Business with low entry costs and low running costs

[pete_esp]

I'm not looking but I've seen other threads looking for ideas along these lines.

So I'm working from and every green bin day I watch a chap in a van roll along my street after the bins have been emptied cleaning the bins. I've just watched him clean 5 in about 10 minutes, I'm guessing £5 a go though I think he's putting his prices up as he's popping fliers on the top of every bin when he's finished.

So that's £25 for 10 minutes work, he must easlily be getting about £40-£60 per hour. His only cost as far as I can tell are
1. a 15 year old van + running costs
2. a pressure washer
3. some sort of water tank which he fills up from the mains, I've watched him do it he has a mains key
4. Water proof dungerees & gloves
5. something he sprays in the bin when rinsed, anti bac or bin perfume I guess

Thats it!

Good on him I reckon, from what I can tell its an absolute money spinner but I have no idea why anyone pays to have their bin cleaned.

(I also assume he follows the green bin collection van which must be out 5 days a week in my council area)

[037]

Money in muck as they say. A bin clean around here is about £3. always imaging going collecting the money will take as long as doing the job though.
Food seems to be a good money maker too.

[Zetec-S]

pete_esp said:

3. some sort of water tank which he fills up from the mains, I've watched him do it he has a mains key

In his spare time perhaps he operates a waste collection service and just fly tips it? I hear there's good margins on that as well.

[willetttiger]

Putting all customers on direct debit(gocardless) takes the pain out of collecting bin cleaning can be a bit of a nightmare when the bins cannot be empied for some reason difficult to park up on some streets window cleaning is probably easier easily £250 to £400 per day once you have built your round up

[StevieBee]

pete_esp said:

I have no idea why anyone pays to have their bin cleaned.

Have a sniff and look in your food waste bin in June ;-)

It can be good money but is hard graft. We used to have a Father/Daughter company that did ours. They'd be at ours at 7am and I'd often see them in the next town still out at 5 or 6 in the afternoon.