AMayze'n'Glaze
FROM CLEANING WINDOWS TO BIG BUSINESS
Foundation East gives window cleaner a helping hand to expand his empire
When Andrew Mayze offered to wash a friend’s windows he never imagined it would lead to a major career change. Support from community finance organisation Foundation East has helped Andrew get his foot on the ladder of his own business venture.
Andrew Mayze was a senior manager in a retail organisation, with a lifestyle to match. When the company he was working for went under in the recession and he was made redundant, he sent out hundreds of job applications but found he was often rejected for being over qualified.
“I had always worked and was becoming really frustrated being at home,” Andrew explains. “I was having a moan when a friend said jokingly ‘As you've got some time on your hands, you couldn't give my windows a going over could you?’ I agreed and it was a life-changing decision.
“I borrowed some ladders from another friend and armed with a bucket and a couple of cloths I started to clean the windows. Then passers-by kept asking me if I was a window cleaner and if I could clean their windows. So I said yes and it all took off from there.”
When Andrew first started out, he had just two cloths. But he quickly built up the business and realised that he would need to purchase a van.
The dad-of-two said: “I could have run the business out of the back of an old car, but I wanted to be seen as a professional and reliable window cleaner so a van was essential to the success of the business. Trips to banks for funding were futile, but Foundation East was great and loaned me the money. I’ve picked up loads of jobs from people seeing the van with the company name on.”
Bob Shimmon, Business Loans Manager for Foundation East, says:
“At Foundation East the decision to loan money is made by a panel of members many of whom are in business themselves and understand the challenges that entrepreneurs face. If the business plan and the cash flow analysis are realistic then we are able to take into account other factors like the strength of the management skills and a gap in the market.”
With many years in the retail sector, Andrew knew how important it was to promote his company and to be perceived as reliable and consistent. He said:
“I put hundreds of leaflets through doors and always let people know when I was coming by calling and sending text messages. I was also helped by an experienced professional cleaner, who took me out and gave me some tips, and I also practiced on my conservatory at home to get faster. Window cleaning looks easy but that’s only because you see professionals doing it!”
Foundation East is a membership organisation that provides loans to small businesses of up to £50,000. The organisation does not use credit scoring to make a decision, but instead looks at the business plan, cash-flow projections and plans for the future.
By March 2010, Andrew, who is based in Marston Moreteyne, was working full time and had a customer base of 300. He has diversified and the company now also offers conservatory cleaning, gutter clearance and pressure-cleaning of patios and decking, in addition to the windows.
But the work is seasonal so he has set up a secondary business with a business partner to help him get through the winter months when demand for window cleaning drops and conditions make working too difficult.
Through his second business, Andrew sells professional cleaning products to his window cleaning customers and his partner is currently selling the same products business to business. Both businesses are thriving and Andrew is even considering taking on an apprentice window cleaner.
He feels the financial support of Foundation East has been very important to the success of his business.
Andrew said: “My attempts to get funding from banks hit a brick wall. I found out about Foundation East via the Business Link website. I wrote a business plan for them and it all went from there. They were able to lend me the £3000 I needed for the van and that has been a spring board for the company.”
For more information about Andrew’s business, go to www.amayzenglaze.co.uk