[wcs.]

.

[Tosh]

You have only got to look at the cost of a Pro-7 Thermopure from ionic £15k plus the van

Ewan, what sort of jobs do you think you would use this on?

[matt]

why does spending 40 K mean you will be a big earner ? ? ? ?

could you not spend that money and earn good money

OR

and i know this will seem strange, you spend that money and dont get the work in, thus never earn good money

ive never got that either ?  ?? ?

[Mr. S]

My Grans bungalow

[Tosh]

My Grans bungalow

Exactly; sarcasm works here.

For regular cleans; such as domestic; a cold water system is fine.  But if you have lots of large commercial stuff with infrequent cleaning schedules, then a hot-water system makes sense to get all that extra-grime off; quickly.

You don't have to use a sledgehammer to crack a walnut and the majority of customers, and let's face it for the average window cleaner, that's domestic work;  don't require a £40K system to have their windows cleaned.

And I'm sure there's cheaper ways of getting a hot-water system than forking out all that for an Ionics system.

In fact I think Discount converted his cold-water system with some kit that cost him £300.

[Tosh]

Ewan,

So what's your point?

Does this analogy work?

I could get a taxi from our local train station to my house. 

Now that taxi could be a VW Passat or a Rolls Royce; but all I want is to get home safely.  Both cars could do the job, but I wouldn't want to pay ten-times the taxi fare because I used the Rolls taxi!

What inaccuracies are you talking about?

[ftp]

Crikey Ewan it's pretty obvious i would have thought. The people buying these units aren't the ones on this forum slagging each other off over earnings. It's the big commercial boys who can earn that kind of money on huge contracts. Mr domestic is going to struggle to pay for that kind of kit even with a full round. This doesn't nessesarilly mean that the operator is on the big money, he probably earns less than a lot of us it's the company as a whole who needs those high paying contracts.
Your last sentance seems to be put there to ridicule window cleaners. Are you getting all this crap from a book? Never a question like" how can i fix my varistream" just a constant barrage of marketing and earnings questions usually answered by yourself and rammed down our throats like we are a load of idiots!
I suggest you go out and buy one then in six months tell us how your getting on.

[peter holley]

Crikey Ewan it's pretty obvious i would have thought. The people buying these units aren't the ones on this forum slagging each other off over earnings. It's the big commercial boys who can earn that kind of money on huge contracts. Mr domestic is going to struggle to pay for that kind of kit even with a full round. This doesn't nessesarilly mean that the operator is on the big money, he probably earns less than a lot of us it's the company as a whole who needs those high paying contracts.
Your last sentance seems to be put there to ridicule window cleaners. Are you getting all this crap from a book? Never a question like" how can i fix my varistream" just a constant barrage of marketing and earnings questions usually answered by yourself and rammed down our throats like we are a load of idiots!

yes it is true that your average domestic wc doesnt need  a £40k system, but its also true that these big boys had to start somwhere, perhaps it was their positive thinking that got them there .... me personally have a diy system that suits my round , i dont need hot water, however i do have isopropyl alcohol on board for when i need it...
i still have high goals ansd aspirations, but i wont ever spend a huge amount, and i also know that money can be made off the right type of domestic.

[ftp]

http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=64842.60#msg562457

You obviously want to join the big boys and are looking at avoiding tax for the next three years god knows how you intend doing it. But spending £40k on a van and buying an industrial unit won't make you a high earner. You need the work, you need to build slowly and then get the contracts. Do you think all the big jobs are waiting for you? Of course they are not, your going to have to fight with the established companies for their contracts - how do you intend doing that next year?

[Londoner]

I'm convinced that a lot of these expensive systems go to new starts armed with their redundancy packages who are trying to get ahead of the game.

There are people out there all too eager to take their money off them.

[ftp]

Your partially right there Vince. When i thought i was going to be made redundant i looked at a £30,000 unit and for five minutes was taken in by their sales talk. They offered to take me to a town in Wales to demonstrate how fast you could work and how much money you could earn. They probably had whole streets stitched up. In reality a newbie can't hope to get that kind of work - it doesn't happen not in my neck of the woods. As a lot of us on here know full well that commercial work is even harder to pick up.
 A similar attitude to sales is demonstrated by Omnipole on ebay trying to sell their Guttervac systems - loads of massive earnings figures which for one or two might be achievable but to anyone with half a brain they know it's unlikely to happen especially overnight.

[Steve CM]

I've been looking at Ionics for a while now. i'm 70% sure i'm going to buy 2 systems and vans next year. I have built my own up until now. i spent my money more on building my business as opposed to buying equipment i didn't need at first.

