July 8, 2024 • 11 mins
Welcome to episode two! In this episode, we dive into the essentials required to kickstart your guttering business. From transport options to the tools you'll need, we cover all the basics to get you up and running efficiently and cost-effectively.
First, we discuss transport and the importance of having a clean, tidy vehicle. Whether you start with a small car or a van, your presentation matters. Next, we talk about the necessary uniform and why looking smart can set you apart from competitors.
We then go over the essential tools, including ladders, buckets, sponges, brushes, and a basic toolbox for repairs. We also highlight the importance of investing wisely in equipment without going into debt. Finally, we touch on budget-friendly advertising strategies to attract your first clients.
Tune in to learn how to start your guttering business on a solid foundation without breaking the bank. Join us for more practical advice and tips in future episodes!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to episode two. I'm going to just talk quickly about what you actually
need to get started in a guttering business then.
So I'm going to keep it pretty brief and in time we will go through a lot of
these details in more detail, or a lot of these things in more detail.
But for now, I'm just going to get right to it then.
So first thing then obviously you need is transport. support in theory if you're
(00:24):
very young and just getting started that could be a parent or someone else taking
you between jobs you could also walk between jobs but i wouldn't advise that
you're going to have quite a bit of stuff to carry about so really a vehicle's needed whether that be.
Someone taking you a friend or possibly even
(00:44):
your employee as such if you didn't drive and
you had someone works for you who does um you could
but ideally you want to get to the point where you can drive and have
at least a car now ideally you want
a van that's what I have I have a van now but I did start with
a car and I started with a
Renault Clio which if you google that that's a
(01:05):
C-L-I-O you will see it is a very
small car I had that I had a very small trailer
behind that very small car and in the trailer
I had ladders and buckets and hose
and I went just house to house in those
early days and it worked fine and i
would say especially if money's tight or you're
(01:26):
just getting started or you don't want to invest in
a van straight away a car will work fine now even
without a trailer in theory you could have a car with roof
racks or roof bars on top of the car your ladders
on top and everything else thrown in the back
of the car it could work and in saying
that a car a clean car and a clean person turning up with a uniform of some
(01:51):
sort on would look a lot better than someone coming and rusty van hasn't been
washed the equipment's all dirty and broken or is badly worn.
And turning up wearing a pair of tracksuit bottoms, pair of trainers and a vest or something, you know.
So perceptions a lot, especially if you want to have good quality clients in
(02:16):
time and to be able to charge what you're worth as well.
And presentation, first impressions, they're all important things.
And I would advise you to, whether it's a car you're coming in or a van,
that you're looking smart.
It doesn't mean you have to spend a huge amount on
uniforms and embroidered logos and
(02:37):
this and that but if you have a smart pair of work trousers
with knee pads for instance built in lots of sort of pockets there that the
whole things is handy you have that pair of the other work boots or like work
shoes that have to have good grip on the bottom of them for being on slippy
surfaces such as the ladders and maybe some low roofs,
(02:58):
that and a polo neck shirt always looks
smart with maybe a jumper or body warmer
or coat and also then
your waterproof some waterproofs you're going to need as well depending on your
own climate but here we get plenty of rain and can also be cool in the winter
so you want to be prepared for the wet and a dot beanie or a cap again if you're
(03:21):
not having it all logoed up i I would just advise playing to,
it'll just look smart.
And darker colors are better. It'll cover the dirt as well.
And yeah, so how you look is very important and how you turn up.
But obviously, I don't want to advise you to get into debt to go and buy a van.
And when you don't have customers, you don't have the concept of it all working out.
(03:46):
So yeah, get in where you fit in as far as a vehicle.
But I advise you to have it clean, tidy. and yourself smart.
And if you turn up like that, you're going to turn up smarter than 90% of other people.
So that's the first thing then is transport a uniform, then ladders.
That's the next one, which...
You're talking maybe a brand new set of ladders. I think the last set that I
(04:10):
bought, which was a three section ladder,
which will go up to 10 meters, 30 feet, and will cover most three story buildings
around here, was maybe about £300, maybe that's about $400 or so.
Again, you can get secondhand. If you're getting secondhand,
then you need to look at the feet of the ladder.
