losing main other job and moving Saturday window cleaning work to a more fulltime job?

[slippy]

Probably going to get fired at some point in the near future. If it isn't September then it will be some time later. I have come to the conclusion that u can't fight the inevitable. My issues are _

Saturday window cleaning the customers are usually in and if I go more full time it will be during the week so how do I get paid? Will they like it if they are not there?

I am ok at canvassing but is it worth buying a round? How u get a good one?

The initial transition will be tough. Best signing on and getting housing benefit etc?

 

[Jake]

Sign on until you get enough work mate,

How do you know you'll be fired?!

Canvassing is great (a must in my opinion), buying a round can be a good idea if you have the money, my advice would be buy a small round and then use that as a building block for more work.

As for paying, the old fashioned way is to go round in the evenings 'collecting'

But most now ask customers to pay online, (bacs) or PayPal etc,

I now hardly do any collecting at all, everyone is online banking now...

Canvassing is your best bet, stick at it and the work will come, you can pick and choose the area and build a round that suits you. Plus your the boss of your prices that way as well!

 

[Simply Business]

Good luck with it @slippy :thumbsup:

 

[slippy]

It will be a new thing to go round during week and do the work when customers aren't there. How do I explain this to customers? Collecting would be better in the beginning then switch to bank transfers.

Where can u find a small round?

 

[Dave B]

You don't explain it

Just canvass and get new customers

Tell them i do it every x amount of weeks..if you want i can text you the evening before to leave the back gate unlocked..i accept payment by leaving the money out for me or by paypal/ bank transfer

Job done

 

[lou]

Its best when there not in, as you can crack on without any interuptions. Slip ya invoice thru letterbox & on to the next one. The best customers are those who pay it whilst your there still!

Sent from my GT-S6810P using Window Cleaning Forums

 

[Jimroot]

I'm not sure about the signing on part, as it could be benefit fraud, I'd disclose everything to the JC otherwise it could affect your fledgling business for not much money (less than £80 a week). Risk vs reward isnt great.

Neighbourhood offices can advise on benefits and there's online tools. But there's reams of paperwork and proof to provide to get any help.

I was getting just ESA benefit while I had my broken foot as I'm declared as a business and I've had a bill for NI already! I'd only done about a month when I had an accident.

My advice in my experience now would be get all the customers you can now, even if you do them before, during, and after work, with help etc. or you'll be playing hard catch up when you're out of your current job and got all the tools, some experience, and not enough work.

 

[TolishAPurd]

If the right round comes up then it might be worth buying. But if it was me, I would build up to working on the saturday and sunday every week. Use your annual holiday allowance (you could even use some sick days shhhh /emoticons/wink.png ) to give you a day or two off each week to use for canvassing/leaflet dropping. Get your website up and running now. It takes time to work its way up the google rankings so you should get the ball rolling now if you want it bringing you in work by Sept. Paypal or BACS- Like others have said, this should be your main method of payment.... saves time and petrol vs collecting. Invest in advertising now- leaflets, paper ads, B cards etc. Make sure you have all your tools in order now whilst you have good money coming in, you don't want to be replacing an old ladder once things start to get tighter and you don't have a regular wage to rely on. At the same time, make sure you build up some good savings. I was always told that you should have enough to cover your bills for 3 months minimum.

Best of luck with it. :thumbsup:

 

[Jake]

Well yeah obviously only sign on if it's legit!

You don't need to explain anything to customers, just do the work, pop a ticket through the Letter box with bank details on and ask them to pay online..

Or just go collecting

 

[TolishAPurd]

On the signing on issue, I was under the impression theres a certain amount of hours a week you're allowed to work while claiming, 16 rings a bell, but research it yourself as I'm not totally sure.

 

[Jimroot]

I think job seekers, you have to be actively seeking work? Maybe income support is the right one. I'm going to check it out myself TBH, last time I went down there there was a young Somali woman demanding a bigger flat for herself, the receptionist kept saying 'but it already meets your needs!'

 

[TolishAPurd]

I think job seekers, you have to be actively seeking work? Maybe income support is the right one. I'm going to check it out myself TBH, last time I went down there there was a young Somali woman demanding a bigger flat for herself, the receptionist kept saying 'but it already meets your needs!'

I'm not too clued up on the benefits TBH, the last time I signed on was when I was 19. It was ashocktacticby my dad, I swore at that point that I would never do it again.

 

[Alien Human]

On the signing on issue, I was under the impression theres a certain amount of hours a week you're allowed to work while claiming, 16 rings a bell, but research it yourself as I'm not totally sure.

Correct Tolish......but for JSA it contributes to your benefit and you can only work 16 hours and for ESA you do Permitted Work which is any work less than 16 hours , earning slightly above min wage and you keep that money on as well as your benefit.

 

[Dave B]

Jim regarding the ni bill phone hmrc to get the address as i can't find it

As you are officially earning less than 8.something thousand a year self employed you can write to the address they give you and request an "absolute waiver" and not pay the ni bills you get during the year

They will stop sending them and you will square it all up on your tax return

 

[Alien Human]

.........everything.....e.g everything (HB, JSA, Child & Working Tax credits etc etc ) is soon to all come under one umbrella : Universal Credit. It will all be paid as one lump sum at the start of each month. Landlords are sxxxxing themselves about not getting paid and there is a big fear that alkies, drug users & shopaholics will end up homeless........personally I would avoid claiming it at all costs but appreciate that it can't be avoided under some circumstances /emoticons/smile.png

 

[Jimroot]

The esa I got just covered insurance etc really.

Thanks for the NI tip davey hope I can have it waived for now.

 

[Dave B]

I think it is about 8.7k might be wrong but if you earn leas than that per annum in a self employed job you can ask for a waiver

Doesn’t even matter if you earn more in a paye job and then do self employed on top of it as long as the self employed bit is below that limit

 

[adamangler]

Theres too ways im sure both will work, the first one will give you the least stress and is the easier option (my choice lol)

The second will be **** scary, hard, but give you the greatest personal growth and lif experience.

1. Start looking for a part time job somewhere between 16-30 hours, early or late shifts will be better and simply fill up the rest of your week with marketting/cleaning, once you get full try to get a job with less hours or take the plunge. I am currently using this option, 30 hours job, ive now filled up my remaining time and in the process of getting my hours reduced to 16 which i have been assured will be in two weeks time , we shall see. The plan after is the same, build until i can do no more work than go full time.

2. Quit your job, get up early, knock or clean for 12 hours everyday including sundays, theres no doubt in my mind this would work, and theres times ive considered it myself, but im in a position where i can do option 1 and having had a lot of stress already from this business i dont need to be adding more when i dont need to.

Maybe some guys who have actually done option 2 can confirm if thats true

 

[Jimroot]

Time and health allowing, I think this sounds a good idea

 

[boarcity]

start canvassing asap. as in this bank holiday.

putting off doing it is shooting yourself in the foot. dont delay !

 

[Jimroot]

Ironic sentiment, my foot feels like it's rebroken after three days of flyering, just hour or so a day. Wife assures me it's not broken.

Might lay off sat/sun to do more Monday if it's more promising.

It's hard to know which areas to target in 'prime time'.

Found a bunch with green in their gutters today and yesterday, if they don't ring, maybe I live in a HAZ, a high apathy zone