Getting started

[spruce]

Regarding the tank and pole set up if I am think of van like partner or doblo, or Berlin go, I heard a 300 litre tank would be ok as long as pay load is approx 650 kg .

Any advice on where to buy?

is it worth investing on professional fit out service that I am getting quotes of approx £1900  plus vat

Any advice appreciated ?

I honestly think you would be better looking at something slightly bigger than 650kgs tbh. The newer Doblo's have a higher payload and the LWB Transit Coonect tdci was 900kgs. Son has an old Citroen Berlingo 800lx which we have a 500 liter tank in. If we use his van with a full tank I would have to follow him to our work area in my car as my weight would put him over his payload limit.

In the early days 300 liters will do fine as you won't have many houses to clean a day even although you will use more water on first cleans. As you become more busy that 300 liters won't be enough unless you can produce water at home and pop back during the day to top up. Once you get ontop of your cleaning schedule and are regular you might be able to get by with 300 liters. But there is nothing more frustrating than finishing the day early because you run out of water, especially during the summer.

We started off with a trailer which had 450 liters on board. I carried another 100 liters in my Suzuki Carry van. Once that was finished I had no more water as I used to process water from my r/o directly into my trailer tank over night. (In those days we didn't have flow controllers, had 1/2" garden hose and 3mm jets so used a lot of water.)

 

[spruce]

Are you sure about this @spruce, not saying you're wrong but last year my Accountant wrote off a few things that were being depreciated.

 https://smallbusiness.co.uk/a-small-business-guide-to-capital-assets-2465662/

I thought I read that they couldn't be carried over this morning, but I can't find where I read that. So I need to reinvestigate that but I can't see anywhere where they say we can claim 'residual' the

 following year. The AIA is set at £200,000 a year. If our capital equipment costs where more then we could carry that forward if write down allowance didn't cover that.

Interestingly the old Write Down Allowance that was removed for new claims in 2012 I think it was seems to be back. So @Stedon, please ignore what I said previously regarding AIA.

I was hoping to speak to my now retired accountant about this the other day when I cleaned his house, but he escaped before I got there.?

 

[Iron Giant]

Regarding the tank and pole set up if I am think of van like partner or doblo, or Berlin go, I heard a 300 litre tank would be ok as long as pay load is approx 650 kg .

Any advice on where to buy?

is it worth investing on professional fit out service that I am getting quotes of approx £1900  plus vat

Any advice appreciated ?

I bought my Vauxhall combo/Fiat Doblo from Van-Monster and they give a 6-month warranty, But get the van checked over as well the reason I say this is after 2-3 months the handbrake cable snapped ( some people just don't use the brakes like they should and just rive the handbrake on) and 8-9 months after the purchase on its second MOT it failed on the front wheel ball joint (some people do like bouncing motors up kerb's) 

The question about how big a tank to get, you will get a good few different answers, I have been trading over 18 years and wfp over 10 years next year and I manage just fine with a 350ltr upright tank and very rarely empty it, you could also carry 2-3 25ltr containers as extra. My tank is strapped in and for me it's fine I drive like Miss Daisy and I am rarely on fast A roads so lucky if I get to 50mph, Your best option is to have a frame fitted if you know a decent mechanic who you use and know well they will be able to fit a frame for you just buy a tank and frame from https://purefreedom.co.uk/product-category/tanks-and-cages/