[Watters]

To all those with a van, decent system, good round......did you get to where you are now via blood, sweat & tears and no investment or savings (ie, working from the bottom up with just a squeegee & ladders), or did you have loans, finance, large cash injection etc to get your van & system?

I've started off trad with no cash outlay other than the bucket, ladders etc as I quit my job to go out on a limb & give it a bloody good go. After the first 3 months of tradding I had saved enough to get a backpack & di vessel & 25ltr drums & after 3 months of wfp  I have built a good steady round so far of £1200 a month and still building it.

Now i'm having to save again to get a van as it's starting to become a tight squeeze with the car. Im going to go straight for the vivaro (as soon as i possibly can), but want to do it all without finance & loans hanging over my head.

Just wondering if there was any of you that also took this route (or had no choice but to take this route), or did many of you have to have finance/loans at some point to take that next step?

Am I being realistic wanting to do it without finance/loans?

[TheWindowManChris]

To all those with a van, decent system, good round......did you get to where you are now via blood, sweat & tears and no investment or savings (ie, working from the bottom up with just a squeegee & ladders), or did you have loans, finance, large cash injection etc to get your van & system?

I've started off trad with no cash outlay other than the bucket, ladders etc as I quit my job to go out on a limb & give it a bloody good go. After the first 3 months of tradding I had saved enough to get a backpack & di vessel & 25ltr drums & after 3 months of wfp  I have built a good steady round so far of £1200 a month and still building it.

Now i'm having to save again to get a van as it's starting to become a tight squeeze with the car. Im going to go straight for the vivaro (as soon as i possibly can), but want to do it all without finance & loans hanging over my head.

Just wondering if there was any of you that also took this route (or had no choice but to take this route), or did many of you have to have finance/loans at some point to take that next step?

Am I being realistic wanting to do it without finance/loans?

I started like you in my car but at the time I called myself 'Your Wee Window Man'  as I am small in height and small car   (Plus I worked Part-time of Backshift)

I then started to get more commercial jobs so then started to hire a Van from Northgate for the weeks I had commercial jobs and then once i started to kit van up I worked out this is what I needed as I worked soo much quicker.

Then I was approached by Northgate to do a Fleet Hire and which is what I done since.  All I had to pay was to get wee bit sign written done and pay my monthly fleet hire for van which has paid for itself plus insurance.

I then started to get too much work and I was having to say 'Sorry too busy' which I then got a loan and a grant from Scottish Goverment and over the 2 years I been doing this I now got 3 vans.   

Have you tried getting Grants of Goverment or Charities who support Start-up business.  I know a guy who went on Kick-Starter who wanted money from internet for his new WFP system and got it.
 

[Steven White]

I started with a car, ladder and bucket. Also a run down round of 24 customers (some infrequent) from a bloke who was too ill to turn out mostly. That was four years ago. Now I have a 2 working station WFP van with pole and so on for two and large round and I produce my own pure water and sell it to other cleaners. I never borrowed a penny, apart from a temporary overdraft when times were tough. My way forward was to plough as much money back into the business. Good equipment is the key and that makes you money, skimping on equipment is a false economy. Sure I have a mortgage and so on, but it's worth in the early stages to keep your wages to a minimum and keep as much cash in the business to buy the right gear. Good equipment speeds up your work rate and the amount you can earn. Also when you get to the stage of employing someone you don't want them standing around earning you nothing while you are fixing your gear. I have back ups also.

[Elfyn]

To all those with a van, decent system, good round......did you get to where you are now via blood, sweat & tears and no investment or savings (ie, working from the bottom up with just a squeegee & ladders), or did you have loans, finance, large cash injection etc to get your van & system?

I've started off trad with no cash outlay other than the bucket, ladders etc as I quit my job to go out on a limb & give it a bloody good go. After the first 3 months of tradding I had saved enough to get a backpack & di vessel & 25ltr drums & after 3 months of wfp  I have built a good steady round so far of £1200 a month and still building it.

