Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Dean Taberner on December 27, 2011, 01:39:47 pm
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Hello blokes/lasses,
I thought that it would be interesting to know what plans everybody has for their businesses in the coming year?
Do you plan to expand? Employ? Down size? Pack it in? Go vat reg? Un vat reg? Sell up? Retire?
In my game the decisions tend to get made for me with regards to how much work I'm taking on as things change from one moment to the next but I'm up for any challenge that is put my way this year and I'm looking to push on...
The main thing firstly for all of us and our families is to stay healthy for the coming year and beyond I'm sure you all agree.
Good luck for 2012,
Dean.
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To tweak things so I have less hassle day to day. To target commercial contracts on a larger area. To gain accreditations within the business.
But personally
I'm going to retrain in web programming and multi media. Brush up on all my graphic design skills and look to start a business alongside the window cleaning
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Nearly double what i have now and see from there
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am going to do a 30 kncking experiement, to see what i get, just got to find some one decent to help with cleaning first, as dont want to get loads of work and be knackered all the time
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Gonna push it in the new year - want another weeks work to make me happy.
Would love to upgrade the van but that can wait its not essential
A friends son has asked he can help me for a few hours a week so might see how that goes as a favor :)
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I'm gonna give my head a wobble this year and concentrate on getting good quality well priced domestic work, refine all the rounds n dump dump dump! We are going to try n get a 50/50 split of commercial/domestic work n try n take a nice salary 20k myself this year,I'm reducing the workforce and will be working much smarter like when I first started offering a higher level of service which I haven't worked out yet ;D ;D ;D
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I'm gonna give my head a wobble this year and concentrate on getting good quality well priced domestic work, refine all the rounds n dump dump dump! We are going to try n get a 50/50 split of commercial/domestic work n try n take a nice salary 20k myself this year,I'm reducing the workforce and will be working much smarter like when I first started offering a higher level of service which I haven't worked out yet ;D ;D ;D
Richy....are you saying that with everything that you have going on,trade supplies,employing blokes,building rounds up that you think that 20k is a nice salary or is that before your dividends at year end?
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I'm getting back to basics mate stripping it all back it's easy to get carried away n think ur getting big when u canvass loads of work but u lose half of it and more, I'd love to do trade counter but I think its going on the back burner for while, plus a company local has setup that operate forty mins away from us that advertise on here
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I've not been taking any wage to be honest mate for a while after break ins etc tried to battle on n keep all the lads but just wasn't workin financially so one is goin when we get back in jan
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Would love to get my round to about 30k per year. But not just a round a GOOD round ;)
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My only business plan for this year is to turn over £xxk by 30/9 (the end of my accounting year). If I achieve this, it will be a decent rise on last year. I don't need any extra work to achieve it. I just need to keep nearer to my work schedules and pull my finger out more. Also, I want to keep the costs down a bit in achieving this. Apart from a couple of brushes and some pre filters and resin, I have a good stock of tools so won't need to buy any for quite a while.
At the moment, I am a few hundred behind my target but hey, it's mid winter.
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i want to expand on what ive already built. i will be pushing my property businessvthis year too whixch was registered last year but hasnt been very active.
all the best for 2012
danny
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increase work load by %
employ 2 more staff members find and train a manager to run day to day tasks to allow me the freedom to run my other business and also look at window washers and the way I want to take it forward.
put another van on the road for seperate work and sporadic cleans
redesign window washers site and monitise fully (long over due, but underway as i type)
JV with other business
gain % extra turnover from gaining commercial work
Come out of working on the tools
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got the nod to take on a chunk of work from a comm. WFP lot who are doing a shoddy job . i dont know the main man but i think i will soon !
i will double my house round in 2012 and have a 2nd van in spring
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I want to try to get £1000 worth of work a month my rounds pretty small at the moment,that figure would do me just fine as i do other work to.
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Build on last year, and take a couple of weeks off in the summer.
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I've not been taking any wage to be honest mate for a while after break ins etc tried to battle on n keep all the lads but just wasn't workin financially so one is goin when we get back in jan
I really hope it all works out for you richy,you are defo a tryer mate....
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me,well i am down sizing,work 4 days,not 5/6 and enjoy life
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I'm gonna give my head a wobble this year and concentrate on getting good quality well priced domestic work, refine all the rounds n dump dump dump! We are going to try n get a 50/50 split of commercial/domestic work n try n take a nice salary 20k myself this year,I'm reducing the workforce and will be working much smarter like when I first started offering a higher level of service which I haven't worked out yet ;D ;D ;D
Ritchy you need help honestly. Ditch all the staff sell the work and keep the cream then you should be drawing £30K not hoping for £20k and get off your arse and do some work.
