[Woody123]

Hi all
I live on the south coast, thinking about a change of lifestyle. Work in a office 9 to 5 at the moment

Thinking about becoming a window cleaner. Seen some franchise on line and a few vans ( wfp) on gumtree and eBay

Im  reasonably fit and don't mind hard work

What's a reasonable amount I could earn. Should I door knock of leaflet etc

Which system is best money/usability.


Woody

[Perfect Windows]

General advice that will result in answers to your questions:

Get a notebook.  Read through fifty pages of posts on here and make a list of who posts sense.  Go back into the past to find good posters.  Ian Lancaster might be a good start, though he doesn't post too much now.  Then use the search facility to find all their posts and read the lot.  Note what they do and take the best of their ideas.  However, don't be afraid to improve what they are doing if you are sure you know better - that's how people beat the opposition.  Ignore any posts that look like they are just a whinge.  (Not just when you start, keep up the habit - people who whine about weather and van problems on here just sap your willpower).

Don't underprice; you'll regret it later and resent doing the underpriced jobs.  If you're in a part of the country where people have cash, charge more; they'll pay it.  Customers you gain in winter will stick with you like glue.

Leaflet and canvass together.  Work out what frequencies you're going to offer and stick to them.  Decide now how you're going to get round your customers and how you'll add new ones (much easier than reorganising later).

Surround yourself with optimists.

Expect to work twice as hard for everything than you initially expect.

When you start cleaning, make sure you're eating enough.  It's hard work at the start and when you're low on fuel, your morale will drop.  Keep well fuelled by eating and drinking enough.

Finally, the simple bit.  If you keep on turning up and you keep on getting their windows clean, you'll not lose many customers and they'll recommend you to everyone they meet.

Vin

[dave f]

well said vin at the moment I'm trying to keep my self motivated at the moment with this bad weather we are having at the moment

[Shane sharples]

Excellent advice vin 👍 Defo agree with the underprice bit, to find out how much people charge in your area, maybe get your parents or friends ( if they live close to you) to get a few quotes from a few window cleaners in your area , then you'll know where to start

[Woody123]

Cheers all 

All advise is good

I've looked a Harvard franchise 7:5k any one looked at this.

[NWH]

Where are you on the south coast

[robbo333]

Woody, are you in Bournemouth by any chance?

[Spruce]

Cheers all 

All advise is good

I've looked a Harvard franchise 7:5k any one looked at this.

So its not 7.5K; its £10k. Your deposit for a van is £2.5K.

 

[Woody123]

Yes
They insist on a lease transit Connect and take 1% of all work
They run websit and leaflet etc

[Spruce]

Yes
They insist on a lease transit Connect and take 1% of all work
They run websit and leaflet etc

1%? It will cost them more a month to run a computer system to keep track of your monthly work. You mean 9% of sales. (I've looked more closely at the details.) That's before any expenses.

So whilst the £1000 income from month one sounds good, is it?

Lets use the £1000 figure. You now need to remove their 9% monthly fee. That leaves you will £910.00.

I don't know what the lease figures are as it will depend on mileage, maintenance or non maintained lease etc. but I would guess at around £175 per month + VAT = £210.00
That leaves you with = £700.00

Now you need to consider the day to day running expenses.  We do very limited mileage and I use a tank of diesel a month. Then there is liability insurance as well as van insurance.
Diesel = £45.00
Liability Insurance = £16.00 per month.
Van insurance = depending on drivers age and previous claim history = £40.00 per month (might be a bit less.)

If you are on a meter = 16000 liters at £6 a cu meter  could cost you £95.00 (Someone on the forums said water was £6 per cm, but as I'm not on a meter I don't know if this is correct.)

Mobile phone costs, etc still to be added.

That leaves you less than half what you started with.

We calculated that our monthly expenses represent 40% of our turnover, and that excludes what we earn - that's just running costs. I don't have a lease vehicle.

You need to have a lot more than k10 in the bank to get yourself started as you will have to survive for many months by supplementing living expenses from your saving.

[Tom-01]

Yes
They insist on a lease transit Connect and take 1% of all work
They run websit and leaflet etc

1%? It will cost them more a month to run a computer system to keep track of your monthly work. You mean 9% of sales. (I've looked more closely at the details.) That's before any expenses.

So whilst the £1000 income from month one sounds good, is it?

Lets use the £1000 figure. You now need to remove their 9% monthly fee. That leaves you will £910.00.

