[TVCS]

Hi folks.
Received a call today from a chap offering me his round.  He is moving away and says that he has about 100 properties on his books.  Now I am still quite new to window cleaning and an extra 100 houses would certainly help me out financially. 
He says that the round brings in about 1000 pounds per month and he wants 2000 quid for it.  He is willing to take me out and introduce me to all his customers and he says I can see all his records regarding the round.  He says he has been doing it for about 3 years.

Does this sound like a good price?  I dont know what the going rate is!!  Any advice would be greatly received as I am very interested in it but I cant afford to to be ripped off.  So I thought I would run it by you w/c heros in forum land.

Ant

[David 'Duck' Clare]

Hi fella

basically this bloke is charging you 2 x the round value - the norm is up to 4 x, so its a fair price.

seeing the books is ok but remember to ask yourself 'what am i looking at'? if they are not audited account they may not be worth looking at .... other than for general information.

you will need full name, address and telephone numbers for every customer from this bloke, get him to introduce you PERSONALLY to every customer and to jointly come up with a transaction/round change of w/c flyer (letter) - when you buy the round call EVERY customer straight away to re-introduce yourself.

hope this helps

DC

[TVCS]

Cheers Duck, what a speedie reply!

On the phone I stated that if I did buy the round I would want an introduction from him to all the customers.  I will write to them too so they will have a reminder if you like that I am the new window cleaner. 

Just one more question.
Who wants to lend me 1998 pounds?

[Moderator David@stives]

TVCS

Dont forget to ask around the other local window cleaners about this guy and his round.

They will give you a good guage of the guys reputation and character etc

Dave

[Trevor Knight]

One thing to remember is people are afraid of change.

I would look to say you are working together while he concentrates on other areas of the business. Explain it will be you doing the work from now on.

The price is a fair price but you need to make sure you get a face to face introduction with ALL the customers, the ones that are out, go back and see together.

Maybe try a pay half one month and the other half the next month, its worth a try.

Good luck

Trev

[M4RK]

The round is for sale for a very good price, but I would make sure that his prices are OK.
If his prices are too cheap, in the long run you might be better dedicating your time to building your own round.
Saying that, if they are only slightly less than your prices it would be worth taking on the round and you can increase the prices a little bit once they get to know you and see that you do a good job.

Mark

[TVCS]

Thanks for the advice people, very much appreciated.
Still  not decided on it yet, he says he will give me a week or two to decide. 
Very tempted but not sure where the money will come from to buy it, the joys of starting a business eh.

Anyway, thanks again for the help,
Ant

[Trevor Knight]

Ant,

If you dont have the money then tell him your situation.

I brought some business years ago and was in the same situation as you. I agreed with the seller to pay it over 3 months. Two reasons mainly.

1) spread the cost.
2) make sure that the cliebts were happy and didn't cancel a month down the road.

If the seller is genuine then i am sure they will understand your situation.

Lets face it, all you are buying is good will.

Speak to them and at least ask before thinking you cant afford it?

Good luck,

Trev

[TVCS]

Trev.
Thanks for the top tips.  Will be speaking to him in the next couple of days and should be able to sort something out.
Saying that though,  out on my tiny little round today and picked up 5 new properties without knocking on a single door.
 Just about to go home and watch the footie safe in the knowledge that the beers were in the fridge and I got these "newbies" all of them were very nice and each property is at a good price but they all wanted me to pop in today.   This has put me in the mood to do some serious door knocking.

Thanks again for the advice. 

Must go now and tend to my sun burnt legs.
Ant

[matt]

what i do when i buy in work

is work the round with the guy once, so that is half the money earned that he can keep (in your case 500 quid)

thats 500 quid off the total

i only buy work in for the amount its worth each time, thus 1000 is worth 1000

work it once and you only have to find 500 quid

see if he will go for 1500 quid, and let you work it once and he keep the money, then you only need to find 1000

[David 'Duck' Clare]

what i do when i buy in work

is work the round with the guy once, so that is half the money earned that he can keep (in your case 500 quid)

thats 500 quid off the total

i only buy work in for the amount its worth each time, thus 1000 is worth 1000

work it once and you only have to find 500 quid

see if he will go for 1500 quid, and let you work it once and he keep the money, then you only need to find 1000

hi matt,

thats a good deal if you can get it! - i would not accept that myself, because if i was selling a £500 p/m round for £1500 in your way of doing things i would have to basically work my own round for free in order to sell it to you !!! i wouldnt do that - id work it with someone for £2k but not to keep the money i would have earned and then take 33% less for the round!!

i would introduce someone to my customers - say a £500 round = 40 or 50 customers this would only take 2 hours to do......to clean 40 or 50 houses....2 days maybe

just my thoughts

DC

[TVCS]

Thanks for all the imput, advice and help people.
I decided not to buy the round in the end.  Phoned the chap and explained and he was cool about it. 
He said that if he still has it towards the end of july he will get in touch and see if I am interested then.

Anyway thanks again.
Ant

[Trevor Knight]

Hi Ant,

Hope you don't mind me asking but what was your reason for not buying the round?

Best wishes,

Trev

[TVCS]

Hi Trev,
Sorry its a late reply,
As I mentioned before, no spondulicks at all.  I am window cleaning and pressure washing aswell as doing a  shift job at a local factory.  I am holding the  job down as it keeps a regular income coming in until I have a big enough round.   Since speaking to the chap originally I have doubled my round, and I am picking up new customers quite rapidly.   The round that was for sale is a little out of my area aswell.
At the end of the day I decided if I want 100 more customers I'd try and get them the cheap way.
The advice on here was much appreciated but a the end of the day I am running at the mo on a very very tight budget.

Cheers
Ant