Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: g.brookes on July 08, 2012, 08:05:46 pm
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Evening chaps. I'm looking 6 months down the line now to when i'll be looking at employing. Im currently 1 man with a trolley system.
I am struggling with the idea of 2 men 1 van wfp logistics. I wanted to hear from the people that do this from a logistical point of you. Do you do one man front, the other back? My work isnt very compact so it wouldnt work having us working on separate houses.
Do you find it is really worth it having two men doing one house money wise or is it not really worth it? Also do you think it would work best one man from trolley, one from the in the van tank, or both of us working from the same system?
Cheers for the advice
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Evening chaps. I'm looking 6 months down the line now to when i'll be looking at employing. Im currently 1 man with a trolley system.
I am struggling with the idea of 2 men 1 van wfp logistics. I wanted to hear from the people that do this from a logistical point of you. Do you do one man front, the other back? My work isnt very compact so it wouldnt work having us working on separate houses.
Do you find it is really worth it having two men doing one house money wise or is it not really worth it? Also do you think it would work best one man from trolley, one from the in the van tank, or both of us working from the same system?
Cheers for the advice
imo I would have separate vans per person to maximize what you can clean per day.
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thats what i thought, but i imagined it would be really stressful- ie buying and insuring and kitting out a whole new van. cheers for that.
anyone else got any insight they can offer me?
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i,ve tried it both ways and imo separate vans works best regards alan
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1 van with a 2 man set up 1 back 1 front ,i like to do the fronts less walking and i never see a conservatory ;D
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My View on this is its very viaible to have 2 men working out of one van......i am currently in the transition of doing this myself i have probably 65/70% of work to do this at the mo( i work alone/canvass rest of time) and it works out fine....things to be careful of.............comments on how quick windows are being done.. most people realise their is two of you !!! but beware.... it also depends on your pricing struture..............so you will get comments....but be very careful with this situation,don't be pulled into the idea of doing your work for less because you can work quicker..this imo is a grave mistake and one that will come back to bit you hard.....also as is the case with me .....employ and don't do it as a partner.......separete vans/leasing work out/francising would be better in this case......maximise your profits is the key,trusting and finding someone is very important..........you will not double the earnings of one man,but you will see a hansome return (70%-85% ish more than what you earn now).......good luck. ;) ;)
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thanks all for the advice. i think i prefer the idea of just one van- hell of a lot easier to keep track off and as i dont have any good mates or family that i can employ it would be a total stranger so at least to start with, would rather be working on the same house.
final question, for a 6 hour day (2 hours trad shops every morning) would 600 litres be enough for 2 men on domestic? cheers
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I have 2 men working out of 1 van, its only a 1 man system mind. WFp tops and trad bottoms.
If I can help you with anything then ask.
James
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I don't have anyone at the moment but i have already decided on two men one van ( me and a employee ) to start with just to get used to employing then i will move on to one man one van with one person in my van to help me take it easy ;)
Paul
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i,ve tried it both ways and imo separate vans works best regards alan
Agree. However it is possible that you can tailor the vast majority of your work to a 2 man operation, although I doubt you will ever do double the work.
When my son and I work together he heads off to the far corner of the house with his back pack and I pull the hose to the other side, usually the side which has the most direct hose pull from the hose reel. We then work toward each other doing tops and then bottoms.
When we work a couple of blocks of flats he knows what his sections to clean are and I know mine. We have got it down to a fine art and generally finish around the same time. We also help each other pack away. We each use a hose reel. He does the main windows and I do the Juilet Balconies. Whilst he does the windows in the front of the block I do the juilet balconies at the back. We leave the hoses where they are and I then move to the front using his hose reel and he uses mine on the back. It saves getting hoses all tangled up.
We do find it helps us with motivation and we get a fair amount done. If his work is getting a little behind I find that for compact work it is better for each of us to work off our own van. He will start at the top of the street and I will start at the bottom and meet up in the middle.
There are two other groups of cleaners that work the same area as I do. One group has 3 and they do trad. The one guy runs around with his ladder raised (never lowers it unless he has to) and does the tops whilst the second guy does the bottoms. None of them do any detailing or clean the frames. The 3rd guy carries a bucket of dirty water and hammers on each door for payment or writes out the slips. They scream and shout and swear at each other, but get through each house like a dose of salts. They don't care what the end results are and have no pride in their work - £2.50 for fronts and £5.00 all windows for a 3 bedroomed semi keeps their customers.
The second group are a little better. There are 2 cleaners and the boss man. They arrive in a Transit carrying a 1000 litre IBC tank in the back with pure water. The boss' responsibility is to keep a couple of 25l plastic containers full for the cleaner who does the tops wfp with a backpack. The other guy does the bottoms trad, usually a little behind to allow the tops to drip off. His job is to open the back gate etc whilst the back packer is cleaning the top fronts. He then does the side and back tops as the second guy trads the bottom. The boss collects or write out tickets.
They do a much better job than the first group.
There is another couple who work the estate I live in. The young lad wfp's the tops using a backpack on a pram, fast but a totally unacceptable job - streeks are ok. He then runs his wet brush over the bottom windows and the trad cleaner just squeeges them off. They have lost tons of work to a couple of other cleaners, but they will eventually find their 'level'.
Spruce
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final question, for a 6 hour day (2 hours trad shops every morning) would 600 litres be enough for 2 men on domestic?
I have a 650L tank in my van with a 2 man setup... I very rarely run out of water, but I carry an extra 100L in x4 25L water bottles just in case!
Andy
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My 650L runs out at about 7 hours on an average all-wfp domestic day. (2 man) I have one or two 25L barrels as back up.
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cheers for all the advice chaps. when it comes to employing, it does seem like doing it trad would be a million times easier. oh well, at least i dont have to worry about falling off ladders anymore
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Ive recently took a lad on to help 2 days a week ... up to a good level end of day 1 and now 2 weeks in his speed is getting better ... making a big difference to daily turnover .... should have done it ages ago
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have you got him on a set wage ian? any bonuses added on?
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Set wage but flexability both ways with start finish times normally 8-30 to 4-30.
Will be putting him on a bonus after 3 months.