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I'm gonna give my head a wobble this year and concentrate on getting good quality well priced domestic work, refine all the rounds n dump dump dump! We are going to try n get a 50/50 split of commercial/domestic work n try n take a nice salary 20k myself this year,I'm reducing the workforce and will be working much smarter like when I first started offering a higher level of service which I haven't worked out yet ;D ;D ;D
I know what your saying but that was never my plan or goal and that would be easy way out but il give it another two years of building and see where I am I've lost all focus this year after two break ins n just done wat was necessary to keep business going if we could get a few nice 5 to 10 grand contracts a year I could sell a lot of my so so work off which we have dumped loads off now.this Xmas break is doing me good recharge my batteries I've not had a few days off all year
Ritchy you need help honestly. Ditch all the staff sell the work and keep the cream then you should be drawing £30K not hoping for £20k and get off your arse and do some work.
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My pan for 2012 is survive to 2013. Simple really.
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Spend less time on here ;D
Get more commercial work so can do a few early starts
Do a 40000 leaflet drop
Get van lad at least part time to start with
Replace van
Get missus out of her job
May buy £3500 a month work near to home address then no leaflet drop
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Dump :o
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Aim for residential 300 custies by this time next year
and more schools/ nurserys
Can't be arsed with commercial ( offices, pubs etc ) as it seems most is priced to the bone
So dump the ones I've got.
Wife is coming out with me 3 mornings a week to door knock and help me
Can't wait for 2012 :)
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Tweaking rounds & workload to allow for a 30% increase in biz (minimum - hopefully) that will take
the 2 man van to a full 5 days a week every week
we are in year 3 and over doubled from the end of yr1 to the end of yr2 - now knocking on vat threshold - so
we are having to make careful choices on what work we want going forward and the implications of vat + staff
Darran
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Hi Darren what did u do to double work between year 1 and 2 ??
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Majority came from canvassing (door knocking) - particularly in Jan thro to April then a scattering from advertising in parish mags
- the web site - rec a friend scheme - and over the last 3 months just being seen out and about !
Darran
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Looking to set up a bin cleaning business along side the windows, setting up a canvaser who will come out to work with me he will also do some cleaning aswell. my brother is putting quote sheets out every week by the hundred hoping to get an average of £200 to £300 worth of new custome every month.
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get rid of bucket on a belt go back to wet rag dry scrim keep it simple ;)
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keep going the way im going!!ticking over with a slight increase in prices in april for older work.
have around 2 months off for holidays and general relaxing away from window cleaning.
dazmond
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keep going the way im going!!ticking over with a slight increase in prices in april for older work.
have around 2 months off for holidays and general relaxing away from window cleaning.
dazmond
How can you make your fortune by taking time off :)
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your a long time dead danny boy!!itll come to us a lot sooner if we work too hard!besides i personally dont want to work full time all of the time!!! ;) ;D ;D ;D
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My aim is to become fully established in my locality by the end of 2012. This will mean building on the good reliable custom I have picked up by getting more of the same, ditching the messers, and working smarter, so that I afford to take time off when it suits me.
John
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I've not been taking any wage to be honest mate for a while after break ins etc tried to battle on n keep all the lads but just wasn't workin financially so one is goin when we get back in jan
i know what your saying richy, i had to strip things down myself last year and get rid of my WCs. unless you're really careful, with the cost of staff, you can be dong a load of work, taking a load of hassle, and not making much money at all. its easy to expand fast, and put yourself in a mess isnt it. best thing i did was get rid of mine, and they were both OK lads. from now on i;m gonna keep a really close eye on my wages and my cashflow, and expand slowly but carefully.
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To earn even more money for working even less hours
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price rises for all compact estate work
leaflet and canvass some areas where ive picked up the odd job lately.
keep overheads to a minimum
offer 8 weekly at higher prices for new work
dump the odd messer as usual!
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Ritchy,
It sounds like you have some tough decisions to make in the early part of this year, don't leave it too long before biting the bullet!
As I'm sure most on here are aware we do most aspects of cleaning and now employ 21 staff to do it, however..........some of it is very profitable, some not so profitable, some is actually getting to the point where it's more hassle than it's worth!
2012 will be a year for us to promote and push for the type of work that is making us money and to phase out the work that's not.
I've just had a look at the window cleaning turnover for 2010 and 2011 and we are showing a 35.2% growth in 2011 compared to 2010 which is quite pleasing, especially considering we haven't increased staff numbers on the windows in the past 12 months.
Our domestic and office cleaning work on the other hand is pretty much where it was this time last year, however we've had to sort out a few changes of staff, which takes time and effort to organise. So that may be getting reviewed over the next quarter!
Turnover overall is up by 17.7% on 2010..... not worked out the profit bit yet!
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the bottom line is how much profit you ve made after all expenses and taxes have been deducted.is it worth the stress,hassle and general headaches?if it is then carry on!if not then cut your cloth accordingly.remember its your business and you have no room for people pleasing while your business is running at a loss or very little profit.
