[dazmond]

non for me apart from the usual refining and a few price rises in april..........

[Stoots]

Last year I went from about 350 customers to 500 and dabbled with employing with various results! Made some mistakes but learned a lot. There are lots of pros and cons with employing Vs solo and it certainly is easier on your own mentally if not physically. However I know if I don't try to grow I will always think what if plus I get bored when standing still I need challenges to keep me motivated.

This year I want to get up to the VAT threshold with a full time employee.

I will continue to push go cardless offering a free clean or other incentives for doing so if I have to as cash flow will become increasingly important. My first ever price rise is planned for April.

I will be expanding the areas I cover to new pastures having flogged my local work radius to death and realising prices in my area will always be difficult to push. Just started working in York which is 25 mile drive from me but a nice change and so far better prices and easier to pick up work.

I will also push on with my lead gen business that I have dabbled with for quite some time now on and off which will be the platform to build my round faster over the next few months.

I suppose the ultimate aim is to earn more, build an asset and have more free time to look after the things that really matter such as family and health etc. The biggest decision I fear late on in  the year will be whether to go over the VAT threshold and really push on or just keep a nice small business in return for 3 days a week graft myself.

But like all plans in January only time will tell how it pans out.

[dazmond]

Last year I went from about 350 customers to 500 and dabbled with employing with various results! Made some mistakes but learned a lot. There are lots of pros and cons with employing Vs solo and it certainly is easier on your own mentally if not physically. However I know if I don't try to grow I will always think what if plus I get bored when standing still I need challenges to keep me motivated.

This year I want to get up to the VAT threshold with a full time employee.

I will continue to push go cardless offering a free clean or other incentives for doing so if I have to as cash flow will become increasingly important. My first ever price rise is planned for April.

I will be expanding the areas I cover to new pastures having flogged my local work radius to death and realising prices in my area will always be difficult to push. Just started working in York which is 25 mile drive from me but a nice change and so far better prices and easier to pick up work.

I will also push on with my lead gen business that I have dabbled with for quite some time now on and off which will be the platform to build my round faster over the next few months.

I suppose the ultimate aim is to earn more, build an asset and have more free time to look after the things that really matter such as family and health etc. The biggest decision I fear late on in  the year will be whether to go over the VAT threshold and really push on or just keep a nice small business in return for 3 days a week graft myself.

But like all plans in January only time will tell how it pans out.

surely any work thats 25 miles away even at better prices will not really be that much more profitable once you factor in the extra fuel,wear and tear on the van(over time)and the driving time it takes to get there and back.....

ive decided not to offer gocardless,im happy with cash,cheque,BACS,standing order and card payments using a card machine.....

[Stoots]

Last year I went from about 350 customers to 500 and dabbled with employing with various results! Made some mistakes but learned a lot. There are lots of pros and cons with employing Vs solo and it certainly is easier on your own mentally if not physically. However I know if I don't try to grow I will always think what if plus I get bored when standing still I need challenges to keep me motivated.

This year I want to get up to the VAT threshold with a full time employee.

I will continue to push go cardless offering a free clean or other incentives for doing so if I have to as cash flow will become increasingly important. My first ever price rise is planned for April.

I will be expanding the areas I cover to new pastures having flogged my local work radius to death and realising prices in my area will always be difficult to push. Just started working in York which is 25 mile drive from me but a nice change and so far better prices and easier to pick up work.

I will also push on with my lead gen business that I have dabbled with for quite some time now on and off which will be the platform to build my round faster over the next few months.

I suppose the ultimate aim is to earn more, build an asset and have more free time to look after the things that really matter such as family and health etc. The biggest decision I fear late on in  the year will be whether to go over the VAT threshold and really push on or just keep a nice small business in return for 3 days a week graft myself.

But like all plans in January only time will tell how it pans out.

surely any work thats 25 miles away even at better prices will not really be that much more profitable once you factor in the extra fuel,wear and tear on the van(over time)and the driving time it takes to get there and back.....

ive decided not to offer gocardless,im happy with cash,cheque,BACS,standing order and card payments using a card machine.....

It's about an extra £10 a day to get there and back. 

