[mgba_78]

So new year new business outlook, Hyper Growth Part 1 - Set up Van 2

Some of you may know we're a 2 man partnership and have been for 7 years, our motivation at work is to earn as much as possible in as little time as possible!
Over the years we have tried various methods to achieve this goal and looking back now we dont know why we didnt do this earlier   

We have employed various people at different times whilst trad throughout the years, even had another business partner but all failed for one reason or another, so in 2012 we took a big step and invested in WFP and unfortunately things happened beyond our control and we had to let go the lad that worked for us and sell the second van we had to part fund the investment in the WFP system.

So for 18 months we have been getting on with it and the only thing holding us back is the weather!!
As we have worked as an average over the years a 16 day month so we need to earn as much as possible in them 16 days!
We have more than 16 days of work a month to get through and our list of one off jobs last year was approaching £4k which id have thought we will match if not better this year.
Hence the purchase of a second van which we have just kitted out.

So now we are going to work a few days as a 2 man team and the rest of the months as 2 vans with one of in each van. Nail the work then get more customers to fill the gaps which we will have as we will be completing the round in quite a few less days.

Ready for Hyper Growth part 2 - Employee (again) and another van, 3 vans in total, a huge amount of work is needed before this part though and quite a bit more work!!

Anyway here is the our new set up
Vivaro LWB  650 ltr on board RO purification and hot water on demand.







A couple of other bits n pieces to finish but nothing major, cant believe how much room we have in the back compared to our SWB Vivaro!!  More space for crud LOL

[Scrimble]

looks like you are going to be filling the van up for carbon monoxide fumes from that heater?

you would be better off mounting the heater onto the tank frame and fitting a flue through the roof

[Dave Willis]

How do you get the gas cylinder out?

[julianbiggs]

We undo the orange hose and there's just enough room ( through our perfect calculations ) to slide it out underneath the shelf.

[Smudger]

Well good for you, we all hope to get it right first time, sounds a pretty good plan to me.

Are you setting all your vans up for 2 men or just 1?

We have found 1 man 1 van has a bigger turnover than 2 men 1 man.
We mix and match depending on the days workload and type of work were doing

Darran

[Clever Forum Name]

Good luck with the expansion. See you are in Nottingham shire, surprised any customers are left with x-line lol. How many vans they got now cleaning 10 + aint it?

[julianbiggs]

X Line ? never heard of em !

 We agree that 1 man 1 van earns more than 2 men  in 1 van but we set our vans up ready for when we make the next move to 2 man 1 van ( until we have enough work to go 3 men 3 vans ). Saves all the hassle and expenditure of having to buy bigger frame and bigger tank  to accommodate 2 people.

[mgba_78]

looks like you are going to be filling the van up for carbon monoxide fumes from that heater?

you would be better off mounting the heater onto the tank frame and fitting a flue through the roof

We work with van doors open, fixed hose reel, and we dont use hot on every house just as and when we feel the need.

[dazmond]

how do you find the hot hose to reel and plastic connectors?i know mine just blown and leaked.i had to get radiator hose and metal heavy duty connectors.

how much did the van cost you mate?as im after a vivaro soon.SWB version though.ill be fitting a 500L TANK in mine(sole operator only)and getting it vinyl wrapped.


regards


dazmond

[Clever Forum Name]

X Line ? never heard of em !

 We agree that 1 man 1 van earns more than 2 men  in 1 van but we set our vans up ready for when we make the next move to 2 man 1 van ( until we have enough work to go 3 men 3 vans ). Saves all the hassle and expenditure of having to buy bigger frame and bigger tank  to accommodate 2 people.

http://www.xline-cleaning.co.uk/

http://www.xline-systems.co.uk/

[mgba_78]

Well good for you, we all hope to get it right first time, sounds a pretty good plan to me.

Are you setting all your vans up for 2 men or just 1?

We have found 1 man 1 van has a bigger turnover than 2 men 1 van.
We mix and match depending on the days workload and type of work were doing

Darran

At the moment this van will only be set up for 1 man as our original van is obv set up for 2. If needed we could either add another reel and use the one pump and controller, but our preferred method is a pump and controller per hose reel. No need to make it 2 man just yet lets get the next 12 months out the way first  

And yes as Julian said we know 1 man 1 van is where the money is at the majority of the time, the proof we have is when someone is on holiday and the other person just cracks on through the work and earns way more than half what the 2 people earn in a week or two.

