchisees? Have you ever had any

franchisees come with you or is it for near you?

No. And to be honest, there's not

many or there isn't a free area around us.

I think the closest free area is out towards Birmingham Way.

OK. Well, it just proves that the

Pest Force brand is popular. It does.

Yeah, it's it is growing month from week by week, month by

month is growing continuously. No, that's good.

I mean that that's a lot of work.

Useless as to why you join Pest Force, It's what a lot what

Georgia, Georgia and Mark said that's not nice to do with the

websites and Google and SEO and all that.

They said that Pass Force sorts all of that out for you.

Well, you've got the differences you've seen.

So head office is what I would call it.

So you've got Damien and Tom, which deal with purely down the

marketing side, Damien Moore, Google, Tom Moore, the organic

website. But they obviously they do both

sides. They're wicked and they just

know how to finally tune it all to make it work and make you

generate phone calls. But then you've got other people

there just dealing with phone calls, not necessarily for us,

but just for the jobs that they've got for us, but.

Didn't they give you an option to have the phone call staff as

well? Is that an option or is that?

No, no. So at the minute, so that is

just dealing with their like their accounts.

So they've got so many accounts across the country that we serve

for them, all phone calls, everything else like that comes

through to us directly. Do you answer the phones or I

believe you've got your have you got your partner in the

business? As well.

Yeah, so there's three of us that do it.

Myself and Charlotte, my partner, wife, however you want

to call her. She's wicked.

I think it's nice. I'd love to get my my wife in

the business one day. It just makes life that a little

bit easier because at the beginning it was me answering

the phone, doing the job and trying to do it all together on

my own and it doesn't work. You forget stuff you you don't

realise or you miss a phone call.

So getting Charlotte to answer the phone for me was like a gob

send. So.

You are right, that means when it gets busy I've missed calls

by 20 seconds and they've already got somebody.

Yeah, yeah, especially whilst isn't it, it's the worst time or

even all year round. In fact, as soon as you miss

that phone call, that's it. It's a potential lost job.

What I find though, you know, if you get repeat business, a lot

of people, if you've had them before, not all of them, but a

lot of people will wait for you to bring back.

Not all, not everyone. We have a lot of customers that

comes with us every year for what's nests.

They they will wait, but certain paper you're in.

But I've I've already I've got a couple of them before because

I'll I said, oh, OK, how much were your interest?

Oh, you were achieving it. Wow, book somewhere else now,

didn't you? You know.

It's like, but we will get off that that.

Later we will anyway. I mean, yeah, Well, I mean, we

just give an example. We lost a job today just because

I couldn't get there quick enough and they rang somebody

else and we found out they can get there within 20 minutes.

That's not the fact that we missed a phone call, but it's

the fact that someone can get there, attend there in 20

minutes. We actually had a phone call

today that someone was, someone was, and we got there in 15

minutes. We did.

I don't know if it was the same job.

It wasn't in Stanford, was it? No, no, no.

This is like towards out towards Northborough to be fair.

I thought it was us that like it was literally, you know how you

know how you have jobs where someone's having the garden all

pulled out and some tree surgeon guy got like stoned five times?

It was a boss nest in a bag. I thought that was, I thought, I

thought that was you. Then I thought, but no, no, it

wasn't. We went there, but no, it's it,

it, it can happen and it's, and they want some, some people just

want you there. And then if you can't come there

and then. But have you ever had it where

you've got a wasp nest and they tell you it's an emergency of my

my child or somebody is anaphylaxis and they and you

say, OK, I've got a full list, but I can drop everything and

charge you this price suddenly. All right, it's fine, we can

wait. Don't forget.

That don't. Forget that we're saying I can

drop everything, but you have to pay a bit more because I'm

coming directly to you. Suddenly it changes from.

I think we could wait a bit longer for you to come, wasn't.

It happens, sometimes it don't. So there is like a call out

charge from self especially at weekends.

So there is a call out charge and you soon learn then how

serious they are if they want you to come out.

Because if they do seriously want me to come out then I will.

And there is a call out charge and if not then it'll be early

part of the that week. Exactly.

You're right, you're right. Is it because we now with all

our boss nests, we now tell people we've got in in the

software now that if you have misidentified what it is again,

example, you've booked us for Wasness, but you've actually got

honey bees, right? I won't treat it, but I will say

you've got honey bees and now you've got to pay a call up

charge. But we have a lot of that,

believe or not, a lot of people can't.

They don't seem to some people, not saying it's their fault,

just you've got to. You've got to do that because

otherwise it's time out of your day.

As I said to people. You're not doing another job, so

you've got to. But of often we say if you could

send us a photo, a little video, we can identify them through

that. But it's the case where where

they they say they can't. Yeah, it's quite often what I do

is ask for a text message, just send me a picture, whatever, and

I'll identify over the text because it's just the easiest

thing to do because it just stops that heartache of sorry,

but I've got to call, charge, call out, charge.

There's no other way around it. Because it's a lot of the time

it's like I've just driven 30 minutes here for basically

nothing. We write it in now.

So all that it's in there. So we we call it

misidentification. And I do recommend the guy for

be removed. But I said you've got to pay us

this and then and but it's suddenly no, there's no.

Oh, I didn't know that. David Askins, thanks for popping

in on LinkedIn. You're not on LinkedIn, are you?

No. I've been looking for you.

Yeah, yeah. Many, many years ago I probably

had an account, but no, I don't do it at all to be.

Honest a lot of us pest controls are on it now.

I have a lot of posts that my dead animals was the best one

that that really kicked off that did.

I got invited, invited on the beauties and beasties because of

it. I did.

That's how that's how I got my invite post it done really well.

Good. I'm good.

I'm bad. Yeah.

So then obviously, you know, you said your partner answers the

phone. She got like, has she gone

through and got qualifications or she trained enough to

understand what what situations? So the thing was for her to

answer the phone, I wanted her fully qualified so she

understands from a professional side of and she knows what to

talk about and knows how to handle situations that she may

come across. My biggest thing is this

customer care, and with that it's knowing what I'm going to

do is a part of her job. That's that.

So it's easier. She does do technical as well,

so if I do need to, she does go out and go and do jobs.

It just makes life easier. Like you just said, you get a

call out and you're the other side of somewhere else.

But absolutely desperate. She's here to help.

A good thing to have, really. It's an extra pair of hands.

Does your you say your your daughter helps as?

Well, eldest daughter, so she's just left school.

Does she actually want to be in the?

Does she want to be in the here and there?

Sort of, it's sort of a thing of that.

She does show an interest into it.

She does enjoy it, but she doesn't want to do it as a full

time job. I'm not going to force her to do

it by all means. I mean, she's just done a GCSEs

now. She's going to, so she's done a

GCSEs at Catmus, she's going across to Melton Vale to go into

sixth form or whatever they call it nowadays.

But she helps me as and when needed.

If we got a big job on, she'll be roped in just to speed things

up. Yeah, it should be roped in, but

she's like, Dad, I want the money, I want the money.

Don't worry to get plenty of that you ever do his older ones

that it's. True.

It's true. Mine are a lot younger.

