Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Jay Le Huray on October 20, 2016, 07:42:23 am
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I am now at the grand old age of 63 with about 1.5 years to go before retirement
my round is about 50 grand a year (average £1000 per week)
I want to ask some advice.............. I will most likely work my round for another year and stop when I am 66 and have considered selling it
however how many people have money to buy an established business outright?
I have come up with a plan..... I have spoke to my 36 year old son in law who is interested in taking it on the following basis
I will first train him for 3 months on a wage and then hand it over to him, this will include the whole round, van and all the tools to do the job, in theory he should be earning £1000 per week, out of this he will pay me £1000 per month (£250 per week)
this payment will continue for the next 5 years, at the end of the 5 years he then legally owns all the business including equipment and I then have no more interest in it at all.
during the 5 year period he is has to pay all expenses such as deasil, road tax, insurance and maintain the van and equipment etc
at the end of the 5 year period I will have taken in £60,000 and in return he has gained a nice business which I have spent many years working at.
2 questions
1, do you think this will work?
2, do you think i'm being fair on him?
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How longs he been your son in law ,how much do you trust him ,get some legal doc's signed ,because he might do it for six months then start telling you he's starting to lose work or he hasn't made as much money or he might not like doing the job because window cleaning doesn't suit everyone. Quite frankly I would sell the full round and that way no headache s for five years .or alternatively you could employ a couple of guys build the round up more and enjoy retirement with more money coming in each week
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Just wondering if the £60,000 over 5 years might be subject to taxation if you are drawing a pension at the same time?
I'm guessing the £250 a week will have to be declared as otherwise it might well show a discrepancy on son in law's books if it's kept hush hush.
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these things rarely work out mate.id sell half the round and still work part time(if health is good) to top up your pension for another 5 years or so.
i know 2 window cleaners(one 68 and the other 71)still working part time(on ladders too! ;D).they look great for their age and have plenty of holidays and work 2 or 3 days a week. :)
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I would say you're being very fair, considering you could franchise the round off to start up 2 franchisees and have an ongoing income of 20% for as long as you like.
You could employ someone on around £20k (full costs would be closer to £30k). Then you've got a 20k income for yourself.
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Which ever route you decide to take, like has been said, make sure you get legal advice and documents drawn up.
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Sell it to Vinny. He is in Southampton and earns millions
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Sell it to Vinny. He is in Southampton and earns millions
Just gift it to me to save you the hassle , vin has enough work ;D ;D
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Sell off all but a small round. Work 2 to 3 hours a day and have loads of holidays.
If not. Sell the lot.
If it was your son, I would say differant
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Just wondering if the £60,000 over 5 years might be subject to taxation if you are drawing a pension at the same time?
I'm guessing the £250 a week will have to be declared as otherwise it might well show a discrepancy on son in law's books if it's kept hush hush.
Your pension counts as taxable income, just like the £250 a week.
What happens if the son-in-law takes a week off work, or we have a week of terrible weather, or he's ill for a period of time?
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How about you sell it to him outright from the beginning, for £50,000 or if he can't pay that up front £1000 per calendar month for 5 years. Get the paperwork done properly through a sillysitter and then it is all his from the word go, and if he fails to pay the monthlies at any point, take the bugger to court and get it from his house etc.... ;D
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i may sound like a git but I would do it all legally and get a lein against his house - if he has no house then I wouldn't bother and start selling bits off now - maybe keep the top 50 or 100 jobs for pocket money.
if its good work and not in a hurry and ur happy to do a proper handover eg intro to all the customers then you may get up to 10 the value
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How about you take him on full time as a trial and pay say £10 per an hour and keep your business lock stock and barrel. Then if it don't work out either way just find someone else to employ.
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Nice one if someone offered that to me I would jump at the chance the bottom line is the son in law committed enough to carry it thro I suppose you wouldn't have suggested it if you had doubts go for it how the financial side of things are worked out is your call and no one else's business
your call at the end of the day dude but i wouldn't like to see a business that i spent my entire life being split up or sold on
would be nice to see it stay in the family
only my opinion
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What happens if and BIG IF he turns out to be a total waste of space. Then what are you going to do apart from upsetting the whole family?
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I am now at the grand old age of 63 with about 1.5 years to go before retirement
my round is about 50 grand a year (average £1000 per week)
I want to ask some advice.............. I will most likely work my round for another year and stop when I am 66 and have considered selling it
however how many people have money to buy an established business outright?
I have come up with a plan..... I have spoke to my 36 year old son in law who is interested in taking it on the following basis
I will first train him for 3 months on a wage and then hand it over to him, this will include the whole round, van and all the tools to do the job, in theory he should be earning £1000 per week, out of this he will pay me £1000 per month (£250 per week)
this payment will continue for the next 5 years, at the end of the 5 years he then legally owns all the business including equipment and I then have no more interest in it at all.
during the 5 year period he is has to pay all expenses such as deasil, road tax, insurance and maintain the van and equipment etc
at the end of the 5 year period I will have taken in £60,000 and in return he has gained a nice business which I have spent many years working at.