Wear and tear maybe a bit but it's all motorway miles to get there.

You are right in that it wont be a great deal more profitable, probably negligible once you consider the extra travel etc however profit isn't the sole motivation. It's more to do with the area Im in seems to be much more saturated with cleaners and I am finding picking up work there much easier. Which has drawn me to the conclusion rather than moaning and flogging a dead horse to go seek out better areas. Also it's just a change of scenery

As we currently rent there is also the option of moving house to be a bit closer to any work further down the line.

As for go cardless I am happy to have a mix also but a good chunk of go cardless is very welcome for cash flow. If I can get half of my round on it I would be more than happy currently it's about 20%

[John Mart]

Last year I went from about 350 customers to 500 and dabbled with employing with various results! Made some mistakes but learned a lot. There are lots of pros and cons with employing Vs solo and it certainly is easier on your own mentally if not physically. However I know if I don't try to grow I will always think what if plus I get bored when standing still I need challenges to keep me motivated.

This year I want to get up to the VAT threshold with a full time employee.

I will continue to push go cardless offering a free clean or other incentives for doing so if I have to as cash flow will become increasingly important. My first ever price rise is planned for April.

I will be expanding the areas I cover to new pastures having flogged my local work radius to death and realising prices in my area will always be difficult to push. Just started working in York which is 25 mile drive from me but a nice change and so far better prices and easier to pick up work.

I will also push on with my lead gen business that I have dabbled with for quite some time now on and off which will be the platform to build my round faster over the next few months.

I suppose the ultimate aim is to earn more, build an asset and have more free time to look after the things that really matter such as family and health etc. The biggest decision I fear late on in  the year will be whether to go over the VAT threshold and really push on or just keep a nice small business in return for 3 days a week graft myself.

But like all plans in January only time will tell how it pans out.

surely any work thats 25 miles away even at better prices will not really be that much more profitable once you factor in the extra fuel,wear and tear on the van(over time)and the driving time it takes to get there and back.....

ive decided not to offer gocardless,im happy with cash,cheque,BACS,standing order and card payments using a card machine.....

It's about an extra £10 a day to get there and back. 

Wear and tear maybe a bit but it's all motorway miles to get there.

You are right in that it wont be a great deal more profitable, probably negligible once you consider the extra travel etc however profit isn't the sole motivation. It's more to do with the area Im in seems to be much more saturated with cleaners and I am finding picking up work there much easier. Which has drawn me to the conclusion rather than moaning and flogging a dead horse to go seek out better areas. Also it's just a change of scenery

As we currently rent there is also the option of moving house to be a bit closer to any work further down the line.

As for go cardless I am happy to have a mix also but a good chunk of go cardless is very welcome for cash flow. If I can get half of my round on it I would be more than happy currently it's about 20%

You can't grow if you stay in a narrow radius. You've got to travel

[David Kent @ KentKleen]

Hi 8weekly, please dont take this the wrong way but your comment is not good advice, its your opinion. Massive growth and domination in very small areas can be achieved if done correctly. I will be adding another 3 vans to my business this year, without increasing the area covered by us. 

[The Jester of Wibbly]

If you spend a day or 2 in an area that's going to cost a little time and money is worth it to help give your van a good run clearing out its filters and battery care.

[Lee Pryor]

Hi 8weekly, please dont take this the wrong way but your comment is not good advice, its your opinion. Massive growth and domination in very small areas can be achieved if done correctly. I will be adding another 3 vans to my business this year, without increasing the area covered by us.

Tell us how to do this correctly. What will you be doing to add 3 vans in 1 year to an area the same size. How big is that area?

[Stoots]

My conclusion is that every area is different.

The city where I live I target a 5 mile radius and the city where I've just started to work also is a 5 mile radius. The population and housing density is very similar.

Yet I find It far easier picking up work in one than the other doping identical marketing/advertising.

So when someone comes on and says oh you can build 10 vans is one city and another aaays oh no you need the entire county I reckon we are all right.

It depends where you are and what the local market is like as simple as that.

Of course you can get anough work in one area if you hit it with canvassing, leaflets and online over and over relentlessly. How long it takes to build say 1000 custs will just depend on YOUR chosen area.