Mine are 10:00 and 7:00 so I've not got.

Oh, don't worry. We've we have a household here.

So we've got so me and Charlotte, we've got together.

I think it's eight years ago now.

Nine years ago. So Charlotte had two girls, I've

got a lad with my ex and then we've had one together.

So across the all four of them that ranges from a 2 year old up

to 16. Oh, if they all want to join the

firm Monday, you can have a big firm.

Yeah, make my life easier. No, you set me off if I can do

it all. It will take some time to work

through them all, but yeah, no, it will be good.

So with regards to what, what's the majority?

What's the majority of the work that that you do?

Is it rats? Is it, is it like what's or have

you got something that's speciality?

Then have you got like a speciality that you like to do?

I like my I enjoy most jobs to be honest, and it's like bed

bugs interest me in a big way. I do enjoy those jobs, but then

you look at rat jobs, I seem to get quite a lot that is quite in

depth where other people's not solved it or whatever.

Sometimes it's like you say other people ain't solved it.

It's like I've had jobs where I've recommended a drain survey.

That was the last option, but they decided I had it or I had

it. I'm not saying who, but I had it

recently where somebody, I'm not mentioning names, it's not you

obviously where we recommended a drain survey.

I said you need a drain survey. What they did was they rang a

different pest control company hold them and they did a drain

survey and they said, Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

It came out. He did everything we did then

said at the end you drain survey lady went, so I've just paid you

to do exactly what the previous chapter told me to do that I

asked for a drain survey. So in the end she got a drain

survey company and it was a redundant line, but I was right

in the end. I was right in the drain survey.

I need to do it. But a lot of the recommendations

I find is a lot of people don't want to pay for the train

survey. It's a big problem.

You've got a multitude. Aren't you though?

You've got you have got some jobs where it is that, but then

you have got other jobs where there is just bait truckers and

it does happen and no ifs, no buts.

And most people are known now because it is coming more well

known that drainage issues. And I've even had a job where

he's had a train survey by the one and only Davey.

So. Oh, really?

Yeah. I mean, that's all I that's the

person I use, full stop, is him. And I've gone into it and he's

already had three other pest controllers go in.

Couldn't solve it or whatever. And I stood there and he's

telling me everything. Checked around everywhere, gone

inside, gone in the loft. I'm thinking Thomas, just not

right. Just didn't feel right.

You put in instinct and I said to where's your manhole?

I want to have a look down there.

And it's like it's just down there because I was stood in the

kitchen. He's buried it an extension.

And then when you look at the whole job and you put it all

together and everything, Kelsey, your eye on a SEC.

So the drains there, the SVPS there, another toilet there.

And you think, where you getting the noises all along that back

wall? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's exactly it. OK.

You need a drain survey, mate. And he looked and I looked at

him. I thought, you don't look very

surprised, buddy. This is, I'll tell you the truth

now, I've already, I've already had it surveyed.

Oh, why didn't you just tell me that beginning?

Or just spent an hour and a half of my life listening to

yourself, to the issues and everything else, checking

around, checking everywhere, and you've already had it done.

Yeah, you can have a look at the report.

So it gets me the report. I have a look done by Davey.

All the diagrams are there with the pictures and everything else

like that. And yeah, he just didn't want to

believe it. Three of the people have been

there, couldn't solve it. He's had a drain survey and the

drain survey. So I was there in November last

year and the drain survey was done two years prior to that,

so. There was, so there was so there

was drain fault. Oh yeah.

So he didn't want to believe that was what was causing the

problem. In his head he did.

No, in his head, he didn't believe.

He didn't want to believe it, even though everyone pointed out

to him that I don't know what the other pest control has done.

I couldn't honestly tell you, but.

That's interesting not to believe in video footage and

pictures and graphs and everything.

Well, I've learned something there.

I've never heard that before. Did he get the work done in the

end? Well, funny enough, the reason

why I know the story so well and remember the dates, it's because

I've been to him today to set the traps up because the remedy

works being done tomorrow morning.

So I'll put all the traps in ready for the remedy work to

then obviously clear out what is there and then it should be job

done. Yeah, that's interesting.

That is a long time to resolve an issue.

Yeah. I've heard that before, but

normally with drain surveys there's that much information

there. They they can't not doubt it.

But you've proven me wrong well. It's just the fact he didn't

want to believe it. I think you just wanted an easy

option. Well, to be fair, if you if you

like go on the Internet and or if you believe like water

companies not mentioning any names, they alltel you that rats

don't live in them, don't live down there.

But so did you you obviously we touched on earlier.

Do you do? Do you do a lot of you mentioned

EDB removal? Yeah.

Do a lot. Do you do all sorts?

Ones that are in chimneys and all sorts.

Or is it just no? So it's a new thing that I've

just started doing this year. Not done many.

I've only done 3 up to now. I've got another one this

Saturday but it's just something that I've never really done

before because I don't have the building experience, whereas

I'll wanting to do it. I'd want someone there with me.

They've got the building experience and don't mind bees

and I've managed to fall on my feet now and find somebody and

fingers crossed in the next few months he'll be my third person

fully employed. Nice.

That's because I do know that people keep telling me to why

don't you need BB removal? I don't like heights, That's my

problem. And you have to go up on

scaffolds on top of buildings. And I'll be honest, that's my

main. My main problem is someone said,

just think of the money. Maybe one day, maybe one day.

But there is A, there's a lot of B work out there because I know,

I know some people, they're actually fully booked for the

book for the rest of the rest of the season for bee bee removal.

It's been quite a good year in the sense of bee swarms this

year and what I can gather. I want when the bee swarms

happen, I get, I get fed up with the phone calls.

I thought, yeah, you've got a swap.

I've got Wasps outside and I ain't got bee swarms, I mean.

Yeah, there's swarmer Wasps. Yeah.

So don't swarm. Oh.

And that's been all of a sudden they're allergic to them as

well, aren't they? Yeah.

And I said just go back, go asleep.

High chance that when you wake up in the morning they will be

gone. And most of them are are they're

gone. But you do get people that will

actually go and move them on themselves.

But I just feel why? Why do that when they're just

most of them going to own a own a course?

Yes, no. So if you've got a swarm on the

side of the house, there is beekeepers out there.

I will myself or even George would go and collect them.

The main reasons being is because if you think fit that

swarm sat on the side of the house, if they then move in the

morning, come to your house and they end up in your in your loft

or in your wall or somewhere in your property.

But if that could have been stopped by someone going to

collect the swarm of bees, so then they'll be taken away to an

apri, managed, looked after properly and so forth, you'll

just save someone else a heartache.

Fair. That's a good point.

That is, I'll tell you who does that not, not around here, but

Martin Belch voucher that's on the MPTA board with me.

He, he's part of the BBK Brit BBK.

Is that what's called the British Beekeeper Society?

And. He does.

He's got the British Beekeepers Association.

That's the one I think his local 1 and he he does it very cheap.

He goes round and he he moves it.

I mean a lot of. Beekeepers will do it for free.

But when it comes, it's mostly a lot of it's just to cover his

petrol, a lot of it. And he he moves.

