[AshWhite]

I got called up and offered a job as senior sales in a dealership I used to work in, turned it down as I had spent the previous 2 years trying to get out and set my own business up.

Had another call 2 months later asking if I could go back part time, covering the sales staff on holidays/sickies. You know how rare this is, so I took it. I work on average 10 days a month for them which is fine, but the days feel twice as long as they used to - and it's not the same feeling as making money for yourself.

[Ian101]

Thanks for the replies chaps !

Spruce's kinda brought memories back of how it is in the motor trade for selling these days.

Like the thought of in 3 years sitting on bum controlling my empire ... well said bobby P .... AKA  rob underhill

Guess you gonna have to put up with me for a bit longer 

Think I go stir crazy sitting back behind a desk talking to stoopid salemen and ever more stoopid customers all day every day.

[EandM]

[/quote]

A Sales Managers position in the car industry as the country goes deeper into 'recession'. The chasing of targets that start anew every month and the achievements of this year become the building blocks of the target for next year + 10%. Have a bad month and the Dealer Principal is over you like a rash 'to make it up'. And you can't give cars away to achieve your sales unit targets because they are linked to a profit per unit target which you are paid a commission on.

Work 7 days a week with one day off during the week and alternate Sunday's if you are lucky - Sales Managers at Vardy's were lucky to get one off a month.

Work hours from 8.30 to 7.00 weekdays and 6.00 on Saturday. Summer - I think we need to stay open until 8.00. "All we are asking is another 3 measly hours a week from each of you - that's all."  And remember you have signed this document that the max 48 hour week doesn't apply to you.

Oh, in your absence on your day off, we have arranged for you to hand over this car to this customer at 11.00 next Wednesday - which always happens on your day off so you have to come into the dealership - and we expect you to wear corporate clothing.

Oh hang on - we give you a company car, but if the workshop loan it out for a service customer, you can use what you can find that has just been traded in - drive it home on trade plates at 55 MPH. Oh, and when you car finally is returned, the fuel in it was used by the customer and not replaced - out of pocket again.

Now my target is to achieve a monthly wage I can live on - health issues considered. I can start at 9 or 10 and not work an afternoon if I don't want to.  occassional work a Saturday, but that's my choice.
I drive a company van - yes its mine, but that's fine.


 
That's an excellent answer !
Not just for the motor trade but for just about all walks of employment.

[David Lingard]

I have been emplyed full time Mon-Fri 8.30-5 fo 6 years now n the same company

when i started i worked in sales
then they made me sals &technical help
then they made me sales, technical help & systems administrator
then they made me sales, technical help & systems administrator & IT manager

At any point they can decide to downsize the company, make cutbacks, redundancies etc then im on I disagree

now I have started tryin to build myself a round. For the last 6 months I culd honestly say to you that I would give my right arm to have a full time round and not have to answer to th kinds of people that you would be working for.

I want it that bad that to make this work i am working a 7 day week and have absolutely no quarms or secod thoughts in doing so.

If i was personally in your shoes you couldnt pay me enough!
 

[Crystal-clear]

Hi Ian, i was 2 years into window cleaning up north this was the time when i was doing ladder work 2 ladders on the car and things were going ok but not great wasnt earning alot but i had bad days and decent days,was offered a job for £28k a year paid holiday everything , i took it was smart of me thou i didnt sell my round which at the time was producing maybe £1200 to £1400  motnly or so..

it was back down in london tech support but higer level my friend blaged me in everything was setup nicely

so i left the north the idea was to make sure i could hack it sell the rounds and back to a so called normal job thought i had my fun now in window cleaning im not gona turn down this opportunity

so this was what happened
i was very excited untill i turned up to work was shown my desk, then went to do a few simple jobs

and i really dont know what went trough my mind that day but all along i realised this job isnt me anymore compared to being stuck in a boring office all the bad bits about my round seemed alot better and better like the collecting or cancelations or problem customers i realized that all i could think about was this is crap sitting in an office bound down to them when i could make things really work i knew about wfp and after 2 hours i went on an early lunch break and did NOT came back lol

took the train up north told my friend who at the time was laughing at me saying i need the job i replyed "no... i need a water fed pole" i think i had the last laugh took the  gamble spent somthing silly like £1300 on a trolly (overprived lol) then a van mount well and the rest is histoy never looked back and never will i do have a moan sometimes about the job but honestly i would never do any other job m8t.

