Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: cleewindows on April 30, 2010, 08:08:40 am
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getting very busy at the moment but due to working night,im not getting much time to do all my work,my diary is getting very full,im not sure what to do about my full time job,i like the security of it and pays fairly well at 25k a year.Not sure whether to have a career break or go down to a 3 or 4 day week.Dilema is if i leave i get my shares paid out at about £3k which would be nice but then no job to fall back on.
Business is busy but worried about winter.
I could perhaps take a 3 month career break or longer if needed upto a year which means i can go back to my job.If my business is doing well i dont need to go back.
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go on sick for month and battery the wc and see what happens
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that was the option cheers ;D
go on sick for month and battery the wc and see what happens
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go on sick for month and battery the wc and see what happens
You must be joking, do you honestly think his employement wouldnt find out ???
Id personally go part time and hit the canvassing hard, shouldnt take you much longer to build up what you need or leave take the 3k and use this towards paying a canvasser or buy work....
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My advice is if you have a job at the present time keep it. The next couple of years are going to be a bumpy ride and it hasn't even started yet.
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been offered a compact round £500 every 3 weeks for 1k but prices are low! ???
not sure what to do,i was thinking knock on and try and put prices up by saying i will do them every 4 weeks 13cleans a year compared to 17 cleans a year on 3 weeklys!
13 x £8 = £104
17 x £7= £119
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to be fair i live 40 miles away from where i work so they wouldnt!
go on sick for month and battery the wc and see what happens
You must be joking, do you honestly think his employement wouldnt find out ???
Id personally go part time and hit the canvassing hard, shouldnt take you much longer to build up what you need or leave take the 3k and use this towards paying a canvasser or buy work....
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You need to make your mind, you are either going to run a window cleaning business or carry on with your employment.
With any business it is the first 3 years that are the hardest, so if you leave your job and security it offers, you will have to tighten the belt and cancel the yearly holidays abroad.
But this is only for a short time, soon you will be surpassing what you used to earn and the quality of your life will improve.
Do not worry too much about the winter, you can still work, try to get some inside work likes hotels - pubs and resturants etc, these you can do in any weather conditions.
I would never take on any work unless its minimum charge was £10 and double for a 1st clean, you might feel this is to high for your area, but it is achievable, you need to sell your services to prospective clients to justify the high price you are charging.
The way I do this is I point out that I clean all the frames - vents - sills and glass on every clean, I always telephone or text the night before, and if the client is busy I will work my round around their diary, so if tommorow is impossible maybe another day in the week will be good for them.
Make you customer feel special, they love it and are willing to pay for it as well.
You will still have some who say my last cleaner only charged me £5, when they say that to me I point out that they are no longing cleaning windows and would they be prepared to work for so little.
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clee, if you got the cash, buy the round and it will get u started, i know a few wc who are busy and when u find out how they started they bought the round didnt go knocking or any thing
just leave them at 3 weeks goes, leave it six months then just tell them you are moving them to 4 weeks due to the round workign out that way then leave 3 months and put price
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to be fair i live 40 miles away from where i work so they wouldnt!
go on sick for month and battery the wc and see what happens
You must be joking, do you honestly think his employement wouldnt find out ???
Id personally go part time and hit the canvassing hard, shouldnt take you much longer to build up what you need or leave take the 3k and use this towards paying a canvasser or buy work....
So a £3k payout with the option of returning eventually if it doesn't work out. Plus an initial saving of travel to work petrol of about £80 a week. I use my van most days for work including drive betweens and my fuel bill is cheaper than your 400 miles per week round trip.
You may need to borrow some to top up your share payout (depending on what kit you want).
I think the ideal would be to go pert time and work hard to build the business.
I didn't have your dilemma when I started. I got made redundant (again) in 1991 and there wasn't a sniff of a job back then. All I had was a bit of dole money (about £45 p w for a single person). I had an old car. So it was borrow a ladder, get cards printed (had to use one of those machines in shops back then as I was skint), knock on doors. Buy a few scrims and a squeegee etc. At first, whenever I got a bit of cash, it all went straight into the fuel tank oo the larder until I had a bit of surplus.
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You will have to bite the bullet and jump ship sooner or later. I did the same and used all my holidays up working the round. Eventually you just have to go for it and expect a dip in earnings before your books are full. If you are doing two jobs anyway you should have a nest egg by now to fall back on..................... unless you have forgotten to tell the tax man what you are up to ;)
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clee, the way ur goin..... & it sounds like ur goin well :) just think wot it will be like if u hit it full time ;)
u sound like a sound bloke & quite driven. i would buy the small round & just look at it as a bit of bread & butter work :) while u carry on doin wot u do ;D ur gettin a few grand use it wisely & u wont fail m8.
plus at the end of the day u can always sell the bit of work off u bourght 2get a bit of money back. or build on it & rent it out ;) thats just my thinkin on it clee ;D the choice is urs ;)
its a win win in my eyes ;) 8)
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i was on 30k ayear plus bonus,trust me go for it.you wont look back.
