mid life crisis! Windows could be the solution

[Green Pro Clean Ltd]

I dont get all the faffing about.  Just open a business account. Why? Simple. Your first 12-18 months is free banking. After that the flat costs are less than £10 per year if you don't use cash. 

All transactions on the account are for BUSINESS makes the end if year so much simpler and less time consuming if you have an account just for BUSINESS. 

If you use your personal account then decide to grow and grow at some stage you have to convince hundreds of customers to use new details - get GC etc to change your payment details and so on.  

All this ducking n diving to save a £5 here and a £5 there is a false economy. 

A clever man fixes problems... a wise man avoids them. 

Between her indoors and myself we have 3 Ltd companies now and each has it's own dedicated business bank account.  It keeps YOUR life a shed load easier in the long run.  Anyone that says otherwise is simply wrong and obviously not bothered to have a business account. 

 

[Les Gradwell]

I'm waiting on funds @P4dstar. It's inheritance and should of been transferred last week. These things take time I guess, hopefully by next week it will be here. I'M looking at that cashplus account.  Seems really cheap and I'm not bothered about spending a little for it. The way I see it I've never been self employed and whatever makes my life easier is the way forward.  I'm already nervous about hmrc and tax returns so makes sense. 

 

[P4dstar]

I'm waiting on funds @P4dstar. It's inheritance and should of been transferred last week. These things take time I guess, hopefully by next week it will be here. I'M looking at that cashplus account.  Seems really cheap and I'm not bothered about spending a little for it. The way I see it I've never been self employed and whatever makes my life easier is rhe way forward.  I'm already nervous about hmrc and tax returns so makes sense. 

The reason I ask is because you mentioned an accountant. Personally I would think you are jumping the gun a little with that. No need to panic about HMRC yet, you have no need to even tell them you are self employed until October 2019 as a sole trader, it needs to be done by then so don't leave it too late of course. Accountants want to make money and the best ones are good at it. My wife is self employed, we went to the accountant in the May, she started trading at the end of April, her first tax return was just under 2 years away. Most of what he told us had been forgotten by the first tax return.

At this point you have nothing but a business idea, you are literally going to tell this chap what you want to do. You have no experience or figures to base this on. He will smile politely and give you some basic advice but you really can't tell him about your business as you have nothing to base it on. The best accountants want circa £50-100 a month to keep your books for you too, that is just a drain at the moment, QuickBooks would set you back £8 a month at the moment and allow you to keep track of everything. Personally I would just keep every receipt or bill for everything. I do mean everything, food, clothes, rent, petrol, water bill, gas, electric.... literally every penny you spend. Record the obvious stuff like window cleaning equipment and when you're sure this is for you go and see an accountant to work out everything else you can claim. If you hit a cold day in October where you can't feel your fingers and think sod this then all you have to do is pay someone £50 to submit a one time tax return for you. You'll be at a massive loss at that point and it will be a little less than if you had paid an accountant for those few months.

I strongly doubt you will jack it in, this is an awesome career choice and I personally don't regret it in any way shape or form.... thing is, it isn't for everyone. You haven't even cleaned a window yet, the business can't pay for something if there is no business!

 

[Iron Giant]

Thanks @dmw! A majority of peaple keep saying 500L, so think that's the tank for me. Now the only headache is deciding whether to buy a van and choose a company to install a system. Or buy a van with system installed from a windie.  I just question reliability with the latter 

I have being WFP for over 10 years now started off with a trolley, then 7 years ago I opted for a 400ltr flat tank then 6 months ago I changed motors and got 350ltr upright I have only emptied it once and can come back home with over 50ltrs in the tank after a good days work doing 20-25 jobs, If you are smart with your water then usage can be reduced quite easily using 1mm pencil jets can potentially save up to 1/3 of water @THL4KEL @TJTOPCAT @Dave B have all been converted. 

