Double Glazing Business

diesel01

Good evening,

A friend of mine changed her double glazing windows and came to around £2600 for 4 windows, when I said to her that I could of got her the windows for around £1000 she almost wanted to take the phone to call the guy to take his windows back.

My business intention: I can get good quality 5/6 rooms (not sure if it's the right term) double glazing for really cheap price from a EU country.

I will take a quote from someone who posted here:

Window 1 - 2350mm x 1250mm (two side openers and one middle top) - £870

I can get that quote for 300 euro, (£220),windows opening wide and in a V(not sure if it makes sense) transport to uk will be £50 (even less per window), so I have a full window in the uk for £270 (this is just a normal quote, i'm sure I can get the price down If i buy 100 windows a month), I would be very happy If i could sell that to someone for £500 or even less, have a profit of £200-250 per window without Installation.

Now my question is: Where and would I be possible to find clients and sell them the double glazing without installation? At the beginning I'm happy to give a builder the project and charge for the installation, all windows will have a genuine 5 year's warranty.

I look forward to hearing you opinions.

CKhalvashi

http://www.wickes.co.uk/Products/Doors+Windows/Windows/uPVC-Windows+Accessories/uPVC-Windows/c/1000632

I personally think this is a non goer (only looked at the Wickes site, as I know they sell windows)

fishybusiness

Business to Business or selling to residential customers ought to be a starting point.

Find out what B2B trade prices are - there may be little margin or lots, its for you to find out.

Residential - just advertise your styles and prices and deliver. You could set up as a DG company, buy in and use trusted tradesman to fit.

You'll have to do the legwork on margins and perhaps find out what other companies are really charging.

It may be a legitimate business model, it seems more that you don't have the skill set, but have the supply. Using tradespeople to fit gives you access to the skill set.

I don't think just supplying at cheaper than UK rates is a good business model.

colino

There are lots of sources for double glazing, both here and abroad, with many of the big boys making even more on the items because they have made the investment and actually manufacture too.
Just remember the price customers recognise are those encompassing the bare item, the installation, the whole sales and marketing machine plus some form of warranty. Being a small time broker I think would just be a waste of your time.

Diesel001

http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-uPVC-A-Rated-Casement-Window-White-1010x1770mm-Side+Top-Hung/p/113074 I can get the same thing for£90.

If these big boys can get them so cheap why did they quote one of my colegue who installed last week for £3000 for 3 x 2000 x 1500 high? He had 3 people come around for quotes and all of them started off with £4500 bringing the price down to £3600, ,3300 and £3000, he said to one of the guys that X has quoted me £3000, can you do it for £2700? He said Sorry cant go that low and he walked away. I said to him that I could of got that stuff delivered to his door for £1400 including my profit of £800-£850. I dont want to be a broker, I also want to install windows, that way I maximize the profit, I'm not scared of hard work, i work 7 days a week 350 hours a month.

I can also make the double glazing myself, second hand equipment cost max 8000 euro however it's much easyer at the begining if i buy with my left hand and sell with my right hand.

Now whats my next step? Go do a course as a window fitter? I saw that in the uk it costs around £2000, as i'm refurbishing a flat back home i'm more than happy to go there and install the windows myself (dad will give me training as he worked as a builder for 15 years in the uk).

Ps: I got my first selling to my work golegue who was quoted 1500 for 2m high x 1800 (900x900) front door, factory cost price £250, he was verry happy to take it for 750 and fit it himself.

motorguy

Theres loads of people already doing this sort of stuff "on the cheap", can fit, and are probably prepared to take less margin than you.

A lot of the big players also do finance deals and 0% finance, which they're building in to their window prices. Whilst you may be able to undercut the big players, its not much use if the people buying havent the cash to pay the lump sum anyway.

lincroft1710

Your problem will be that your windows probably aren't manufactured to current relevant British Standards for different window types. Also most companies offer a 10 year guarantee on their windows and installation.

New window installations need building regs approval or a Fensa certification. Building regs approval costs money or the window purchaser has to employ a Fensa approved installer.

How easy is it to get these windows in non-standard sizes?

There is far more to this than just importing a window and selling it on.

Diesel001

No problem, I can get a fensa certificate, it does not cost a fortune.

Manufacturer offers a 5 years waranty, delivery takes max 7 days in any size any shape you want, can have them delivered in the uk in max 15-20 days.

I know its not as simple as just ordering windows and selling them on, thats why im really eager to get all the qualifications needed for this.

Thank you all for your help, it motivates me !

Any more advice? Whats the first thing I should do, etc?

lincroft1710

5 year warranty isn't good enough, I have 10 years with my windows and they still come out fairly promptly 7 years in.

motorguy

Diesel001 wrote: »

No problem, I can get a fensa certificate, it does not cost a fortune.

Manufacturer offers a 5 years waranty, delivery takes max 7 days in any size any shape you want, can have them delivered in the uk in max 15-20 days.

I know its not as simple as just ordering windows and selling them on, thats why im really eager to get all the qualifications needed for this.

Thank you all for your help, it motivates me !

Any more advice? Whats the first thing I should do, etc?

Assuming you havent found the goose that lays the golden egg, and your supplier is supplying other UK resellers, have you found them to see what their markup looks like?

What way does it look when you factor in VAT, which you will hit quite quickly i would have thought?

Are the prices you are quoting delivered to your door? is there a minimum order quantity?

What about the fitting costs? I'd have thought all window suppliers are absorbing the fitting cost into their prices too?

Advertising? How much will that cost?

Have you any thoughts on conversion ratios? ie, how many appointments and quotes do you expect to do to get a sale? If its 1 in 3, then how does factoring in your time and costs to go to those two "wasted" appointments factor in to the third one you did sell to?

Can you offer finance or interest free credit? Whats the cost to you of that?

motorguy

There are definitely people out there doing similar. I know, because i got a rental property i had done on the cheap compared to the big players prices without too much effort.

How will you compete with them?