I do have a lot of periodic cleans so hot is what i want. i have looked a little into building my own. and i may still go down that route. The only thing i will say is what attracts me to ionics is that anyone who has there system i look at them seriously. (from a business image point of view) To me it is the best brand on the market and it does send out a clear signal. I'm not saying it brings in more work, and the people that may only recognise it is other WC companys. it hasn't held me back in anyway so far by not having one, and company's i approach couldn't careless about what system i have but to me its all about the image of my company. I want to be the best. I want to aspire to the top. and to me having the cream of everything is what's going to contribute in me getting there.

[ftp]

I do, why would anyone want to post their sales as you call it or more importantly their earnings on an open forum?

[Steve CM]

you have answered your own question really. an average window cleaner would only need an average system. cold is sufficient for regular cleans. Pure Freedom set ups for instance are a very good and pro looking system for an average price.

Everything is on a sliding scale in relation to where your company is and performing financially. if you want to build up one good round and spend a few grand on a system then there is a very good living to be made.

If you want to build up a mini fleet then the stakes are higher but so are the rewards.

Horses for courses is what they say.

[Steve CM]

I do, why would anyone want to post their sales as you call it or more importantly their earnings on an open forum?

you wouldn't. and i wouldn't.

[ftp]

I would think generally you would look at the number of staff/vans a company run and if they were vat registered to give you some idea of the income they have rather than how shiney their kit was. I could have bought that £30,000 unit and driven off with no income whatsoever.

[Steve CM]

I would think generally you would look at the number of staff/vans a company run and if they were vat registered to give you some idea of the income they have rather than how shiney their kit was. I could have bought that £30,000 unit and driven off with no income whatsoever.

then you would be a fool!  but then you could have that same same system. with heavy advertising in your area. pictures with a glimpse of what work you have. a decent website and already i'm building a picture of what company you have

[Mike 108]

Ewan

“You have to speculate (spend) to accumulate”

Most people will spend a bit and accumulate a bit, then spend a bit ‘more’ and accumulate a bit ‘more’ – each time improving their business until such time as they are content with what they have (this might be a comfortable income/lifestyle or it may be a window cleaning empire).

Some people will be able to accelerate this process and a few will opt for the ‘fast track’ option, spending massively at the outset in the hope of reaping big rewards in a very short time.

We are not saying the latter can’t be done by a ‘newbie’ but the ones most likely to ‘pull it off’ are those who have already been responsible for success in another business.

Taking the latter option is a big risk – you may go bankrupt before you achieve the sales required to service your debt.

Most people start off slowly – but its up to you!

[L.J.Thorpe]

I do, why would anyone want to post their sales as you call it or more importantly their earnings on an open forum?

you wouldn't. and i wouldn't.

and nor would i
ewan
do you ask everyone you meet how much they earn
if you get introduced to someone in the pub do you spend the evening saying "how much you pulling down a year then?"
i may be old fashioned but  i just think its plain rude
and i really agree with ftp

Crikey Ewan it's pretty obvious i would have thought. The people buying these units aren't the ones on this forum slagging each other off over earnings. It's the big commercial boys who can earn that kind of money on huge contracts. Mr domestic is going to struggle to pay for that kind of kit even with a full round. This doesn't nessesarilly mean that the operator is on the big money, he probably earns less than a lot of us it's the company as a whole who needs those high paying contracts.
Your last sentance seems to be put there to ridicule window cleaners. Are you getting all this crap from a book? Never a question like" how can i fix my varistream" just a constant barrage of marketing and earnings questions usually answered by yourself and rammed down our throats like we are a load of idiots!
I suggest you go out and buy one then in six months tell us how your getting on.

one thing i will say tho is i dont undestand how you cant be making a profit,unless,of course, you have laid out loads of money on a big set up.
but you never talk systems just marketing doublespeak
 

[Steve CM]

Ewan

“You have to speculate (spend) to accumulate”

Most people will spend a bit and accumulate a bit, then spend a bit ‘more’ and accumulate a bit ‘more’ – each time improving their business until such time as they are content with what they have (this might be a comfortable income/lifestyle or it may be a window cleaning empire).

Some people will be able to accelerate this process and a few will opt for the ‘fast track’ option, spending massively at the outset in the hope of reaping big rewards in a very short time.

We are not saying the latter can’t be done by a ‘newbie’ but the ones most likely to ‘pull it off’ are those who have already been responsible for success in another business.

Taking the latter option is a big risk – you may go bankrupt before you achieve the sales required to service your debt.

Most people start off slowly – but its up to you!

what would you say was a slow build up and what is quick with investment Mike? have you had any experience with this?

I'm just interested to know if you have any further thoughts mate