[Crystal-clear]

I have been a salesman, a sales executive (whatever that is) and a sales director.

I would never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever - did I say ever? - go back to being employed, especially in sales.

I really don't know how I could ever be an employee again either.
Even if someone would pay me more than I currently earn (they wouldn't), I would prefer my relative freedom.

and that pretty much sums it up for me to in short

[james peters]

this is the thing.....it's not always about the money.....time is a big factor!!
choice is also a factor.....
we can work hard and finish at 2 or 3....or we can work on till 6 and finish at 1 the next day.....
we can have a day off and catch up the next couple of days.....
we can work saturdays if we want to.
we dont need to ask....
we can have a crazy busy couple of months expanding.....
we are in control......
I am 40 now and have been a window cleaner for 20 years,,,, I just cant imagine working 9-5 everyday ...and answering to someone else......and all the while having the posibility of redundancy, or cut backs or a change in boss....
then I have to consider my family , my children?
I take them to school and pick them up....they get to see me......that is something that is priceless
of course this is just my opinion.....other opinions for a different lifestyle choice are valid to each of us ...we are all individuals with different needs

[Steve Sed]

I have been a salesman, a sales executive (whatever that is) and a sales director.

I would never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever - did I say ever? - go back to being employed, especially in sales.

+1

[David Lingard]

Hi Ian, i was 2 years into window cleaning up north this was the time when i was doing ladder work 2 ladders on the car and things were going ok but not great wasnt earning alot but i had bad days and decent days,was offered a job for £28k a year paid holiday everything , i took it was smart of me thou i didnt sell my round which at the time was producing maybe £1200 to £1400  motnly or so..

it was back down in london tech support but higer level my friend blaged me in everything was setup nicely

so i left the north the idea was to make sure i could hack it sell the rounds and back to a so called normal job thought i had my fun now in window cleaning im not gona turn down this opportunity

so this was what happened
i was very excited untill i turned up to work was shown my desk, then went to do a few simple jobs

and i really dont know what went trough my mind that day but all along i realised this job isnt me anymore compared to being stuck in a boring office all the bad bits about my round seemed alot better and better like the collecting or cancelations or problem customers i realized that all i could think about was this is crap sitting in an office bound down to them when i could make things really work i knew about wfp and after 2 hours i went on an early lunch break and did NOT came back lol

took the train up north told my friend who at the time was laughing at me saying i need the job i replyed "no... i need a water fed pole" i think i had the last laugh took the  gamble spent somthing silly like £1300 on a trolly (overprived lol) then a van mount well and the rest is histoy never looked back and never will i do have a moan sometimes about the job but honestly i would never do any other job m8t.

They should make that into a movie 

Great story, great choice

David

[johnny bravo]

think back to last winter,   soon be back again,  rent it out incase it dosent work.

[brynley]

i wouldn't even consider it, own boss, have recently started finishing at 3pm ( my choice) stopped working saturdays and hope to only work 4 days if my boss lets me (partner) morgage paid off, just need to sell off a little more work then i can chill and plod on.  i'm getting old so know one else would employ me (joke)

[Spruce]

Just to get a bit of balance here, self employment can also have it's problems which we have tended to minimise/ignore in this thread.

I bet there wasn't one of us that wasn't worried when we had that terrible winter 2 years ago. In the North East we hardly worked for 6 weeks. Thankfully, the following 4 months were our best window cleaning months to date, but it may not have been.

