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Advice on buying a round

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Clarkus84

Clarkus84

Well-known member
Messages
238
Location
Ballynahinch county down
Hey lads, got a message earlier today from a lad I know saying he is going to sell his round and he's asked me if I would be interested before he puts it up. There's 350 houses on it. Obviously I'm very interested and we haven't discussed money yet but I'm sure he'll be looking a good chunk of money. How exactly would I go about buying it? If I was going to try and get a loan could I take the books to show the banks potential income etc.... My heads going a million miles an hour here, lol!! 

 
Clarkus84 said:
Hey lads, got a message earlier today from a lad I know saying he is going to sell his round and he's asked me if I would be interested before he puts it up. There's 350 houses on it. Obviously I'm very interested and we haven't discussed money yet but I'm sure he'll be looking a good chunk of money. How exactly would I go about buying it? If I was going to try and get a loan could I take the books to show the banks potential income etc.... My heads going a million miles an hour here, lol!! 
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In my experience the bank will take into account the yearly earnings of the value of the work but ultimately as there is no contract in place and is done on good will so they will be reluctant to lend money on that basis. Failing that apply for a personal loan as that’s what I did. If it’s off someone you know personally then you should be able to judge his character to make sure he’s not going to rip you off. Again though as everything is done on good will so you can’t really draw up any sort of official contract and most of these transactions are done with a gentlemen’s agreement. 

 
Yeah, I've known the guy for years and I know he's not too fond of the windows. I'm just thinking it's maybe too good a chance to let slip. It would mean I'd be going full time on my own which I'd love and no doubt bring in a decent wage 

 
I think this would be better in chit chat section. 

My advice is this.

when we have sold a round, we have taken the buyer and introduced him to the customers, if they haven’t been in we have left them a note with the name of who is taking over. We have given him a full excel sheet of numbers, names, streets etc. 

When we bought a round years ago, we worked along with the seller for a few days, then it re-assured us and the customer accompanied by excel sheets once again. 

Both ways worked well. This way you get to know how the work is carried out, making sure he or she has kept up to it properly etc. 

Hope it works out for you

 
Just back from seeing the guy. He's looking 6k and is going to give me his RO system too. Basically the rounds will bring in over 1k a week but he says I'd probably need someone with me as there is a lot of work there. I seen some of it is underpriced but there's definitely some good work in there too. Very very tempted!!!! 

 
£1k a week for a £6k investment is to good to be true surely? 

so for your £6k investment your buying yourself a £52k a year (give or take) business.  which turns profitable after week 6. I would jump at it in a heartbeat but I am not a trusting person and like above too good to be true. Either that or he really hates windows lol

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Part Timer said:
Sounds cheap, at least half price, so if you trust the guy to be genuine then it's a no brainer. 
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I was expecting more around 12k to be honest. There's definitely some poorly priced stuff in it, some I'd definitely drop too but 6k really isn't that much,especially for a ready made business 

Craigmac said:
£1k a week for a £6k investment is to good to be true surely? 

so for your £6k investment your buying yourself a £52k a year (give or take) business.  which turns profitable after week 6. I would jump at it in a heartbeat but I am not a trusting person and like above too good to be true. Either that or he really hates windows lol
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He really does hate Windows ??

He's had the business running 10 years and has mainly had people doing the work for him in that time. He just can't be arsed anymore 

 
If monthly thats an average of £12.40 per job. - 18 - 19 jobs per day.  

Take it, the under priced stuff bump up to fair prices with an expectation of loss, the true **** get shot. 

Even if you lose 50 -75 of them it's still sounds a deal.  

 
i'm more of a cautious guy, and when I saw this post this morning I spent a lot of time thinking about how i'd  react in this situation.

6k for a round that takes 1k a week, I think we are all doing the numbers and saying go for it.

when you go back through the previous comments the op is part time hoping to make that jump to full time, and fair does this seems the perfect answer- but is it?.

the seller has said you may need a hand in completing the work  quick translation, it takes two men to do the round 5 days a  week so that 1k becomes £500 per man per week and its not all good paying work either

£100 per day per man minus the tax and ni that leaves barely anything for overheads and investment for the future, god forbid if you employ someone as he needs 28 days a year holiday which you have to pay for, also factor in the bad weather bank holidays etc, are you geared up for this? the equipment you may have now would suit your needs but if you are turning over 1k a week it will need more than a backpack and a clx 27 to achieve this (i'm not being derogatory or knocking you down by the way- just being realistic) you would need a van mounted stystem  kitted out for two men an ro capable of producing water to suit just to step up  things and make it work for the moment, behind the scenes do you have the proper accounting software to cope with all this? also round software is a must from day one.

another question to ask yourself why don't the lads he employs want the work to do themselves?, maybe the seller has a problem selling the work- as you said he employs lads to do the work so I see that as he doesn't do that much work really, ask also about payments does he collect or is it all cardless or bacs? 

I would tread very carefully on this one as it is an offer too good to be true on the face of it otherwise why sell a round when he has guys working it

 
kevinc250 said:
i'm more of a cautious guy, and when I saw this post this morning I spent a lot of time thinking about how i'd  react in this situation.