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cheers m8
great advice,im going to speak to he bloke about the round on sunday!
thanks
clee, the way ur goin..... & it sounds like ur goin well :) just think wot it will be like if u hit it full time ;)
u sound like a sound bloke & quite driven. i would buy the small round & just look at it as a bit of bread & butter work :) while u carry on doin wot u do ;D ur gettin a few grand use it wisely & u wont fail m8.
plus at the end of the day u can always sell the bit of work off u bourght 2get a bit of money back. or build on it & rent it out ;) thats just my thinkin on it clee ;D the choice is urs ;)
its a win win in my eyes ;) 8)
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i gave up a 30k a year job as well and almost 3 years on i am not on that but i am happy with my work and enjoy what i do and can pay all my bills and have the odd holiday.
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I would keep the regular job for now, at least untill we see what government we will get and the problems sorting out the economy will bring.
Belts will have to be tightened further in the next 18 month, is it really the time to leave a secure job?
As for buying work, ask why he is selling. Prob because it is poorly paid as you say. Poorly priced work will be hard to increase, otherwise he would have done so before selling.
As I have tried to point out in other posts, £25k is hard to achieve as takehome initially as self employed. Dont act too swiftly.
How much monthly work do you have on your books as of today and how much would you have if you bought this round? I would say you will need £2500-£3000 initially before you jump ship.
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its ok saying you need 2500 to 3000 a month to jump ship,how do i do that when i work every night?
its impossible,im picking up lots of work at the moment,every time i go out i pick a few jobs up knocking.
also i am getting lots of driveway and gutter clean jobs.
i do a full time what i really hate!
im hard working and determind to succeed in my business,i enjoy doing and am very self driven,although i felt daunted about door knocking initially,i enjoy it now!
I would keep the regular job for now, at least untill we see what government we will get and the problems sorting out the economy will bring.
Belts will have to be tightened further in the next 18 month, is it really the time to leave a secure job?
As for buying work, ask why he is selling. Prob because it is poorly paid as you say. Poorly priced work will be hard to increase, otherwise he would have done so before selling.
As I have tried to point out in other posts, £25k is hard to achieve as takehome initially as self employed. Dont act too swiftly.
How much monthly work do you have on your books as of today and how much would you have if you bought this round? I would say you will need £2500-£3000 initially before you jump ship.
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You either buy the work or get someone to canvass for you. No-one is saying building a business is easy. i was lucky 20 years ago, I was living with my parents so building up was easier. You do what you have to. The problem is that if you leave your job and end up desperate for income you can end up pricing too low just to keep busy.
I recommend you think long and hard about leaving the security of paid income. I have no investment in your future I am simply saying it as it is.
What work do you have on your books per month and what would you have if you bought this work? Or how much have you turned over each month since you started. This will give us an idea about how to answer your questions.
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i gave up a 30k a year job as well and almost 3 years on i am not on that but i am happy with my work and enjoy what i do and can pay all my bills and have the odd holiday.
stu i am the same,i am more happy now,less stress a lot less hour and a better quailty life.time spent with the family.
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nice 1 ;) good luck 4sunday m8 ;) i'll ave me fingers crossed 4ya ;) 8)
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i gave up a 30k a year job as well and almost 3 years on i am not on that but i am happy with my work and enjoy what i do and can pay all my bills and have the odd holiday.
stu i am the same,i am more happy now,less stress a lot less hour and a better quailty life.time spent with the family.
thing is franky when i was on 30k a year i was worse of as it was easy to get nice car loans, credit cards, other loans so i was actually left with very little. i got rid of all my debts before i stared back on the windows so i didnt need as much. i simplified my life big time and now i am earning less but have more spare income.
what i would suggest to clee is sit down and work out your survival budget ie what you need to earn to cover bills and mortgage and when you can or very close to that budget then take the gamble. however if you are nowhere near that survival budget think very long and hard before leaving
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thing is franky when i was on 30k a year i was worse of as it was easy to get nice car loans, credit cards, other loans so i was actually left with very little. i got rid of all my debts before i stared back on the windows so i didnt need as much. i simplified my life big time and now i am earning less but have more spare income
ur playing my tune m8 ;) all i try n do is make my life simples ;D simples = less stress ;)
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i gave up a 30k a year job as well and almost 3 years on i am not on that but i am happy with my work and enjoy what i do and can pay all my bills and have the odd holiday.
stu i am the same,i am more happy now,less stress a lot less hour and a better quailty life.time spent with the family.
thing is franky when i was on 30k a year i was worse of as it was easy to get nice car loans, credit cards, other loans so i was actually left with very little. i got rid of all my debts before i stared back on the windows so i didnt need as much. i simplified my life big time and now i am earning less but have more spare income.
what i would suggest to clee is sit down and work out your survival budget ie what you need to earn to cover bills and mortgage and when you can or very close to that budget then take the gamble. however if you are nowhere near that survival budget think very long and hard before leaving
i are sure right stu,done the same,the simple thing is the more you got the more you spent,you be surpise what you can survie on.
