[Ian Rochester]

I have set our business an objective for this year:

Achieve a £77.00 /week on week growth throughout the year

If you can achieve this in one week, and assuming your window cleaning is on a 4 week basis, you will increase you business by £1000/ year.  Do it every week and your business will increase by £52,000 by this time next year

[rosskesava]

Hi Lionheart

Are your sums correct?

We're aiming for full up books by the end of summer which for us is 2 full days commercial work, 2 full days resindential work and one day call outs and odd stuff.

We plan to increase our business by 150% at least and are looking, by the new year, to having 2 vans working and to increase income by 75% to about £600 a week.

Cheers

Ross

[Ian Rochester]

Every 4 week = 13 cycles per year

£77 x 13 = £1,001 pa

[s.hughes]

Hi Rosskesava
Are you planning on having 2 herses (sorry if spelt wrong late night an all) or 2 vans with pole system. Your like me cant make mind up, not sure, think it might help, think bout it a bit more latter on and then make my mind up.
Thing is, you sure could fit a lot of water in the back of one of those things.

[rosskesava]

Hi again

Yes and no. We (I) cannot make my mind up either. I yo yo one way and then the other. Every job today would not be worth using WFP's. All shops and some in a shopping center.

One way or another, we will have, with or without WFP, 2 hearses on the road by this time next year.

I hope.

Yup, a hearse can take a lot of weight. They are designed for 6 people (2 deceased) plus the weight of the 2 coffins and all the stuff that goes with it.

A perfect work vehicle and some ladders can be put inside as it's 20ft long.

Cheers

Ross

[littlejack]

Where do you find these cars?.   I've not seen one for sale,  are they very expensive?.

What a good tool/marketing vehicle.

[gaza]

just a thought,Ithink you decribed the hearse as having room for another coffin under the decking.if you go w/f/p couldnt you use that as tank area?

[rosskesava]

We could fit a lot of water except for one thing, the height between the decking and the floor of the hearse is about 24 inches. The decking cannot be removed because it's part of the structure and the only bit of 'open' space is where the coffin goes.

As for finding one for sale, you will have to hunt and hunt and hunt for one. It took us 9 months to find one at a price we could afford and one that was road worthy.

The other problem is that most hearses that are for sale are usually very old models or like our one, a mish hash of different car parts, specialist modifications and obscure hand made parts. We had to get someone in a scrap yard to make us a replacement exhaust because it was originally customised for the vehicle. Then we found out the automatic transmition, which needed new rings, wasn't made by Ford but by Volvo and was no longer made anywhere. Even the prop shaft is made from bits by 3 manufacuters with a custom made universal joints.

Also, the engines are usually clapped out because they have never been worked. The paintwork is always in good nick though. Most old hearses now get bought and used for banger racing.

To buy it cost us £1250 and it needed a fair amount of work doing.

Personnaly, if I went back in time I'd choose a different vehicle but as we have it and have spent about £2000 getting it really road worthy for our type of work, we're in too deep now. The next job is welding on new bits of chassis but that again is a specialised job because the bodywork (apart from the front wings and bonnet) is fibre glass.

Yup. It is a fantastic PR tool.

[pjulk]

Rosskesava

Does you hearse run on gas also.
A freind of mine had one about 15 years ago and it could run on gas aswell as petrol.
The only thing is the gas it could run on he could not find anywhere to buy it.
He got rid of it in the end as he kept getting pulled up by the police and the neighbours  always kept complaining about it.

Paul

[rosskesava]

No it's just a petrol engine and I wish it was diesel and a bit smaller cc's.

Cheers

[gaza]

im dying to have a ride in one of those,Im going to ask my mrs if I die early would you do me the honour of giving me a lift in rosses hearse doesnt matter how much you charge its my sense of humour to a tee

[thewindowcleaner1]

Years ago I used to run pubs, one day ( a Sunday lunch I think) one of my customers walked in as usual bought his drink and was chatting by the bar when a couple more regular's came in and asked who had died? to this the the first lad smiled and asked if they liked his new car (a herses)
by the end of the lunch session several of my neighbours were standing in the road chatting (trying to find out what was going on)
This fella only kept it for a few weeks but made a killing (forgive the pun) as a private hire for that special date..
especially as it was around Halloween.

