OK, bear with me.
I started in 2009. I'm 53. I don't employ. I work with a 500l PF system in a 2006 Trafic with sub-100k on the clock (it's pretty reliable). I turn over £43K. My margin is 82%. I start at 08:45-ish and finish at 14:00 often earlier, sometimes later. I usually have +/- 80 litres left at the end of the day. I don't work in the rain or wind. I do work in winter. I don't take holidays as such (a couple of days here and there). I don't take breaks during the day (i.e. no 20 min bacon sarnie stops). Lunch is a 10 minute affair. I pride myself on the cleans I give and have a great reputation. I have never advertised and have never needed to canvas after the first 3 months of starting. I have no mortgage, we have good savings and my wife works full time. I have a very nice standard of living. All down to window cleaning.
I always had plans that come "retirement" to convert to a ltd company and rather than sell the business "gift" the business to someone to manage: they would have the lion's share of the profit, say 80% and I would have 20%. I'd retain 51% share of the business, they'd get 49%. They would have the motivation and reward to treat it as a proper business and I would get a nice "pension" for life. Of course you have to find someone, but it was years off and I had time. However...
Window cleaning has also given me shoulder, hand and arm problems. I wear a carpal tunnel brace when working cos of tendonitis in my right wrist (steady boys... lol), but I am starting to really suffer with aches and pains in my shoulders and back that will just not go away. It's got to the point where I have to consider slowing right down. If I carry on it might mean I have to give up eventually; at the very least i'd have to halve my workload and yet still might have the aches and pains...
So what do I do? Do I convert to ltd or stay sole trader? Limited liability partnership? Re. employing someone - what are the costs I have to consider in addition to salary and NI (pension, employees liab. ins)? Do I get a bigger van with a bigger tank so the day can be filled with work (i'm a demon canvasser and could get loads more if I wanted) with the aim of getting to say £60k (£315 per day x 4 days a week (bad weather writes off 1 day a week on average for me) x 48 weeks per year). I don't mind investing in new capital equipment such as a new van and I have the cash to do it; i'd perhaps keep the second van as a spare or one he could come to, ready-filled, if he was out of pure at 2pm. Should I just work out something for the new guy to get "given" a good stake in the business, say a share purchase idea?
I have a lad in mind - 25 yrs old, on Living Wage, sick of his warehouseman job, intelligent, never cleaned a pane in his life so no bad habits, good "sales" personality, hard worker, non-smoker, no visible tats, wants to buy own house yada yada.
The aim would be for me to run the business but not do any window cleaning to speak of (save if he's sick, on holiday etc.). I should say I don't want to franchise at all. I want to retain overall control and let someone else do the donkey work albeit for a better than average salary and with the ability to grow it big and earn big as it grows.
Any ideas from guys who have faced a similar dilemma or indeed anyone.
Cheers