Its called Due Diligence. Although it is used mainly in the case of business purchases, the same principles apply.
You firstly have to choose an area you want to live it and then research it. It may mean knocking on doors over a period of time to identify if there is a need for your services in that area. Availability of accomodation, schooling, shopping centers etc are all important aspects of your DD study.
I bought a diesel heater from a window cleaner on the south coast (Newhaven area.) A portion of his work was in London (south and east) and he felt it paid him to travel that distance. Whilst that may not be the long term goal, at least your work in London could keep you going whilst you build a round where you choose to move to.
Window cleaning is at least regular work. Gutter cleaning isn't, so you would need a much bigger customer base. I personally would stick to one thing, your core business, and put your energies into that.
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Forget all that research stuff and studying the area and all that. Sorry Spruce, that may apply to other business's but window cleaning? It's over complicating what is in essence very simple.
Get out of London because it's one big dump and when you move, just go door knocking.
The window cleaner in Newhaven. I live in Brighton and have lots of work in Peacehaven, 5 or 6 miles from Brighton where I live, and Newhaven is next door to Peacehaven. The amount of times I've been asked if I cover Newhaven is ridiculous.
Not only that, when doing the 8 days work I have in Peacehaven (next door to Newhaven), I often get asked to give quotes etc, which I turn down because I have enough work already.
If that window cleaner from Newhaven needs to travel to other areas to get work then he is doing something seriously wrong.
Window cleaning; I agree with you Ross. There are plenty of windows for everyone. I was thinking more along the lines of his doing gutter clearing and needing to get kit in order to do it. Sometimes an internet search and scan of local papers and local mags will give someone a clue to the demand for these types of occasional services.
I still believe that you need to research the area you want to move to before making that decision. When you are young its easy to go ahead and just do it. We moved countries several times giving up all to start again. Some of those moves were emotionally driven and not something I would do again. As you get older you get more cautious. I gather that this is a concern for the op. If it wasn't he wouldn't have brought it up on a thread.
My reference to the cleaner in the Newhaven/Peacehaven area was to point out that it was possible to still move and retain his work in London whilst building a round in his chosen area. It wasn't to discuss his sanity traveling as he did.
I only met this cleaner for maybe half an hour tops, but he maintained that it was still more profitable working in London than locally. We didn't talk in much detail so I can't recall specifics. What I can remember is that I got stuck in trafic all the way down from the M25 so my first thought was why he would bother as he must experience this regularly the same as I did.
He did talk about a pricing divide. He mentioned that on one side of a road (he did mention which road it was but it meant nothing to me) the prices for window cleaning were much better than the other side, so there was much competition among cleaners to get work in the more profitable side.
He lived in a nice house with a well cared for 4 x 4 in the drive and a nice caravan. So my impression was that he was doing OK. Of course you never know where the 'wealth' comes from - inherited etc. Outward appearances are sometimes deceiving.
Personally, I would work as local as I can which is the long term goal of the op.
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