[Ian101]

During one of todays many down pours I was waiting it out in the van and my mind started wandering.

If you had staff doing all the cleaning and you just went out day in day out 5 days a week to find the work how much do you think you could grow your rounds by.

I reckon for me I could do £200 a week of proper customers.

Has anyone on here actually made the switch I wonder and how did it turnout for you ?

[Richard iSparkle]

i've been off the tools for over a year now.. and haven't seen the growth i want yet in all honesty..  have grown some, but also my overheads have gone up so profit down.

have spent a lot of this year sorting stuff out (websites, equipment, etc) and haven't had the results i was expecting yet..

hopefully over the long term it will all work out, and it is definitely making me happier not being out on the van every week

[Smudger]

Very similar to Richard, been mostly off the tools this last eight months, however the summer was so manic it was all hands to the pump.

We now have five employees so have spent the last few weeks upgrading training manual H&S getting ladder inspectors certificate sorting unit etc.....

It's lovely to watch them go out, but nerve racking as well, all vans now have trackers to help with times and running costs.

I go out for quoting for commercial sites and other cleans when they ring in/ facebook / email then go canvassing from 5 pm and the weekends ( not today it's raining )

Darran

[Ian101]

Darran ... how do u find the Nissan vanette ??

[Smudger]

Loud !!!    But I don't drive it 😄😄

It's a good work horse that fits nicely into tight spaces 600 ltr tank 2 man setup

Darran

[Window Lickers]

In answer to the original question - probably 1" - 1.5".

[supernova77]

I spend less time "on the tools" than I used to...

However, it suddenly becomes a completely different business once you take on one or two staff and start doing less hands on work yourself... For me at the moment it's a big learning curve.

I will never stop the hands on work altogether though... I enjoy it... Once I'm where I want to be then I'll work 2 or 3 days a week hands on still, but only do the cream of the work 

[SeanK]

By at least a couple of foot around the waist.

[WGB]

I'm doing this for next year. Have one van full of work at the min. Going to employ get the second van going and canvass like mad until it's full. For me it's getting the right employees you can trust to do a good job, a good employee payment plan might work though.

[Tom-01]

Very similar to Richard, been mostly off the tools this last eight months, however the summer was so manic it was all hands to the pump.

We now have five employees so have spent the last few weeks upgrading training manual H&S getting ladder inspectors certificate sorting unit etc.....

It's lovely to watch them go out, but nerve racking as well, all vans now have trackers to help with times and running costs.

I go out for quoting for commercial sites and other cleans when they ring in/ facebook / email then go canvassing from 5 pm and the weekends ( not today it's raining )

Darran

Sounds good Smudger. What do you do VAT wise, pay full 20% and claim everything back? Are you quite a way over the threshold now to make it worth it?

[Smudger]

No we do the flat rate scheme 11% first year then 12% providing your turnover is under 250k in year one

You can still claim back vat on purchases over £2k which helped when getting van 3

Darran

[Ian Lancaster]

Depends how you quantify 'growth'.  On my own I was turning over £800-£1,000 wk and spending 40-50 hours plus cleaning and ancilliary stuff (accounts, repairs etc).

Now turnover £1,000-ish a week but only spend about 4-5 hours a week working.

Very little expenses and no-where near the VAT limit

[DG Cleaning]

1,3/4"

[Darranvps]

i've been off the tools for over a year now.. and haven't seen the growth i want yet in all honesty..  have grown some, but also my overheads have gone up so profit down.

have spent a lot of this year sorting stuff out (websites, equipment, etc) and haven't had the results i was expecting yet..

hopefully over the long term it will all work out, and it is definitely making me happier not being out on the van every week

Don't sit there and hope - there are ways in which you can grow - easily!

[Total shine cleaning services]

I employ one so far, hurtling towards vat which I am apprehensive about, I agree the more you do the more your overheads go up but I think that's only if you stay put with say two vans or so, once I get over the vat implications I will aggressively try to gain the extra work needed to put 3rd and 4th van on, this I believe is where the real profit lies, one day Rodney..!

Graham

[Mick Kent]

Im bigger than i ever thought possible as it is!! (17 stone now ouch) If i came off the tools easily id get to 19 maybe 20!!

[PoleKing]

Im bigger than i ever thought possible as it is!! (17 stone now ouch) If i came off the tools easily id get to 19 maybe 20!!

Good job you've got that rangey

[Frankybadboy]

Im bigger than i ever thought possible as it is!! (17 stone now ouch) If i came off the tools easily id get to 19 maybe 20!!

clean more caravans and you be lighter 

[8weekly]

Im bigger than i ever thought possible as it is!! (17 stone now ouch) If i came off the tools easily id get to 19 maybe 20!!

clean more caravans and you be lighter 

Join Daz's gym. He's only 16 stone. 

[Mick Kent]

Its hard to lose the weight especially with a customer like this 1!.
This gypsy lady likes to do it herself with my wfp, she totally loves it, she pays me to clean her own windows every 2 weeks which is utter madness but you cant get better than that lol.