[vwm]

fiat dobio 19 xsjtd 52 van 790 kg payload ( protectacoted) and fully sign written
500L diy systerm with varistream
100 micobore hose on metal reel 
brodex 35' + 25' carbon poles
18' g/f pole
4' extender pole 
short 4 1/2' 18' pole
all with vikin brushes
a trolly systerm with varistream ( 2 x 25L barrels)
merlin ro unit + 650L ibc tank
10'x8' storage shed ( high quality)
11L di vessel 110amp battery + intelagent charger)
1 double 11 rung ladder 1x double 15 rung ladder 1 x step ladder
full complete trad equipment + many spares
 
also 50000k per year of work which is all wfp and 90% well priced and quality customers who wouldnt have there windows cleaned any other way.  all work is completed on a 5 weekly rota and leaves 5 working days free for time off or expanding. 
1 computer complete with all company paper work ect with george data base for customers.
1 lap top for accounts ( quicken program)
complete with about £500 worth of promgrams registered to vwm. 
basicly the whole office   and anything that has vwm name to it including www.vwmwindowcleaningspecialist.com and moblie numbers + phone.
 
if i were to sell i would be selling the whole company which has been going for 20 years + for which i have run now for 12 years myself everything is in very good condition and the name is very well known around this area. 
 
i have genuine reasons for sale which i dont wish to get in to right now.
 
i am looking at realistic prices here as the price is going to be whether or not i sell
 
look forward to your replies
 
cheers vwm

[d s windowcleaning]

what area are you from mate

[Moderator David@stives]

I seen a similar business for sale a while back, they wanted £50k for it.

[Alex Gardiner]

The trouble with a valuation of this type of work is that what it's valued at and what someone can afford to pay for it are 2 different things.

It sounds like your business must be worth £50,000 but what window cleaner is actually going to pay that for a van/computer and goodwill?

If you were the aforesaid window cleaner with £50,000 to spend wouldn't it be more straight forward to go and buy a Concept20 system and van for about £24,000 and they will guarantee to build you a round to pay for it. You would then have £24,000 to live on whilst you built up more work.

Ionics would do you a top range system and van for about the £20,000 mark and this would also leave you with a sizable sum to live off.

Most rounds are valued at 2-4 times the monthly value, so yours would be worth between £8000-£16000 for the goodwill of your round, depending on the calibre of the work.

Your equipment (including van) sounds as if it is worth about £5-7000 on the second hand market.

This gives you a real world valuation of between £13,000-£23,000 depending on exact details.

This figure now looks much more attractive to a potential purchaser as even at £23,000 it is comparable to a new van and system, plus you have a fairly solid work base.

Others may disagree with my values but I reckon this what you might actually manage to get for it all.

[vwm]

west dorset east devon,

50k would be lovely and in business terms about right but i belive something is only worth what somebody is going to pay for it.
did it sell for 50k trevor thats the point to be honest i thought 28k would be a fair figure allowing 3k for legeal things ect and showing the round working along side intruducing customers ect

[vwm]

i totally agree alex with everyting you have said and the customers base is solid and most have signed a t&c form.

[d s windowcleaning]

bit out of my way mate im in south yorkshire but if i was closer i would have made a offer around £25000 mark

[Moderator David@stives]

Say the above round took £1m a year what would it be worth .

On your reckoning, it would only be worth £160 k

[Alex Gardiner]

Hi Dave,

It is not about what it is worth it is about what the market will take.

If the round pulled in £1,000,000 a year then somebody would have to put in a lot of hard work employing up to 20 people and managing the whole business. They would then only be able to keep about £350,000 of that amount if they were fortunate. Working on that figure then someone would only be prepared to pay from between £60,000-£140,000 for that round (plus equipment and vehicle value), remember that you would still only be buying goodwill unless you had signed contracts for all work, but even then they would only be for a maximum of 1 year.

But realistically who would be in a position to pay the above if they were a window cleaner. So the likelihood is that such a large business would probably go to  one of the big cleaning companies. Now they are very careful when it comes to buying work as it would actually be a cheaper policy for them to just go and  undercut the above business on all of the contracts and put them out of business. Which is exactly what could happen to you even if you have just paid £140,000+ for it.

[Moderator David@stives]

Here is a good link to business valuation.

Window Cleaning traditionally sells for

3 - 4 times the monthly turnover, for domestic rounds

and 10 times monthly turnover for a quality commercial round.

To make your business more saleable you would have to combine it with a general cleaning company, I dont know why but cleaning companies always sell for a lot more than a window cleaning round where both have equal profits.



I reckon higher  figures would be achievable if marketed in the right way.

A local restaurant near me sold at £200'000  and the net profit was less than £40'000 and that was without the building.