Now i'm having to save again to get a van as it's starting to become a tight squeeze with the car. Im going to go straight for the vivaro (as soon as i possibly can), but want to do it all without finance & loans hanging over my head.

Just wondering if there was any of you that also took this route (or had no choice but to take this route), or did many of you have to have finance/loans at some point to take that next step?

Am I being realistic wanting to do it without finance/loans?

Watters, Just a quick note. Be careful of the Vivaro as they have gearbox issues and could seriously damage you wealth. 

[dannymack]

Mind you any van you get or read up about there's always issues.  I'd get finance and get a new one, may only cost ya £50 a week. Least you know it should last ya and you shouldn't have any problems and you normally get a yera warranty. Our new van is the ford custom trend abit more than £50 a week as its costing around the £22,000 mark but top van.

[TheWindowManChris]

Mind you any van you get or read up about there's always issues.  I'd get finance and get a new one, may only cost ya £50 a week. Least you know it should last ya and you shouldn't have any problems and you normally get a yera warranty. Our new van is the ford custom trend abit more than £50 a week as its costing around the £22,000 mark but top van.

I did the same maths.

Mines costs me £85 a week but I get everything covers and all I need add is Fuel & Insurance. costs about £250 a month for van including Fuel.

I am looking at getting Ford Custom from Fleet company but really unsure as I am used to VW Caddy & Transporter  but would you recommend the van?   I have asked Fleet company if I can test drive a van and see if I like it and what I want to test is if I can get all my kit in it?

[Smudger]

Started out with nothing, made redundant from engineering job had no savings no investment money etc...

Went out with home made cards the family vehicle (Suzuki vitara) a bucket, sponge and vileda squeegee 

Now have a unit, 2 vans, staff, and do pressure washing gutter vac'ing
This has taken 4 years

Darran

[Sean Kelly]

Started out doing it from my seat ibiza, then had a car crash, (not my fault) so bought a little vauxhall combo. Then I had some money left for a back pack system, wanted to get into the high access side of it. So then once I earnt a bit more bought all my rope gear and paid for an irata course, then Friday I bought a ford transit all kitted out second hand, to give to an employee whilst I'm doing the high access stuff.

I've done this all in 4-5 months all with my own money that I made through blood sweat and tears

[koopmaster]

I started out with a ladder that was given to me, a asda bucket and a old scrim given to me by a windy friend and used my wifes car...

I had 1000 cards and dropped them all in 1 day, and got about 20 customers.  Since I had a IT full time job already I had to clean weekends and did this for the first year. 
I was dropping cards for 2 hours a night, every night and working all weekend,  ended up working 7 days a week.

After 3 months I got a backpack, and found a bayerson fiberglass pole in a street and started using WFP for another 3 months. Then got a ford escort 75 D van for £400 on ebay and a 400L tank, pump and controller and changed everyone over to WFP. 

That was last year,  I gave up my other job end of January this year and went full time.  Now have 320 customers.

I worked so hard last year that I have actually just taken it easy this year, hardly any canvassing or carding.

next year is going to be completely different.  Starting January I am going to get a bigger tank, replace my 2 old poles with carbon fiber.  (my main one is already a CF)  and re-drop about 20 000 leaflets and hire a kid to come canvass with me and get a 2 man setup in the van. 

I want to double my round next year or even triple it.

I now know I can do it and just need to repeat the hard work I did last year.

[robertphil]

i started on a whim after seein a ladder in BnQ on offer -it fitted inside my car . i used that titchy ladder for a year then bought an old co-op van i saw for sale on the seafront. all the while i had a million pounds sitting in a bank account

yeh rite!

[Smudger]

Sceptical bobby p 

[robertphil]

Sceptical bobby p 

dyou know a black guy in a red cavalier does ladderwork on the yarmouth arcades, think he wears a green parka .