2 questions
1, do you think this will work?
2, do you think i'm being fair on him?
i have to say i think its a very bad idea.
if he wants to buy the business off you, you could do it at the proper value.
you can give him extras for free as a family gesture, like the equipment, and give him extra support free of charge etc,
what if him and your daughter break up at some time in the future, and he'd got your business for free?
but if it goes wrong, it could tear your family apart, as well as loose you money.
the only thing that would make a difference is if you really are well enough off not to need the money. if that is the case, then you've got nothing to loose really
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thanks for all your great replies, yes I think I need get my head around the best way forward
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Isn't going to work and will cause problems later on.
Sell it, or pay someone else to do it.
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Isn't going to work and will cause problems later on.
Sell it, or pay someone else to do it.
You know that because of how?
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I am now at the grand old age of 63 with about 1.5 years to go before retirement
my round is about 50 grand a year (average £1000 per week)
Hi Jay
If I recall this is around the age Ian Lancaster started franchising, might be worth giving him a call.
John
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What happens if and BIG IF he turns out to be a total waste of space. Then what are you going to do apart from upsetting the whole family?
I'm going to go one step further if you don't mind Smurf? What happens if your daughter and son in law split up in a year or two's time?
I hope it works out for you. Granville seems to have a good'un with Dan the Man. My son isn't much of a help in his business, its left to me. Son in law left us a year ago to become employed. He just couldn't be bothered after window cleaning for 4 years.
Having family work with you is a real challenge sometimes and they do take the Michael as well.
I would think about keeping the round and renting it out to your son in law, so at least you will get a portion of his efforts which will top up your pension. But you need to keep on top of him making sure he is looking after your customers. If he wants to buy your equipment then maybe you could work out a finance plan for that.
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This forum is known for negatives!
Im sure if you work at it whatever way you decide then it should work out for you, if it does fail you will always be able to sell it in smaller chunks if not in 1 go. Id do the same as you know and pass it down to a family member who can pay you a persentage ofer a few years untill its payed off! Failing that keep it as you recieve £250 for every £1000 cleaned as lets face it what you will be giving to your son is pre tax 52k a year, the ultimate gift so im sure if you and him have words beforehand and arrange something he wil be really grateful of you for thinking of him and doing it that way. only an idiot would mess it up and im guessing the fact you want to pass to him means he is no idiot.
Best of luck. And if all fails dont forget Vinny >:(
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To some that might like to share so say "negatives" are from actual life experiences so gives a balanced view. But I suppose that don't count for nowt as just keeping positive everything will work out just fine in the world.
What works for some may not work out for others whichever way you go about it.
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is your son in law working at the moment,
does he want to be a window cleaner for a lot of years to come, this is a great opportunity for him to be a self made man if he likes it,
he has to like the this work though.
Id train him up to see if he can stick it out. When he is capable to go out on his own this is the only way to see if he wants it, its not for everyone, but you have very good money coming in, Surelly you dont work on your own taking £1000 a week in.wHAT I WOULD GIVE TO HAVE THIS COMING IN WEEKLY.
Winter is a testing time , see how he gets on this winter then go from there.
He can always sell it in 5 years time if it dosent suit him, all your hard work gone.
But if you are there to help him he will be OK. wE ALL NEED A BIT OF SUPPORT sometimes.
Train him up to take it over, Move to Spain and enjoy yourself, Sunshine and sunloungers around the pool.
We at home always watch Place in the Sun, My mrs dreams of a villa in Spain, they are as little as £45,000
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Wish I was your son in law :) Looking at the offer from your son in laws perspective I d think that was a very generous offer indeed , almost too good to be true and I'd bite your hand off if it was put in front of me .
From your perspective allowing son in law to enter the business with no financial input runs the risk of him not appreciating all the hard work you have put in over the years to get your business where it is and not being as committed to making the business work . You don't say what son in law does now but presumably you wouldn't be thinking about this unless you thought he was up to the challenge .
Did you mean you had 3 years to go if your finishing at 66 ? If that was the case I'd employ him first as others have said to see how he handles the work and gradually give him more responsibility for running things your way and operating in all weathers and at least demonstrating his suitability to eventually take over . Five years is a long time to keep up paying you a big sum every month and being family is fraught with difficulties should something happen that prevents him from continuing to pay you and could easily result in bad feeling all round . My gut feeling not knowing anyone involved is although a very generous offer Id not go down that route and find another way .
I don't clean windows any more but I can already tell my fitness is taking a hit ! Being sat about somewhere warm sipping beer s for months on end soon looses the appeal when its full time attractive as though it sounds , You have worked hard and given yourself choices , good luck with your decision .