But there will. Be local.

There will be local beekeepers which will just do it for

nothing, just because, for the love of bees and they want that

swarm for themselves to expand on their aprey.

But yeah, it's, it's all interesting.

It is. It's we do get tonnes of colds.

It's it's like what, Swans and Wasps?

I bet you get it too, don't you? Yeah, yeah, it's always silly.

Everyone loves bees. Everyone loves bees until they

like, even with like when they're saying, oh, I've got a

bee's nest. The biggest sign is when they go

got a wasp nest in the chimney. Got a bee's nest that says I've

only ever seen one in a chimney and that was in the crack at the

bottom of the chimney. So and then in the end they go

tell us the truth. All right, It's a beast.

It's a beast nest and they they try it because they think you'll

just come and spray it. They do think it's Wasps.

And then then I'll just recommend whoever I whoever I do

quite often, Elliot, but I'm willing to recommend whoever if

they're in the area. But but no, So obviously you

don't deal with paperwork you'd you've always done yours through

digital. That was mentioned, weren't it?

It's all. So has Pest Force got their own

software that you can all use or is it?

Yeah, yeah. No, it's their own software.

So it's their own app then system that you can go onto the

Internet. It's quite good where it's a you

you want a new feature put in or you recommend something.

Will they? Will they update it or make to

look at your feedback? Let's.

Say you wanted a certain bait or something adding to it or a new

feature. Put it into the software.

Would they update it for you if it's?

If it's, if it's feasible from, I mean, it's pretty much a basic

sort of system the way it works. In a sense for us to use it, so

for instance was less you're going to a wasp job, you can

select obviously. So we take the bookings straight

onto the system, then we allocate them to time and day

and so forth. When we allocate it, they get a

text message and an e-mail go through to them saying that

we've allocated it and along with that we can now send a

device sheet. So just what to expect, what's

going to happen, so forth, so forth.

Once you're there, when you've done the treatment, you fill out

the report from that. Obviously you've got three basic

columns, which is inspection action taken, recommendations

below that you've got obviously you message all your Rams and

you can do your invoicing through that.

If we want stuff adding to an extent of where it's pretext,

you just ask them, but it's constantly moving forward.

The app is which is quite nice really.

It's good to hear. I mean, we're we're still very

new to it. We started back in February.

Well, we got the software in November, We started using it

properly in February, but we still get, we're still getting

there. We're doing it, but it's like

with your appointments, do you you give times, How do you do

that? Because it's very difficult in

pest control to give times isn't?

It no, so it's generally AM or PM slot as you well know that

first job in the morning, it can go peeped on and that's the

whole day rect. So it on the e-mail that's sent

out, it does state that this is the time frame, but we'll do our

best to stick to it. But if something does happen, we

are sorry basically, but we'll do our best to be with you as

quick as possible. Oh, that's.

Fair enough. Because you always know that if

you give someone a time, you know that first job's going to

be Yeah, you just know it. I do get, I get people ringing

me throughout the day. Look, I know you don't.

I know it's an AM. Do you know a rough time?

And I'll say, well look, if it goes to plan, it will be about

11:00 and normally I'm about right, but it's like you just

said, it just takes up one simple little thing in the

morning that's the whole day that could.

I just, I just wondered how you did it because it's, it's very

because of the software we have. It's I've been asking them to, I

think they've updated it. I've been asking them to like

put AM slots and not a time, but apparently they've updated it

because it's hard to give a time difficult because you just don't

know. Sometimes I'm far early in the

time says the week is in the text messages and it tell an

e-mail and it tells them so and so, like I'm on a route.

I wish you would say technician is all right.

Calls me an engineer, but engineer is on the way.

I'm not an engineer, but that's but that's what we've got.

We're still new to it. I think even like I was like

going back to my did my, my RSPH level rewarding pest management.

I was like, no, no, we're all paper, all paper.

Like, you know, Debbie, Debbie Wilson, the one who recommended

you, She's probably watching. She's supposed to.

Be. I hope so.

I did. I did send her a WhatsApp saying

Nathan's on tomorrow at half 8. So she did.

She did say I'll better TuneIn. I said well you recommended him,

you wanted him on it and I've no, I'm all paper, more paper.

I was like, but then a message just says, you ever guess what?

Digital now, really, Because I thought it was unaffordable.

Basically I thought it was expensive, but it's not.

It's not as expensive. Many years ago my dad said it

was. You had to have so many

operators, except you don't know it is affordable.

It's a lot easier. It's made my dad's life easier

because he said to me it's much easier because on the tablet as

well, you can talk if you don't want to type it.

It's used to your voice. You can actually torch the

tablet. It types it out for you if you

want to as well you can. So he likes it from the

perspective of it's made his life easier with paperwork.

And obviously when your tablet gets used to writing certain

words out certain things, it kind of, it sometimes can

predict what you're going to write, but not all the time

obviously, because not everything is the same.

But in general, I'd say digital report, it's made everything

much easier until system goes down and you're a bit up.

It's only been down once. Only happened once as.

But it's the same with anything nowadays.

Everything, everything is moving the same way.

And do you look at multiple things, you have a power cut.

You can't do 99% of this stuff like for us with our Internet

through Starlink. And then obviously we had the

styling count issue of the week where we didn't have nothing the

first time ever. But we rely on that for our

that, we rely on that for our phone signal.

So is that because where you live they haven't got fibre yet?

It, it, it's, it's more to the fact of where we live, we

haven't got a decent Internet signal, but we haven't also got

a phone signal. So our phone signal here because

we're not in tilting itself, we're more down the hill

towards. Melbourne down the hill with the

with the Manor gates and the Lamborghinis.

I wish we are down a single track dirt Rd don't worry about

that. But no, it it's it was too

unreliable in trying to run a business.

You are right. Obviously signal.

We need phone signal and I'm trying to answer phone calls or

missing phone calls. And yeah, it was just in the end

it was just easier to get a Starlink because it gives us the

Internet, but it also because our phone network will do Wi-Fi

calling. It just works on the phone calls

as well. So does Starlink work well then

for you? Does it?

Work. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Really, really well. We get speed wise up to about

300 megabytes. Wise 500 up and down, but

obviously as you know, it's not always that fast.

We only used to get to 5 before. But.

We couldn't even watch TV. That was that.

Yeah, I can't see now. I can't think of going back to

it's all. It's all of our TV in our house.

We always watched Netflix, etcetera.

Yeah. When our Internet goes out, none

of us know what to do. I'd better read a book then.

Exactly. Yeah, there's no such thing as

books when you think about it now, because what do you do?

You read books on your tablet, you've got like your Kindle and

things like that. I have actually got books

though, physical books as well, but.

What you can read? I can read.

Yeah, I can read. I know it's hard to it's hard to

believe I write an article. I can read.

Got an article coming out soon as and the MPTA, yeah, MPTA

newsletter out Thursday about my fitness, my fitness journey,

relating it to pest control. I always share it with everyone

when, when it's out. Yeah.

I'm sure you will. No, you make sure you share it

to me. I'll give it a read.