[Smudger]

No, try not to get involved with the shops in Yarmouth

Darran

[Diamond standard ltd]

All started with me and a mate working from a car with 3 houses to clean on a Saturday, kept building and building until Saturdays was full so quit a full time job and went for it. This was three years ago got a backpack and pole and escort van found it hard going at first, but just kept on going. Now we have two  vivaro vans, two lads working for us, a full round and 5 building sites to service ( build cleaning) at the minute all is good fingers crossed the work keeps coming

[supernova77]

TheWindowManChris,

What van do you rent from Northgate and how much does it cost per month?

Andy

[robertphil]

No, try not to get involved with the shops in Yarmouth

Darran

whys that ?    iv recently been doing more shops for a national and want more tescos if i can  now i know the routine

dyou know of a john richardson, i keep hearin his name apparently he gave up this year   had a team of workers doin stores i dunno the name myself

[Smudger]

The last time I looked at doing the shops in Yarmouth was just after I started out and the prices went something like this shop front 12ft long x 6 ft high + door in/out weekly £4  (paid monthly  so £1 per clean)

Even when starting out I knew this was way below what I wanted/needed to charge

I've been down the shop front in the mornings there are several cleaners knocking about doing a shop here and a shop there, unless I was offered 20 plus at a reasonable rate it's not worth my time getting into GY
I DO A GOOD NUMBER OF B&b's and commercial on Gapton hall and harfreys.

Don't know many windy's by their full name either by first name or just wave when the vans pass

Darran

[Paul Coleman]

Started with a clapped out Datsun Cherry, a borrowed ladder and a few hand tools that I bought.  Within a year I borrowed money for a small van.  My business cards were single colour from those machines you got in stationery shops etc.  My "windows cleaned" cards were from the same source (no internet then and home computing and printers were very expensive).
Years later I borrowed for a larger van and the kit to start with WFP.
So a bit of both really.

[TheWindowManChris]

TheWindowManChris,

What van do you rent from Northgate and how much does it cost per month?

Andy

I have 1 VW Caddy and 2 VW Transporters.

Van Plus Insurance is around £300 a month each van.   But I am looking at Ford Custom.

[supernova77]

TheWindowManChris

Do Northgate let you put a WFP system in the van?

Do they swap the van over every 6 months or so or do you just keep the same van?

Andy

[TheWindowManChris]

TheWindowManChris

Do Northgate let you put a WFP system in the van?

Do they swap the van over every 6 months or so or do you just keep the same van?

Andy

You can do whatever you want to the van aslong you inform them what you plan to do which includes Signwriting and fitting insides with anything.    All my Kit is on a Wodden Box I built and can be taken out quickly plus my Flue is not fitted to van but on a Pipe and I just open side loading door and it sits out side.

I was told was simple rule that 'Return it in same condition or better condition you got it'

You can have that van for 1 day or 3 years.   They like to change there fleet every 3 years I am told which does mean I currently have 13 plate vans.

[Anna Warren]

Has anyone started without a car? How to carry ladder then?

[CLEANCARE WC]

No, try not to get involved with the shops in Yarmouth

Darran

whys that ?    iv recently been doing more shops for a national and want more tescos if i can  now i know the routine

dyou know of a john richardson, i keep hearin his name apparently he gave up this year   had a team of workers doin stores i dunno the name myself

Bobby... what Tesco do you clean?

[dannymack]

Window man Chris sorry just seem your reply regarding custom. Funny that I nearly had on order a vw transporter but my neighbour insisted I look at the trend. I lease the custom trend got alot more than the vw transporter and about £4000 cheaper. It drives like a car, it's a great van I get everything
I need in the back and it carrys my 450 tank mower and lots of other bits with ease. I lease mine from MW Vehicles over 5 years cost me I think £315 that's with vat a month.

I'd say go for it great van it's a tranny so parts are easy to get and fairly cheap as its a ford.