[Davo]

Davo, don't forget the franchisee will have to provide his own van under Ians terms, it is not provided by the franchise operator as in other franchises.

Whats that got to do with anything ?

Noone has mentioned a price yet.


Mark

[NWH]

Let's do some numbers on seven vans. Assume they earn £850 pw for 46 wks a year. (not unreasonable) this is 39k turnover.
The fact that they may fiddle over and above this and do cons cleans etc without saying is built into the system. Jim says that he didn't want to have the power to look at their books.

So 39 times 7 is 273k. A royalty of 15% on this equals 41k per annum.

They do far far more than that,there is 2 in a van in a few of them and they get between 7-£1000 a week.They do big work and as for your £40k a year your well off,i reckon more 2.5k a week for running the business and getting the work more like,we are talking 7 vans or so.

[supernova77]

Let's do some numbers on seven vans. Assume they earn £850 pw for 46 wks a year. (not unreasonable) this is 39k turnover.
The fact that they may fiddle over and above this and do cons cleans etc without saying is built into the system. Jim says that he didn't want to have the power to look at their books.

So 39 times 7 is 273k. A royalty of 15% on this equals 41k per annum.

All that hassle for £41k per annum??? Hardly sounds worth it???

Andy

[frames to panes]

Davo, don't forget the franchisee will have to provide his own van under Ians terms, it is not provided by the franchise operator as in other franchises.

Whats that got to do with anything


Mark

Because if Mr Sol wanted to franchise his own brand name of thermoclean or whatever then the franchisee will have to have the same set up and provide a hot water system himself in order to trade under that branding.

[Davo]

Davo, don't forget the franchisee will have to provide his own van under Ians terms, it is not provided by the franchise operator as in other franchises.

Whats that got to do with anything


Mark

Because if Mr Sol wanted to franchise his own brand name of thermoclean or whatever then the franchisee will have to have the same set up and provide a hot water system himself in order to trade under that branding.

Yes of course they would its a franchise. If its included in the cost of a frachise the franchisee is still paying for it. I think the idea of the post is to discuss whether a franchise business would work with window cleaning.

Value isnt really an issue because there is no price or product to make any judgement as to its worth.


Mark

[Ian Lancaster]

Has anyone got a copy of jims book they could send me ?

Dave,

Check your e-mail

[bluez]

What is Franchising? In it's purest form it is the right to operate under licence a business that uses the brand, image, product and proceedures and experience of another sucessful business.

So if you are trying to figure out if franchising will work in window cleaning then you must look at the original reasons for buying a franchise.

1. Is it sucessful.
2. Is it branded.
3. has it got good products and proceedures.
4. Is it experienced.
5. Will it assist you the franchisee to achieve your goals.

The big question when ever franchising is discussed on here seems to be about price, It is worht what someone will pay. Any franchise ahs tyre kickers who look but don't buy, so what, You only want one franchisee at a time.

In Ians case the first 4 of the points above appear to be given. Point 5 can only be answered be the franchisee.

Do not fool yourselves franchising will have a big say in who, how and how much in window cleaning in the U.K. in the not too distant future.

[Ian Lancaster]

Davo, don't forget the franchisee will have to provide his own van under Ians terms, it is not provided by the franchise operator as in other franchises.

Not true.

If the franchise "provides" a van, it will be on a lease arrangement, and the franchisee will have to pay it (initial deposit and monthly payment)

If it's provided outright, the cost will be part of the initial franchise fee, making it VERY expensive.

In both cases it will be a new van.  I don't want to involve my franchisees in huge expenses, so my agreement allows them to use any suitable van, provided it is legal, clean and tidy. The newest is an 05 Doblo, and the oldest a "P" reg Transit.

[Davo]

Davo, don't forget the franchisee will have to provide his own van under Ians terms, it is not provided by the franchise operator as in other franchises.

Not true.

If the franchise "provides" a van, it will be on a lease arrangement, and the franchisee will have to pay it (initial deposit and monthly payment)

If it's provided outright, the cost will be part of the initial franchise fee, making it VERY expensive.

In both cases it will be a new van.  I don't want to involve my franchisees in huge expenses, so my agreement allows them to use any suitable van, provided it is legal, clean and tidy. The newest is an 05 Doblo, and the oldest a "P" reg Transit.

Ian you have kept it very simple from what i have read. That is a major plus in this business. Simplyfy everything.

