[supernova77]

I have a guy who works for me 3 days a week...

Some days we earn really well working out of the same van... Other days him working only covers his wage - which isn't good.

So it does depend on the type of work... How compact it is etc...

In the new year I'm going to put him in a seperate van, and only work together on large jobs.

Andy

[Total shine cleaning services]

I think your spot on with that andy, I've just spent last few days costing it out, have quotes for employers liability, payroll, van insurance etc etc and I'm sure it's the way forward, sat with my accountant yesterday formulating a pay structure and a commission rate to boost earnings, now it's all guns blazing to pull enough work in for the 2nd man n van, good luck to you

Graham

[g.brookes]

on paper it seems 1 man 1 van makes more sense, but its all about trust.  trusting your man to go out on his own, and complete all the jobs as he says he has.  not only that but you have to trust they wont damage or crash the van which would royally mess things up.  plus your customers may start viewing your employee as their window cleaner and not you

[landy2]

Very true Mr brookes  done it and never works out , you need somebody who is interested in the buisness growing and that means a partner and that brings its own troubles so best work for yourself or what i find is family are trustworthy but i just have one worker 2 days a week as sometimes its harmony on your own no rushing and when i need extra help i do it on the 2 days that i have my worker in , happy days 

[George P]

short answer, i have 3 staff, all trustworthy and all in vans / uniform supplied and employed by me, each have there own weekly job sheets and sometimetimes meet together for bigger jobs, one van = one man, works for me

[Window Washers]

on paper it seems 1 man 1 van makes more sense, but its all about trust.  trusting your man to go out on his own, and complete all the jobs as he says he has.  not only that but you have to trust they wont damage or crash the van which would royally mess things up.  plus your customers may start viewing your employee as their window cleaner and not you

if you don't trust your staff replace them, with a mind set of someone that is so scared someone might con them and fear others might is a road to nowhere and holding you back, not aimed at you g brookes just commenting on the words that are written, look on the positive sides its a lot more fun trust me

[g.brookes]

window washers, i have never employed so i cant speak from experience.  it is a concern and if i put myself in that position, being hired by someone else and given a van etc i would probably take the p quite often.  not saying all employees would but not everyone can work away from their boss all day everyday and do as theyre told

[Ian Rochester]

We employ 6 window cleaners in 3 vans and get a good daily performance, however if one man is off and someone needs to work by themselves, then generally they will do more than half of what they would have done as a team.  One guy especially works very well on his own.

The downside to one man one van is the cost of first setting the van up and secondly the running costs, fuel, servicing, insurance, equipment etc.

One man will never do as much as two, however generally more than half of the two if working by himself.

At the moment our 3 teams are struggling to keep up with the workload we already have and I am looking to put another vehicle on the road to take some of the strain but I'm not sure whether to take on someone else or split one of the teams short term 

I've also tried 3 in a van.... this really doesn't work.

[Smudger]

wow - 3 in a van     - ive seen 5 tradders in a mondeo all with buckets on their laps.

i don't think there's a right or wrong on this but it's you need to do what suits your business demands at any
given time a second man in a van will allow more work done per day with little extra cost so you can build untill
you can justify another complete van and set-up.

as Ian if i'm on my own i do more than 1/2 than when 2 man - but i'm more tired at the end of the day or work longer
hours - fine in summer but not winter due to light.

i have found 2 man need to be planned out more and that each man covers the other when it's comes to reeling in
collecting the payment etc..  and that the slower man takes the smaller house or the one nearest the van to keep
'idle' time to a minimum

Darran