I have been sub contracting to him for 15 years, I worked on a round for ten and built it up to being very successful. I was working with someone on that round until I reached my breaking point with him. A round came up for sale and I left everything I had worked for to concentrate on this. I didn’t care, said person mentally drained me and I couldn’t hack it anymore.
As a sub contractor, I have built, over the last year a nice tidy but small round for Myself. (Nothing that isn’t done by others at the same company)
I don’t have enough to leave without this new work and daily asked why I don’t work for myself. It’s the ultimate goal to work for myself. With my own van, that I pay for to have my name on it.
No agreement signed, as a self employed window cleaner it would have been stupid to. It knowing what the future holds.
Thanks
Hi. I’m after some advice. I have worked as a sub contracting window cleaner for 15 years. 5 of those, my boss has taken 35% of what I’ve earned per job. 7 years at 25% and 3 at 20%. The last year I have been working on a round that he paid for outright, but now I’m thinking that the percentage I’m giving away as lots of money lost, as I practically do 95% for what is required of a window cleaner. Paperwork and cleaning etc. he just looks after money. I’m thinking about going it alone. What would be peopels advice. TIA
I don't know where you are from (you don't have to answer this,) but this sounds like how a local window cleaning company works.
Please don't take this the wrong way, but it's taken you 15 years to reconsider your position?
When I first went wfp it took me a while to change our round over from trad. After a couple of months, another local cleaner asked me if I would help him convert his round to wfp. I supplied the equipment, my van and my water.
For every first clean, he gave me the full clean price and for each clean thereafter he took 50%. It did give me a lot of wfp experience, especially with first cleans, which I will always be grateful for, but after 3 months I returned all his work to him.
Whilst I was busy working my guts off, I didn't have enough time to canvass to build my own business. You could well be in this position. If you did go out on your own, then the following months are going to be financially lean ones, just like I experienced. Building a round 20 years ago was much easier than it is today.
Another thing: did you sign any agreement that if you left his subcontractor umbrella, you couldn't work as a competing window cleaner in your local area?
I'm asking about the van. Is it yours with his name sign written on the side?
I believe most of us have been in a position where we didn't have enough work to cut ties with a previous job/employer and go completely into window cleaning. Sooner or later you are going to have to jump. And when you do, you are going to be under a bit of financial stress until you establish yourself. And this I see is where your concern is. The hesitation before you jump is understandable.
Only you know when to take that leap of faith. At least you know the business; speaking for myself, I didn't. Window cleaning was totally new to me. I was 'forced' into it as I lost my job in the motor trade. We can tell you to go for it, but then we don't live your life. We don't take any responsibility if it doesn't work out for you.
Most new start businesses need capital behind them to get off the proverbial ground. Some might take a number of years before turning a profit. With wfp, our start-up costs are much higher than a trad window cleaner's was of Yester year. You are in that position. You basically need savings or a long term loan or another form of financial backing to cover your expenses in the first few months (possibly 6 months or more) while you build up your own round.
With winter coming with reduced daylight hours and bad weather, you aren't going to be able to service both rounds very easily. That in itself is going to add further stress.
How would your current employer you subcontract to, react to you reducing your hours? There is also a possibility that some of the customers you are currently cleaning will stick with you, but that's not a guarantee.
If I understand correctly, the only thing you don't handle is debt. One of the things we did in the early days was to buy 'George' the window cleaner's basic window cleaning program. It was, and still is, a stand-alone system that schedules your round and keeps track of debt. It was a one-time cost of £50. We have ours on a Surface Go tablet these days. But then again, you are running your own round which includes debt management.