Advice On Buying A Round

[Hedwerk]

Hi guys,

After a bit of advice on buying a round, on whether this seems a decent price or not. Having cleaned windows traditionally for a few years with a group I've come across a man who is due to sell around August this year (retiring) with the majority of the customers having bungalows /emoticons/smile.png and I've been keen to go it alone for a while now, building up work myself to do outside of my normal working week.

I've been told the round has been established for over 10 years, traditionally cleaned and it is relatively compact on some days, spread out on others - I have been given all the details of where/frequency and prices etc and have said that when he is ready to pass on that I would like to work the round with him or meet his customers and that a notice letter could be sent out as a way of introduction. The round is a 6 week round that yeilds approx 860 pcm and he does this in three days a week.

The only downside I can see is that the round is made up from elderly people - sorry if I come across as ageist - and looking through his books for the last year he lost 8 though gained a couple. I would hope that a bout of bad flu would not wipe half the round out!

He is asking for £4000 ono, does that sound a realistic price?

Thanks for your help.

Quick edit: no gear/equipment is supplied.

 

[JDMW]

i thought the going rate is norm 3x the round price. so EG 1000 quid round pcm would cost you 3000-4000.

 

[mr shine]

does he work 18 days to clean the 6 week round for 1290 pounds, if so thats only 71 pounds per day ,if that is the case the work might be underpriced , so 4k would be to much imo

 

[M.K Cleaners.co.uk]

Old customers are the best in my opinion, only downside there a bugger to put the price up on.

I could have this worked out worn but it seems severely under priced

 

[OoO]

I had just been messing around with figures and came up with £71.

Ask him what he earns per day. If he says £60-£80 then you know the score, if he starts saying "over a 100 is easy" walk away!

 

[beaver0_15]

It would have to be very cheap to buy if its only earning 70 quid a day then try ur luck doubling the prices.

 

[adyspurs]

Please don't buy this round,be patient and build your own work and invest the money wisely,believe me it will pay of.

 

[JDMW]

yeh i wouldnt either. best to build ya own mate in all honesty. business is business, id say im interested and go round with him and then after flyer the place, he wont sell so it will be untouched.

 

[Doo]

I bought work worth £1000 per month for £4000 already added customers, listen I have had alot of great advice on the forums, but when I said I was starting in Jan this year alot of guys said don't wait till march , I started in Jan & have all my work upto date ...trust yourself I would say.

Ask plenty of questions of the seller.

Why are they selling

Are there other windies on the round & do they know it;s being sold

When was the last price increase

How long does it take to do the work

Are the custys good payers

how do the custys pay

 

[instrength]

Have to say I agree with above.. When I started I bought supposedly £650 monthly work and didn't ask the right questions. In short half he hadn't done and were so cheap not worth doing and the rest was just a pain. He had just touted for the work at a cheap price then sold the work.

Go with your gut if it feels wrong walk away!!

Good luck... /emoticons/smile.png

PS out of all the work I purchased I've let them all go!

 

[dmckellar]

i bought a contract last year for £13,000 and the return is £50,000 but its not repeat (i bought him out the contract he was in with a house builder) so it can work.

if hes only making £70 odd a day i'd walk away, you'd be as well making flyers up and flying at the weekend, you could do your mon-fri then build your round up at the weekend to soon be on £70 a day without the £4k fee

 

[Hedwerk]

Thanks for all the input guys it's really appreciated!

And it's given me a lot of food for thought. Some of you who stated he takes around £70 a day are right. He works the round for 3 days averaging 15-18 hours a week, which does mean I can expand by increasing what I already have (which I just do on Saturdays at the moment as I work during the week). One major factor for me is that I would be earning the same money that I currently get by taking on this round for less hours meaning I could expand on top. Naturally it would take a while to recoup what I spent (if I did buy the round, and if I did I would offer a lower price). But I'll take everything into consideration and have a good think about it. I'm going to carry on canvassing for the moment as I have a bit of time and first refusal. Thanks again guys /emoticons/smile.png

 

[Doo]

Hedwerk , I worked for bosses for 30 yrs & for the last 10 of those years I longed to be my own boss but never thought I'd do it being a window cleaner , I don't know your circumstances but i was on £7.50 an hour my youngest is 16 yrs so my family are almost off my hands my wife has a decent paying job (she hates lol) .

I paid £4000 for 4 rounds that take in approx £1000 per 4 weeks , I also have another two rounds that I worked off at weekends after my 40hr per week job .

What I'm trying to say is what might not be worth it too some might be more than worth it to others , wether that be to get out of a daily slog for a tyrant of a boss or for money reasons , you alone know your situation best .

It's been two months now since I started & I'm loving it .

 

[whostolemyhair]

Hedwerk , I worked for bosses for 30 yrs & for the last 10 of those years I longed to be my own boss but never thought I'd do it being a window cleaner , I don't know your circumstances but i was on £7.50 an hour my youngest is 16 yrs so my family are almost off my hands my wife has a decent paying job (she hates lol) .
I paid £4000 for 4 rounds that take in approx £1000 per 4 weeks , I also have another two rounds that I worked off at weekends after my 40hr per week job .

What I'm trying to say is what might not be worth it too some might be more than worth it to others , wether that be to get out of a daily slog for a tyrant of a boss or for money reasons , you alone know your situation best .

It's been two months now since I started & I'm loving it .

Good post!

Additional factors to bear in mind...

Where in the country are you?... He averages around £12 an hour which for a lot of northern areas wouldn't be that bad.

Bear in mind the age of the seller... I'm presuming he is maybe in his 60s as he is retiring. Perhaps you would get through the work quicker than a 60 odd yr old thus pushing up your hourly rate. Could you do a morning with him to gauge how fast he works and the quality of work he does in that time. You would have a better idea of what YOU would earn as opposed to what HE tells you he earns in a set time.

For example...he works an average of 5 1/2 hours per day earning around £12 an hour. After working with him you realise you would be 20% faster than him thus earning around £14-£15 per hour. You also knuckle down and do a 7 hour day thus making your days takings around £100. The round maybe doesn't seem too bad now....just an example which may not be fact but shows the importance of spending a little time working with him to properly gauge the rounds worth.

Bungalows are prime work that can be done in weathers (ice snow/ice on the ground) where ladders wouldn't be suitable, enabling you to earn when you wouldn't be able to normally.

I have bought and sold 5 rounds over the last 20 years...trad work in my opinion should not go for more than 3 times the monthly value unless exceptionally good work. Wfp work can be sold for anything up to 6 times the value if quality work and very good prices.

I had thought of a few other things but have forgotten them whilst writing this. I'll post them if they come back to me.