Well, don't get me, it's not me, I'm not APT.

I'm just sharing my experience on how I was nearly 30 stone,

you see, and I've lost like 88 stone I think, and it's

revolution. I broke my knee twice, same

knee, different parts. It's made the world difference

to my job when people undervalue it.

Undervalue mobility in our job. Not saying you do, but in

general people. Do I think I'm saying that I'm

not a small lad? You're smaller than me.

But when you look at it across the average, I'm not a small

lad, I'm 8, I'm 18, near on 19 stone.

I would love to be that size at the minute.

I'd love to be that, but I'd look a lot more because

obviously I do a lot of weight lifting.

Yeah, I'll probably look a lot more stacked.

I would. But now I'll share that article

when it comes out. Oh, I'm going to mention a thing

that in the industry when it's been a bit of controversy and

it's been caused a few arguments and all sorts.

And I've only mentioned it because the Beauties and Beast

is doing a podcast on it on Friday.

I'm not going to go have an hour and a half on it, but it's

basically about pricing jobs specifically within wasp nests.

But you can, you can look at it from any, any job really.

Yes, quite often because some people go from money £30 to a

few hundred. I think some of the nationals

charge 3 or 400 LB a nest a day. It's like because I know that

because there's a certain golf course that every time they get

a wasp nest they actually ring us because it's cheaper because

their, their provider is the Big R.

You'll know who I'm on about the big R and they charge a lot more

and we do the wast nest. But then again, I heard a couple

of a few years ago I did, I did 2 wast nests for a pub and it's

the Big R again. They tried to charge from nearly

2000 lbs for two wast nests. They rang us.

We did it for like what? It's a fraction 20.

But at the time, I think we did both nests, £440 back then,

three years ago now that was but yeah, but.

Yeah. A lot.

A lot. Of how you look at it.

So there's multiple things I mean, I know me and you have

both had the chat before obviously about price and so

forth. But what you've got to think of

obviously when you sit and think about it, think of what you

charged before with FICAM, which it is no doubt the best stuff

we'll ever have on the market, but it's gone now.

That's that it's gone. No point dwelling on it.

But you've got to sit and think to yourself, OK, so most used

product is Vulcan because that's the only real other stuff that

most people do use. Obviously there is deadline and

so forth and I've been. Testing one I've been testing

Deadline and Vulcan I've been. I've been fine so far.

I have. But when you sit and think about

it, so you now you've got to think to yourself, well, five

cams gone, that's the easy cheap route to what it was.

So now you've got to think for a different approach.

Well, I've got to price it. Am I going to guarantee the work

or you're going to do it price per job.

But whichever 1 you do, you've got to stick to where what your

costs are. So I guarantee my wasp nest, me

personally are there as well. Before.

I was £90 for a wasp nest. I've now gone.

Since then I've gone fat registered, so that has changed

things things. But I'm just moving fat around

now for the fat man. So you think about it, I'll go

and do that wasp nest and £90 but now I've got to do it twice,

potentially not every time, but potential odd chance.

I've got to go twice. You're going to guarantee it.

What are you going to? Charge You can't charge £90

you've got. To put your price up.

To make it worthwhile, you have because like obviously.

You've got all that included, but then you've got things like.

You know what? See.

One pick one thing. People don't obviously think

about within jobs and be fair customers also when you run.

The business you've got. Fuel bank insurance bank

insurance advertising business like liability materials, PPE,

great body costs, all you know workflows, mobile phone

everything is all thrown into the price and a lot of people

don't don't think about them considerations.

What would you do with what? What would you do with the?

Wasp nest that you've just treated and removed.

I do. I've never.

Removed one. So if you.

Remove one if you. Think about it, you've just used

an insecticide. It's hazardous waste.

This you got. I just can't.

I've never actually physically removed.

Then you start to break your cost down, like you say, like

that. So I'm going to be quite open.

I charge £120 plus fat for what's less.

Now you divide that by two. That's £60 per treatment

potentially. Oh yeah, there's not a lot.

No, it's not but. Obviously, what happens if it's

bigger than you're expecting? You have to do a third.

It's not happened yet, but I've guaranteed.

That so. What do you do?

Do you like? Have you got, because we've got

a policy now on this. We actually make the clients

send a video of them going in and out of the Watts Nest area

because what we find is people this year seem to think that

when you've got a wasp nest and you've killed it that you will

never see a wasp again. Yeah, no.

So that's all in our paperwork. The video has been quite good

because. Like you can't get a video.

Oh well, it's only every now and then it says no.

It needs to be constantly in and out, in and out of where it was.

Otherwise it's not. And it's us saying that it's cut

down callbacks because people, some people seem to think that

if it's a big year for us, you're still going to get lost

in your garden regardless. You're going to yeah, you are.

So that's. Stopped a lot of.

People. Calling today I've only I've

only had. The one when I've gone back and

there was no activity, you think it's people think you haven't

got. Their money's worth.

Sometimes I do I have a feeling, but sometimes no, because it's

not It's not. Just I think a lot of it is that

the product that we we're now using is just took that slightly

bit longer to to work its way through the nest.

As you well know, you're if you blow that dust into an area is a

lot of the time it's pot shop. So you don't you're just going

in on to where they're going in. But like obviously Sean caught

up a video a while ago, obviously with a thermal camera.

Well, his is coming in here, but the water less is over here.

Well, as you well know, if you blow dust there, you're not

going to be able to hit that Vulcan.

Doesn't seem to pick. Up on Wasps as well as what

Ficam did. So it just I think it was just a

case of it took a lot longer to actually spread through the nest

to actually to kill them all off.

I've heard some people say that they tell.

People give it a week and then let us know, but in general,

what more about the people that I've had, but they've said it is

still there. They weren't going in the.

Hole, I'm saying there. Were people that were I've also

had it recently. It was a bit weird where I had a

wasp nest and it it worked. So we went back and it was like

a flight. Path of wasp going past.

But they kept going outside of where the wasp nest was or

outside but not going in the building and then buckling off.

It was really strange. And they weren't going in.

They've just. Yeah, but they've.

Got a flight? Line haven't they somewhere

going for food? And this year I've found even

they've hit the sweet stuff quite early on and aphids have

been quite bad this year and they've been feeding off the

sweet stuff. And a lot of that side is just

the management side of their expectations we had recently on

the. Where this lady thought she had

a was nest, but what would she have?

Was and she was throwing. The Wasps were dropping down

into into the Bush we got. Got the suit on, have a.

Look and we don't want dad. Dad went to have a look and what

he. What?

He opened it. Up and what was happening was

there was no wasp nest in there. They were attacking the aphids.

They were going in there and it was.

A sweet spot. For them.

So we just sold the lady a wasp bang pretty much help help the

situation. There's nothing more you,

nothing more you could do in that situation.

Because it wasn't a wasp nest. No, he was.

Right. I mean generally.

You tend to look for a hole they're dropping into and there

was, they made a hole at the top, but they're all dropping in

and they were going for the aphids.

That's what they're after. Yeah, no, I've had that a few

times already this year. I use wasp bags with the lore

syrup, whatever you want to call it.

