[windowwashers]

Turnover more maybe, but what about the extra costs of running two vans? I think that a highly motivated 2 man team in one van should be able to make a higher profit than 2 vans carrying one man each.

Think you are wrong there totally, I have 2 on the road work together earnings are less, a van is not expensive if you worked it out daily, losses from 2 working together works out alot over a month. this is IMO

[groundhog]

Turnover more maybe, but what about the extra costs of running two vans? I think that a highly motivated 2 man team in one van should be able to make a higher profit than 2 vans carrying one man each.

Think you are wrong there totally, I have 2 on the road work together earnings are less, a van is not expensive if you worked it out daily, losses from 2 working together works out alot over a month. this is IMO

I can guarantee that me and my brother working out of one van would easily take more than any of your 2 vans working with one cleaner in each. 

[Ian Lancaster]

Turnover more maybe, but what about the extra costs of running two vans? I think that a highly motivated 2 man team in one van should be able to make a higher profit than 2 vans carrying one man each.

Think you are wrong there totally, I have 2 on the road work together earnings are less, a van is not expensive if you worked it out daily, losses from 2 working together works out alot over a month. this is IMO

I can guarantee that me and my brother working out of one van would easily take more than any of your 2 vans working with one cleaner in each. 

It depends entirely on the work.  The larger the job, the more true that is, but as the jobs get smaller the returns get less.  Take a typical 3 bed semi with double bay front, maybe five or six in a road but too far apart to do without moving the van:  Two men working on the same house will never do it in half the time it takes one man on his own.  I know this because several years ago I employed and had a couple of vans with two men in each.  Every night my partner and I would spend hours working out a schedule which allowed for both men to have an equal volume of work at every stop of the van.  It was fine if they had (say) three houses each to do but if there was only one it wasn't worth it.

The bottom line is that for smaller jobs (say up to £25-ish) one man on his own will always do it in less than twice the time of two men together

[groundhog]

I agree to a point Ian, but this very much depends on the men doing the work. When I work with my brother, we motivate each other to work faster and faster, we have always been competitive with each other and this makes each job almost like a race to see who can work the quickest. I know for a fact that working together we do much more than double what I would do alone. However I have another bloke who works with me now and then, and he is totally different and would rather stand and chat than get on with the work, when he is with me we definately do less than double what I would achieve alone. But I still doubt it would justify the expense of a second van.

[windowwashers]

Turnover more maybe, but what about the extra costs of running two vans? I think that a highly motivated 2 man team in one van should be able to make a higher profit than 2 vans carrying one man each.

Think you are wrong there totally, I have 2 on the road work together earnings are less, a van is not expensive if you worked it out daily, losses from 2 working together works out alot over a month. this is IMO

I can guarantee that me and my brother working out of one van would easily take more than any of your 2 vans working with one cleaner in each. 

if you say so  :
2 men cannot work faster when working together unless it a a commercial all day job, domestics no chance, you say you race with your brother I am happy for you and it is good to hear he motivates you, I personally motivate myself.

[groundhog]

Turnover more maybe, but what about the extra costs of running two vans? I think that a highly motivated 2 man team in one van should be able to make a higher profit than 2 vans carrying one man each.

Think you are wrong there totally, I have 2 on the road work together earnings are less, a van is not expensive if you worked it out daily, losses from 2 working together works out alot over a month. this is IMO

I can guarantee that me and my brother working out of one van would easily take more than any of your 2 vans working with one cleaner in each. 

if you say so  :
2 men cannot work faster when working together unless it a a commercial all day job, domestics no chance, you say you race with your brother I am happy for you and it is good to hear he motivates you, I personally motivate myself.

Actually we motivate each other, and I do motivate myself, but when 2 motivated people work together as a team it is amazing what can be achieved!! And we love it when somebody tells us that something cant be done, because it makes us even more determined to prove that it can!!!
ps, I'm glad your happy for me! 

[nat]

I think there are a few factors here

1) 2 people can achieve the same results as 2 single guys on thier own, but to do this day in day out is a real tall order. its a little bit like the hare and the tortoise race. to have one person on thier own is a lot more stable as he won't kill himself plodding along each day at a steady pace earning good money. 2 people going at it hammer and tong is to much work and in the long run employees will think you are expecting to much

however...

2) having a round supervisor and a window cleaner means you can structure the earnings accordingly. so instead of paying 2 lots of insurance, and van costs you can have 1 van, 2 people doing 150% more work than 1 person. if you structure the pay right you will achive the same if not slightly better results from 1 van than 2 seperate ones. it also gives your window cleaners a chance to prove themselves under a decent supervisor to eventually make him the supervisor himself. it looks a lot better from an image point of view having 2 per van and it also makes it not as much as a lonely job. if you can get them working off each others enthusiasm they will achieve more results, and have shorter weeks as a result. But pay them well for thier efforts.

these have been my findings