New here and new to cleaning. Help needed :)

[Clean_dude]

Hi all,

I’m new to all of this and here hopefully for some friendly advice and help!

I’m starting to research and plan to start my own window cleaning business. I have the offer of buying a round off a close family friend and will be helping him out to see if it’s something I really fancy, before I take the plunge. But no van/equipment will come with it as he’s done a seperate deal on that, and will be sold soon.

My initial question is, am I best buying a van and converting it, or buying a van already converted?

On my initial research I would be thinking of 2 man WFP setup, filtration etc, possibly 350/500 ltr tank and small to mid van, ideally mid van.

Also, am I best investing into the round on offer, or saving that money and touting for my own work initially? Round isn’t huge, just under 100 houses and 2 small shop fronts.

Any help is appreciated and I’ll try not to drown you all with questions.

Cheers all

 

[Part Timer]

This depends on your financial position. Can you afford to buy the round and can you afford to buy the equipment. Do you need to earn money straight away.
A 350l - 500l tank is not big enough to supply 2 men with water all day, you'll need a 650l at a minimum

 

[johnny bravo]

buying a round without WFP experience is a no no. Customers can easily drop you if not happy. no loyalty off some.ask a local company to take you out for a couple of days.
even basic experience will help you. even the little things like leisure batteries and wfp fittings and reel fittings need to be known incase these come to fault.
plain sailing after that. Youtube have loads of videos to see direct if needed

 

[ched999uk]

Depends on how deep your pockets are and how much money you need to earn on day 1.
Get out with him asap, you will learn lots and see how you get on with the work and the weather. Ideally get out with him as much as you can for as long as you can - the more experience you gain the better your chances of success.
There is lots of little things to learn, it's not just the method of actually cleaning the windows but where to lay your hose so it pulls back in as easy as possible, learning how far to extend your pole on each window, building shoulder muscles, software (cleaner planner, squeegee etc) or does he still use a diary, maintaining equipment, understanding his van system will help you decide if it's something you can replicate or get someone else to install (if his tank is ratchet strapped in that is not safe and don't replicate that.

As for a 2 man system they are handy even if only 1 person is working as you have a spare on most stuff but to provide enough water for 2 people will need a big tank (as @Part Timer said, 650 lts+) and a van with a big load capacity as you need to deduct 2 people, tank, frame, water, 2 reels, 2 leisure batteries, van fuel etc from the vans load capacity to see if it's enough, I would guess that you would need a van with a 1200kg+ capacity to carry 2 people, kit and a 650lts water tank.

My biggest tip - read this forum - yes they whole lot, make lots of notes as everyone does things different and you can learn from it all.

Good luck and keep us informed - and ask questions

 

[mattybondi]

dont worry too much if you hate the job at first and defo dont overthink it .I hated it for 2 yrs but the next 15 have really enjoyed it . Also ignore friends or familys advice . Part of the reason for me hating it was a family member saying "another shyte day for you eh?" as i put on my shoes to go at 8 am. The solution was easy as it turned out,leave at 6am,before they even woke up.

 

[Clean_dude]

Thanks guys. Thanks a lot for the advice.

I will be doing the round with him before I even properly contemplate buying the round yes. So I will gain slight experience and I’ve got a good head on my shoulders and used to manual heavy work, being a former engineer, I know what work is and have a good idea how to work machinery too.

And thankfully no, this will not be my main income. I plan to create a seperate Ltd company. I do seasonal offshore work so this will fill the rest of my year in and I have people already willing to replace me when I’m away, if the round falls on my time away. If it pays off, then I may even make this full time, but that is way into the future for now.

So starting small with a smaller set up, isn’t the greatest of ideas? My plan wasn’t to jump in to the deep end, spend 15k plus on decent van and new equipment, then thousands on a starter round, to find I can’t source more work and the payments cripple the business. I was thinking more spend under 10k on van already spec’d, buy this round and go from there. Just wanted thoughts and help on this. Or would I be asking for trouble buying an older van and older equipment?

Thanks all.

 

[ched999uk]

Thanks guys. Thanks a lot for the advice.

I will be doing the round with him before I even properly contemplate buying the round yes. So I will gain slight experience and I’ve got a good head on my shoulders and used to manual heavy work, being a former engineer, I know what work is and have a good idea how to work machinery too.

And thankfully no, this will not be my main income. I plan to create a seperate Ltd company. I do seasonal offshore work so this will fill the rest of my year in and I have people already willing to replace me when I’m away, if the round falls on my time away. If it pays off, then I may even make this full time, but that is way into the future for now.

So starting small with a smaller set up, isn’t the greatest of ideas? My plan wasn’t to jump in to the deep end, spend 15k plus on decent van and new equipment, then thousands on a starter round, to find I can’t source more work and the payments cripple the business. I was thinking more spend under 10k on van already spec’d, buy this round and go from there. Just wanted thoughts and help on this. Or would I be asking for trouble buying an older van and older equipment?

Thanks all.

Depending on how much time you have you could start really small with a 'backpack' (not actually meant to be used on your back), and a waterfed pole and buy pure water from a local (if you have one) Spotless Water site. I started with a Gardiner backpack, slx27 pole and I bought a 150GPD Reverse Osmosis system to make pure water (it's slow, maybe 300lts pure per 24 hrs), 6 x 25lts barrels and worked from my car. I did that for about 6 months while gaining customers and seeing if I liked the work.

You mention being an engineer, so you might be able to turn your hand to building a system and mounting it in a van yourself. Ideally look for a crash tested tank frame - maybe have that installed by a pro as that may be safer. The pump and controller are simple and an RO isn't difficult at all.