Is it wasp bags they can't get out of?

Yeah, good. I've seen them yellow pots.

I can get out of them. Yeah, I've got them.

As well, to be fair. I've had quite good success with

them Yeah, within like the matter of a day.

It's full. Oh, right.

So you've. Got to do it quite quickly.

Because a lot of them escape. I've seen it where they just act

as feeding stations and they get out.

The majority of them escape. Assuming it's a lot down to how

much. Liquid you put in, if they're

getting back out potentially, I don't know, probably you know

what. You're doing, obviously, I

wouldn't say that. But it.

You just do it. Don't you?

I don't really sit there and watch them and watch them come

back out again. I set them up, obviously set it

up for them and off we go. That's that.

Well, that's fair. I mean.

Well, we just do the wasp bane we've got what we just do.

Set up 4 four places now, clubs, cricket clubs I've got Yeah I.

Use I will use a wasp bane for contracts anything like say

general public as. Such or your.

Residential work I'll use wasp bags or pots, just depends on

what I got on the van at the time.

But purely down to the fact of the cost of the bags.

The cheap enough they're easy throw away, whereas obviously a

wasp banner of serviceable item. So I'll use that more on a

contract side. So I'll put them up year one,

but they're not can serve some year on year on year.

But no, actually we're talking about cost.

It's all, it's all, it's all included, isn't it?

You are right in. What you.

Say with the new chemicals, now you've got to go back two times

or three times, and with the third time you've lost money

anyway, you've lost, you've made them, you've made them think

because they're not always accessible.

We. Have got a thermal we've.

Got not. I wouldn't imagine it's as good

as Shawn. He he just be removed.

We've got a thermal, probably £200 but you can't.

You would be able to see where they are.

You would, but I haven't had. Any difficult ones yet?

Yet a lot of the ones I've dealt with.

And there's not been many where I've been able to get all close

and personal. They've always been right down

in the eaves. That's probably the worst.

Ones where you have to. Get physically down into the

eaves, obviously up close with them.

A lot of them this year for me have been in the cavities.

Yeah, I mean the vast lot. Cavities, yeah, it seems to be

popular spot this year because not had as many in roof.

Tiles this year. Because as compared to previous

years, there's been, yeah, I'd say thinking of it, the vast

majority I've been in cavity as opposed to roof tiles I've.

Normally as the season. Goes on.

They get higher and higher and higher, don't they?

More. Yeah, they haven't yet.

They haven't. I'll probably jinx myself.

Get yourself in them lofts. Only if I have to.

Only if I have to. Well, it's one way to lose

weight. Especially with the temperatures

we've been having, spend half hour in there, it'd be like it'd

be better than a sauna. Oh yeah, yeah.

You're. Right, but no, it's.

It's it's a thing like obviously it, it's obviously down to the

company how much they want to charge.

There's no rule for What's that? How much you charge?

But you are right. But you know that.

But it's possible, isn't it? It's like for.

Yourself you don't have. So for instance, the one biggest

difference between you and myself, I've got franchise fees

to pay. Yes, they're not a big massive

amount a month, but we still have to pay a franchise fee.

So there's one thing straight away and it's the area you

cover. You may be able to do it a lot

cheaper than what I can, depends on the van.

You've got fuel costs and things like that.

So you've got to take everything into account.

There's a whole list of things that that people don't.

Think about yeah, I mean, it's people in Melton.

It's people. In Melton that will do it for

like £30. Not seen them.

Yet I've seen. Oh, there's plenty of lawn care

company that keeps doing them. Yeah.

No, no, no, no, I've seen. Him as well.

He's he's down that way, but I don't think he's that cheap.

I'm not sure though, but I've not heard that that.

Cheap though, Yeah, yeah, yeah. All the time.

But at the end of the day is another way you can look at it

if you look at it on a money side.

OK, so he does it for £30, I'd do it for 120.

So you look at it, he's going to do 4 wasp nest to my wad.

So who's the fool? There you go, I mean.

Exactly. I mean what?

You do? I mean, yeah, you're right, it'd

take a. Lot to get.

Up to to to your one. And imagine you're 10.

Wasn't it what we in business? For Make Money it's not we're

not a charity. There's.

Too many there is too. There is too many charities out

there for you've got to know. The problem is you've.

You've got too many people that don't realise the cost of stuff

and they're just making a living if that.

It would surprise me if they don't.

Some jobs that may do and others that won't.

You just obviously everyone's circumstances are different,

don't get me wrong. But as we break it down, so

being a part of a franchise, we've got tools and everything

around us for us to be able to work out our hourly costs to

what it costs for us to get the van moving and so forth and so

forth. So we know, we have to know that

what that cost is and someone like yourself.

Do you know what your hourly? Rate at what cost is for an hour

time as a running cost does everybody, I wouldn't say

everybody, yes, but. It's like when you have like

when you have like obviously I do mole jobs as well and we're

not, I wouldn't say for mole work we're the cheapest, but I

wouldn't, I don't know if they're the most expensive, but

like when you get people tell you, oh, you're only here for 15

minutes every time you come, I solved your job.

I've solved your problem like. Anyone can buy some mole trap.

Maybe you can do the job. Is it never matter?

Well, yeah, it takes years to. To work out with moles and get

the traps put in right. I've only been doing it I I.

I started trying. I used to hate mole work because

I met a guy called the Scott Nice Laugh on the on the RSPH

level 2 or the pest management course and he always told me

you've got to get into moles. I can't be arsed.

And one day I said to him I want to get into moles and started

taking it seriously. So then I'm actually quite good

at doing moles now. I hate it.

When you've got sandy ground. And made-up ground, it makes it

so difficult because sometimes on them jobs you do lose on

moles because it's be a nightmare.

But most of the jobs it is, but it's not the.

You've got the expertise, but they don't always see that.

It's not always because you're not there and out.

Yeah, it's not there, not always it's.

Yeah, it's not appreciative that it's taken us.

So like for me moles, I've been doing it.

Crikey, because it was well over 25.

Years over the time, not nowhere near the scale of what I'm doing

it now, but going back then it's yeah, I didn't really know, but

I got myself through and I just kept getting better and better

as time went on. But that's say it's 25 years.

Well, that's 25 years of experience learning how to find

and obviously do the trapping properly to catch them as quick

as possible. I did well, I I cleared the job

recently and like within you give them, you give them a week

or two, but and if they get any more moles, you don't include it

and then you. Can't you?

Can't you? Can't leave it open forever.

Can you? Say you ever get your moles

again, I'll call them back for. No, you can't do that.

Can you? Have to leave that.

No, I. Say to people a month, yeah,

that's my time. Frame if they get.

Another one then yeah, I'll just deal with it.

That is. But yeah, it's all.

It's all. I mean, I'm related to me.

My dad's, my dad's done it for a long, ever since he started pest

control because as you say, the, the way you were talking about

the way you start it on the side, that's what my dad did.

He he, he was a labourer as a state and he did pest control on

the side until he built it up till he, he could leave.

And that's what he did. Took him a long time, but that's

how he built the business up over time.

