Forced to take the plunge!

[Mx19]

So a recent "de-gloving" and subsequent surgery of my forearm due to a fight with a propellor has finally forced me to take the plunge into letting the lads loose in the van solo.
I'm currently on week 2 of recovery with another 10 ahead of me and the boys have done 2 days with minimal hiccups, (one customer refused access as he was "on the phone" and has subsequently been removed from the round, and a gutter vac float valve playing up slowing the day down) but so far a success (touch wood)!

It's something I've wanted to trial for a long time and this has given me the push I needed as my ultimate goal is a window cleaning van with 1 operator on the road 5 days a week and me doing the add-ons. I'm not expecting to make anywhere near the same amount as if I'm on the tools but if I can keep the business ticking over, cover outgoings and make a little income that's all a bonus right now.

My question is to those of you that have single operators in a van, what sort of money are you aiming to pull in? I'm working on the basis of an average of 3.5x their pay and think for now this will work well!

Any further tips you think may help then that would be awesome!

 

[ched999uk]

I know that when I worked for a government agency my charge out rate was 4x my hourly rate. So 3.5x seems a reasonable figure as mine included a good pension etc.
Hope the hand is feeling better soon.

 

[Part Timer]

Any further tips you think may help then that would be awesome!

Don't fight with propellers to start off with

 

[Mx19]

Don't fight with propellers to start off with

Where were you 2 weeks ago?!??‍?

 

[Mx19]

I know that when I worked for a government agency my charge out rate was 4x my hourly rate. So 3.5x seems a reasonable figure as mine included a good pension etc.
Hope the hand is feeling better soon.

Cheers mate, good to hear I’m in the right area!
Slowly but surely, just staying positive that I’m lucky I still have a hand to heal!

 

[JohnDoeWindows]

When I worked as an employee a couple of years ago, I started out on £10 an hour. In the end I brought home around £1800 a month after tax working Monday to Friday.

I personally aim to earn around £40 an hour working for myself and I believe £10 an hour is still the going rate, at least round here.

Hope that helps

 

[ched999uk]

Cheers mate, good to hear I’m in the right area!
Slowly but surely, just staying positive that I’m lucky I still have a hand to heal!

Just noticed you are in Farnham. The gov agency I worked for was in Farnborough and I lived in Ash, that was about 17 years ago though
What sort of prop was it? Boat, plane, RC stuff?

 

[Mx19]

When I worked as an employee a couple of years ago, I started out on £10 an hour. In the end I brought home around £1800 a month after tax working Monday to Friday.

I personally aim to earn around £40 an hour working for myself and I believe £10 an hour is still the going rate, at least round

Just noticed you are in Farnham. The gov agency I worked for was in Farnborough and I lived in Ash, that was about 17 years ago though
What sort of prop was it? Boat, plane, RC stuff?

Ahh yeah, I know the areas well!
It was a paramotor prop, identical to the picture, 1.25m carbon fibre rotating at about 1500rpm at the time I'd estimate!

 

[ched999uk]

Ahh yeah, I know the areas well!
It was a paramotor prop, identical to the picture, 1.25m carbon fibre rotating at about 1500rpm at the time I'd estimate!

Ouch, that has some inertia in it!
Always fancied a paraglider or even one with a paramotor but never had the nerve or funds to give it a go.
Hope you are all back to 100% soon.

 

[Pjj]

Hi Max , sorry to hear about your accident hope you make a speedy recovery , don’t forget the firefighters charity rehabilitation centres if they can help you with recovery they were brilliant when I had my accident years ago spent a total of 6 weeks at Harcombe house and cannot praise them enough , we have two guys per van not one which I accept isn’t as cost effective but if you can get a minimum of 3x there wages should be fine more is good but I tend to look at each vans income over the month to get a mean average rather than daily figures this tends to give a more accurate overview.

 

[Mx19]

Ouch, that has some inertia in it!
Always fancied a paraglider or even one with a paramotor but never had the nerve or funds to give it a go.
Hope you are all back to 100% soon.

Yeah a bit of a sting haha! Don’t let my accident put you off, is a great hobby!!
Thanks a lot!

 

[Mx19]

Hi Max , sorry to hear about your accident hope you make a speedy recovery , don’t forget the firefighters charity rehabilitation centres if they can help you with recovery they were brilliant when I had my accident years ago spent a total of 6 weeks at Harcombe house and cannot praise them enough , we have two guys per van not one which I accept isn’t as cost effective but if you can get a minimum of 3x there wages should be fine more is good but I tend to look at each vans income over the month to get a mean average rather than daily figures this tends to give a more accurate overview.

Cheers Paul, I’ve heard great stuff and have the wheels in motion with the charity for when I’m a bit further down the line!

Sounds good, thanks a lot for the input, I feel like I’m on the right track then, will be interesting to see at the end of May which will be the first full month if it’s worth it! I’m sure it will be though!

 

[Part Timer]

Where were you 2 weeks ago?!??‍?

Probably in the pub ?