Dave

http://www.iod.com/intershoproot/eCS/Store/en/pdfs/cf1val.PDF

[d s windowcleaning]

lets have a honest answer i would have offerred around £25000 for this round so can any one put a true figure to what the value is minght even consider moving to west dorset area

[Neil Williams]

I met Vince a few weeks back whilst on holiday in Bridport, nice friendly bloke.
The set up is genuine enough and I was surprised by one example he showed me for what he gets on that particular property
Now if I hadn't just forked out on a new static caravan home at West bay then I would be seriously interested.
Vince if you are staying in the cleaning business then I will need someone to do the Saturday clean ups during the season.

Neil

[gary evans]

Dave

Not having a dig but if your figures were correct, i,d sell up & come live by you.

Beautiful place St. Ives, i,d even offer to work part time for you.

Gary

[Moderator David@stives]

Gary

Which figures ?

 The 3-4 times and the 10 times have been quoted for years by the FED

Dont undervalue yourself , window cleaning rounds take years to build so the sale price should reflect that.

Larger rounds are valued differently, they should be valued on profitability.

ps

I would gladly employ any CIU mebers if you ever relocated ro Cornwall

[gary evans]

Dave

Thanks i just might one day, seen your van twice when there, once driving through hayle & once parked not far from lidl in hayle, stayed at beachside holiday park, realy nice & quiter than st ives hol park.

You are correct though. i do know somebody who sold for 10x but most is 3x.

I offered 20k per anumm commercial a while back for 6k, didnt sell not much interest either.

Got to go working sat & sun this week.

Gary

[neil100]

Its only worth what someone is willing to pay.

Its ashame if your round can earn you a fortune because you will never get anyone to pay you the real amount your round is worth.

If you had to move to the other end of the country and no one offered you a penny your round would be worth nothing. Sad but True.

If you had a few people intrested you could play them off against the other to get the highest price.

Its like buying a secondhand car its only worth what someone will pay, The cars value is based on colour,condtion and mileage and though Parkers can give you an estimated value it depends purley on the individual buying.

Their are far more people who will want to buy a car. And very very few people who will want to buy a w/c round.

I also think the more money your round will take in a year, the less it will be worth in real terms.

You may want to think about breaking your round up to sell it. Divide it into diffrent areas worth diffrent amounts. You mention its on a 5 week cycle. If you sold one area of you work for three to four times its monthly income you could sell an average of £5k per weeks work. 5 week rota = 5 x 5k = 25k.

One area will be worth more then another due to earnings per hour.

You could sell one area for 5k to start with. When sold move your round back onto a 4 week rota so your still earning the same amount over a year.

Your far more likely to sell an area for 5k then you whole round ,many w/c would see it as an easy option to up their overall income for little outlay. When you have sold most of your work off then offer the van and a small area as a w/c starter package.

Good luck to you in what you decide to do. I only hope you dont have to sell in a hurry as you may get nothing.

Nel.

[Moderator David@stives]

VMN

First thing to do is to call into your nearest commercial business transfer agents, (usually estate agents) and get a free business valuation.

They have lists of people looking to buy various businesses.

The only limitations set on values is in window cleaners minds,
with wfp now it is a different animal as anyone can now cleean windows , not just the brave.

Anyone with a business brain can see how much money can be made, and £50k is not something to be sniffed at.

I think the multiples quoted in the past (Ie 3 times & 10 times) are way out of line and dont reflect modern window cleaning businesses.

I have seen people on this forum buy "doorknocked " rounds for 2 times multiple which to me is a lot riskier option than buying an established quality business with phone numbers etc.

With an established business you get.

Customer  list
phone numbers
current advertising
reputation
company prescence already established
income from day 1

If you hit the ground running with £50k a year , you will be earning a fortune before you know it.

But with a round built from scratch it will take you years, yes you might not have spent much money , but you wont be earning much either.

Also the money you pay for the business just doesnt dissapear, it is still there for payback when you sell it on again.

I think all window cleaners should stand up for the true value of there business and not value it on some archaic guidelines.

[Highrise]

I think all window cleaners should stand up for the true value of there business and not value it on some archaic guidelines.

HEAR HEAR....

Round for sale 50k ayears....  Asking price £250.000 ovno 

[ronnie paton]

i think window cleaners dont help them self, if we were coming a cross ore proffesional and maybe licenensed, andit was more in the public eye we would get better values.

There is to many window cleaners that dont declare there earnings or do it for beer money which depreicites our business, i seen a article some were about the amount of registered window cleaning business(60k) and the amount of window cleaners they actually think there is(260k0 if some one read this my numbers could be wrong!!

I think untill we move the industry forward were going to struggle to gain the kind of price our business is worth!!

[williamx]

Why don't you sell your equipment for about £6000 and rent your round at £250 each week, that way you get a steady income without the hassle of running the business.

You would need a legal contract to protect your customers being taken away from you, but that shouldn't be much of a problem.