The hardest part of the window cleaning business IMO is building up a round of work that pays the right rate. Your many years experience, means that the franshisee gets that from the get go. How many members on here spent years working on underpriced  work believing that earning £80 a day was what everyone earnt.


For someone entering this business the oportunity to miss all the mistakes and pitfalls out IS WORTH THE PRICE OF ADDMISSION.




Mark

[anderclean]

can some one point me to the text of ians windex talk please.........

[windowwashers]

can some one point me to the text of ians windex talk please.........

Here it is:

http://www.windowwashers.co.uk/IanLancaster.doc


Ian

[frames to panes]

Sorry Ian Lancaster, maybe i misunderstood your letter, i thought you didn't provide a van at all, i didn't realise there was an option to lease in your plan. may i ask what the royalties are that the franchise operator takes as a percentage? Also what happens when a franchisee generates his own work, are you entitled to royalties there too because he has found work but under your name? Cheers.
From your point of view it looks a good plan as a franchise operator i just wonder how hard it is to find a suitable franchisee? Like i said i looked into becoming one once in a different industry but what put me off was a) very big outlay, b) trading under someone elses name c) paying a cut on every job i had - even my own work d) never really owning the round that you work. The only advantage i could see was getting a flying start.
Please don't take this as a crtisism i'm just debating the subject and trying to learn.

[Londoner]

Franchising is great for the seller, thats been my point all along. Thats why I am so opposed to "certain people" opening up what appears to be a healthy and useful discussion  on franchising when really there is an undisclosed hidden agenda.

You pay me £15,000 and 15% of your income for the rest of your life and in return I will licence you to use the name "Vince Green Window Cleaning"  ( as if ! )

You would have to be some sort of sad case to think that was deal worth considering.

There is my point, franchising is about vultures looking for mugs. The process only appeals to people who are nieve or gullable enough to think that the sales pitch of the franchise company will give them the success they would not be able to achieve without it.

They are always so quick to flag up MacDonalds as  examples of how franchising can work. I agree 100% on that but they are not MacDonalds. They never will be.

They always seem to say or at least imply that they have some killer technique or method that will confer enlightenment and knowledge that the rest of us don't have. You can only get this knowledge and enlightenment by signing up with them, paying the £15,000 or what ever ( oh yes and 15% of your income for the rest of your life, I forgot about that part)

This is window cleaning we are talking about for Pete's sake.

Anybody involved with the selling or promoting of franchises should not be allowed to use this forum to groom their victims and identify future candidates by starting friendly happy little discussions about how its all so lovely and wholesome etc etc.

This forum has stopped people trying to promote other businesses that they are involved in. Time for the moderators to act on this one.

If you want to sell franchises there is  a Franchise Show at Olympia next week. Go there, leave this forum alone.

[Davo]

Franchising is great for the seller, thats been my point all along. Thats why I am so opposed to "certain people" opening up what appears to be a healthy and useful discussion  on franchising when really there is an undisclosed hidden agenda.

You pay me £15,000 and 15% of your income for the rest of your life and in return I will licence you to use the name "Vince Green Window Cleaning"  ( as if ! )

You would have to be some sort of sad case to think that was deal worth considering.

There is my point, franchising is about vultures looking for mugs. The process only appeals to people who are nieve or gullable enough to think that the sales pitch of the franchise company will give them the success they would not be able to achieve without it.

They are always so quick to flag up MacDonalds as  examples of how franchising can work. I agree 100% on that but they are not MacDonalds. They never will be.

They always seem to say or at least imply that they have some killer technique or method that will confer enlightenment and knowledge that the rest of us don't have. You can only get this knowledge and enlightenment by signing up with them, paying the £15,000 or what ever ( oh yes and 15% of your income for the rest of your life, I forgot about that part)

This is window cleaning we are talking about for Pete's sake.

Anybody involved with the selling or promoting of franchises should not be allowed to use this forum to groom their victims and identify future candidates by starting friendly happy little discussions about how its all so lovely and wholesome etc etc.

This forum has stopped people trying to promote other businesses that they are involved in. Time for the moderators to act on this one.

If you want to sell franchises there is  a Franchise Show at Olympia next week. Go there, leave this forum alone.

Interesting viewpoint vince, however, i dont personally believe that this forum is grooming anyone. Its just discussing a different way of growing a business. For any franchise to be successful, both the franchisor and franchisee MUST win.