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TO JUST BE HAPPY ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
sound like some of you lot are trying to run before you can even walk. ;)
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I am gonna canvass hard on the domestic side to replace some of the work that isn't quite as easy / profitable as the rest , and increase turnover by around 40% , I have a casual worker who will be employed full time working with me by the end of the year
Going to get turnover to just under vat and smash the weeks work early in the week each week , and then we will have a day each week to canvass ! Like dazmond i don't want to kill myself working but on the other hand being young i want to get some money behind me so need a decent wage , which i will get with 2 of us grafting 3/4 days a week plus some commercial contracts ...
Ive ticked along for too long not really pushing it, so its time to do that , thankfully we have a decent base of work to build on.
Also looking to gain a few extra commercials , and keep expanding our rounds in the more profitable demographics...
Bring on 2012 !
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would love to double our work load, so we can have the 2nd van out full time
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Another £1000 a month and I will be happy. :-*
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keep going the way we're going.
I happy with life and work.
I have a savings account going for the 2 lads that work for me (my son works for me too but he's convinced he's a junior director) - I'm hoping that by Easter there will be enough in there to send the 2 guys away for a week with their wives.
Oh and I'm going to take more time off this year as well - because I can.
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thats a nice thing to do Alan .... do the guys know about this or are you springing it on them ?
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thats a nice thing to do Alan .... do the guys know about this or are you springing it on them ?
You weren't in worcs town centre at 7am this morning were you?
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gonna spring it on them.
I've said it time and again, your staff are vital to having a strong business. So I don't mind spending a bit on keeping everyone happy.
Look at it this way, over the last 3 years, I have put aside £1.50 per day per man. That equates to £7.50 per week, £330 a year per man ( I set money aside the weeks they work)
3 years is £990 per man, so over the last 3 years its totalled £1980. The account has just over £2000 in it which is about right given the odd sick day here and there and interest etc.
So when the account gets to £2200 I'll sort something out for them. I want to find out first whether they would prefer the money or holiday - I mean, if they need extra money (I pay them well) then obviously I'd rather they got the money, but then money as a present is kinda cold and thoughtless.
Either way, the boys have earned it ten times over.
Worcs town centre? No mate, I'm from just outside Glasgow. I was in my bed at 7 this morning (feeling the wife up!)
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hes asking me alan
craig no it wasnt me.... just got out of bed
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Ritchy,
It sounds like you have some tough decisions to make in the early part of this year, don't leave it too long before biting the bullet!
As I'm sure most on here are aware we do most aspects of cleaning and now employ 21 staff to do it, however..........some of it is very profitable, some not so profitable, some is actually getting to the point where it's more hassle than it's worth!
2012 will be a year for us to promote and push for the type of work that is making us money and to phase out the work that's not.
I've just had a look at the window cleaning turnover for 2010 and 2011 and we are showing a 35.2% growth in 2011 compared to 2010 which is quite pleasing, especially considering we haven't increased staff numbers on the windows in the past 12 months.
Our domestic and office cleaning work on the other hand is pretty much where it was this time last year, however we've had to sort out a few changes of staff, which takes time and effort to organise. So that may be getting reviewed over the next quarter!
Turnover overall is up by 17.7% on 2010..... not worked out the profit bit yet!
Ian,
Do you mind me asking what sort of split you have with interior / exterior staff.....
We used to cover domestic / office cleaning in the end profits were minimal + lots lots of hassel esp domestics (staff + customers).. we still cover a few old customers but will not take on new work in this area.
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Mike,
We've got 10 men all full time hours (6 window cleaners, 2 doing carpet cleaning/leather work, 2 doing Wheelie Bin Cleaning) the rest are all female doing mainly office/domestic/one off cleaning, they work a variety of hours from 5 hours to 37.5hrs a week.
Profits on this are lower than on the other work, however we do have some contracts that are very profitable, especially on the commercial side.
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My plan is to sell up and start something else, something that will achieve higher profits, with less headaches...yeah, if only!
At the minute my plan is to sell, but, if I have another huge year like 2011, I may change my mind again and stick it out.
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My Business plan is this year get a bigger van like a 650 and get sum1 new so can bee 3 off us and go to about £10k a mth and do a lot off subbing too :) get a lot off new shops and buy more work lol then get vat thats how i want my 2012
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Automate things.Payments,emails,round order,websites and marketing.
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work less maybe take someone on would be
Good. Target work four day week 9-2pm that would be good:-)
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My plan is to sell up and start something else, something that will achieve higher profits, with less headaches...yeah, if only!
At the minute my plan is to sell, but, if I have another huge year like 2011, I may change my mind again and stick it out.
the headaches lol, I maybe interested in taking some off your hands ;)
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I'm going for it this year last year was the worst year of my life so far personally.
for january my list of things to do is was
get van graphics sorted - done that
get website done - thats in the final stages should be ready in a week or so
get 10,000 leaflets designed and printed - done that they arrive next week
get 10,000 leaflets delivered - got to sort that out last week in jan for delivery in feb
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd454/erithwc/website.gif)
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd454/erithwc/leaflets2.jpg)
and februarys going to be busy ;D ;D