Whereas you could go in as a franchise and it's a lot like he

didn't understand websites even coming to build his site and

everything and learning care for him, Yeah.

It's. Utilising what they.

Offer and enabled me literally to I had to regard to stop my

job to go and do this. But there is no regrets.

Yes, there is a massive outlayer at the beginning, but when you

type that all into consideration of the yes, that do give you a

stock to get you going to do all your training.

Thank you if you'd like. Pest equipment, you mean?

Yeah. Oh, with it.

Always in the face. They don't.

The only thing they don't get you is a van, which you have to

sort out yourself. But when you break.

It all when you. Break it all down.

It is only a basic kit that you get, but it's enough to get you

going. That's that and.

Yes, my first month was it was quiet compared to what it is

now. Crikey, I'll be crying if it was

like that now because it was really, really quiet.

But within. The month.

Six weeks time, it was just like someone just went up to turn the

key. Well, you can have the business

there dump and it's not stopped. What you want is it's good.

It's like there's there's straight.

So if anyone of them was listening to this podcast, they

now know setting up your own business versus joining a a

franchise. I believe that in the UK pest

control companies and the only ones don't they of course don't

they? When I looked that was the most

the pest force was the most obvious.

I've never heard of any of us unless I'm just.

No, there's. There's one other that I did

find, but there wasn't a lot of information about it.

Whereas if you look up Pest Force, they're quite open with a

lot of the stuff for what they say.

I mean, the biggest thing was for like the Pest Force was a

brand, It's we're the most reviewed pest control country in

the country. There's. 20 I think there's.

26,005 Star Reviews within Reviews.

I'll tell you now how difficult to get even when you ask.

Yeah, I mean, it's like myself in two years.

In just over 2. Just no sorry.

I've just into my third year now of business.

Third year in few months I'm over 250 reviews.

Is that is that do after? You finish your work.

Do passports automatically send out something to ask for a

review or is that something you do?

Or do they do automatically? We No, they don't do it.

Automatically we have to tick the box.

So we do tick boxes to sort of say, yes, ask for a review, but

it doesn't mean. You're going to get a review.

Yeah, and sometimes you can. Get people that like to like to

put fake ones. You'll always get it no matter

what you do. But the fake ones will be quite

obvious, yeah? Yeah, this I hate.

It when they get these companies, I have to have the

way to go. We can get you XMR.

I don't want your fake review business please, says Google is

very. Hard to get on.

If you mess with Google, they can lose your account.

I said I've worked hard to get on 63 reviews.

I've only I've only recently started trying again.

I lost the load last year and they were all real.

They changed their algorithms or their policies.

But I said, you know, I was bad about Google reviews.

These companies actually pay. I don't know why you'd risk it.

See, we use. We use I think.

There's three if obviously, well, there's two main

platforms, obviously Google and press pilot.

Just this. No trust this.

Oh. Trust this.

That's what we use. Yeah.

Oh, OK. So there the trust.

This is the main one for us. I'll look that up.

I will. Yeah, I'll look that one up.

But yeah, it's just, it's just people are.

It's not worth the risk of getting fake reviews.

I'd rather earn a real review and I'll be happy with that.

Yeah, if you know how, Google. Google.

And these companies are, they know it's something they could

just take your account off you. It's gone.

We can. It's sort of.

Funky words, isn't it? And how?

They do things. It's forever.

It's forever changing Google because even even the companies

do SEM if you. Ask them honestly, say do you

understand what's going on? And they say no.

We're just just trying to stay ahead.

We're guessing they they don't. There's no.

No magic book. I don't say here's the algorithm

in one page we've updated. They don't do that, no.

I don't understand it personally.

Damien deals with that side for us.

He's wicked. He, he gets it, he understands

it. He knows what we need to do.

And if we're not doing it correctly in the sense that

we're not responding to reviews or we're not answering the phone

enough or whatever it may be, he'll make sure he tells us to

what we need to do, to where we need to go to the system from

the Google side. So.

Basically, they monitor. Your analytics or calls yeah, so

the monitor so. Yeah, there is a lot of things

that are traced within the franchise.

So for instance, my all the phone calls apart from my

mobile, they'll be traced one way or another. e-mail obviously

they'll be able to see regardless or whatever, but it's

they can analyse stuff. It's not to spy on you, no.

It's not to spy. It's far from.

It it's so if I went to them and says, oh, I'm really struggling

here, I'm losing jobs left, right and centre and I'm not

doing enough. I need more money, I need more

business. Or they've got it to where they

can help you push you in the right directions so they can

look at your phone calls, see what's going on.

Well, OK, well, they can listen to the phone calls because they

are recorded and so forth. So they can listen to it to see

where you're going wrong. Is it my fault?

Am I doing something wrong? Or is it just one of them things

that happens so they can be able to fine tune it and help you

resolve the issue or push your business further as it is in the

end? When went into kind of thing

because if you do well, they do well because you all make more

money in the end. It's about helping.

If you pay that fee, franchise fee, you you get franchise.

Franchise fee is fixed. Yeah.

So it's fixed rate, so it don't matter what you do.

That's that rate. There is other packages, there

is packages and things like that to what you can pay for and

which I pay for like the marketing package, things like

that. So they're always there working

on my website and keeping up to date with it all.

Not everyone does, but I do. I have weekly meetings with Tom

in the office, just over the phone every Friday, just quick

chat. It'll go through the statistics

with me, how many phone calls I've had that week or the month,

so forth, and he'll be able to give me information.

So in fact, I did ask him some information before I come on

here. So this year alone I've had over

500 tracked unique phone calls. I've done over 4. 100 visits

this year. And yeah, there's it just says

on. There that there's over 255 star

reviews well is that? Over the 2.

Platforms you're using, yeah, yeah.

So that's overall. Yeah.

Did that help you? And I recently done a day with

them on a business booster day. So sort of like hit this sort of

patch where I'm, I'm too busy to a degree.

I'm starting to struggle. Well, my next plan was to

actually, I can't need a second person.

Then you worry about obviously I'm going to pay that second

person and so forth, so forth. And then the business boost

today, you go down there and there's a group of the Sixers in

there and they actually gave us like information, like reports

that they've done that just showed a hell of a lot to myself

where when you I looked at it personally and looked at it and

thought, wow, so they've. Broke it down to the degree.

Of well, that month I got, I don't know, say 100 phone calls,

but. I missed. 38% of.

The phone calls. Really.

But my conversion rate. Of jobs is X percentage and then

they worked out how many jobs I've done that month.

So that's gives them that percentage, but and then it

tells. You at the bottom which?

The bit that done me the most is the potential loss sales,

working off your average job per price per job.

And it's not actually a second person that I needed.

Oh. It's actually an admin person.

Oh, OK, so. Hence where Charlotte's come in

more. So now, but I still I've now got

to take on that second person because the phone call rates are

improving, which means more jobs.

Well, that's good. That is, it's.

But without their help. You won't know that.

I want to know I've just. Got myself in a worse situation.

Take on a second person and it potentially cost me more money.

Yeah, because you've got a like because obviously.