There are sharks out there in any walk of life, having the information ( similar to the threads on this forum) is one sure way to protect the money of the uneducated.



Mark

[matt]

Franchising is great for the seller, thats been my point all along. Thats why I am so opposed to "certain people" opening up what appears to be a healthy and useful discussion  on franchising when really there is an undisclosed hidden agenda.

You pay me £15,000 and 15% of your income for the rest of your life and in return I will licence you to use the name "Vince Green Window Cleaning"  ( as if ! )

You would have to be some sort of sad case to think that was deal worth considering.

There is my point, franchising is about vultures looking for mugs. The process only appeals to people who are nieve or gullable enough to think that the sales pitch of the franchise company will give them the success they would not be able to achieve without it.

They are always so quick to flag up MacDonalds as  examples of how franchising can work. I agree 100% on that but they are not MacDonalds. They never will be.

They always seem to say or at least imply that they have some killer technique or method that will confer enlightenment and knowledge that the rest of us don't have. You can only get this knowledge and enlightenment by signing up with them, paying the £15,000 or what ever ( oh yes and 15% of your income for the rest of your life, I forgot about that part)

This is window cleaning we are talking about for Pete's sake.

Anybody involved with the selling or promoting of franchises should not be allowed to use this forum to groom their victims and identify future candidates by starting friendly happy little discussions about how its all so lovely and wholesome etc etc.

This forum has stopped people trying to promote other businesses that they are involved in. Time for the moderators to act on this one.

If you want to sell franchises there is  a Franchise Show at Olympia next week. Go there, leave this forum alone.

agree'd with each and every point you made

[windowwashers]

Franchising is great for the seller, thats been my point all along. Thats why I am so opposed to "certain people" opening up what appears to be a healthy and useful discussion  on franchising when really there is an undisclosed hidden agenda.

You pay me £15,000 and 15% of your income for the rest of your life and in return I will licence you to use the name "Vince Green Window Cleaning"  ( as if ! )

You would have to be some sort of sad case to think that was deal worth considering.

There is my point, franchising is about vultures looking for mugs. The process only appeals to people who are nieve or gullable enough to think that the sales pitch of the franchise company will give them the success they would not be able to achieve without it.

They are always so quick to flag up MacDonalds as  examples of how franchising can work. I agree 100% on that but they are not MacDonalds. They never will be.

They always seem to say or at least imply that they have some killer technique or method that will confer enlightenment and knowledge that the rest of us don't have. You can only get this knowledge and enlightenment by signing up with them, paying the £15,000 or what ever ( oh yes and 15% of your income for the rest of your life, I forgot about that part)

This is window cleaning we are talking about for Pete's sake.

Anybody involved with the selling or promoting of franchises should not be allowed to use this forum to groom their victims and identify future candidates by starting friendly happy little discussions about how its all so lovely and wholesome etc etc.

This forum has stopped people trying to promote other businesses that they are involved in. Time for the moderators to act on this one.

If you want to sell franchises there is  a Franchise Show at Olympia next week. Go there, leave this forum alone.

So Vince are you saying you do not like franchising

[Village Gleam]

The cheeky Taxi driver is talking about "certain people", ie me, starting a discusion purely to make franchising sound reasonable so that I can dupe forum members into giving me money. Even by your standards Vince that's pretty far fetched and stupid.

[Village Gleam]

To try and deal with some of the other points. Ian's letter, you know full well it wasn't a letter, it was an extremely well written presentation that he was invited to give at Windex. It was clear, honest, and brief.

There is no benefit at all for him, that I can see, in his sharing this with us. I find it interesting both as an idea, and that by doing this you can quite legaly have a business turning over half a million and pay no VAT.

The Jim's mowing text is interesting because it has so many similarities with us, he's Australian  and his background is in cutting peoples lawns, but it reads just like some of the posts on here.

What is the problem with mulling over an idea?

[Ian Curtis]

Good bye.

[matt]

i have a Franchise story

some1 i know brought a Franchise for a shop, it went ok, he then decided to get down the cash and carry and stock a few products that he could buy cheap and make more money out of, the Franchise guy came and told him off and spoke about sueing

a leter from the solicitor arrived shortly

the guy solved the problem when the Franchise guy came around next, it was a little OTT, a shotgun pointing at his head, he got all his money back as the Franchise guy said that Franchising wasnt for him    he then run the shop and made a few bob

true story