[Richard iSparkle]

Hi

I'm planning on starting a new window cleaning business in my area, Chester, and would like some advice about what equipment to buy from the startup. 

I have about £10 000 - £15 000 to startup and will get a water fed pole system.  i;d also like to have a van of up to 3 cleaners working from the start, based in a van.  i also have to spend that money on the marketing etc for the company.  i plan to lease my equipment and van rather than buy outright.

any advice re proper equipment would be very welcome please.  I;ll also send all my team on the BWCA course so they have a good knowledge base to start with.

thanks

Richard

[Ian101]

Im hardly an expert myself as not starting proper until April 2nd but I would think u best be keeping your 10 -15 grand to one side to see you thru until the business is paying you a wage ... depends of course on how much u need a month coming in

[daz1977]

hi richard,

not to sound funny, but do u have any work as of yet?

  if not i would just buy a transit size van for 2 grand and spend about 1000 - 1500 on a system that will run 2 men,  and then just go out and knock and leaflet everything, keep some of the cash in the bank to pay wages till business is paying for its self

BWCA course is meant to be good, but u would be better off in my opnion learning on houses  get ur system and practise on your own homes,  i woudl hate to see u spend all your money on a business venture that didnt work out

[mci services]

just my bit here but 15k will not be enough to get three men working and lease equipment

wages/leasing/insurance/marketing/fuel the list goes on + no customers

start with one man and you might get somewhere

[Gav Camm lammy 283]

Hi

I'm planning on starting a new window cleaning business in my area, Chester, and would like some advice about what equipment to buy from the startup. 

I have about £10 000 - £15 000 to startup and will get a water fed pole system.  i;d also like to have a van of up to 3 cleaners working from the start, based in a van.  i also have to spend that money on the marketing etc for the company.  i plan to lease my equipment and van rather than buy outright.

any advice re proper equipment would be very welcome please.  I;ll also send all my team on the BWCA course so they have a good knowledge base to start with.

thanks

Richard

was i spking too you in van yard deeside

[prestige cleaners]

i think you might be getting a bit ahead of yourself mate, for a start i wouldnt employ anyone as you would be wasting all your profits on their wages, wait until you cant cope with the work yourself, and work isnt going to fall in your lap unless you buy it.

2nd you dont need to waste £15k on equipment.
say £4k for a 5 yr old fiat scudo
£1 to £2k on a wfp system
£300 signwriting (van)
£130 leaflets (5000)
maybe a couple hundred on clothing, laser printer, advertising, insurance, etc

saving you at least half of your intended outlay!

i would advise a merlin ro if your in a soft water area, thats all ive ever used, so cant comment on other systems. and a 650ltr tank lasts me about 20 houses in a day, not that i do that mind you.

i use extel poles, cheap and light, 13ft i think? and a 23ft for 3rd storeys. not too sure what make that one is.

[Wizard]

Plan the first stage of your business Thats you and minimum equipment then get the work.You are already at the top end as if you were a established company.3 guys, big van, lease you will be trouble if you do not get enough work to pay wages,lease etc.Try starting at the bottom Mate. 

[Rcs]

i was up and running on a grand inc van for 400 quid
6 months done the line over 100 customers on the books for gutters and windows
as long as the vans reliable
you can always upgrade later on if you feel it will benefit you
id rather keep my money in the bank

[Frankybadboy]

trying to run before you can walk mate.



get your self some custys first.when you find out how hard that is,you probably pack it all in.

[sgibsoncleaning]

it seems a strage idea to jump straight in with a 3 man team,  i just read your past posts and looked at your website. you admit  that you are having trouble with canvesssing for that side of your business. withbuilding that side and organising your cleaners have you got time to build a window round for 3 employees. why not start introducing window cleaning to your excisting customer base, thats 70 plus potential customers. then it give you a base to expand from there. to me it seems that with 3 staff trying to build work your 15k will be eaten up in wages. start with what you have got you can use the cash for marketing

[Darranvps]

Hi
I have just started March 2010- and bought a new peugeot Boxer L2 H2 and an Ionics Pro-7 with a 20m , 15 m CF and a 10m CF along with a host of others, such as glyder etc etc, I had the van professionally signwritten, had A4 brochures made, letterheads cards etc and a website made www.purple-rhino.co.uk
Buying the right system is definately the best move, as home made systems are OK, they actually waste 1000s of litres of water each time you fill, with the PRO-7 there isn't much wasted. May cost more, but at least I can claim to be "green"
Also a professionally fitted system is safer, and looks better if your customer pokes their head into your van. To be honest Ionics are the best, have been around the longest and will still be around when the other manufacturers - simply dissapear!
I employ just one guy, then at least I have a ready team to go and clean.
The phone is already ringing with commercial customers interested in recieving quotations.
I guess it depends on what you want, a small business or potentially a large business, I would rather have the latter.
So yes, invest in the right stuff and the right look, and it will pay you back ten fold in the long run.
Good luck

[actualcleaning]

Hi
I have just started March 2010- and bought a new peugeot Boxer L2 H2 and an Ionics Pro-7 with a 20m , 15 m CF and a 10m CF along with a host of others, such as glyder etc etc, I had the van professionally signwritten, had A4 brochures made, letterheads cards etc and a website made www.purple-rhino.co.uk
Buying the right system is definately the best move, as home made systems are OK, they actually waste 1000s of litres of water each time you fill, with the PRO-7 there isn't much wasted. May cost more, but at least I can claim to be "green"
Also a professionally fitted system is safer, and looks better if your customer pokes their head into your van. To be honest Ionics are the best, have been around the longest and will still be around when the other manufacturers - simply dissapear!
I employ just one guy, then at least I have a ready team to go and clean.
The phone is already ringing with commercial customers interested in recieving quotations.
I guess it depends on what you want, a small business or potentially a large business, I would rather have the latter.
So yes, invest in the right stuff and the right look, and it will pay you back ten fold in the long run.
Good luck

I asked this on another thread...how did you receive all those accreditations when you only started in march???

[Darranvps]

Hi I did all the accreditation form filling in before I started for CHAS and Safe Contractor.
I also did 2 days training for IPAF. This way I got all of the paperwork stuff done before I became busy.
I have just heard about CSCS so I need that too

[actualcleaning]

Hi I did all the accreditation form filling in before I started for CHAS and Safe Contractor.
I also did 2 days training for IPAF. This way I got all of the paperwork stuff done before I became busy.
I have just heard about CSCS so I need that too

Well done.You obviously gave a lot of thought to the whole process of starting your business.

[Darranvps]

Just to confirm I did state I started the business in March 2010.
However I have been living and working in Bulgaria these past six years - if you look at the website the main pictures show a couple of my men cleaning windows to the large glass building in Varna, Bulgaria.
Before I left for Bulgaria, I had twenty years experience in Window Cleaning all over the UK - Commercial Contracts etc
So before I started the business I brushed up on my H&S skills, sorted out Risk assesments, method statements etc etc etc - most of which I did in Bulgaria before I set off to live back in the UK. I even sorted out Public Liability with a company in Swindon before I set off - the internet has many advantages!
Thanks for asking.

[Darranvps]

I'm going out knocking commercial contracts now, so goodbye for the rest of the day!
I will check back later tonight.

[Rob125]

How do you knock up (or is on;)) commercial contracts. Do you just go to receptionist  of places that have windows and get email addresses / phone numbers (of the managers of the building by the way..)??