(04:32):
Are they all worn in which case
they'll need replaced also the rungs of the ladder is
there cracks in them as they're dense in them where the ladders of
each section have been hitting each other so you want
to want to be careful if you're buying second hand i'd advise if possible to
get a new set but again it comes it comes down to money and i don't advise you
(04:53):
to be going into debt for this business you shouldn't need to it's a it's a
cash flow business which is you know you You do the job, you get paid,
you get that money, you reinvest it back into the business,
you buy the next tool that you need, and you can build it up very gradually.
So that's how I've done it. I never went into debt. I never borrowed any money
for starting a business at any stage of the business, whether that be buying equipment.
(05:18):
I didn't borrow money for buying vans. I own my vans. I pay cash for them.
And if possible, I would advise you to do the same.
There's just a piece when you're starting a business and
you know you don't have like loan payments every
month to pay pay for it also then when you get paid a couple hundred pound for
(05:38):
a job that that money is going into your hand and not into and having to go
into monthly payments and stuff so yeah so you've got your transport your uniform
your ladder you want buckets sponges.
Brushes brush shovel for tidying up the
ground if you make a mess a garden hose or two is
better to make sure you can get around even the bigger properties
(06:01):
the fittings and stuff that go with that you'll need other
things you would need maybe some cleaning solutions for cleaning
those or washing the outsides of the guttering also let's
see we have like a pole system for awkward sections of houses where we can't
maybe get the ladders up to where the debris is in the in the gutter so we have
(06:23):
to use poles to pull the debris along to to where we are on the ladder and then
we can lift it out so i can talk about all these and in more detail at some stage but.
For now this is this is the basics toolbox then for doing
repairs so we do clean outs we do wash
downs of guttering so the insides we clean out outsides
if people want that done and also then repairs such as
(06:46):
broken clips or brackets or joins or
sections of guttering that are sagging or
falling off then we're doing that so the tools you
need for that toolbox and then the three most
expensive tools that we have each around 100 pound
maybe 120 130 dollars
that might be each would be a drill and
(07:08):
these are all bought new so again if you can't afford new then
i would advise you to get something second hand
or get a budget one that'll do the job well
you're not using these all day every day so they're
maybe used here there an hour or so a day
so they don't need to be the high-end stuff i wouldn't
advise ban that high-end stuff to start with once you have the money and you
(07:28):
want to do that then yeah work away and get get the stuff you want we used the
waltz stuff which i think sort of middle of the road and it's perfect it's been
really reliable even in the rain with tools getting wet it's still they're still
working away there and they're great so a drill.
And then impact driver you could use just a screwdriver impact driver is more
(07:50):
efficient so So again, if you don't have money for an impact driver,
use a screwdriver in time then, get an impact driver.
And then a multi-tool, which I've only had the last maybe two years and wish
I had bought it 20 years ago.
It's really, really good just for cutting and awkward spots.
It's a great tool. So let's replace my hacksaw.
(08:10):
Yeah, so those three are great if you can. In theory, if you could only buy
one of them, it would be the drill, but they're well-paid for themselves.
As you make money and they're making more efficient,
yeah those are the three tools you need hammer screwdrivers raw plugs and screws and maybe a.
(08:33):
Pair of pliers and just just basic the rest of the tools you know you could
get easily for 100 pound so 400 pound brand new toolbox and tools which would
get you very far you could probably do the same on a real budget for 100 and
maybe have to not get the impact driver for for instance,
or not get the, sorry, the multi-tool.
(08:55):
So your toolbox, you've got buckets and your hose and you've got brush,
shovel, ladders, uniform, and your transport.
That is the main things or that's the main equipment that you need.
It's, you see, that's not a lot really, and you can do so many jobs with that
amount of equipment. So that's all you need really.
(09:16):
I think if you were really taking away the vehicle or your transports in,
presuming that you have a car, you need it and you need roof bars,
which might be a couple of hundred pounds to get installed.
So say your roof bars, your ladder, your uniform, and all those tools,
you could definitely do it for a thousand pound, you know, getting maybe some
(09:37):
secondhand stuff there.
So a thousand to 1500 pound would get you far and getting the equipment that you need to get started.
