Husband considering career change

[MrsC2014]

Don't buy a round, that money is better in your pocket and can be spent on marketing, get your own customers its a lot more simple and less easier and the customers are used to your rules, I been trading for 7 years (starting of as part time whilst I had another part time job) and now I deal with over 2,000 clients per month and with 5 vans, if I can do It then so can your husband, If he is really passionate and hungry then he would get the customers himself, it would be better for both of you I reckon, buying a round is hard work and is a lo of hassle my advice would be for you o stay away and start from scratch, I picked up 900 customers last year, It can be done. Good luck

I really appreciate your input however what would be your main reason to be put off buying a round? We realise that some houses may drop us and as a result we have already got a friend designing some cards and leaflets to start canvassing about a month before the guy wants to retire to hopefully start to build up our own client bank. I have already got all my family signed on and his plus after mentioning it to our child minder she has said she would like to be added to the books as did a couple of the mums. Just interested to know what would be off-putting about buying an established round as the response on the thread is mixed. 

Don’t think the basic question has been answered yet. Sounds like a traditional round to me. The lady has said equipment is included but not what equipment is included. If it is WFP is making water a problem or not. Again not answered. Not enough basic facts. Remember buying around means a bit of paper with names and addresses on. You can’t buy loyalty. Potentially they could all say they Don’t want there windows cleaned anymore. Especially if the gentleman just takes over and there is no transition. 

it is a WFP system. I haven't had a lot of time to talk to my hubby about it as he was out last night when i got in but he spent a couple of hours with the guy asking questions and he feels confident about it. The advice is more for me I think as it is such a massive change. 

 

[MrsC2014]

Seems like many think of changing occupation and think Oh I  Know I will become a window cleaner..as though it is the best possible job to have.....IT IS Not.

Yesterday I finished at 11.45 due to the weather, not because I had earned a tonne of money and do not have to lift a finger for the rest of the week...so now I am on catch up...it aint a bed of roses as some would believe. Your not working (weather,lack of customers) your not earning. And each and every customer you have on your books can cancel your service anytime they wish. Reality is your customer is only your customer each time you clean their windows.

Thing is you see windies in shorts on hot sunny days and think that,s the sort of job for me, not on freezing windy days like we have over winter.

I have been drilling this into him and he understands this but I will continue to drill it into him until he makes a final decision at the end of this month. I don't think the change has come lightly and I'm sure he doesn't think it will be easy I have stressed how hard the work will be and how hard it will be on us as a family. He has some people left to talk to and a lot of thinking to do. 

 

[scottish cleaning service]

To be honest, he should be on the forum asking these questions. You can't be an introvert in this job unless working for someone else. You have to talk to your customers and then they will pass on your number. He needs to go out on some trial days when its raining and windy and see it he likes it. The summer months are a breeze but its the winter months that test your patience. ?

 

[MrsC2014]

Buying my round was the best thing I ever did. Instant wage, no messing about canvassing or marketing. Also the work is super compact, something you won’t get building yourself in todays market. Yes it was a little underpriced and it’s taken a while to get them up to date and everyone on board with my way of working but I was still turning a good profit from day one even after paying my loan off. Let your money work for you not the other way around. Work smarter, not harder and have all the stress that building a round entails. Every week there’s a post on here by lads struggling to make ends meet because the works not coming in for what ever reason. I’m not saying it can’t be done as many have proved it can, but as they will know it’s a lot of hard work and stress when it doesn’t have to be and you still end up with the same goal. 

I could actually cry at this response as its one of the very few that instils positivity within me. Did you also build on your round or was it established enough to just go with?

To be honest, he should be on the forum asking these questions. You can't be an introvert in this job unless working for someone else. You have to talk to your customers and then they will pass on your number. He needs to go out on some trial days when its raining and windy and see it he likes it. The summer months are a breeze but its the winter months that test your patience. ?

I am on here to garner some advice and support for myself in this jump gathering facts and information that he is getting from his friends who are in the business already. 

