[windowwashers]

Hi Guys
I have found you posts very interesting. I run a contract cleaning company and up to a year ago I worked alone. I had got to the stage where i was working from 4am through to 8am. I was getting no younger and the physical tolls started to show.Constantly tired and stressed. I decided to take the plunge and employ and I can tell you it was the best thing i have ever done. It allowed me to actually run the business properly, before i was the worker, the person who did the quoting and the admin work. I now have time to see what jobs are not cost effective, what areas the business was wasting money etc . This came from having suddenly having freed up time by having others do the work. In the last year the business has trebled in turnover and we hope to hit the £200,000 mark by the end of the year. I employ around ten staff now and when i went on holiday in February, it was the first time i was able to relax totally, knowing that all my contracts were covered by my staff.
It has allowed me the time to run my business properly, giving me time to target the larger companies where the real money is.
I know this is only my opinion but if you really want to own a business with a good turnover you need to employ. It is the future you need to look at and you have to ask will you be able to do the same work and hours when you are in your sixty.By employing and building your business correctly you should earn the same income as you do now ( if not more) but be sitting behind your desk with your staff earning the income for you.

Regards
Karl

amen  man after my own heart, you need to be able to steer and grow your business and you can't do that holding a pole all day

110% true

[geefree]

Thanks for all the helpful replies,  i think if i want to move forward and build a business ,  i need look no further than this site, for great advice and support

I really dont want to sit still and build a round and still be doing that when i am 70

I also do think window cleaning is a little bit harder when hiring the right staff,

Doing the job as you do.

presenting themselves in a professional manner,

collecting the money.

I suppose the list is endless, as some have stated on here.

Brilliant advice.

Thank you.

Gary,

[Village Gleam]

I have read this with interest too and think that all of the contributions have been excellent. I have been asking these same questions myself.

I wonder about my leadership and managment skills? It's scary, bluez's figures state that I wouldn't really get back to my current earnings untill year three.And if someone left, all the work could have been for nothing.Many posts on this forum warn don't do it.(Interestingly one says never employ family as when he eventually made a success there were problems).

Trying to be realistic about myself and my chances and not too boastfull I think I would/will be successfull, but that that success will be modest - I am not stupid enough to think I would as successfull as Karl , Midas or Ian.

My work is fairly spread out so even upon taking on employee one my speed is not going to jump that much because of traveling time but that's probably just an excuse. I need to accept that in year one I would lose money, and in year two be no better off. It's only money.

One critisism I would make of this site and my fellow cleaners, none of them seem to like spending any money. To me a van mount for the sort of businesses we have is peanuts.With the knowledge I have now I could put another van out tidy and sign written with a foolproof hot system and electric reel etc for about 10k. Measured against the potential benefits that's not a lot, it's having the gut's to actually do it (and telling my wife of course).

[Seers]

Hi,

This post has really made me think about expanding further. Although we have small premises at the moment, around fifteen full time staff and a healthy turnover, I still feel like I am only playing with the business.

We have grown over the last six years naturally and through word of mouth. We have no sales team, no contracts manager just myself trying to run every aspect of the business.

I have just emailed an estate agent in regard to securing a larger unit, in a city centre location, I have been debating this move for the last couple of months. I hope to employ a contracts manager/sales person and really push the business over the coming months.

It's now or never time!

Cheers,

Huw.

[Village Gleam]

You've trumped us all a bit seerclean but good on you. Have you  anything to say on what made  you stop being a one man band, or how you found the courage in the first place?

[birdymiller]

Bluez, I havnt given up im happy at the moment earning great money, im 34 so maybe i will feel the need to expand when i run out of energy. I worked in retail for 6 years working my way up to manager of a sports shop that turned over £1.2 million and for the final 4 months of my time their was performing 3rd best out of 120 stores. I then did a HND in business and finance for 2 years. My retail experience and HND have given me the relevant skills to successfully run my business. I know that my business is not just about dirty windows clean windows. I just feel that at the moment to invest say £30,000 in staff, work, equipment, training and vehicles is not right for me especially in the current "credit crunch climate". Trust me i have done the figures and for all the hassle it doesnt seem worth it.

