[andrew stone]

A mate of mine earns 65-70k a year in his job- but he loathes the hours,travel, responsibility etc
Thing is he knows that im often home by three,own boss etc and thinks ive got it made.
now i confess to not be the countrys most successful carpet cleaner- i have never
had a turnover of 70k let alone a net profit of that.

he thinks he could earn this carpet cleaning- to be fair he is good at sales but he has never had a physical job,is not particulary fit and has never dealt with the public before.

i do not have any kids ,mortgage is paid off and my wife also works.so as long as i earn a reasonable income from carpet cleaning i am happy.
my mate has a fairly large mortgage,2 kids and wife who does not work at the moment.
i have told my mate that in the current climate i would not even consider packing in his job to set up a carpet cleaning business - if he was your mate what advice would you give him?

[AshWhite]

The same.

[Ferenc G.]

I wouldn't quit with mortgage and kids, no way. Tell him he is mad, even if he is a great salesman it will take an awful lot of time to get to the point where he is now, raking in 70k a year.
Unless hes got at least 100k on his bank account to survive the first 1-2 years and maintain their lifestyle.
A move like that will seriously affect the whole family not just himself, he has to take this into consideration.

[from edge2edge]

You say he is good at sales but has never dealt with the public before so what kind of sales is he in may i ask .......................Alan

[andrew stone]

Alan

he works in shipping sales  - business to business sales.

some carryover i suppose - but i reckon dealing with joe public is a lot different.

Andrew

[from edge2edge]

Thats true Andrew and its mostly Josephine Public in my experience which is a completely different kettle of fish as it usually means you are working in her home which puts a totally different slant on the selling angle.I think your mate would be a fool to try and copy/emulate what you appear to have because his circumstances are completely different....................Alan

[Warren Aldridge]

B2C is a lot more customer service type and quick transactions. B2B has more of a relationship development angle to it.
He would know both and the skills he learnt in B2B will most definitely help.

As for selling enough to take home the same income is another story. Even physically its another story.

He shouldn't envy your lifestyle for being at home by 15:00 because he's lost the battle before he's started by thinking like that.

[Susan Dean (1stclean)]

if hes on such good money and is full time then tell him to buy houses , four to start with , two brand new ones then to repos , do repos up and sell on ,

then with the profits and the same money  borrowed to buy the two he just sold he will get three , spin them over and with in two years working right he could dump his job and become a landlord

and he could even use his sell skills buy being friendly with estate agents this way getting to find out about the deals befoure anybody else 

[andrew stone]

I think he does envy my early finishes- bet he doesnt envy my back though!

andrew

[andrew stone]

susan

if you dont mind me asking what kind of money do reasonable houses go for in your part of the country
suitable for renting out?

on a previous post you noted that you have a lot of properties that you rent out.

did you start with one and build up from there or dive straight in?

thanks

andrew

[Susan Dean (1stclean)]

susan

if you dont mind me asking what kind of money do reasonable houses go for in your part of the country
suitable for renting out?

on a previous post you noted that you have a lot of properties that you rent out.

did you start with one and build up from there or dive straight in?

thanks

andrew

well was diffent for me as i got left two houses both semis and both paid for and built up from there , ive just bought two , two bed houses (semi) ajoined to each other brand new , avarge area got a deal as they were last ones 150k for them both will be renting them out at 450 a month each  payment on them will be 300 ish (for them both)

now buying from auckshion you must and i mean must fiind out about the fees as ive seen them as hight as 6k makeing it not so cheap also you must and i mine must go and see the house take a builder mate with you

best place to get them from is the agents if you know them , the agent knows if the seller on the downs and are desprite to sell this is where you come in . you can also go on line and find out what they paid for the houses giveing u inside view on things 

also get talking to the houses owner well maybe not you get your wife to tell your wife to talk like shes a bit thick and more instered in the house owns kids then the house this way the silly house owner will let things slip out " oh my hubbys just lost his job" oh my hubbys just died  ect ect ect the more you find out the chaeper you go in at sorry it may seem harsh but its the way it is

[Steven Lawrence]

ask your mate if he wants to swap your biz for his job!!

[andrew stone]

steven

i couldnt sit in an office all day- and i would make a terrible employee!

i hate being told what to do,office politics etc

at least if a customer  really gets on my nerves i can tell them to take a jump- does not happen often
but it has happened!

andrew

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Is he a patient man? Selling is one thing but getting the sales enquiry in the first place is another! He may be given the leads to follow up in his present job and then he has to sell specially if they are already clients, starting from new then that is without any customers so he is going to have months without a regular flow of work and cash IMO he needs to be a part time cleaner and build up from there probably get fitter at the same time.

Shaun

[andrew stone]

susan

thanks for the info

food for thought!

andrew

[John Kelly]

Lots of employed people hanker after being self employed. Trouble is they only see the plus points in their mind and not all the hard graft and desperation it sometimes brings with it.
I remember when I ran my burger van. Must have had 10 people a day say " I would love to have one of these must be great". Hardest bloody work I've ever done and was glad to get rid of it.

[jasonl]

BMV house deals are everywhere in northern England and scotland , so long as you know the local area , long term you will do well,  oh, and have 100k in ready cash.

http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=1020569707&msgid=1738703&act=H629&c=390549&destination=https://dl.dropbox.com/u/11913248/Deals%2520for%2520June.xlsx

[andrew stone]

john

that is a very good point

he sees me coming home early ,taking the dogs out for a walk over the country park,stopping for a coffee.

he doesnt see me struggling to get out of bed some mornings with my back,chasing people for money,
turning up for scheduled appointments and no one is in,times when work has been slack and ive been very worried,
still wouldnt want to be an employee though!

andrew


andrew

[wynne jones]

I don't like my job, but what could I do, oh I know I'll do that carpet cleaning mallarky.

Why not do what you enjoy doing and what you have a natural talent for and work out how to make a living doing that.

If you don't know what it is then that's your next task. People focus on where the easy bucks are and it's never where you're chasing the money - as you have found out.

When you're not happy you spend money to make yourself feel happier and then you need to earn more money.

 

[Helen]

A mate of mine earns 65-70k a year in his job- but he loathes the hours,travel, responsibility etc

He needs to get real...65-70k per year HAS to be worked hard for and that is why it is long hours, traveling and responsibility. Just says to me that he is just one of the "want it all with little or no effort" brigade. Yes tell him to quit and come into the outside world, he may then just realise what it is all about
Thing is he knows that im often home by three,own boss etc and thinks ive got it made.
now i confess to not be the countrys most successful carpet cleaner- i have never
had a turnover of 70k let alone a net profit of that.

he thinks he could earn this carpet cleaning- to be fair he is good at sales but he has never had a physical job,is not particulary fit and has never dealt with the public before.

i do not have any kids ,mortgage is paid off and my wife also works.so as long as i earn a reasonable income from carpet cleaning i am happy.
my mate has a fairly large mortgage,2 kids and wife who does not work at the moment.
i have told my mate that in the current climate i would not even consider packing in his job to set up a carpet cleaning business - if he was your mate what advice would you give him?