I know a roofer who applied to the Post Office that December as a vocational postman to help clear the Christmas backlog as he had a family to support and didn't work a day in 6 weeks. Now he is a full time postie and a part time roofer. He feels much more secure with a fixed salaried job that 'guarantees' a monthly wage, sick pay and paid holidays.

Self employment isn't for everyone. We need to be disciplined, and need to put a little away every month for those 'rainy days.'

[4S Cleaning]

I'm working full time just now in employment (as I have said elswhere on the forum) I am working the weekends window cleaning on two runs, but will be going fulltime self employed in January I know maybe not the best of months to start but at least it ain't got Christmas at the end of it.

I have worked for 30 yrs for employers, i am 46 and finally my wife is right behind me to go it on my own, my cousin has been a window cleaner for the last 20 yrs 7 has offered me a way into self employment through window cleaning , I am excited ,scared & not afraid to work (it's the only thing i'm good at) people all tell me i will never look back , I have faith in my work ethic but it takes abit of getting my head round not working for someone.

I'm sorry to the topic starter if I have hi-jacked his thread but it's along the same lines 

[Ian101]

I'm sorry to the topic starter if I have hi-jacked his thread but it's along the same lines 

ive hijacked plenty mate 

[4S Cleaning]

Cheers bud, this thread has given me even more belief that I'm doing the right thing  :

[Londoner]

The thing about window cleaning is you can always go back to it. Once you have the ability its always there. I don't think it is as recession proof as some would like to believe though.

It weathers short recessions well but it cannot avoid going downhill over the longer term because it does rely on having customers that are able to pay. I do think It is going to get harder.

I would not go back to working for a company but then I am probably unemployable now. Anything selling cars, the big first question has to be which cars?

Most car dealerships are living hand to mouth on financial thin ice. In fact most businesses are. Your job could just as easily go belly up in six months with no warning. Many do.

[Spruce]

The thing about window cleaning is you can always go back to it. Once you have the ability its always there. I don't think it is as recession proof as some would like to believe though.

It weathers short recessions well but it cannot avoid going downhill over the longer term because it does rely on having customers that are able to pay. I do think It is going to get harder.

I would not go back to working for a company but then I am probably unemployable now. Anything selling cars, the big first question has to be which cars?

Most car dealerships are living hand to mouth on financial thin ice. In fact most businesses are. Your job could just as easily go belly up in six months with no warning. Many do.

Hi Vince,

I couldn't agree more.

Our job depends on people who have money to spend on window cleaning and the job will get harder and more competitive into the future if this 'recession' lasts for years. However, if the company you are working for goes belly up then that's your income gone one time. At least with us as window cleaners, we have a better spread of risk, and hopefully not all our customers will go into financial meltdown at the same time.

It's also easy to let customer debt mount up, so a strict debt control mentality is also important.

Due to the worsening situation I don't believe window cleaning is a job that one can easily slip back into at the moment - which also applies to other trades as well. Yes, we have the skill to clean windows and run a business which we will always have, but it is getting harder to find a customer base that will keep one going financially. Until recently, work just seemed to fall into our hands, but not anymore.

Spruce

[Spruce]

I'm working full time just now in employment (as I have said elswhere on the forum) I am working the weekends window cleaning on two runs, but will be going fulltime self employed in January I know maybe not the best of months to start but at least it ain't got Christmas at the end of it.

I have worked for 30 yrs for employers, i am 46 and finally my wife is right behind me to go it on my own, my cousin has been a window cleaner for the last 20 yrs 7 has offered me a way into self employment through window cleaning , I am excited ,scared & not afraid to work (it's the only thing i'm good at) people all tell me i will never look back , I have faith in my work ethic but it takes abit of getting my head round not working for someone.

This is the important bit. You have a better chance of success because of your work ethic and attitude. It's not easy doing what you are doing - a full tiome job during the week and then working weekends at establishing your window cleaning round.

While this is going to be both mentally and physically exhausting now, you will reap the rewards further down the line. If you do manage to fill each weekend with work before the end of the year, you are just short of half way to a full round.

Good on you.