So I think as long as we experiment ourselves and draw our own conclusions that's all that matter.

What someone achieves in Bournemouth or anywhere else has no relevance to what I achieve in Wakefield.

You might think it does but that's not the same thing.

 

[cleaniac]

Hi 8weekly, please dont take this the wrong way but your comment is not good advice, its your opinion. Massive growth and domination in very small areas can be achieved if done correctly. I will be adding another 3 vans to my business this year, without increasing the area covered by us.

This is very true.

It all depends on how you do your marketing and marketing isnt just leaflet dropping, its your whole attitude and the way you deal with the customer. I have whole roads of £30 houses now, some started 12 years ago, and most recently yesterday, so i pretty much have the monopoly on quite a few roads now and will continue to focus within my 5-10 mile rad.

The key to it is to keep the customer happy. Evenutally just through housing stock turnover, you will get the monopoly of any road you work if the exisitng custoners you work for are happy with your work ethic, and reliability.

I have met so many window cleaners who are gobby, rude, and treat their customers with contempt and disrespect, they constantly have to replace with new customers by canvassing and marketing. 

One particular fella round here is developing a pretty bad reputation for being rude and arrogant with his customers, and has lost a lot of work, i know because some of them are now mine, and they approached me.

I am always polite and respectful when dealing with my customers, even if they are in the wrong.  And smiling doesn't cost anything, and that the best marketing

[David Kent @ KentKleen]

We have one van that covers some small commercial work that is around 7 miles or so from our base along with a weeks worth of domestic round. The rest of our vans (12) travel no more than 5 miles from base. I will be adding the 3 vans within 3 miles of our base.
We are based in Redcar in Teesside. Please take a look on google maps. . Redcar has been hit by the closure of the steel works. Its grim up north. 

[Lee Pryor]

We have one van that covers some small commercial work that is around 7 miles or so from our base along with a weeks worth of domestic round. The rest of our vans (12) travel no more than 5 miles from base. I will be adding the 3 vans within 3 miles of our base.
We are based in Redcar in Teesside. Please take a look on google maps. . Redcar has been hit by the closure of the steel works. Its grim up north. 

Impressive Dave

Can you tell us what you will do to generate the work the 3 vans will need.

[John Mart]

Hi 8weekly, please dont take this the wrong way but your comment is not good advice, its your opinion. Massive growth and domination in very small areas can be achieved if done correctly. I will be adding another 3 vans to my business this year, without increasing the area covered by us.

I think it entirely depends where you live. I live in a small town with small towns dotted around. We travel 15 miles each way.

[John Mart]

We have one van that covers some small commercial work that is around 7 miles or so from our base along with a weeks worth of domestic round. The rest of our vans (12) travel no more than 5 miles from base. I will be adding the 3 vans within 3 miles of our base.
We are based in Redcar in Teesside. Please take a look on google maps. . Redcar has been hit by the closure of the steel works. Its grim up north. 

Ok, cheers for the info. Population of Redcar 135,000. Population Mytown. 34,000. See a difference? 

To reach 135,000 I have to travel further. Plus, I recall yours are franchisees. Mostly they seem to be part time. So possibly not comparing like with like. 3 vans for you might be 1 for me. One van is 550 regular 8 weekly jobs for me.

[Lee Pryor]

One van for me is also 550 houses. We do 6 and 12 weekly with a 50/50 split.

Its also very true that how many vans means nothing, how much money they do is what matters.

So if they are franchises its their money and time that will generate the business. Again this is very different than trying to grow with the company money.

Fair play though, I am still impressed by the idea of adding 3 in 1 year.

[David Kent @ KentKleen]

8weekly, yes I have a couple of part time vans and a couple that have 2 operators in them. I supply all our franchisees with there work, none have ever delivered a leaflet or knocked on a door. They do however pick up work on a daily basis (as a group) from been recognised and how they work.
Here is 'MY' secret/reason why I will add 3 vans in this year without massive spending on advertising/marketing :-

Our average time for a first clean on a standard, normal sized 3 bedroom property is around an hour (some local cleaners take around 20 mins on a first clean of this size (I supply water to some of them and gently discover there working practices during conversations when they are filling up.), add a conservatory and its 2 hours, we dont charge double for a first clean and I actively encourage doing far more for a customer than is expected, especially on a first clean.

