[Ooooooog]

Go on, I’m a million miles away on the Welsh border. Gonna bung a load of flyers next month.
I’ll clean your panels for you. If you’ve got any.

[Lee Pryor]

Go on, I’m a million miles away on the Welsh border. Gonna bung a load of flyers next month.
I’ll clean your panels for you. If you’ve got any.

In that case my advice would be to wait a little longer until April/May I never deliver when clocks are on winter time.

My design might not work well for you or your area. Of the factors that make up a good leaflet campaign I place design lower down than sheer volume and the right people actually putting them through the doors.

[Ooooooog]

I’ve used Royal Mail before, very happy with them. We’re very rural so hitting the barn conversions in the villages, is where it’s at for us. Yup will wait til early April.

[Simon Trapani]

I knew this thread would be a good idea! Some great Q & A's already.

Amongst my questions are:

Are all your vans single operator? ie one pump, one reel etc?

What size tanks do they have and by whom?

Does each van/operator just have a single pole each? CLX for example 'cos they trash them?

At what point of growth, roughly, did it become more practical/necessary to use gocardless?

Do you find vehicle equipment maintenance hard to track/manage? As in do the guys look after the vans/kit? Do you have to just let some things go and see them as working tools? I'm too ocd. I guess the vans are also part of your 'shop window'?

Thanks Lee. No doubt I'll think of plenty more questions in the coming days.

[Lee Pryor]

I knew this thread would be a good idea! Some great Q & A's already.

Amongst my questions are:

Are all your vans single operator? ie one pump, one reel etc?

What size tanks do they have and by whom?

Does each van/operator just have a single pole each? CLX for example 'cos they trash them?

At what point of growth, roughly, did it become more practical/necessary to use gocardless?

Do you find vehicle equipment maintenance hard to track/manage? As in do the guys look after the vans/kit? Do you have to just let some things go and see them as working tools? I'm too ocd. I guess the vans are also part of your 'shop window'?

Thanks Lee. No doubt I'll think of plenty more questions in the coming days.

Single operator, more money per head this way however 2 vans have to pumps ect if we ever need to team them up.

Tanks are all 700l with except one with 1000l (this is also a 2 man system. We use this van for training new people. All our van systems are from ionics pure 2o brand.

Each guy has 3 poles, clx 18 with univalve clx 27 with univalve and a 40-50 supermax

Gocardless qustion is a longer answer and there will be a video on this.

Vehicle and equipment maintenance is one of my jobs at the office. We use the local Renault dealer. Every time a van goes in they do a full health check and  anything that needs to be done gets done regardless of cost. As for kit we have spare everything in the depot and if one of the cleaners tells me something is on the way out its replaced there and then and I simply top up our stock room. The odd dink or scrape of a van is par for the course, much as it breaks my heart as every van I ever had was bought brand new.

[Don Kee]

Hi Lee

Great Q&A so far, some great questions!

I’ve got a small question, it probably seems silly for a bigger business owner but as a tiny business owner it has been bugging me for a while so I hope you can help...

So...How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Look forward to your reply, thanks!

[Crystal-clear]

A good idea funny enough I wanted to ask you to do this myself since everyone had a question here and there!

Well heres a question. A lot of us including myself when were motivated sometimes wonder how far we can take this.
So my question is ..  Is it worth it?

You're responsible for over 10-15 people over 10 vehicles. And you're always chasing profit.
Dealing with staff issues
From the outside many would look at your turnover and underestimate your actual costs

Obviously you're making profit But when the dust settles and you've paid all your reoccurring costs including the VAT man all wages including your own. Do you ever sometimes miss having it a little bit easier and not so much on your shoulders? Perhaps you and a second person working from a van and maybe one more van working full-time which will give you a more than adequate profit for a lot less responsibility. And probably pay you at least what you're paying yourself right now.

You mentioned once before that you're not making a profit i.e. not liable for corporation tax. As you're always reinvesting your money. In which case when do you actually decide to reap the rewards for everything you have put in and draw out some healthy dividend payments.

So I suppose

is it worth it.
Do you miss the easier window cleaning life that you could easily have had. Probably earning the same since you're paying yourself what you need.
Obviously still having the option of paying yourself more when you choose to as you are very aware what 2 vans can bring in probably a higher profit as well no more advertising like now no more yards less expenses
Still earning a very good profit and turnover with 2 vans but having the options of just taking time off whenever you like etc.