When I haven't took nobody on, but I know that when you take

another person on, you've got to make sure that they're making

well, they're not just you've got to make sure that that extra

money's coming in for that second van.

You've got to make X amount of 1000 per year for that van, not

just for your, you know, help with the work.

The work's got work rates got to go up into it.

You've got to make money off the second person.

Yeah, there there's a cost. Obviously that that second

person is going to be and he's going to have to do X amount a

month before it that breaks even.

So anything above that figure, then you're into profit.

And it's the sort of things that they've helped me work out and

go through. They've got things there in

place that we can put all the information in to give us the

answers that we need to say, oh OK, or I need to do X about 1000

lbs from him a month just to make him pay for himself.

It's good to know that they they.

Help you in that, in that way it is, it's, it's a lot more than

you think because obviously you wouldn't think that our

franchises want to send money. Obviously they they care and

they support and they help you. Grow and teach you as well, not

just leave you high and dry. Sounds like you get a lot of

value in return for what you pay, which is which is good.

Without a doubt it it's worth. Its weight in gold.

I won't be in the position. So if I go back to the first

original question, what, why did I go for a franchise and not

start out on my own? It's sort of.

I won't be in the position I'm in now if I would have started.

Out myself 2. Years ago because.

I can tell you now you want that about many.

Reviews. Either, but you don't.

You, you don't put all your effort into it, do you?

You try as much as possible, but at the end of the day, what's

paying the way if if I've done it that way would be my other

job. And it's like, you know.

You know the difficulties about like even like your websites?

Yeah, that's been built. The new one is.

Yeah, so it's like things. Like that would you get a bad

person that does it and doesn't put all the correct information

in it? I mean, you've just.

Spent a lot of money. Doing that while they're doing

it, well. If they haven't done.

It right? Well, you're going to have to.

Spend it again to find. To do it well, to be fair, I

mean, it's the company. We first first went with all

them years ago. So they've got a very good

reputation. So and they were the ones that

got us up on the on the Google rank searches or whatever you

call them. So it should that from what they

can tell me, it should stay in the same position.

Then basically when the site's ready and it's all been

approved, just swap and switched it just like that.

It's strange. No downtime, Hopefully it.

Helps, but we'll we'll see. But no, you are.

But don't worry though. Obviously I've got an Oakland

page and yes, I do. I get the statistics come

through, obviously the placement of my website, sort of like I do

of all my other websites. So it's very, very quickly.

The Pest Force franchise managed to get my website in Oakland to

the second place very quickly. Well, of course you know that.

You know exactly who that is. You just sat there Googling it.

Now look, it's me, it sounds to me.

Yeah, but type in. Type in pest control Rutland.

Oh, it's my website. Oh.

Has it gone back to you? It's gone.

See. See.

We've also got a site called Rutland Pest Control.

So it was on on this search. It's gone Rutland Pest Pest

Control Rutland and it's gone Oakland Pest Control.

Then it's gone then then it's gone to you.

Yeah, the other day when I. Looked, I've got the.

When I got the paperwork through the other day it went to one,

but I know it flicks up and down all the time.

It it it changes, it does. I don't know how many people

type that search term in. I don't know.

I don't know to be honest. With you, we've got.

Satellite sites. A bunch of yours.

Worked like satellite sites for the earliest Yeah, yeah, it will

do. Tom will the, I mean the head,

our head office will be able to tell me how many times it's

searched for and everything else, but it's the things that

they do and how good they are at doing it.

They've got to be. They've got to know what they're

doing there. Yeah, takes time.

We're learning, doesn't it? But.

Over the years they've got that them expertise in what to do and

I suppose. It's OK that they're always.

Trying new things and ways to to make it work and stay up or down

the list or whatever. I don't know if I tried that

search term tomorrow then again the reckon.

If you try it on. Your computer and you've been

doing it on your phone a lot that the search results will

vary. The reckon you're supposed to

put it on a new phone or a new that's got all the cookies wiped

out of it and it will be different, Yeah, if you do a

private search. It's more if you do a private

search. It's how it is, but.

If you do it on your phone, well, it picks up that I am who

I am because it will do. If I go on to Google, it knows

who I am. It changes it around, but yeah,

it does. It does vary.

I don't often, so I. Normally just type.

Open pest control in but I was checked.

I forgot the Google reviews. My new one today if you get

them, I'll try, but no, it's it's been fun having you on

Nathan. Who would you like to see on

the? Podcast then give us some more

non pest force. OK, I'll get I'll get he's

getting pest force people on. I would love to see.

Matt from Lodi on. All right.

There you go, Matt. Nathan wants you on and we can

do a non live version if you want.

But yeah, no, I think Matt. Lodi.

That'll be a good one because he's not done anything else like

that before. No, I can't think of anyone else

to be honest. All.

Right. Have you had have you had the

MPTA on? But what do you mean?

I am MPTA as well. Well, yes.

Yes you are. No, you're not.

The head honcho, I can't think of his name.

Oh, Kevin Lawrence. Yeah, that's.

Him thank you no, why not so if you're.

MPTA then you should be able to get him on quite easily.

I've got a Direct Line to him. Everyone know it Well yeah, I

can just bring him whatever, but I will try I.

Will. There's your challenge then I

will. Try.

But but yeah, no, it's been fun. Have you?

Have you liked coming on the podcast?

Yes mate, it's been good. Very, very good.

Been very. Is this your first?

Podcast, I know you, you've also done you've been on the Lodi

channel, I think. Yeah, I seen your video ages

ago. Yeah.

Yeah, no, it's first podcast. I've done videos.

Before so I've. Done videos with S course I've

done my own videos of little bits of snippets of my life as

such and as you do throughout the.

Day and I'll try and. Make it with like as much

information as possible to the end user away from that, No.

Never been on a podcast ever. Well.

At least I've beat peas and beasties.

I'd like to beat. I'd like to beat.

Them. But yeah, no, thanks for coming

on. And Debbie?

If you're watching, thank you, He's he's.

Been on now. Maybe she's busy, but I'm sure

she will listen. I I thought she's going to

appear in chat earlier, but maybe she's she's busy.

We must catch up later. I'll.

Send her links tomorrow saying. There it is.

You need to listen to it now. Yeah, just.

Send her the message. Just saying.

Oh my God, I can't believe Nathan said that about you.

Then she'll have to listen to it all then.

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, well, she was the one.

That recommended you on the podcast?

Yeah, she's. Wicked.

I love Debbie. Absolutely love her to pieces.

She's down. She's so down to earth, she is.

Yeah, she's also. Oh no.

She is, That's the thing I liked about her teaching in my RSPH

level 2 and pest management award.

Whatever it is, she can give you real life situations and she can

tell you what happened in a certain scenario and each it was

more a closed. Like.

It was more, I think that's about five of us on the course

or something. And it was more cheat.

She'd if you had a question, she'd answer it or she could put

it in real terms. Yeah.

So Debbie's been. So I made friends Debbie quite

quickly and it funnily enough, it was through Matt loading and

Debbie's helped me along the way of a lot.