Alan

[thewindowcleaner1]

That strayed from the thread a bit..


I'll be happy to add about £50 a week (£33k)

[rosskesava]

33K..........

Seriously?

Do you mean £33 000 a year?

Are your sums right again because £50 per week extra is roughly £2 500 a year?

Cheers and yes we did stray from the topic a bit...

Ross

[thewindowcleaner1]

33K..........

Seriously?

Do you mean £33 000 a year?

Are your sums right again because £50 per week extra is roughly £2 500 a year?

£50 a week x 52 weeks = £2,600 x 13 cleans a year (4 week periods) = £33,800.00p

Its like playing Monopoly ain't it

[replacement]

Set yourselfs targets and setout how your going to get there. £77 every 4 weeks is easy and if your doing it right your get this from recommedations alone.

Now taking a extra £50 aweek (£200 extra per month) is also not that hard if you plan it correctly.

Justin

[Ian Rochester]

Rosskesava,

If you get a new house @ £10 per clean and you clean it every 4 weeks, by the end of the year you have earned £130 from that one house.

Therefore if you get a new house valued at £10 every week, they will each be earning your £130 in 12 months, times that by 50 weeks and your business has grown by £6500.

What I am saying is, set yourself a target for gaining new business.  It may be £10 /week or £100/week.  The £77 figure is what I need to do to earn me £1000 new turnover in 12 months.

If you don't set targets and plans, all that happens is you basically bumble along waiting for the next job to come up, go out and look for it to achieve your desired target, but make it a realistic, achievable target.

[jsm]

Well mine's  got to be a good one as I'm on the move heading back home from Essex to North Wales 


Selling my work to one of my workers so I'll be starting from scratch up north from September 

Sorry in advance if i step on anyone’s toes around Wrexham/ Chester but got to feed my kids and fund my windsurfing/kitesurfing lifestyle  plus the wife likes to spend a bit 
any one got to much work send it my way haha

made soooo much on my house in Rayleigh that i must have bought the biggest window cleaner's  house in Wrexham !! the south east house prices are way over the top now .

nice new van on order as well , going in for PURE water cleaning and treating my self to a new Ninja carpet cleaner --
must admit I'm looking forward to the challenge again ,
john malone

[thewindowcleaner1]

The fun is in the chase.

[windows_chepstow]

.. all that happens is you basically bumble along waiting for the next job to come up, go out and look for it to achieve your desired target, but make it a realistic, achievable target.

Lionheart,

Good thread mate.  But this is what I tend to to... 'Bumble along waiting for the next job to come up', saying that have picked five up this week, but nil the week previous to that!

We've got pretty much a full round between Wor Lass and myself, but would love to take on a lot more, to take someone else on.  Hopefully, by 'bumbling along' I think this is achievable by the end of next year.

I advertise in a few directories, I'm on the net, and now and again we'll spend the afternoon pushing some leaflets out (in a half-hearted manner).  Mostly, people just grab us in the street.  I work with Wor Lass, and nine out of ten times, it's her they approach.

I think it would take an extremely energetic and determined man to go canvassing after a hard days graft, day in, day out - or even a couple of evening per week, every week, all year!

Fair do's if you can.  I can't, or rather won't.  I've an OU course that takes up a hefty chunk of my time; taxiing the little un from swimming lessons to Brownies.  Then there's Wor Lasses hefty running (as in fitness) commitments.

Then on other evenings I like doing my own thing with friends or family and lager!

However, I'd love to run a gang of window cleaners, where I'm office bound, organising it all and they're at the sharp end.  I'm an ex-army Staff Sergeant, so managing a bunch of lads (or lasses) is my forte.  My administration skills are top notch and I have the management and leadership theory and practical experience to do it well.

So I'm happy to be 'Mickey Mouse' for a few years yet, but at least I'll have some quality of life till I get where I want to be.