 

[cleaniac]

Buying rounds can be tricky. 

The best bet would be to see if the rounds for sale can be backed up with tax returns, and accounts. If he can show at least 3 years consistent performance from the goodwill then it's worth buying and is a quick way into the business.

If they cannot, and he is selling a "list" then it's a big risk, and your better off using some of that 10k and going out yourself to get the work. 

I will hasten to add, many people think window cleaning will provide financial freedom, and eventually it does. But it will take you YEARS to get to the levels you dream of. Not to discourage you, but be realistic.

 

[MrsC2014]

Buying rounds can be tricky. 

The best bet would be to see if the rounds for sale can be backed up with tax returns, and accounts.

If they cannot, and he is selling a "list" then it's not worth paying out for. 

I do know that they can as tom say them yesterday and we are in the process of having the books written up properly so we can do the maths ourselves. At the end of the day this is a guy who has built up a round that pays him what he needs (£1600 net every 3 weeks) and is now looking to retire. It does seem to good to be true and this is what is making me nervous as hell. We are going to chat with our friend who is a very experienced well established windie to help us look over the books and advise too

 

[cleaniac]

I do know that they can as tom say them yesterday and we are in the process of having the books written up properly so we can do the maths ourselves. At the end of the day this is a guy who has built up a round that pays him what he needs (£1600 net every 3 weeks) and is now looking to retire. It does seem to good to be true and this is what is making me nervous as hell. We are going to chat with our friend who is a very experienced well established windie to help us look over the books and advise too

Make sure the figures are backed up with bank statements & tax returns. Ask for a copy of the full accounts with bank statements. Do not rely on books that cannot be backed up without these as it's worthless without.

Also I just edited my 1sr response to add some more value, but you had already replied.

 

[MrsC2014]

Make sure the figures are backed up with bank statements & tax returns. Ask for a copy of the full accounts with bank statements. Do not rely on books that cannot be backed up without these as it's worthless without.

Also I just edited my 1sr response to add some more value, but you had already replied.

Thank you for that advice I will put it to Tom that we ask to see the full accounts also. We realise that we may not get to where we want to be for a few years but the thought of being able to build that on our terms not someone else's is exciting and scary as hell. We realise it is a massive leap of faith on our aprt to pick up a round from someone else but I won't allow this to happen without a proper handover. Being in financial services we see client banks being sold all the time and I know just how much people buy into you not just the service you're providing. I have and will continue to lay that into tom to make sure he realises that he cant just turn up one day and say oh hiya im your new window cleaner. He knows he will have to go out to every house introduce himself and build up a relationship of trust. It wont work otherwise and we're both intelligent enough to realise this.

 

[mike007]

Don’t think the basic question has been answered yet. Sounds like a traditional round to me. The lady has said equipment is included but not what equipment is included. If it is WFP is making water a problem or not. Again not answered. Not enough basic facts. Remember buying around means a bit of paper with names and addresses on. You can’t buy loyalty. Potentially they could all say they Don’t want there windows cleaned anymore. Especially if the gentleman just takes over and there is no transition. 

And what if the person taking over is not a capable window cleaner be it Trad or WFP...not everyone has the shall I say aptitude or skill set do do a decent job on the glass.

 

[wezza13]

Good luck to you (and your husband) starting out. Whilst it's true that there are negatives to overcome, the positives far outweigh them and it's a very rewarding job when done right ?

 

[THL4KEL]

I have family/friends who have asked me from time to time - price it all up for me the equipment, marketing costs ect, as they want to be self employed... Basically in so many words they want a business plan for exterior cleaning.

So I gathered all this information for them  free off charge to try and help them out.

The outcome they couldn't be bothered with it.. 

I don't bother doing this anymore BTW.

As Scottish mentioned he should be gathering this information if he is motivated to want to do it himself. 

This is the time of year when more people than any other month hand in their notices.. 

 

[MrsC2014]

I have family/friends who have asked me from time to time - price it all up for me the equipment, marketing costs ect, as they want to be self employed... Basically in so many words they want a business plan for exterior cleaning.