 

[Les Gradwell]

Thanks @P4dstar some solid advice...  Reason why I want to see an accountant is for info, they give a free 1/2 hour time.  Thing is I don't know many people who are self employment,  lack of clarity and information scares me a little.  What you're saying makes a lot of sense,  no point in committing until I legally have to. But if I'm going to start this, failure is not an option and I'm dammed if I'm ever going to work for someone else again! so you're able to do a days work on 350 L @Iron Giant.  What sized van do you have?  I'm expecting to waste a lot of water to begin with but you must have cheaper running costs compared to a 500L set up. 

 

[Iron Giant]

Thanks [mention=5355]P4dstar[/mention] some solid advice...  Reason why I want to see an accountant is for info, they give a free 1/2 hour time.  Thing is I don't know many people who are self employment,  lack of clarity and information scares me a little.  What you're saying makes a lot of sense,  no point in committing until I legally have to. But if I'm going to start this, failure is not an option and I'm dammed if I'm ever going to work for someone else again! so you're able to do a days work on 350 L [mention=3115]Iron Giant[/mention].  What sized van do you have?  I'm expecting to waste a lot of water to begin with but you must have cheaper running costs compared to a 500L set up. 

I have a Vauxhall combo aka Fiat doblo with a 750kg payload and 1.3 engine, interms of water production costs I live in a soft water area and use a ro so overall not to expensive

County Durham Lad

 

[P4dstar]

Thanks [mention=5355]P4dstar[/mention] some solid advice...  Reason why I want to see an accountant is for info, they give a free 1/2 hour time.  Thing is I don't know many people who are self employment,  lack of clarity and information scares me a little.  What you're saying makes a lot of sense,  no point in committing until I legally have to. But if I'm going to start this, failure is not an option and I'm dammed if I'm ever going to work for someone else again! so you're able to do a days work on 350 L [mention=3115]Iron Giant[/mention].  What sized van do you have?  I'm expecting to waste a lot of water to begin with but you must have cheaper running costs compared to a 500L set up. 

Depending on what size van you’re planning to get the water costs are minimal.... maybe a little different if you’re on a water meter but if you have the payload to take a 500 or even a 650 tank then do it, worst case scenario is you never fill the tank.... on the other hand if you land a large commercial contract that requires a lot of water you’re already set and ready to go.

Personally I think You need to look at what you plan to do. Small vans like Iron Giants Doblo are great for domestic rounds. They’re good for domestic rounds, would probably have worked great for me with all the right country lanes round here and I will probably get something a similar size for van number 2. If you live in an urban area with lots of big roads and plan to do commercial and residential then a bigger van may work better for you. The only other benefit I can see with a small van is a lower fuel usage.


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[Craigmac]

Speaking of tanks. 

Is there any difference between flat and upright in an operational way?. 

The plan is to keep using the backpacks until my rounds increase so will be filling the backpacks via the tank. 

The only thing I can think is the upright will be better for saving room also it should have a better water pressure when it comes to filling the backpacks? Is this correct?

 

[Iron Giant]

Better off with the a upright as at a glance you can have much better indication of how much water is left in the tank, with a flat tank it can look almost empty and have in excess of of 75 ltrs just my experience with a 400ltr flat.

County Durham Lad

 

[P4dstar]

Better off with the a upright as at a glance you can have much better indication of how much water is left in the tank, with a flat tank it can look almost empty and have in excess of of 75 ltrs just my experience with a 400ltr flat.

County Durham Lad

It’s also easier to purge an upright pump as it’s easier to fill the water level past the pump height. You would need to put your pump quite low to the floor to purge with water level on a flat tank?


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[Craigmac]

It’s also easier to purge an upright pump as it’s easier to fill the water level past the pump height. You would need to put your pump quite low to the floor to purge with water level on a flat tank?


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I was thinking of just having having a tap/pipe at the bottom of the tank at the moe. Hence the upright having a better pressure via filling with gravity. 

A pump will be an addition at some point though. 

 

[P4dstar]

I was thinking of just having having a tap/pipe at the bottom of the tank at the moe. Hence the upright having a better pressure via filling with gravity. 

A pump will be an addition at some point though. 

Try one of these, it will fill in seconds instead of minutes dude;

https://gardinerpolesystems.co.uk/all-products/pump-hose/12v-submersible-pumps-hose-fittings/12-volt-submersible-water-pump-backpack-transfer-kit.html