[HolmansUKLTD]

I meant the amount of times you post!! you need to get out more

[Ian Gourlay]

Im looking forward to meeting Andrew next week.

It appears Andrew has started several companies.


I am a bit concerned about staying power, ie Oven Cleaning Car Valeting, etc but every step is a learning process.

It appears Andrew wants a business not a job.

[AquaMagic]

I think we should cut Andrew some slack, he cleary values the opinions of his fellow proffesionals otherwise he wouldnt ask for them and although some people have been constructive and pointed out downfalls and mistakes im disappionted that some many people have been quick to take the mickey.  Im sure Andrew who runs several business has run the numbers and im sure he will run them again and probably another few times before commiting any capital to his new venture.  I say good luck Andrew if youve got the minerals to go for it and the desire to follow it through then im sure you will MAKE it work even if it means refining your business plan as you go along, becuase if we are honest there is not one person on here who wrote a business plan on day one and follwed it to the letter, everyone has to make amendments and chages to how thier business is run, everyone!.

Ok rant over, sorry about that.

Dene

[PaulKing]

Hey Andrew you have taken some flak for this.

Just to wish you good luck and hope you can prove them wrong.

p.s a good battle strategy "don't tell the enemy what you going to do" especially when they live just up the road.

[craigp]

if that buisness model works we all have a fleet of vans,

after a few years starting out, as and when the business grows add a van, earn more, get more work, add another one, were raking it in now add another operator, add a scretary,

has it happened that way for any of us on here?  no.

your dreaming!

its just not suited, like window cleaning, wheelie bin cleaners, do they have sceretaries?

and if it was possible would we not be doing it?

[Spot On cleaning]

That's a fact Craig.

I don't think this business can support large operations because of all the competition out there. If every house in the country had their carpets cleaned as well as every commercial establishment, then maybe theres a chance, but as only in the region of 25% of people bother with having their carpets cleaned, then i think not either.

Maybe there are one or two already established businesses out there, but they have been doing it a lot longer and had made the contacts necessary to get whre they are today, and protecting what they've got.

Regarding wheelie bin cleaning rounds, there is a large one in my area. Going back to the late 1980s / early 1990s, Torfaen council issued wheelie bins to their residents in Cwmbran, and there were one or two individuals who started to clean them.This could have been a good opportunity back then for people if they knew the knock on effect that wheelie bins would have. I have my bins cleaned by a couple of chaps in a scruffy old van, out of loyalty to a local business for £2 a fortnight.

The big boys have a dedicated fleet of vans on the road and this business was acquired because the owner, a tall  gentleman wearing a suit, took the trouble to knock on every door in my town and surrounding areas. All their bins have a nice sticker on them advertising other services.

My bin cleaner told me about a dirty tricks campaign against him by reporting them for tipping the water from the bin after cleaning it into the street instead of collecting it as they do. Gladly it did'nt work.

If i suddenly came into a lot of money, i would'nt go out and buy a couple of vans and truck mounts or even upgrade to a better truck mount, because like you, i am realistic about this business.

I would respectfully say to Andrew, go and physically do the work yourself before you actually start hiring people, then you might get a different perspective. My favourite programme is Microsoft Excel. It is wonderful doing lots of "What If" calculations. They Don't often work out like i thought they would.

Dave

[craigp]

i agree dave,  andrew, try it alone first, im sure you will be glad then when theres a quiet spell that you dont have wages to pay,

imo you should try to keep over heads minimal in the begining.

all i can say is for your business model you'll need the work coming in so thick and fast you'll have to spend big on advertising, your prices will need to be so high to cover advertising, wages, vans, fuel that you'll struggle to compete with more stream line companies, especially since your only going to do commercial which often needs to be priced competitivley.

sorry if it all sounds negititive, i just think you'll have a major challenge on your hands, but you do say thats what you like