So I gathered all this information for them  free off charge to try and help them out.

The outcome they couldn't be bothered with it.. 

I don't bother doing this anymore BTW.

As Scottish mentioned he should be gathering this information if he is motivated to want to do it himself. 

This is the time of year when more people than any other month hand in their notices.. 

He has got a business plan to complete when he has all the accounts info from this guy and he has been in touch with his mate constantly regarding how it works, timings etc he has got a hell of a lot of info to look over. 

 

[scottish cleaning service]

I have family/friends who have asked me from time to time - price it all up for me the equipment, marketing costs ect, as they want to be self employed... Basically in so many words they want a business plan for exterior cleaning.

So I gathered all this information for them  free off charge to try and help them out.

The outcome they couldn't be bothered with it.. 

I don't bother doing this anymore BTW.

As Scottish mentioned he should be gathering this information if he is motivated to want to do it himself. 

This is the time of year when more people than any other month hand in their notices.. 

I forgot about the time of year, Good Point. New Year Resolutions, folk off for two weeks and can't be bothered going back to same old job. The good thing about this job is you can transition in slowly over weekends. If you are not willing to forgo your weekends then the motivation isn't really there. Like most, I struggled for two years to put it all together but once its in place its fairly simple.

 

[Stevieboy]

So is filling the van up with pure sorted? It’s alright looking at the figures but if you can’t fill the van with pure you won’t make a lot of money. 

 

[james82]

Some of the best rounds I have iv bought of another window cleaner.  I would highly recommend he does the round a few times with the other window cleaner though.  Iv found from all rounds iv bought the smoothest transitions were when they got to meet me a few times 1st. 

Also in my case the window cleaner told them he was my uncle.  People really like the thought of the business kept in the family.  My only concern is the price of the jobs. If it was me and they hadn't been put up for years I'd ask him to put them up a quid each 1st and tell him youd take any potential loss. I wouldn't expect a loss. It may mean you pay slightly more for the round if your unlucky but it's worth it. 

In my experience hed be able to increase prices but not your hubby straight away.  In fact your husband may want to wait a couple or 3 years before the 1st increase so he don't lose a load.  

More importantly would be newly canvassed work. 

I made the mistake early on of charging to cheap. 

Nowadays I would never take on a 3 bedroom house for less than £15.

Over the next few years I'm looking to get most my jobs up to about 18-20 quid each. 

This is Birmingham I'm pricing in.

I used to think I couldn't get more then about £10-12 . It's though taking to lads on here that gave me the confidence to price higher.  What surprised me the most was most people that were interested in having a window cleaner never batted an eyelid when I started saying 15 front and back.  If hubby is motivated he can do well at this but he must charge enough. 

Not every day is workable. 

Example iv not been able to work at all this week yet.

 

[harunh]

He has got a business plan to complete when he has all the accounts info from this guy and he has been in touch with his mate constantly regarding how it works, timings etc he has got a hell of a lot of info to look over. 

Have u thought about divorcing your husband and finding a new husband on here who already has an established round? ? 

 

[MrsC2014]

Have u thought about divorcing your husband and finding a new husband on here who already has an established round? ? 

I'm open to offers ???

i'm a good house wife and a very capable cook ???

 

[scottish cleaning service]

I just got rained off again this afternoon. Rains quite a lot up here so you still have to go out but the customers would prefer me to clean when its dry. Wouldn't work much if i only cleaned when its dry I tell them.

