[Richard iSparkle]

Hi,

I;m interested to see what parts of growing a WC business people find difficult

Thanks

Richard

[Ooooooog]

Staff.

[Splash & dash]

As above good reliable staff

[lal]

  Growing the Business.

[Klean07]

Most of the above can be stressful though since I've put another van on the road and employed a part time office person  to manage advertising etc things are running much more efficiently.

[NWH]

If I could find 2 like me I’d never have to clean another window.

[SB Cleaning]

Getting out of bed in the morning.

[NWH]

If you have enough work at the moment there’s no stress if you employ it’s a different job all together,if you are WFP and you employ say 1 person if the worst comes to the worst and you are back on your own you can manage to keep going until you get another employee.
The stress starts when you have rounds-work that is impossible to be familiar with as you won’t know it like you’d know a smaller round,if you Could  get people that would stay in the job like they do on the post office or similar it would run fairly smoothly but in any form of cleaning industry it doesn’t. I will never employ anyone again that doesn’t have bills to pay if you can find someone in a position that doesn’t and they are reliable you will be very lucky,I’ve had 1 years ago that lived at home he was very good very reliable to the point I used to say to him have a day off tomorrow etc after he went I had 5-6 others that were all the same you never knew if they’d come in from one day to the next.

[NWH]

I don’t think that there is any other job I can think of that you can have a very good income and get next to no stress,when you have intentions of growing it to the point you’ll employ multiple people it then becomes just like any other business riddled with problems and ballache.
I don’t think there’s many that haven’t given it a go when they look at what they earn and think I could get someone to do exactly what I do and earn double,the short answer is it doesn’t ever work like that I’m afraid. 

[Richard iSparkle]

Bump   

[Stoots]

Staff.

Tried to expand beyond just myself having had 5 or 6 different people working for  me but never worked out. Hit a brick wall working on my own, so ended up just selling work off.

Like NWH says it all sounds easy on paper, buy another van set someone on and double your turnover. The reality is its an absolute ballache.

[NWH]

Like you say Gomo on paper it looks so easy I’ve sat down a few times and done the numbers over the years and the reality is for the extra amount it would be worth the hassle by far out ways the profit,I would not want the hassle it would take just for the fact I wouldn’t have to work at all in fact I enjoy working.
Can you get a reliable employee yes you can,is it possible to get 4-5-6 employees that will allow you to run the business with not much stress,very very unlikely. This is a funny old business window cleaning if you work for yourself you can see the benefits of having free time work when you like within reason holidays when you like there’s quiet a few things to list,when you work for someone doing this job you are cleaning windows for another window cleaner and you don’t have any of those things I’ve mentioned to motivate you,some may say you don’t know how to motivate people then but I think the reality is people still view this job differently that’s why it’s riddled with unreliable people even today when jobs are hard to come by.
Like I’ve said before give me 8-10 vans  a swivel 🪑 and 200k before Tax and I’d turn you down thanks.

[Richard iSparkle]

Another bump

[NWH]

And another

[Klean07]

Your right finding the right staff to employ is difficult I know I've had a few working for me over the years who turned out to be not suitable for one reason or another. However now that my son in law is onboard I can honestly say that he's the right one to employ. He was a long distance lorry driver before spending nights out in his cab in various parts of the UK. Being tired all the time due to very early starts and quality of life rubbish! Working for me has opened his eyes to a much different outlook on life.

[NWH]

Ideal business to expand if you have the right person but it’s very difficult to find that person,having 1 reliable person with you working from the same van is imo worth more than having 4-5 vans out with idiots working for you.
You can knock loads of work out with 2 of you from the same van the numbers you can do most wouldn’t believe if you have the right work,you’ll end up with no more money in your pocket having 3/4 vans out with wages and running costs than you would having 1 reliable person with you,like I say if you have the right work.
It’s not about 8-10 vans it’s about an easier life for not a massive amount less after Rishi’s had his lump off you.

[Richard iSparkle]

thanks for the voting chaps 

anyone still to vote please do

[NWH]

It’s staff m8 it’s easy enough to grow it it’s what happens when you’ve grown it and you are left with unreliable people to service the work,you are mirroring what you’ve done in theory it’s so simple.

[Richard iSparkle]

some people here have managed it though.

so what are they doing.. which others are not?

thats the Q I'm left with

[NWH]

You have to ask yourself what you want out of it do you want to switch off when you come home you can do this with 1 employee,do you want to employ 4-5-10 people if you do you can’t switch off.
Once you’ve got say 3 new vans out with 3 lots of wages not including what you want to earn not including all the insurances etc that goes with it you need a lot of work that runs like clockwork,of course it can be done but do the numbers and see if it’s worth doing imo you can do very well with 1 employee and the right work and still have a stress free life,ask the people that have gone down this route and then gone back to that example.