Thats it, the secret's out.
P.S. I dont charge a franchise fee. 


 

[֍Winp®oClean֍]

We have one van that covers some small commercial work that is around 7 miles or so from our base along with a weeks worth of domestic round. The rest of our vans (12) travel no more than 5 miles from base. I will be adding the 3 vans within 3 miles of our base.
We are based in Redcar in Teesside. Please take a look on google maps. . Redcar has been hit by the closure of the steel works. Its grim up north. 

Ok, cheers for the info. Population of Redcar 135,000. Population Mytown. 34,000. See a difference? 

To reach 135,000 I have to travel further. Plus, I recall yours are franchisees. Mostly they seem to be part time. So possibly not comparing like with like. 3 vans for you might be 1 for me. One van is 550 regular 8 weekly jobs for me.

WOW, I would never have known that different areas/regions/ towns etc all had different populations honestly, the things you learn on here!!
It's like Dragon's Den for Two year olds here at times!!

[John Mart]

We have one van that covers some small commercial work that is around 7 miles or so from our base along with a weeks worth of domestic round. The rest of our vans (12) travel no more than 5 miles from base. I will be adding the 3 vans within 3 miles of our base.
We are based in Redcar in Teesside. Please take a look on google maps. . Redcar has been hit by the closure of the steel works. Its grim up north. 

Ok, cheers for the info. Population of Redcar 135,000. Population Mytown. 34,000. See a difference? 

To reach 135,000 I have to travel further. Plus, I recall yours are franchisees. Mostly they seem to be part time. So possibly not comparing like with like. 3 vans for you might be 1 for me. One van is 550 regular 8 weekly jobs for me.

WOW, I would never have known that different areas/regions/ towns etc all had different populations honestly, the things you learn on here!!
It's like Dragon's Den for Two year olds here at times!!

Well it had to be pointed out so possibly not everyone is as smart as you.

[Lee Pryor]

8weekly, yes I have a couple of part time vans and a couple that have 2 operators in them. I supply all our franchisees with there work, none have ever delivered a leaflet or knocked on a door. They do however pick up work on a daily basis (as a group) from been recognised and how they work.
Here is 'MY' secret/reason why I will add 3 vans in this year without massive spending on advertising/marketing :-

Our average time for a first clean on a standard, normal sized 3 bedroom property is around an hour (some local cleaners take around 20 mins on a first clean of this size (I supply water to some of them and gently discover there working practices during conversations when they are filling up.), add a conservatory and its 2 hours, we dont charge double for a first clean and I actively encourage doing far more for a customer than is expected, especially on a first clean.

Thats it, the secret's out.
P.S. I dont charge a franchise fee. 


 

Mmmmm come on Dave, the secret is not out at all in what you just said.

Going above and beyond and not charging more for a first clean does NOT pull in hundreds upon hundreds of customers required for 3 vans. Fact.

So you supply all the customers they need. Tell us how because its not what you just said.

Oh and Im not trying to be a hater in anyway I am genuinly interested in this.

[John Mart]

8weekly, yes I have a couple of part time vans and a couple that have 2 operators in them. I supply all our franchisees with there work, none have ever delivered a leaflet or knocked on a door. They do however pick up work on a daily basis (as a group) from been recognised and how they work.
Here is 'MY' secret/reason why I will add 3 vans in this year without massive spending on advertising/marketing :-

Our average time for a first clean on a standard, normal sized 3 bedroom property is around an hour (some local cleaners take around 20 mins on a first clean of this size (I supply water to some of them and gently discover there working practices during conversations when they are filling up.), add a conservatory and its 2 hours, we dont charge double for a first clean and I actively encourage doing far more for a customer than is expected, especially on a first clean.

Thats it, the secret's out.
P.S. I dont charge a franchise fee. 


 

An hour for a 3 bed? No wonder you need so many vans. We take about 8/10 minutes on a modern 3 bed.