What seerclean seems to have achieved looks great and im sure he works very hard and is under alot of pressure. Good luck to him and all of you. We are all different and what works for one does not work for everyone

[Wayne Thomas]

What gets me about employing people is finding the right people to do the job properly without losing customers because of their poor attitude to doing the job properly even though they are paid decent wages. Just can't trust employees to do the job properly because shoddy work is bad for business.
I suppose I would be best off setting up another van and letting the employee manage the whole round by themself, that way, when there is any comeback it's all their own responsibility/fault. Pay them on  a percentage of earnings they achieve. That way I don't need to push them to work as they have to motivate themself. Is that the best way to go if employing. In the past I have done PAYE but it's too much hard work, checking them, motivating them, etc.

[windowwashers]

What gets me about employing people is finding the right people to do the job properly without losing customers because of their poor attitude to doing the job properly even though they are paid decent wages. Just can't trust employees to do the job properly because shoddy work is bad for business.
I suppose I would be best off setting up another van and letting the employee manage the whole round by themself, that way, when there is any comeback it's all their own responsibility/fault. Pay them on  a percentage of earnings they achieve. That way I don't need to push them to work as they have to motivate themself. Is that the best way to go if employing. In the past I have done PAYE but it's too much hard work, checking them, motivating them, etc.

performance related bonus is the way round that, thats what I do.
Also complaints they fix in there time and dont get paid for it (they seem not to get many compaints at all.. : weird I know)

[eddie d]

hi windowwashers,
i was wondering how many people you employ and how many vans you have on the rd, are you vat registered .interesting to know where your coming from .

only reason im asking is that i dont know how you guys manage it .at 42 im seriously thinking of going back to being  on my own .

ed

[windowwashers]

hi windowwashers,
i was wondering how many people you employ and how many vans you have on the rd, are you vat registered .interesting to know where your coming from .

only reason im asking is that i dont know how you guys manage it .at 42 im seriously thinking of going back to being  on my own .

ed

in the last 2 years I have been ill and had to get rid of work because I could not manage, I regret that now but things happen, I am building up again fast as viable
I dont know how many you employ, but one is not enough IMO and working together if doing domestic houses is costing money as one works quicker on own.

I have been having a right nightmare if I am honest with staff in the last 7 months lost a couple then got another ditched them now have a shed load more hassle which I am not going into on here. I cant blame you for wanting or thinking of going back on your own I sometimes ask myself is it worth it, but to get where I am going to be I have no choice I cant do it on my own there is not enough hours in the day. And I do thank my lucky stars that I had staff after a car crash or I would really me in trouble now.

thinking of going back on your own can only mean a couple of things something is wrong or you dont have enough work, both can be sorted you are welcome to give me a call and have a chat if you like on 01234 870 225

Ian

[Village Gleam]

I am very envious of your hnd in business birdy. I would have loved to do something like that.I have a book, ten day MBA, and it's one of my favourites.I have another book called brand failures which is also very good. It details the top one hundred brand disasters and why (coke changing the recipe, harley davidson putting their name on perfume,sony betamax,ratners....).

My enthusiasms and skills have served me well. I have built a very strong brand locally in record time with most people  thinking I am part of a franchise. I also believe with that I have put a lot of work into achieving the perfect van with the perfect system for working extremly fast error free which is my business recipe and unique selling point. My marketing (domestic so far) has achieved unbelievable results.I am also pleased with the admin systems I have in place to run the business but must admitt my bad debts are poor.

But boastfull as this sounds this is what I would expect as I have been very succesfull at other businesses work very hard and am open to ideas from places like this forum. Where I am untried and untested is in expanding further. I have never employed, led, delegated or had my fate left in the hands of others.

[Rob_Mac]

Mr S and anyone else

Never underestimate what you can be capable of and where you may end up - you limit yourself by your own limitations.

I have mentioned in an earlier post that we have just lost a substantial contract to a national window cleaning supplier - most people would wallow in self pity. What is the point use it to get more work.

The level of success that you gain will be determined by how much stress you are capable of handling and how quickly you are capable of adapting to changes and how well you see opportunity and ultimately whether you are in a financial situation that wil allow you to invest in potential future work.

If you want big success then you have to make big sacrifices - in all areas of yor life. When I came into window cleaning I wanted what others had and I felt that if they could get it then there was no reason why I couldn't have it as well.

