[Erithwc]

does anyone on here ask suppliers for a little discount for items over £100 the reason i ask is i have got to get a few items over the next few weeks all over £100 pounds each.

[Helen]

If you don't ask, you don't get, ordering all the items at the same time may give you a bit more bargaining power

[richywilts]

when my shop is up and running id give u discount 

[Moderator David@stives]

I think theres a song about that

[Llaaww]

I think theres a song about that

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEnvsTzFoNo

[colin purewater]

i ask for discount on almost everything

plenty on no's but a fare few yes's

[d s windowcleaning]

when my shop is up and running id give u discount 

Hmmmmm, interesting.

You do realise Cleantech (one of the biggest window cleaning suppliers a few years back) went bust recently?

The first rule of business :- see a need in the marketplace. I can think of at least 15 suppliers out there (there are way more) Allclean, soap national, cleaning spot, wintecs, scrim city, shine line, window clean centre, brodex, wcw, gardiners, price cleaning supplies, etc, etc - clearly no need there.

Second rule of business:- have a USP. What is yours? Unless you can carry at least £50,000 worth of stock you wont even get good discounts off suppliers let alone offering them to everyone else, dropship simply doesn't  work. What possibly could you do which isn't already out there in abundance? have you new products  nobody else has?

Sorry for any negativity, but the amount of people who think they can branch out when they haven't even got a small foothold of their basic business bread an butter is embarrassing.

Really good post .

[Helen]

when my shop is up and running id give u discount 

Hmmmmm, interesting.

You do realise Cleantech (one of the biggest window cleaning suppliers a few years back) went bust recently?

The first rule of business :- see a need in the marketplace. I can think of at least 15 suppliers out there (there are way more) Allclean, soap national, cleaning spot, wintecs, scrim city, shine line, window clean centre, brodex, wcw, gardiners, price cleaning supplies, etc, etc - clearly no need there.

Second rule of business:- have a USP. What is yours? Unless you can carry at least £50,000 worth of stock you wont even get good discounts off suppliers let alone offering them to everyone else, dropship simply doesn't  work. What possibly could you do which isn't already out there in abundance? have you new products  nobody else has?

Sorry for any negativity, but the amount of people who think they can branch out when they haven't even got a small foothold of their basic business bread an butter is embarrassing.

Please note Richy, I had no input on this post

[richywilts]

when my shop is up and running id give u discount 

Hmmmmm, interesting.

You do realise Cleantech (one of the biggest window cleaning suppliers a few years back) went bust recently?

The first rule of business :- see a need in the marketplace. I can think of at least 15 suppliers out there (there are way more) Allclean, soap national, cleaning spot, wintecs, scrim city, shine line, window clean centre, brodex, wcw, gardiners, price cleaning supplies, etc, etc - clearly no need there.

Second rule of business:- have a USP. What is yours? Unless you can carry at least £50,000 worth of stock you wont even get good discounts off suppliers let alone offering them to everyone else, dropship simply doesn't  work. What possibly could you do which isn't already out there in abundance? have you new products  nobody else has?

Sorry for any negativity, but the amount of people who think they can branch out when they haven't even got a small foothold of their basic business bread an butter is embarrassing.

sorry whats your name i dont think ive read your business book yet!!!!!!

only time will tell and i didnt realise you knew evfin bout my shop opening n who we have been speaking to etc and who i have behind me etc so jog on mate trying to put me down

[richywilts]

when my shop is up and running id give u discount 

Hmmmmm, interesting.

You do realise Cleantech (one of the biggest window cleaning suppliers a few years back) went bust recently?

The first rule of business :- see a need in the marketplace. I can think of at least 15 suppliers out there (there are way more) Allclean, soap national, cleaning spot, wintecs, scrim city, shine line, window clean centre, brodex, wcw, gardiners, price cleaning supplies, etc, etc - clearly no need there.

who said i was trying to compete with these suppliers??

with a lot of window cleaners converting to wfp its a pretty good time to set up a local shop selling supplies of all things associated with waterfed pole window cleaning,there are trade shops for all sorts of trades all over the uk so why cudnt u make a nice living selling cleaning products and wfp supplies

[Ambient Services]

Am I missing something? Of course you'll be competing with these suppliers, you are all selling the same products! That's a pretty ridiculous thing to say.

It was a pretty good time about 5 years ago, not now.

Have you done any actual market research to see if what you plan to do is viable? What trades are you comparing to window cleaning? Builders, plumbers, electricians? They need supplies to do a job. They could and do spend thousands on supplies every month, the beauty of widow cleaning is you don't need that much (after the initial outlay) to run your company. How much does the average window cleaner spend? How much do you spend a year on supplies? 

Not trying to put you down,  its commendable you are looking or for a business education, but these are the fundamentals.  

[Londoner]

Am I missing something? Of course you'll be competing with these suppliers, you are all selling the same products! That's a pretty ridiculous thing to say.

It was a pretty good time about 5 years ago, not now.

Have you done any actual market research to see if what you plan to do is viable? What trades are you comparing to window cleaning? Builders, plumbers, electricians? They need supplies to do a job. They could and do spend thousands on supplies every month, the beauty of widow cleaning is you don't need that much (after the initial outlay) to run your company. How much does the average window cleaner spend? How much do you spend a year on supplies?

Not trying to put you down,  its commendable you are looking or for a business education, but these are the fundamentals.  

The reason Cleantech went under was because of ebay sellers and the like skimming off the easy profitable items like pumps and poles without having to offer the full range or having the overheads. Of course they are going to be cheaper

Its a problem for lots of established busnesses. Very near here a big double shop fishing tackle dealer closed down for exactly the same reason.
A mate of mine is currently making a fortune, but working incredibly long hours, delivering parcels mostly ebay and amazon. He says you can't believe the volumes this year even compared to last year. Thats a lot of business that is being diverted away from traditional sources. Meanwhile shops close and the high streets die

Anyone can sell cheap. Thats half the problem with things like ebay. People think they are some kind of some kind of financial wheeler dealer because they undercutting everybody else but is it actually doing us any favours in the longer term? OK so you get a cheap pump but will they have the connectors? 

[Dave.]

Perhaps Ritchy's shop will be an online shop too??

[D woods]

Someone said to me that the guy who owned Cleantech, made so much money he retired, thats why he shut down

[Helen]

Perhaps Ritchy's shop will be an online shop too??

It has to be, otherwise he won't be working it to it's full potential

[richywilts]

it will eventually be going online but at the minute were just targetting local window cleaners in 40mile radius of our unit, i dont think we will be competing with window cleaning warehouse etc just yet but you have to start somewhere no one just starts a big company do they, as you know not all window cleaners use or have access to internet daily were in discussions with a large firm about selling there systems as well as there equipment. we wont be starting until were ready and have enough stock lines we dont just want to stock the typical unger and ettore lines you find in most janitorial supplies stores we do want to focus on wfp equipment and fittings and pumps resins etc along the lines of window cleaning warehouses stocklines.

[Erithwc]

to stop people commenting on you business richywilts you need to sponsor or take out a advert with cleanitup then no one will be aloud to talk about your shop  

[richywilts]

i enjoy the banter with people trying to put you down coz they havent got the balls to try something new themselves or take a risk in life and it prob something they have considered and are jealous

[Craig Trevain]

Someone said to me that the guy who owned Cleantech, made so much money he retired, thats why he shut down

That'll be you soon dave !

[D woods]

I wish