This will be a good one for people who are on the cresp of employing expanding but already relatively in a comfortable lifestyle which I'm sure you was as well back then what made you push so hard and did you ever feel that your freedom was jeopardised to some degree and yeah when the dust settles and you think about both options what would your advise be.

[Lee Pryor]

Hi Lee

Great Q&A so far, some great questions!

I’ve got a small question, it probably seems silly for a bigger business owner but as a tiny business owner it has been bugging me for a while so I hope you can help...

So...How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Look forward to your reply, thanks!

This is another thing thats important to get right.

I see people getting this wrong all the time. First you calculate the mass of the woodchuck based on height and weight. From this you can calculate its resting metabolic rate (calories required per day to live) Then we account for the mass of the pile of wood and record how many calories are burned to chuck a piece of wood. When its all said and done asuming the wood is all the same size we can work out how much wood a woodchuck could chuck if said woodchuck could chuck wood. I might do a video on this

[Lee Pryor]

A good idea funny enough I wanted to ask you to do this myself since everyone had a question here and there!

Well heres a question. A lot of us including myself when were motivated sometimes wonder how far we can take this.
So my question is ..  Is it worth it?

You're responsible for over 10-15 people over 10 vehicles. And you're always chasing profit.
Dealing with staff issues
From the outside many would look at your turnover and underestimate your actual costs

Obviously you're making profit But when the dust settles and you've paid all your reoccurring costs including the VAT man all wages including your own. Do you ever sometimes miss having it a little bit easier and not so much on your shoulders? Perhaps you and a second person working from a van and maybe one more van working full-time which will give you a more than adequate profit for a lot less responsibility. And probably pay you at least what you're paying yourself right now.

You mentioned once before that you're not making a profit i.e. not liable for corporation tax. As you're always reinvesting your money. In which case when do you actually decide to reap the rewards for everything you have put in and draw out some healthy dividend payments.

So I suppose

is it worth it.
Do you miss the easier window cleaning life that you could easily have had. Probably earning the same since you're paying yourself what you need.
Obviously still having the option of paying yourself more when you choose to as you are very aware what 2 vans can bring in probably a higher profit as well no more advertising like now no more yards less expenses
Still earning a very good profit and turnover with 2 vans but having the options of just taking time off whenever you like etc.

This will be a good one for people who are on the cresp of employing expanding but already relatively in a comfortable lifestyle which I'm sure you was as well back then what made you push so hard and did you ever feel that your freedom was jeopardised to some degree and yeah when the dust settles and you think about both options what would your advise be.

Short answer for is it worth it..... Yes. Why? Because I have removed myself from generating the money, that alone makes it worth it. My health is good, but there have been times it wasnt. In the last 6 years ive had 4 surgeries, 2 of which would have meant at least 6 months off tools. Suppose a one man band breaks a leg as in shattered or is extreamly ill........... thats my point. In this business ive always just tried to learn the best ways to do things then teach someone else and pass it to them both on the tools and in the office. Ive tried to remove myself from almost every aspect short of controlling money and the general direction of the buisness. My job really is to watch over everyone else doing theirs.

Longer answer will be in........ yes you guessed it another video! As for taking a nice dividend. Honestly probably not for a few years until I reach my ultimate goal which is probably something like 15-20 vans running full every day. In the mean time I earn enough and have a nice and comfortable life, as I said in another thread im playing the long game.

[Simon Trapani]

You could employ Nathan part time as your cameraman - he likes a video!

[chris turner]

Everyone already Knows the answer to all these questions...

Sell your house, move in with mum, buy a load of vans, send out billions upon billions upon billions of leaflets, hire everyone to do the work for you ( accountants, office staff, cleaners, web designers ) sit back and pretend you worked hard for it and deserve everyone's utmost respect .When the crux of the matter is it all came from a single pile of cash from the sale of a house that most of us just couldn't repeat because we have family's and responsibilities.

Thread closed 👏

[nathankaye]

Everyone already Knows the answer to all these questions...

Sell your house, move in with mum, buy a load of vans, send out billions upon billions upon billions of leaflets, hire everyone to do the work for you ( accountants, office staff, cleaners, web designers ) sit back and pretend you worked hard for it and deserve everyone's utmost respect .When the crux of the matter is it all came from a single pile of cash from the sale of a house that most of us just couldn't repeat because we have family's and responsibilities.

Thread closed 👏

Let me answer this one as its been one of those nights for me.

Grow  some balls all you moaning / jealous / antagonising people and either go forth and grow your business in a  quick time with some out the box thinking. 
Or shut the f up with all the bloody excuses and moaning at one thing or the other.  If you aint got any constructive contribution then go on the other forums that like to moan and be done with it!