I don't know what the lease figures are as it will depend on mileage, maintenance or non maintained lease etc. but I would guess at around £175 per month + VAT = £210.00
That leaves you with = £700.00

Now you need to consider the day to day running expenses.  We do very limited mileage and I use a tank of diesel a month. Then there is liability insurance as well as van insurance.
Diesel = £45.00
Liability Insurance = £16.00 per month.
Van insurance = depending on drivers age and previous claim history = £40.00 per month (might be a bit less.)

If you are on a meter = 16000 liters at £6 a cu meter  could cost you £95.00 (Someone on the forums said water was £6 per cm, but as I'm not on a meter I don't know if this is correct.)

Mobile phone costs, etc still to be added.

That leaves you less than half what you started with.

We calculated that our monthly expenses represent 40% of our turnover, and that excludes what we earn - that's just running costs. I don't have a lease vehicle.

You need to have a lot more than k10 in the bank to get yourself started as you will have to survive for many months by supplementing living expenses from your saving.

Good reply Spruce.

I believe they are working to be a national franchise, which will probably mean very little input from them as they will always be looking for the next franchisee and getting in any sort of work. Also thats quite a low percentage, so it seems a bit like a stack 'em high sell 'em cheap philosophy.

[AuRavelling79]

If you can afford 10K to pay a franchiser you can use the 10K to go it alone.

[Mick Kent]

Yes dont waste your money on a franchise. Use the 10k and go at your own pace. Canvass up your own work or even pay a canvasser to do it for you, for 10k you could get 3k of work from a canvasser costing 6k leaving 4k for a 2nd hand van and wfp system then away you go... Then it will be 100% your own business that you can take pride in and fill your own pocket and not someone else's.

Good luck on whatever you decide to do.

[Woody123]

Agree with all above

Don't have a mortgage now and just under 50 so it's more of a lifestyle choice,

So I'm thinking it will be on my own £1600 a month is the fig I have in mind,  seen a few vans with systems fitted, so it could be time to face the music
650lts is the size I'm looking for, heated or not ? but will be on here every minute asking stupid questions

Sorry in advance

:-)

[AuRavelling79]

Welcome.

What is your line of work at the moment?

Another possibility if you need to or just wish to is to get a part time "grunt job" like a postie or delivery driver or what have you for a few months while you build up your round.

[Stoots]

All i will say is if you are starting from scratch and canvassing and leafletting be prepared for a long painfull road. Not only do you have to pick up the customers but you have to sort the messers and non payers as you go which sometimes can drive you to the edge of a cliff. Be prepared to work your arse offf for little return to begin with. You only need 2 things to succeed, the 1st is a plan the second is a relentless determination.

[NWH]

Not meaning to drag it up again but tonight I had a chat with a windy who used to franchise his work out around 10 years ago,I had a chat with him for an hour or so and the story he told me about this industry and franchising was enough to make you go pale. He got well and truly screwed he explained you are never in control the art is in making them think your watching what's going on and that you know what's going on,the reality is he put it was that once you franchise out a certain amount of work after a certain time you don't have a clue what's happening in the end he said he just hoped they kept paying him each month.

[NWH]

Go on your own.

[Cookie]

Another possibility if you need to or just wish to is to get a part time "grunt job" like a postie or delivery driver or what have you for a few months while you build up your round.

All i will say is if you are starting from scratch and canvassing and leafletting be prepared for a long painfull road. Not only do you have to pick up the customers but you have to sort the messers and non payers as you go which sometimes can drive you to the edge of a cliff. Be prepared to work your arse offf for little return to begin with. You only need 2 things to succeed, the 1st is a plan the second is a relentless determination.

I agree with the above. I have a PAYE job 3 days per week in addition to window cleaning - which I started roughly a year ago- and am slowly building up a decent customer base but it takes time... I have dropped 25-30% of customers in the past year - non-payers, messers, I don't want the windows cleaned this time etc...

However having worked in an office for 22+ years window cleaning is quite a refreshing change - but you will feel the aches after a days work so make sure you get a decent pole. I started with a Pure Freedom trolley system and have now graduated to a 350L van mounted system that I fixed up myself. Personally I'd suggest you don't worry about hot water (unless you purchase a van with it already fitted).

Anyway you've come to the right place. Plenty of good advice & helpful people on here ...

[Woody123]

Sales Amin planning 50k plus with car

But hate it

Looked at this but 2003 I think they had gearbox problems before 2007, system looks nice