So if I've ever had any technical issues or something

that I'm unsure about or whatever, can't get old because

obviously our technical director is Natalie, can't get old of

anyone. I'll ring Debbie or anything in

particular, like some nitty gritty bits of information that

I need. It's always Debbie that I'll

ring, and she's been wicked. She's a nice person.

She is, yeah. She's a.

Very good teacher I think. She is if I ever do my, if I

ever do my Level 3, I will definitely get through Debbie if

I can. Is that something you're going

to do then? Maybe in the future, yeah.

Maybe roughly see if it's under this new this new framework.

It'd be different because the current Level 3 would actually

be your level 4. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

So you level. What is level 2?

Now going to level. Three, you've just got to do a

practical. Yeah, you've got to do a

practical now, haven't you? Compared to whereas before you

didn't have to to show you it's all.

It's all. Doing it, it's all still being.

The process is still being gone through.

The MPTA is working with the BPCA.

I'm not involved in any of that, but I do know that there's a the

BPCA was a thing where people could pay to have like a

practical exam to upgrade them to Level 3 as far as I

understand. I don't know.

That's not. Factual anymore, I don't know.

They're still working all the fine details, but the current

Level 3 would make you a level 4 and the.

Four would make you a 5. But maybe one day I just about

past level 2 past that second time round.

For that one maybe. One day I'll get me off.

I'm doing a course online at the minute, Diploma in entomology.

OK, just to get me. Better at insect.

Identifications and stuff, yeah. Is it Vitas Veritas?

That's. It I'm not, I'm not, I'm not

doing. It through them, no.

But I've not he'd done. A He'd done one at I had BPCA

head office and I wanted to go but it I had a conflict but they

done the identification through a microscope course I I have

been recommended to do. That course, at some point I

might, yeah, it's something. It's on my.

Hit list to to do but it's just like an online course that cost.

28 lbs, but it's like 150 hours worth of stuff.

So there's no limit, though it can take me like a year or more.

But I I have been recommended by a few people to do that.

Some point his insect identification course at some

point, yeah. Yeah, Paul was it was Paul at

Denar Trend and he's wicked. He's been on the podcast as

well. Yeah.

No, no, no, I watched it. Don't.

Worry about that. Oh, yeah.

Oh, you've watched it? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Who do you do your CPD with? CPD.

Points. It's PPCA.

Oh, so we're. We're members of.

BPCA have you logged? Have you logged my podcast?

Through there, I'll be honest with you, I'm.

Shocking with logging the you know the simple little things

like we have weekly, we have like a technical half hour is

what they call it. But then monthly we'll naturally

have a guest on or whatever, so half the time it's just logging

in, have a quick chat with everyone, any problems, you can

discuss it with other people within the franchise and on the

bigger ones we can claim the CPD points.

And I always forget a lot of people do, but there's.

A big rush, there's a big rush at the minute and panic for next

year, but it's not that different.

I think I'm. Three points away from the end

of that, I'm done. I've got 40 on on British press.

I've got 42 points at the minute and on the my.

Basis prompt. I've got the, I've got 25, I

think on basis prompt, yeah. I should know I'm on a trade

body, I. Should know what I'm doing when

it comes to points. I should.

But there are a lot of people that are confused.

About what's going on next year, we'll have to make a video on it

as well, but there is all the. Information's out there.

It's. Fairly easy, yeah.

I mean even for before. Obviously this will come in.

We had to be compliant before SO.

We still had to. Do the CPD.

Points every year. Before this will come in,

obviously I'll be right because I've done obviously the the

basic principles within the five year period.

So I would have been all right anyway.

But there are some people though that.

Obviously have level 2, the proper level 2, but I'll just

redoing the basic principle for the CPD which is allowed.

Yeah, of course it is. It is.

People can do that. It's part of the.

Part of the whatever you want to, even though I'm, I'm, I'm on

the board, the MPTID tell people if you didn't want to be on the

trade body, just join the CPD scheme, £46 a year, you're done.

You don't have to spend a lot of money, you don't have to be your

trade body. I know being on the board I

should be pushing trade, but I don't know.

I don't want to influence people if they want to just be in a CPD

scheme or whatever they can or if they want to do them reading

their courses every five years, they can.

It's up to them whatever is good for their business.

Yeah, I'll tell you what it's been.

A really good, really good chat. Nathan I think we got on really

well. I've enjoyed it.

We've not met yet. In real life, but there's.

There's a chance we could. Well, we could at some point.

Don't forget after today we're. Enemies again.

That's that. But yeah, I've what's it called?

I've got someone on that's very local to me.

I have tried even more local, but he doesn't.

They don't really want to go on the podcast.

I don't. I don't push people don't want

to come on. I would love someone to.

Come on, that's. Within the chemical company.

So that's where I really hit walls the big boys don't want.

Their people on. Podcasts.

They won't know, will they? They just want.

To protect themselves. But so all you can do is try.

Yeah, you can, because some of them the.

Worst thing I'll say is only no. That's that, yeah.

So. Thanks everyone for watching

live or after the fact. Please log your There will be

some CPD for this when they work out, go back and work out what

we talked about. There will be some CPDS.

I'm sure. There'll be some learning

points, I'm sure. Yeah, do a business.

There will be some. CPD 1.5 points but you're going

to get your CPD if you're with PPCA or British pass register.

I've had all my bases prompt codes for the year so I can't

get anymore. Give me 8 you.

Know they give me 10. Points, Nathan.

People can only claim six that. Does that make sense to you?

Gives me 10 points for the year but people can only claim 6IN

podcasts. It sounds a bit backwards.

But there we go. It does because I I actually

looked. Into my points from last year, I

registered eight points. Suddenly it's 6 and they would

log. Eight points the previous.

Year and I, I gave them a load of points and so no, no, you're

getting 3D6, right? Last year I went back and looked

on the website, you see, so I knew I don't I.

Think you should be able to log as many.

Podcasts as you want to do. As long as you learn and you can

tell them what you've learned, that's all that matters.

That's why. BPCA self register.

What Sean's doing with his self register, good.

Because they're only bothered about learning that.

That's all they're bothered about, not what you did.

Obviously you've got to do your standard crew, you know your

crew training, but apart from that it's whatever you've

learned. I think self registers the way

forward. Are they?

It seems good the way to do that.

But I also. Do feel that if you don't go on

courses, how are you going to progress?

I'm. Not, I'm not.

I'm not condoning just. Just it's.

It's like, obviously I've been on to that Davies drain course

and like we've already discussed.

About the. Identification.

I'm all up for doing courses. No, I am.

That's all my. Points I'm the opposite way I.

Don't register like this type of thing because I forget.

People do, to be fair, but I I know.

People watch my podcast but they forget to register the points.

They watch it though, so it just shows you're not that fussed

about getting the points. They enjoy watching it.

Either way, I think. It's all good for the industry.

But anyway, let's end it on that.

But thanks, if you just hang around for just a minute, I will

end the stream. But yeah, thanks everyone.

I'll be back next week and I cannot remember who's on next

week, so I'll advertise it when I know I look on my phone.

But thanks everyone and I'll see you next week.

Yeah, Sean, thank you.

Tonight's Episode