It obviously you don't have any customers at that stage but we can talk
about that and again there's ways of doing that a very
cost effective you don't need to be going and piling a load
of money into google ads or facebook ads at
this stage there's there's with business there's
(10:00):
either you have two things you've either time or you have you
have money if you have money you can do some
of these things quicker in a sense or you can
save your time by spending money on them like
advertising advertising but if you don't have money then you've got
time and that means you have time to go and knock
doors or ways of advertising
(10:21):
that are free but they're maybe a bit more time intensive so that's another
episode we can talk about that so thanks for tuning in to this one i've got
a busy day here ahead of about three jobs to get through today so i'm going
to crack on with that and hopefully catch you on the next episode thanks.
Welcome to episode two. I'm going to just talk quickly about what you actually
need to get started in a guttering business then.
So I'm going to keep it pretty brief and in time we will go through a lot of
these details in more detail, or a lot of these things in more detail.
But for now, I'm just going to get right to it then.
So first thing then obviously you need is transport. support in theory if you're
(00:24):
very young and just getting started that could be a parent or someone else taking
you between jobs you could also walk between jobs but i wouldn't advise that
you're going to have quite a bit of stuff to carry about so really a vehicle's needed whether that be.
Someone taking you a friend or possibly even
(00:44):
your employee as such if you didn't drive and
you had someone works for you who does um you could
but ideally you want to get to the point where you can drive and have
at least a car now ideally you want
a van that's what I have I have a van now but I did start with
a car and I started with a
Renault Clio which if you google that that's a
(01:05):
C-L-I-O you will see it is a very
small car I had that I had a very small trailer
behind that very small car and in the trailer
I had ladders and buckets and hose
and I went just house to house in those
early days and it worked fine and i
would say especially if money's tight or you're
(01:26):
just getting started or you don't want to invest in
a van straight away a car will work fine now even
without a trailer in theory you could have a car with roof
racks or roof bars on top of the car your ladders
on top and everything else thrown in the back
of the car it could work and in saying
that a car a clean car and a clean person turning up with a uniform of some
(01:51):
sort on would look a lot better than someone coming and rusty van hasn't been
washed the equipment's all dirty and broken or is badly worn.
And turning up wearing a pair of tracksuit bottoms, pair of trainers and a vest or something, you know.
So perceptions a lot, especially if you want to have good quality clients in
(02:16):
time and to be able to charge what you're worth as well.
And presentation, first impressions, they're all important things.
And I would advise you to, whether it's a car you're coming in or a van,
that you're looking smart.
It doesn't mean you have to spend a huge amount on
uniforms and embroidered logos and
(02:37):
this and that but if you have a smart pair of work trousers
with knee pads for instance built in lots of sort of pockets there that the
whole things is handy you have that pair of the other work boots or like work
shoes that have to have good grip on the bottom of them for being on slippy
surfaces such as the ladders and maybe some low roofs,
(02:58):
that and a polo neck shirt always looks
smart with maybe a jumper or body warmer
or coat and also then
your waterproof some waterproofs you're going to need as well depending on your
own climate but here we get plenty of rain and can also be cool in the winter
so you want to be prepared for the wet and a dot beanie or a cap again if you're
(03:21):
not having it all logoed up i I would just advise playing to,
it'll just look smart.
And darker colors are better. It'll cover the dirt as well.
And yeah, so how you look is very important and how you turn up.
But obviously, I don't want to advise you to get into debt to go and buy a van.
And when you don't have customers, you don't have the concept of it all working out.
(03:46):
So yeah, get in where you fit in as far as a vehicle.
But I advise you to have it clean, tidy. and yourself smart.
And if you turn up like that, you're going to turn up smarter than 90% of other people.
So that's the first thing then is transport a uniform, then ladders.
That's the next one, which...
You're talking maybe a brand new set of ladders. I think the last set that I
(04:10):
bought, which was a three section ladder,
which will go up to 10 meters, 30 feet, and will cover most three story buildings
around here, was maybe about £300, maybe that's about $400 or so.
Again, you can get secondhand. If you're getting secondhand,
then you need to look at the feet of the ladder.
(04:32):
Are they all worn in which case
they'll need replaced also the rungs of the ladder is
there cracks in them as they're dense in them where the ladders of
each section have been hitting each other so you want
to want to be careful if you're buying second hand i'd advise if possible to
get a new set but again it comes it comes down to money and i don't advise you
(04:53):
to be going into debt for this business you shouldn't need to it's a it's a
cash flow business which is you know you You do the job, you get paid,
you get that money, you reinvest it back into the business,
you buy the next tool that you need, and you can build it up very gradually.
