[henryfitz]

Hello all

just a quick question about he omnipole gutter vac system and what peole think about it? Im in two minds as to weather i should buy one or not as a start up business or maybe add it to my window cleaning services? Is it worth the money or am i better off with a different system or even just to do it by hand off a ladder etc?
 Any opinions would be greatly appriciated

[drive surgeon]

im thinking the same mate, might invest in the new year??  think if your serious the omnivac is the only answer for commercial stuff!

[Moderator David@stives]

Henry

Have you done some market research to see if there is a market for the service you want to provide,

Have you done a business plan to see what the break even figure would be.

[Chris Galloway]

If you want to spend a large amount of money for a secondary service on a pre sourced parts kit then go for the omnipole

otherwise

source the same parts yourself and save money, like a number of others have.

Both of which are far better than doing it off a ladder! although that depends on how highly you rate your life.

Just my opinions offered there.

@ drive surgeon, commercial or residential its does not matter what you have so long as your RA, PPE and equpment checks etc are in order including PAT testing.

Oh, and ensure you have a waste carriers license, even if you do dump on their property as you will be carrying residual waste which is an offence, and can land you and your customer in court!

Hows, that for a reply Mr Moderator - who deleted my previous post

[drive surgeon]

@ drive surgeon, commercial or residential its does not matter what you have so long as your RA, PPE and equpment checks etc are in order including PAT testing.

i know what pat tsting is but whats ra and ppe?

[Chris Galloway]

Risk assessments and personal protective equipment.

[ftp]

I would say if your happy working off a ladder then a guttervac either diy or ready made is a complete waste of money. Other than that i would agree with most of the comments so far. Just remember to look at the competition in your chosen market to determine how much you think you might earn. I've got one as several know - not to get rich quick, but as an add on service for a lot of my customers - i have no intention of working off a ladder. 
So for me my version is great.

[NWH]

How many do you have to do for it to pay for itself,not many i would think.

[drive surgeon]

commercials are too high for ladders, im scared just going to top of my house 

[Chris Galloway]

commercials are too high for ladders, im scared just going to top of my house 

More the reason to have a vac i would have thought. why do it off a ladder when you can do it on the ground?

Cost is not that important to say your life.

But then you need to look at what your business can realistically outlay.

A DIY version as people like to call it, by sourcing the parts yourself could cost you anywhere from £250 for the vac, plus you then need poles, attachments, cabling etc.

on average a house (Just an example) £35 all round... 10-20 houses could pay for what you laid out. a lot quicker than working off a ladder.

Take this - i did a bungalow, 30 metres of guttering FULL of water,moss and silt - all sucked up in under 30mins - 20 mins tidying up - the charge = £40. Now using a ladder that would have taken me a lot longer, got messy through doing it.. 

As like everything, you need to market the service properly to get anything from it. Oh and the good thing doing it, you will get noticed by the vacuum noise, and get neighbours asking you to do theirs! 

[Mr H]

Also think of the areas you can't reach with a ladder easily.... Guttering above conservatories or above sloping extension roofs or town houses due to their height and then get an idea of how many other people can do those in your area.......

If there isn't much competition then you can get in and charge a premium.
I have prices for standard ground and first floor houses and then my prices go up 25%-50% above that per floor above depending on how difficult the job is.

Some people think it is overpriced but even with a lightweight system it still takes it out of you working above standard height plus you have to have all the extra equipment.  Its still cheaper than them paying for MEWPs and a heck of a lot cheaper and quicker than scaffolding....

As FTP said if your happy working off a ladder on standard houses and you can do it safely and legally then stick with that.

Regards
Mr H

[drive surgeon]

i would have a minimum charge of 50 quid  for any work, otherwise after all the overheads are taken out its not worth doing!

[ftp]

I was chatting to someone i knew earlier this week and i mentioned how busy i had been cleaning windows and gutter sucking. They said someone offered to clear their gutter the other day just the front. "How much do you think he wanted?" they said, go on tell me i replied "£15!!! we told him where to go"

So i would test the market first before splashing out. 

[Chris Galloway]

I was chatting to someone i knew earlier this week and i mentioned how busy i had been cleaning windows and gutter sucking. They said someone offered to clear their gutter the other day just the front. "How much do you think he wanted?" they said, go on tell me i replied "£15!!! we told him where to go"

So i would test the market first before splashing out. 

Thats a sign of how much they wanted it cleared out, they wer probably just fishing for a price. They wanted a monkey to collect peanuts from it.

If people really want it doing, they will pay for it.

[NWH]

The only thing with it is it only clears them it dosen`t clean them,the problem i can see is when you`ve finnished unless they get up there and have a look how will they know there empty,just a thought i personally think they look better when there clean and spotless.

[Chris Galloway]

The only thing with it is it only clears them it dosen`t clean them,the problem i can see is when you`ve finnished unless they get up there and have a look how will they know there empty,just a thought i personally think they look better when there clean and spotless.

I offer that interior cleaning service, but im honest to clients, i say "do you really want to pay for that if you cant see it?" I know im in business, but i like to tell them what really needs doing and what doesn't

Just like a client asked me to clear his gutters - went over to check - there was absolutely nothing to clean, so i went round to him in the evening, and explained there was nothing to clean, but i did see something that needed repairing.

Im not a con man, i dont want to take money off people for nothing.

[drive surgeon]

its just not worth doing them unless your getting a minimum of £50 quid per job,  as after all your outgoings you wont have much left,   some of these unprofessional people will do it for less yes but they are prob just keeping the cash and giving no receipt, and have no insurance etc,  a real business has overheads to pay for so they have to charge,  even with a minimum charge of 50 quid , inus my outgoings im not left with a lot profit for a job.