We have 1 customer at the moment - I bet everyone on here has more customers than me but they are a household name and they pay very well, we are working on others.

My conclusion is that less is more and our sights are set on the high end clients that want an exceptionally high level of cleaning services, full external cleaning services, drain jetting, chewing gum & graffiti removal and bespoke cleaning of difficult and previously uncleanable areas.

If a client has been told that a specific area cannot be cleaned then we will offer a service that will be part consultancy and the rest will be the application of getting the area clean.

I still want to replace my residential workload with 600 commercial properties over the next five years and am working on our other business interests.

No one ever told me that I couldn't achieve but similarly they never told me I could - I just see that others have had differing levels of success and they are no better than me!!!!!

I like the forum at the moment - there is a real maturity on the posts and it is a good place to be

Good luck

Rob

[Karl Wheeler]

Hi
When i started out i had no real idea of running a business but learnt through others who run successful businesses. I took time out to get to know the MD's or managers of the companies that i was doing the office cleaning for. I gleaned knowledge from them about how to run a business. The best advice i was told was that "you can be a busy fool" and to look at all your contracts and cream off the top twenty percent and you will find you are working less hours but with the same  profit.
I found this too be true and let go off the contracts that were not really worth doing. I then decided i would not sell my self short - i knew i was good at my job, provided a good service and i wanted to be paid for that service. I decided if i wanted good staff i needed to be able to pay good wages and if i wanted to grow the business i needed to charge a good hourly rate. I was used to getting 80% of the work i quoted for with the old rate i charged this dropped to about 60% with the new rate but the new work was profitable and was helping the business grow.
The government now offer free funding for nvq in business, health and safety etc and i have subscribed myself along with my staff on the courses.
I am always eager to learn from others, from people on this forum, people who run a diverse range of businesses, taking from them snippets of information that will help my business grow.
On the point of investing in your business this is a must, if you want to compete with the big boys you need to portray the right image. I spent a £1000 on my website but this has already paid for it self many times over. Staff uniforms, sign written vans all essentional to give a professional image.

I hope this helps anyone who is looking to make their business grow and remember don't sell yourself short you know what your worth and don't be frightened to ask for it!

Regards
Karl

[eddie d]

good post 

[windowwashers]

The government now offer free funding for nvq in business, health and safety etc and i have subscribed myself along with my staff on the courses.

Regards
Karl

do you have a website address to find out more about this ? this I something I would also like to do.

The busy fool is so true, your posts are refreshing to read Karl  good on you for going that extra mile

Ian

[Karl Wheeler]

Hi Ian
Thanks for your comment.I will send you the web address when i'm back in the office on Tuesday.


Regards
Karl

[windowwashers]

Hi Ian
Thanks for your comment.I will send you the web address when i'm back in the office on Tuesday.


Regards
Karl

Your welcome and thank you for doing that for me.

Ian

[bluez]

Birdy
Sorry if my post sounded a bit patronising it wasn't meant that way. It sounds like you are doing very well with a great round. I was really just using your post to get my point across that building a business involves a very great change in thinking and focus from dealing directly with the nuts and bolts of the business yourself, to managing the operatives, contracts and business strategy while trusting (often wrongly) paid employees to carryout the physical side of the business.

This is an interesting thread, lots of good advice and thoughts from everyone, makes a change from everyone trying to score points of each other.

[boshravie]

hi karl

did you get my e mail?

i send it yesterday.

Regards


Bosh

[groundhog]

In the last year the business has trebled in turnover and we hope to hit the £200,000 mark by the end of the year. I employ around ten staff now

Regards
Karl

Hi Guys

I have been reading this thread with interest as employing is something that I have thought about for sometime, but after reading some of the posts here I am not sure if I could afford to do so, 10 staff to turn over £200k, this dosn't seem like enough to me for 10 staff, I would expect far more, surely there cannot be much profit left for the owner after wages and expenses out of that 200k? I would guess that it would probably be less than many of us are earning on our own and without all the hassle! I would expect to be turning over £200k with half that amount of staff!!
I am not critisising in any way, I am generally very interested, is £200k really the max you could get out of your 10 staff, or could they handle a much higher workload as you take on more work?