[Steve CM]

If you can ave them running at peak then yes it is better.

[davids3511]

VAT is a big issue!!

You can't charge an extra 20% to your domestic accounts, they just won't wear it, especially in todays economic climate.

Obviously commercial is not a problem as most company's are vat registered anyway.

In my eyes VAT is a real issue, like I said in previous post, your profit on van 2 will pay for the vat on van 1.

Get 3, 4, 5 vans on the road then you will start to make some serious money!!

This is assuming that most of your work is domestic.

At the end of the day, only you know what you business will allow.

Yes you can charge VAT. You should charge VAT, if you don't you can't run your business like a business.

Go on to the flat rate and inform them that their price goes up 20% but you are holding back on a regular price increase.

And this is what you call not affecting your profit?

[Ben Peters]

to answer the VAT question - most of our customers are VAT registered businesses, we also do a lot of work for governmental bodies.

with domestics we charge our price, add on the vat - therefore a £20 house becomes £24 etc - we have to pay the vat on these obviously.  As for customers not putting up with it - they don't have a choice, I have to charge it.

Richy - To answer how we got to the point we are at - simple, I went for government work straight off through a contact from my old work - now the work is tendered but he lets me know when the tenders are out but its open info for anyone.  It really was relentless for about a year but anyone can do it - you just have to be determined.  Its all too easy to get weighed down by being too involved in the cleaning side, that is not what makes the money, its your sales that makes the money.  You need to organise work so efficiently, we could easily add another 2 to 3k of work on a month, simply because we are well organised, but to do that would mean us working longer hours - I'm happy to pay my guys a full week even if they finish at lunchtime on thursday because it means they are happy, and therefore unlikely to leave me - I make enough to keep me happy and can take time off whenever I want, the guys are reliable and more importantly, TRUSTWORTHY - I can leave them to it for a fortnight and know when I come back everything will be in order. 

The old adage of your staff being the most valuable asset is true, they have looked after me well so I'll continue to look after them (even if it means an extra day or two off here and there).

So to round off, if you want to take your business to the next level, work harder at getting new business, take on good staff - look after them and above all - be organised.

hi just curious as to how many cleans on average do you do per month to acheive 6k turnover is that mainly domestic as well? cheers

[alanwilson]

mostly commercial - thats 6k per van.

prob average about 90 jobs per van per month but some of them are much larger than the others - we have jobs at £10 and others at £100, biggest is £1400 but its every 3 months and spaced out over 4 days.

you would do 6k on domestic I would have thought.

[nelcom]

mostly commercial - thats 6k per van.

prob average about 90 jobs per van per month but some of them are much larger than the others - we have jobs at £10 and others at £100, biggest is £1400 but its every 3 months and spaced out over 4 days.

you would do 6k on domestic I would have thought.

Hi Im looking to set up in  the window cleaning business and wondered if you guy's started again what you would do differently, also what method is the best to start with  i.e traditional or WFP I have had a Demo of some WFP systems but like with all sales pitches it hard to get impartial and unbiased opinion about a product they are selling, what would be a good starting size if WFP is the way to go?

I'll be starting off doing domestic

Also is it better to buy around or to build it yourself?

Hopefully you can help .

Thanks

James

[Helen]

VAT is a big issue!!

Don't let it be it is nothing to be alarmed about

You can't charge an extra 20% to your domestic accounts, they just won't wear it, especially in todays economic climate.

Did it years ago when it was 17.5%, had a few that grumbled, but lost maybe 5 only

Obviously commercial is not a problem as most company's are vat registered anyway.

In my eyes VAT is a real issue, like I said in previous post, your profit on van 2 will pay for the vat on van 1.
If you are vat registered you will be able to claim back your vat on vans and such like, so no need to offset against profit. :
IMO never separate costs to subsidise other costs, treat all as a whole and you will fair better


Get 3, 4, 5 vans on the road then you will start to make some serious money!!

This is assuming that most of your work is domestic.

At the end of the day, only you know what you business will allow.

[alanwilson]

we have always treated VAT as money which is not ours - it isn't anyway.  So we don't miss it when we pay it out every 3 months - looking on the bright side though, we save 20% on everything we buy.

so currently diesel is costing me £1.15 a litre.

[Dave Willis]

To a newbie 6k per month per van sounds eye poppingly good. However if you break it down and spread it between four workers (five if the owner is off the tools) then it's not a huge leap from a sole trader.
It's very good in Alan's case as it gives his son a good living too, far better than flipping burgers etc.

You also need to look at the bigger picture like making enough profit to fund a newer van, replacement tools, new systems, tax, holidays etc.