rottentomatoes
Yes, it does rather suck to be competing against those with an unfair advantage. But, we hope that our very ethical, non-cowboy image will compensate somewhat.
In a few years, we hope to be able to stop cleaning, ourselves, and make money off of the labour of others. I've done the maths: it's not possible to make enough money to live on without charging £20 an hour or so.
This is not to say that we won't be working: we hope to spend our time marketing, recruiting, training, and enforcing quality control. Because people will only pay £20 an hour for cleaning if it's of the highest quality.
In the meantime, we charge significantly more than the "£10 an hour" that so many people seem to think is the standard. In order to justify our rates, we have to give an extraordinary level of service and have the image to convey our standards.
I know a fellow who runs a massive cleaning company in Finland, and who used to run a business in the UK. He thinks the VAT threshold of £70-something thousand a year is too high. He thinks it should be about £2000 or so, so that everyone bears the same burden. I sort of think he has a point.
The truth is, many plumbers, electricians, etc. don't have high enough revenues to have to pay VAT. If they give a cash discount it's just because they don't want to pay income tax.
I can't say I blame someone for not wanting to pay VAT for a cleaner. If they hire a sole operator, they don't have to. I would hope that the sole operators are at least paying all their income taxes.