So that's how I've done it. I never went into debt. I never borrowed any money
for starting a business at any stage of the business, whether that be buying equipment.
(05:18):
I didn't borrow money for buying vans. I own my vans. I pay cash for them.
And if possible, I would advise you to do the same.
There's just a piece when you're starting a business and
you know you don't have like loan payments every
month to pay pay for it also then when you get paid a couple hundred pound for
(05:38):
a job that that money is going into your hand and not into and having to go
into monthly payments and stuff so yeah so you've got your transport your uniform
your ladder you want buckets sponges.
Brushes brush shovel for tidying up the
ground if you make a mess a garden hose or two is
better to make sure you can get around even the bigger properties
(06:01):
the fittings and stuff that go with that you'll need other
things you would need maybe some cleaning solutions for cleaning
those or washing the outsides of the guttering also let's
see we have like a pole system for awkward sections of houses where we can't
maybe get the ladders up to where the debris is in the in the gutter so we have
(06:23):
to use poles to pull the debris along to to where we are on the ladder and then
we can lift it out so i can talk about all these and in more detail at some stage but.
For now this is this is the basics toolbox then for doing
repairs so we do clean outs we do wash
downs of guttering so the insides we clean out outsides
if people want that done and also then repairs such as
(06:46):
broken clips or brackets or joins or
sections of guttering that are sagging or
falling off then we're doing that so the tools you
need for that toolbox and then the three most
expensive tools that we have each around 100 pound
maybe 120 130 dollars
that might be each would be a drill and
(07:08):
these are all bought new so again if you can't afford new then
i would advise you to get something second hand
or get a budget one that'll do the job well
you're not using these all day every day so they're
maybe used here there an hour or so a day
so they don't need to be the high-end stuff i wouldn't
advise ban that high-end stuff to start with once you have the money and you
(07:28):
want to do that then yeah work away and get get the stuff you want we used the
waltz stuff which i think sort of middle of the road and it's perfect it's been
really reliable even in the rain with tools getting wet it's still they're still
working away there and they're great so a drill.
And then impact driver you could use just a screwdriver impact driver is more
(07:50):
efficient so So again, if you don't have money for an impact driver,
use a screwdriver in time then, get an impact driver.
And then a multi-tool, which I've only had the last maybe two years and wish
I had bought it 20 years ago.
It's really, really good just for cutting and awkward spots.
It's a great tool. So let's replace my hacksaw.
(08:10):
Yeah, so those three are great if you can. In theory, if you could only buy
one of them, it would be the drill, but they're well-paid for themselves.
As you make money and they're making more efficient,
yeah those are the three tools you need hammer screwdrivers raw plugs and screws and maybe a.
(08:33):
Pair of pliers and just just basic the rest of the tools you know you could
get easily for 100 pound so 400 pound brand new toolbox and tools which would
get you very far you could probably do the same on a real budget for 100 and
maybe have to not get the impact driver for for instance,
or not get the, sorry, the multi-tool.
(08:55):
So your toolbox, you've got buckets and your hose and you've got brush,
shovel, ladders, uniform, and your transport.
That is the main things or that's the main equipment that you need.
It's, you see, that's not a lot really, and you can do so many jobs with that
amount of equipment. So that's all you need really.
(09:16):
I think if you were really taking away the vehicle or your transports in,
presuming that you have a car, you need it and you need roof bars,
which might be a couple of hundred pounds to get installed.
So say your roof bars, your ladder, your uniform, and all those tools,
you could definitely do it for a thousand pound, you know, getting maybe some
(09:37):
secondhand stuff there.
So a thousand to 1500 pound would get you far and getting the equipment that you need to get started.
It obviously you don't have any customers at that stage but we can talk
about that and again there's ways of doing that a very
cost effective you don't need to be going and piling a load
of money into google ads or facebook ads at
this stage there's there's with business there's
(10:00):
either you have two things you've either time or you have you
have money if you have money you can do some
of these things quicker in a sense or you can
save your time by spending money on them like
advertising advertising but if you don't have money then you've got
time and that means you have time to go and knock
doors or ways of advertising
(10:21):
that are free but they're maybe a bit more time intensive so that's another
episode we can talk about that so thanks for tuning in to this one i've got
a busy day here ahead of about three jobs to get through today so i'm going
to crack on with that and hopefully catch you on the next episode thanks.
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