slumpbuster - you know it!
A net of three tenths is the golden rule of profit margin for about 90% of successful businesses.
Think about it this way - a decent window cleaner doing commercial work (so no 'not todays' and 'rain' stoppages) will clean £900 per week (based on run of the mill pricing of £30 per hour). So if he works 36hrs per week and loses 5 hrs of that to lunch then he will have done around £930. We'll use £900 as a guide.
Assuming van operating costs of £150 (upper limit) per week,
£900 - £150 = £750.
Now if I were to pay my staff one third of turnover that would be £900 / 3 = £300 per week.
So if you take £300 from £750 you will be left with £450 for yourself - however, who on here would work for £300 a week? Not many I'm sure, so in order to keep my staff happy I need to pay them more than £300, this I can do because unlike most other businesses I don't have large retail premises and sales staff to pay for, I have myself, my son and my staff.
So to sum it all up by keeping overheads reasonably low, I can safely pay my staff well over 33% turnover.
Do I have to? NO
Is it worth paying them more? Yes, they aren't any worse off than if they had their own window cleaning round by the time they set the round up, buy a van and equipment and everything else that comes along with it.
I don't make much from each staff member but that is the way I like it, they get paid well, are happy with work, and I have a much more sustainable and secure business.
So my advice to anyone considering employing - be prepared to pay more than the usual £60 a day, anyone worth keeping will demand considerably more than that, and deservedly so.