6k for a round that takes 1k a week, I think we are all doing the numbers and saying go for it.

when you go back through the previous comments the op is part time hoping to make that jump to full time, and fair does this seems the perfect answer- but is it?.

the seller has said you may need a hand in completing the work  quick translation, it takes two men to do the round 5 days a  week so that 1k becomes £500 per man per week and its not all good paying work either

£100 per day per man minus the tax and ni that leaves barely anything for overheads and investment for the future, god forbid if you employ someone as he needs 28 days a year holiday which you have to pay for, also factor in the bad weather bank holidays etc, are you geared up for this? the equipment you may have now would suit your needs but if you are turning over 1k a week it will need more than a backpack and a clx 27 to achieve this (i'm not being derogatory or knocking you down by the way- just being realistic) you would need a van mounted stystem  kitted out for two men an ro capable of producing water to suit just to step up  things and make it work for the moment, behind the scenes do you have the proper accounting software to cope with all this? also round software is a must from day one.

another question to ask yourself why don't the lads he employs want the work to do themselves?, maybe the seller has a problem selling the work- as you said he employs lads to do the work so I see that as he doesn't do that much work really, ask also about payments does he collect or is it all cardless or bacs? 

I would tread very carefully on this one as it is an offer too good to be true on the face of it otherwise why sell a round when he has guys working it
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why would you pay a staff member the same as yourself (being the owner) 5 hours a day @ £10 per hour x 5 days = £250 for the staff which leave £750 for the owner. 

having a good accountant will save you more than the accountant actually costs.

agree with the equipment upgrade. Still making more than enough to justify the costs.

I also agree that it looks to good to be true.

 
It would be too many unknowns for me I think. As the others have said, you'd think if it was that good one of his work colleagues would take it on. The thought of bank loans and 6k debt before you start. That would be a worry too far for me, personally. Like the other guys, I'm not trying to put a damper on it. We're trying to watch your back. Enthusiasm is great and it's pretty much essential for quality of life to try to enjoy self employment. However it's essential to be cautious too. Is expanding your round yourself an option? 

Good luck, whatever you decide. 

 
Personally if he's your mate see if he will let you work to buy, so you do the work he gets the money for 6 months, working for nothing but its the same if you get a loan.

Some questions i would ask is how do the customers pay like a grand a week might sound great but if you are chasing 900 of it knocking doors and burning fuel and time, it soon takes a chunk out of the profits. 

i would also knock up the prices of the low payers if they leave that's fine you don't need them.

id sooner lose a customer who pay me £8 and gain one who pays me 15 - 20. 

And don't forget GDPR when hes handing you data of customers it all needs to be protected and so on  

 
Well I've decided against buying it after all. Although my round is small at the moment I don't mind building it up slowly with well priced jobs. He will probably sell it to another guy from the town who has a few lads working for him. At least I now know I can go out canvassing and wouldn't be taking work from a mate. I'd be happy with 2/3 days a week on the windows and the rest of the time doing add ons as I'm starting to get bigger jobs now where honestly I can make more money. 

Yeah, it was bringing in a grand a week but after paying someone to work with me, fuel, tax etc I'd probably be no better off than I am now as I work for a landscaping firm 3/4 days a week as well as my own stuff. 

Maybe I've made the right decision or maybe the wrong one, who knows. I'll keep soldiering on building at my own pace. There's plenty of work out there, money to be made.it's all good lads!!! 

 
Clarkus84 said:
Maybe I've made the right decision or maybe the wrong one, who knows. I'll keep soldiering on building at my own pace. There's plenty of work out there, money to be made.it's all good lads!!! 
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The good thing is you've made the decision. Never look back, just learn, and never regret. We've all made decisions that were wrong and we've all made decisions that were right. Don't gloat on the good ones and don't regret the bad ones. 

 
kevinc250 said:
i'm more of a cautious guy, and when I saw this post this morning I spent a lot of time thinking about how i'd  react in this situation.

6k for a round that takes 1k a week, I think we are all doing the numbers and saying go for it.

when you go back through the previous comments the op is part time hoping to make that jump to full time, and fair does this seems the perfect answer- but is it?.

the seller has said you may need a hand in completing the work  quick translation, it takes two men to do the round 5 days a  week so that 1k becomes £500 per man per week and its not all good paying work either

£100 per day per man minus the tax and ni that leaves barely anything for overheads and investment for the future, god forbid if you employ someone as he needs 28 days a year holiday which you have to pay for, also factor in the bad weather bank holidays etc, are you geared up for this? the equipment you may have now would suit your needs but if you are turning over 1k a week it will need more than a backpack and a clx 27 to achieve this (i'm not being derogatory or knocking you down by the way- just being realistic) you would need a van mounted stystem  kitted out for two men an ro capable of producing water to suit just to step up  things and make it work for the moment, behind the scenes do you have the proper accounting software to cope with all this? also round software is a must from day one.

another question to ask yourself why don't the lads he employs want the work to do themselves?, maybe the seller has a problem selling the work- as you said he employs lads to do the work so I see that as he doesn't do that much work really, ask also about payments does he collect or is it all cardless or bacs? 

I would tread very carefully on this one as it is an offer too good to be true on the face of it otherwise why sell a round when he has guys working it
Click to expand...


Very wise advice  , the only thing I would add is maybe dump the poor paying work or dramatically increase the price of it either way it’s a win win , or sell off some so that you can work on your own save employing , keep the good stuff you want and for 6k you have a decent income 

 
As long as you feel that the choice you've made for you is the right choice then happy days. Remember where some people feel they might need an employee or a helper other people feel they still don't have enough work to take on an employee or helper even though all-rounds are the same size. For example our staff would do 150 jobs per week as a one man van where as somebody else may feel to do 150 jobs in a week they would need an assistant or two men to a van. So his idea of needing a helper may have been very different to your idea of needing help. Especially if he did not enjoy doing the glass anyway and was subbing the work off to other people.

 

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