A good thread...
Comedy replies deleted.
Where canvassing a round up in today's climate is concerned I would say 200 hours would be pretty optimistic to build a GOOD AND COMPACT ROUND let alone a decent round.
Around my neck of the woods there are loads of window cleaners now, 10 years ago I think I knew everyone on first name terms, very different now.
Another thing with canvassing is that not everyone can cope with it...the continual knock backs, going to house after house only to be told they already have a window cleaner...a compact round in just a few months?..get on! You will be foraging far and wide, it takes many years to build a round that is tightly compact.
I'm not saying it can't be done but out of...say...100 newbies going out canvassing up their new rounds, how many of those do you think would succeed in building the ideal compact round in under a year, let alone in a couple of hundred hours? You could probably count them on the fingers of one hand, even on the hand of someone whose had a couple of fingers amputated!!
And even when someone does go out canvassing almost everyone screws up the pricing to begin with, underpricing no end of work.
Given that the majority of those getting in to window cleaning are ordinary Joe's and not business trained or orientated people, with the onset of WFP and all of the increased running costs on top of startup costs, this makes understanding price structure even harder.
I read many posts where people claim great earning rates, why even myself has work where I can earn £100 an hour (true by the way) but that is just an isolated job no way on this planet can I earn that all the time!!
Not many window cleaners out there submit 20k to the tax man every year, most submit under that figure, and from that figure you have to take all the running costs before you arrive at your actual income of course.
So, buy a very compact round turning over 25k a year for only 3 days work a week for 10k?
Yes please uncle!
However: If that is a round built up by a round building team merely claiming it is 3 days work a week, and that round has been built up over just a few weeks with a team of canvassers then no way on this planet would it be worth anything like that sum of money
If someone has just been made redundant they have time on their side not cash to splash.
Their redundancy payment (if they worked for last employer long enough to qualify for reundancy) will be their only secure means of paying their bills and debts. What percentage of demoralised, optimistic, entrepeneur, who's just lost their PAYE job, would want to to purchase with their hard cash for a good will gestured opportunistic job with no guarantees that the customers will stay loyal in this economic time of recession approaching it's third quarter. Only a very brave optimist would part with large sums as opposed to get off their backside and canvass like mad to pre-occupy their minds and spirits into building a tidy ongoing income in a job they might even despise.
Where the above is quoted I would agree only in the situation I've outlined with a round built by a round building team, but if it was a round built up over many years, with well priced work and a well honed round, then I think it would most certainly be worth it.
Would I spend 10k without first testing the waters in a job I don't know whether I would like or not?
No, I'd personally have gone out the old fashioned way and knocked on doors for a few weeks and cleaning what work I could acquire, if I found I enjoyed the work and the chance to buy a round like the one mentioned cropped up then I would part with my money.
Another thing to remember is that a round that can be done in 3 days a week by an experienced pro will be a vastly different thing for a newbie so it would take a few months before a full on newbie could get close to doing the work in that time, so a round purchased in such a way would also require ongoing help and training too.
It isn't a case of spending 10k and suddenly having a job that will earn you 25k a year!!
But I agree with the general premise of buying such a round rather than spend months and years building and honing such a round.
Ian