 

[Iron Giant]

@MrsC2014 I think you need commending for coming on here seeking advice you seem very switched on and I assume you husband is also, I would still encourage him to come on here to have a broader view of the industry rather than with respect one or two peoples views and their own way of running a business,

Based on what you have told us regarding job numbers and turnover with an average job price of £8.00 across the board not per job this is low as noted before by @Pjj and average job price based on a residential round should be £10+, this has had me thinking the the jobs are under priced and may not have been increased for a good number of years all speculation of course, there are many window cleaners some who have been trading over 25 years and are too cheap for today's market, this can fall under a number of factors but generally inferior service in some way, undervaluing themselves and frightened of losing jobs 

To give you some idea lets assume the area you live is similar to mine, I am based in County Durham still an old mentality in the old pit villages etc of low pricing etc and windys shouldn't be paid much and a good many doing under priced work and haven't moved with the times in terms of modernising a business in terms of managing rounds, admin and still doing evening cash collections, this old guy might have all cash payers who see fit to pay him as when they see fit, effective management of client debt is an ongoing thing and turning over £800 a week may only see you with around £500 of that collected and banked by the end of week one and this continues each week, each month and so on. 

Now as price examples, here we go a 3 bed semi without a porch or conservatory and also a 4 bed detached house no extension or conservatory and to include a full a through clean of all glass, frames, sills and doors a 3 bed should be £8.50 and a 4 bed £11-12, now thinking on your average job price I would hazard a guess this old guy selling the round could be charging £6 for a 3 bed and £8 for a 4 bed unless there is a lot of terraced houses at £5-6, these prices do vary across the UK with some lads charging quite a bit more but I am trying to be a little more realistic 

He won't learn all he needs to know from his friend about pricing and any issues one encounters on a daily basis and his friend may not always be able to help when needed, to grow a business and discover just how you want to grow and mould your own business and make it a success, a forum such as ours can be invaluable, I have been trading almost 20 years and I am still learning most days 

 

[Mx19]

@MrsC2014

I may have missed it but whereabouts is this round based? That will play a part in your pricing for sure!

 

[MrsC2014]

@MrsC2014

I may have missed it but whereabouts is this round based? That will play a part in your pricing for sure!

Pontefract

@MrsC2014 I think you need commending for coming on here seeking advice you seem very switched on and I assume you husband is also, I would still encourage him to come on here to have a broader view of the industry rather than with respect one or two peoples views and their own way of running a business,

Based on what you have told us regarding job numbers and turnover with an average job price of £8.00 across the board not per job this is low as noted before by @Pjj and average job price based on a residential round should be £10+, this has had me thinking the the jobs are under priced and may not have been increased for a good number of years all speculation of course, there are many window cleaners some who have been trading over 25 years and are too cheap for today's market, this can fall under a number of factors but generally inferior service in some way, undervaluing themselves and frightened of losing jobs 

To give you some idea lets assume the area you live is similar to mine, I am based in County Durham still an old mentality in the old pit villages etc of low pricing etc and windys shouldn't be paid much and a good many doing under priced work and haven't moved with the times in terms of modernising a business in terms of managing rounds, admin and still doing evening cash collections, this old guy might have all cash payers who see fit to pay him as when they see fit, effective management of client debt is an ongoing thing and turning over £800 a week may only see you with around £500 of that collected and banked by the end of week one and this continues each week, each month and so on. 

Now as price examples, here we go a 3 bed semi without a porch or conservatory and also a 4 bed detached house no extension or conservatory and to include a full a through clean of all glass, frames, sills and doors a 3 bed should be £8.50 and a 4 bed £11-12, now thinking on your average job price I would hazard a guess this old guy selling the round could be charging £6 for a 3 bed and £8 for a 4 bed unless there is a lot of terraced houses at £5-6, these prices do vary across the UK with some lads charging quite a bit more but I am trying to be a little more realistic 

He won't learn all he needs to know from his friend about pricing and any issues one encounters on a daily basis and his friend may not always be able to help when needed, to grow a business and discover just how you want to grow and mould your own business and make it a success, a forum such as ours can be invaluable, I have been trading almost 20 years and I am still learning most days 

I will look over the books but I know he said that the prices vary he has some bungalows which he only charges some old dears £3.50 to do their windows and then some houses he charges £15 for. I need to look over this over the next week or so. It’s all making me feel sick and exhausted but if it’s a good bet I’ll embrace it.