[jonboywalton75]

Hi Lee

Great Q&A so far, some great questions!

I’ve got a small question, it probably seems silly for a bigger business owner but as a tiny business owner it has been bugging me for a while so I hope you can help...

So...How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Look forward to your reply, thanks!

This is another thing thats important to get right.

I see people getting this wrong all the time. First you calculate the mass of the woodchuck based on height and weight. From this you can calculate its resting metabolic rate (calories required per day to live) Then we account for the mass of the pile of wood and record how many calories are burned to chuck a piece of wood. When its all said and done asuming the wood is all the same size we can work out how much wood a woodchuck could chuck if said woodchuck could chuck wood. I might do a video on this

Nice to see you getting into the spirit of things Lee.
Would you consider unbanning me if I promised to be good?
Pretty please

[Lee Pryor]

Chris

If you think I pretended to work hard and just sat back then you must be totally mad. I worked my nuts off for years and years. I already had 4 vans on the road at that point which is still more than most on here. I sit back now because I can.

Dont ever think I dont work hard mate.  I work as hard as is required to achieve the goal that is set.

It seems everyone does not know the answers to the questions or they wouldnt ask them would they. Even if they knew answers thats different to having actually experienced it as I have. Believe me it takes some balls to spend 100k on leaflets and hope the phone rings. Not as if I could have asked for my house back if it hadnt worked. As for that pile of cash I grew that from nothing over years. I never had any help from anyone.

Finally lets all try to get past me moving in with my mum. That was actually a smart move that meant I was the end of the house sale chain and greatly sped up the process of getting started with the expansion. I sold in March 2016 and was able to make the most of that first year. Had I not moved in with her it might have delayed the start of my project by a month or 2 in which case I would have lost the year and had to wait until 2017 to start. I only lived there a few months until I got my current house, which happens to be very nice thanks and only a mile from the office.

[Lee Pryor]

Hi Lee

Great Q&A so far, some great questions!

I’ve got a small question, it probably seems silly for a bigger business owner but as a tiny business owner it has been bugging me for a while so I hope you can help...

So...How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Look forward to your reply, thanks!

This is another thing thats important to get right.

I see people getting this wrong all the time. First you calculate the mass of the woodchuck based on height and weight. From this you can calculate its resting metabolic rate (calories required per day to live) Then we account for the mass of the pile of wood and record how many calories are burned to chuck a piece of wood. When its all said and done asuming the wood is all the same size we can work out how much wood a woodchuck could chuck if said woodchuck could chuck wood. I might do a video on this

Nice to see you getting into the spirit of things Lee.
Would you consider unbanning me if I promised to be good?
Pretty please

I havnt banned anyone. I just said I wouldnt be getting into debates or responding to people that really just want to bring others down. Theres been enough of that on the other thread.

Surprise me and get involved in a posetive way and I might answer your question

[Crystal-clear]

As a pure example and no I'm not  very pro trump but May I add. Donald Trump inherited a fortune from his multi-millionaire father. Enough money to probably by 1000 apartments in posh New York upper East Side and live a very very very above average lifestyle let's just say that the rental income alone would be worth an absolute fortune today. A lot of people tend to criticize him for inheriting money and that all you had to do was invested in anything... that's not true he could have lost it all as well if you wasn't careful in those stocks for example they could have all gone down.

He decided to invest and take a calculated risk with the Commodore building during a time when New York was basically going through a depression.

My point is I'm not here to talk about specifics whether or not somebody inherited money or not.
It takes a lot of determination and hard work to build something up and strive for something.

Honestly it's not given to you for just having a bit of old or family money. How many people have you heard of who have basically spent all their inheritance made the wrong moves.... you have to work hard you have to be a go getter and you have to have a vision that goes without saying

Dare I say perhaps my finest post for a while!

[G Griffin]

If I sold fish out of the back of my van and employed someone, could I still be classed as a sole trader?

[John Mart]

If I sold fish out of the back of my van and employed someone, could I still be classed as a sole trader?

No, you’d be a Pikey. 

[Dave Willis]

Depends what plaice you park up.

[Slacky]

I clean the windows for Keith Abel, he of Abel and Cole fame.

Thoroughly nice guy.

Anyway he made his fortune by stealing £2,000 from his brother which he used to buy a load of spuds from a dealer in. Covent Garden, which he then sold door to door in London.

I have no idea what hes worth now, its a lot i imagine. He still works but last year had a heart bypass op, stress.....