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would benefits make up any shortfall in income ?
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im english mate,how do you get benefits?
Im sure i can make it work,im working tonight so im going to speak to someone tonight about going 4 days a week then i will go on a career break when im too busy!
Im also going to apply for the caretakers job on tuesday.
With the guttering and driveway jobs i can make £300 a week at the minute doing it and have about £400 worth of window cleaning jobs every 4 weeks.
With more time to canvass im sure i can get between 5 and 10 window cleaning jobs evening between 5 and 7.
I have the option to buy the work off this guy too on top!
I have all my kit and dont really need to buy much more so i should be ok once running.
would benefits make up any shortfall in income ?
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mate jack the job buy the round and get canvassing the only way is up mate its your bussiness now i did this when i started you will never look back as the winter have a break and do what you always wanted because you work like a dog in the spring and summer to get the cash in do the gutter cleans ibn the winter
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You either buy the work or get someone to canvass for you. No-one is saying building a business is easy. i was lucky 20 years ago, I was living with my parents so building up was easier. You do what you have to. The problem is that if you leave your job and end up desperate for income you can end up pricing too low just to keep busy.
I recommend you think long and hard about leaving the security of paid income. I have no investment in your future I am simply saying it as it is.
What work do you have on your books per month and what would you have if you bought this work? Or how much have you turned over each month since you started. This will give us an idea about how to answer your questions.
As you have other family members to consider, you would do well to time it right. I would certainly suggest that mabe March/April is a good time to make the break. I think the only question is whether that is this year or next (yes I know it's May tomorrow) :) .
You currently have gross pay of about £25k?? To achieve that with WFP window cleaning you will possibly need a £30k to £32k turnover whilst managing the money well. Bear in mind that when you are paid in bits and oieces, it is easier for it to be spent that way too. Self discipline with money in your pocket is essential.
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i gave up a 30k a year job as well and almost 3 years on i am not on that but i am happy with my work and enjoy what i do and can pay all my bills and have the odd holiday.
stu i am the same,i am more happy now,less stress a lot less hour and a better quailty life.time spent with the family.
thing is franky when i was on 30k a year i was worse of as it was easy to get nice car loans, credit cards, other loans so i was actually left with very little. i got rid of all my debts before i stared back on the windows so i didnt need as much. i simplified my life big time and now i am earning less but have more spare income.
what i would suggest to clee is sit down and work out your survival budget ie what you need to earn to cover bills and mortgage and when you can or very close to that budget then take the gamble. however if you are nowhere near that survival budget think very long and hard before leaving
I think this is good advice!
Plus your plan for 4 days to start with would work. It will be hard work but if you can swing it it would really help push the windows.
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Here is a simple maths solution.
To achieve a round that generates £30k of business witha minimum charge of £10, you need 230 customers on your books.
But of course all of them will not have their windows cleaned every 4 weeks all the year round, there will be times when they cannot for various reasons, you also will have some who will cancel for various reason from moving home- one offs - death and those who are not satisfied in your workmanship or tools used.
So taking that into account you will need 35% more customers which equals a total figure of 310 customers you need to get in the 1st year of trading.
If you are really hard working and you can door knock then this is acheivable in a very small of time.
If you door knock 5 nights a week from 3pm til 7pm on average you should pick up a minimum of 15 new customers.
So within 20 weeks you have the target number of customers you need to earn £30k per year.
Of course you can speed this up by asking and kept on asking your customers to recommend you to their neighbours, work mates, friends and family.
Also placing adverts in local magazines will also bring some your way.
So if you put your head down and really graft, you shold have reached this target by week 14.
Your business growth depend on what you are willing to put into it.
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thanks m8
great advice im aiming for 250,and also need to take into account my gutter and driveway jobs.this weekend i have £300 worth of work for day on sundayt and about 2 hours tommorow!
Here is a simple maths solution.
To achieve a round that generates £30k of business witha minimum charge of £10, you need 230 customers on your books.
But of course all of them will not have their windows cleaned every 4 weeks all the year round, there will be times when they cannot for various reasons, you also will have some who will cancel for various reason from moving home- one offs - death and those who are not satisfied in your workmanship or tools used.
So taking that into account you will need 35% more customers which equals a total figure of 310 customers you need to get in the 1st year of trading.
If you are really hard working and you can door knock then this is acheivable in a very small of time.
If you door knock 5 nights a week from 3pm til 7pm on average you should pick up a minimum of 15 new customers.
So within 20 weeks you have the target number of customers you need to earn £30k per year.
Of course you can speed this up by asking and kept on asking your customers to recommend you to their neighbours, work mates, friends and family.
Also placing adverts in local magazines will also bring some your way.
So if you put your head down and really graft, you shold have reached this target by week 14.
Your business growth depend on what you are willing to put into it.