We have a few days probably like you where 2 men absolutely rip it round as its so compact and the turnover is comparable to 2 one man days, we just do a house each rather than fronts and back.
But the option is there if we do 8 days on the bounce of one man days we wont have a huge amount of work left for the rest of the month so can decide how we complete the remaining work.

Nothings really set in stone its our business we can decide how and what works best for us.

Just the quicker we are round all the work the sooner its due and we can do it again, working this way before we even get a new customer hopefully will enable an extra clean per year of every monthly jobs, this in itself it quite a bit    

[Smudger]

We set our vans up for 2 men, gives each van an instant spare set up should we get a failure but also allows for breakdowns, servicing etc where a van might be off the road for the day unexpectedly.

Darran

[mgba_78]

how do you find the hot hose to reel and plastic connectors?i know mine just blown and leaked.i had to get radiator hose and metal heavy duty connectors.

how much did the van cost you mate?as im after a vivaro soon.SWB version though.ill be fitting a 500L TANK in mine(sole operator only)and getting it vinyl wrapped.


regards


dazmond

If we have the water too hot we have had probs of it blowing in our other van, but generally if the water is this hot its too hot to work with any way. If we use the heater its set to around 50° i think and never have a problem after adjusting the water down in temp.

How much was the van??   Have a look on ebay to get an idea   theres no point in saying as each van is pried on its own merits, but be prepared we looked at absolutely loads at varying price ranges and a high proportion were absolute dogs! Or then you get some which are majorly overpriced just cause they are a colour other than white, if all goes to plan eventually we'll buy a brand new van again like our silver one but that wont be for about another 2 years.

 Ideally we didnt want white as our other van is silver but getting a sliver van which was in good nik for the price we paid for this was impossible.

We have had a price for getting the rear doors wrapped but just cant decide what image(s) to use  for now its in our usual style to match the other van

[Craig downey]

Is putting the tank almost right on top of the back axle the best idea? The weight limits on my transit is just shirt of 3 tonnes, but that's 1900kg on front and 1900kg on back, gives me a payload of about 1 tonne, (once you remove the actual weight of the van) so I couldn't just put 1 tonne right above the real wheels, it needs to go in the middle so the weight is spread over both axles.

Don't know the weight of your tank like, an thought

[julianbiggs]

The tank is right in the middle of the van. Its a lwb. Same distance from the front of the tank to the front wheels and the back of the tank to the back wheels.

[mgba_78]

We set our vans up for 2 men, gives each van an instant spare set up should we get a failure but also allows for breakdowns, servicing etc where a van might be off the road for the day unexpectedly.

Darran

Yeah we thought about this, but worst case will be unscrew a hose reel from van one add it to van 2 and just add a y piece to split the flow between the two reels. Thing is for the last few years we havent had a back up and managed. I suppose we should really do this but having spent a small fortune its more expense which isnt a necessity just yet.

[Scrimble]

looks like you are going to be filling the van up for carbon monoxide fumes from that heater?

you would be better off mounting the heater onto the tank frame and fitting a flue through the roof

We work with van doors open, fixed hose reel, and we dont use hot on every house just as and when we feel the need.

still not enough ventilation, heater needs to have a flue, another poor diy set up and potentially dangerous,

[Smudger]

looks like you are going to be filling the van up for carbon monoxide fumes from that heater?

you would be better off mounting the heater onto the tank frame and fitting a flue through the roof

We work with van doors open, fixed hose reel, and we dont use hot on every house just as and when we feel the need.

still not enough ventilation, heater needs to have a flue, another poor diy set up and potentially dangerous,

A bit harsh, seems everyone is a critic except to themselves and their own set ups
It's small wonder people don't wont to put themselves forward with pictures of set-ups, cleaning jobs or decent business ideas.

Darran

[ray mck]

I think he was thinking of there safety. .and not in a bad way!

[Craig downey]

The tank is right in the middle of the van. Its a lwb. Same distance from the front of the tank to the front wheels and the back of the tank to the back wheels.

Fair enough