My canvassing blog!

[Leeds]

Fair play.
Thought about it a lot but i dont think it's for me building and building and going the employees route.

Seems like too much hassle managing employees and customers. I reckon there's gotta be more lucrative avenues to explore than cleaning windows.

Nope I plan on building a good round just how I want it but no more than 3-4 days a week then I'm going to have a think what to do next

I agree. I'm getting into property as soon as the round is making good money.

 

[Chris33]

@meridion thought you were going for the biggest round in Leeds?? Property may have to wait a while.. Haha.

3/4 days a week sounds great @adamangler, my round is over four weeks (five to six days) and allows me to take week five off now, or build it up a bit I guess...in which case I'd maybe get to £4000 or so, unsure exactly.

Handy buffer for bad weather just now having week 5 fairly free though as I learn to Trad better in rain though...Guess with wfp that'll be less an issue.

 

[Leeds]

@meridion thought you were going for the biggest round in Leeds?? Property may have to wait a while.. Haha.
3/4 days a week sounds great @adamangler, my round is over four weeks (five to six days) and allows me to take week five off now, or build it up a bit I guess...in which case I'd maybe get to £4000 or so, unsure exactly.

Handy buffer for bad weather just now having week 5 fairly free though as I learn to Trad better in rain though...Guess with wfp that'll be less an issue.

Haha, currently the biggest round I have seen in Leeds is £12,000 a month (there probably is bigger), it shouldn't Take forever to beat that! I would never sell my round, no matter what I did. I'd only rent it out if I got too busy to run it.

 

[adamangler]

I agree. I'm getting into property as soon as the round is making good money.

@meridion thought you were going for the biggest round in Leeds?? Property may have to wait a while.. Haha.
3/4 days a week sounds great @adamangler, my round is over four weeks (five to six days) and allows me to take week five off now, or build it up a bit I guess...in which case I'd maybe get to £4000 or so, unsure exactly.

Handy buffer for bad weather just now having week 5 fairly free though as I learn to Trad better in rain though...Guess with wfp that'll be less an issue.

To be honest I'm getting a bit fed up of people not paying or messing about. Had a fair but of work canvassed recently and a lot of it is a pain in he **** tbh awkward access and people who think it's ok not to pay or change their mind Can't pay on onlne only clean on a Thursday etc.

I think l create my own problems as I'm really picky I won't collect so if they can't pay online or leave money out I'm not interested. I don't WaNT any have to be in for access job or those that demand a certain day. I won't work on shitty council estates and I don't want terraced where you have to drive round the back.

My round is about 1800 a month ( I also do a valeting carpets connys etc on top) Once I hit 2k that's it for me I will still advertise but only website facebook and leaflets and just pick up jobs that fit my criteria steadily. I only want jobs I enjoy cleaning.

Think I'm going to then push on with carpet cleaning and pressure washing etc bigger jobs but go farther afield to the affluent areas and am even considering moving house nearer to the posh areas of north yorkshire. just need to convince r lass lol

 

[Leeds]

To be honest I'm getting a bit fed up of people not paying or messing about. Had a fair but of work canvassed recently and a lot of it is a pain in he **** tbh awkward access and people who think it's ok not to pay or change their mind Can't pay on onlne only clean on a Thursday etc.
I think l create my own problems as I'm really picky I won't collect so if they can't pay online or leave money out I'm not interested. I don't WaNT any have to be in for access job or those that demand a certain day. I won't work on shitty council estates and I don't want terraced where you have to drive round the back.

My round is about 1800 a month ( I also do a valeting carpets connys etc on top) Once I hit 2k that's it for me I will still advertise but only website facebook and leaflets and just pick up jobs that fit my criteria steadily. I only want jobs I enjoy cleaning.

Think I'm going to then push on with carpet cleaning and pressure washing etc bigger jobs but go farther afield to the affluent areas and am even considering moving house nearer to the posh areas of north yorkshire. just need to convince r lass lol

Could just charge more Adam?

Dodgy access - no problem, how much money would it take for me to want to do it.

Particular day - no problem, how much money would it take for me to want to do it.

Etc etc... That's all I do.

 

[peter rogers]

12g is nothin for big rounds .... U won't hear of them either as the person. That owns them aren't into **** measuring contests ..

Remember it's not what others do . It Is what u do That matters

 

[boarcity]

youre so right there ^ the really big boys never come on the forums. iv only met briefly one of what i call a bigboy who runs crews in essex south of chelmsford . far as i know he doesnt even have a website but i know hes big as iv heard his name lots of times over the yrs .lord knows wat the figures are he wouldnt even tell me how many vans/cars he has out there ,they are all 2 up per van or car and non are signwritten - all kept hush hush cashee cashee. we met what seemed like by chance when in 2012 started extending my round in the Witham direction. i later changed tack and retreated back to colchester central . iv since reasoned it likely wasnt by chance we met, he was very pleasant and kept the talk light .i know i wasnt running a big enuf outfit to be of any real intrest to him i mean iv only 1 van if i had to guess hes got between 10 and 20 cars or vans which would work out 20 to 40 lads but thats a wildcard guess he certainly has 6 that i saw together one day

 

[Leeds]

youre so right there ^ the really big boys never come on the forums. iv only met briefly one of what i call a bigboy who runs crews in essex south of chelmsford . far as i know he doesnt even have a website but i know hes big as iv heard his name lots of times over the yrs .lord knows wat the figures are he wouldnt even tell me how many vans/cars he has out there ,they are all 2 up per van or car and non are signwritten - all kept hush hush cashee cashee. we met what seemed like by chance when in 2012 started extending my round in the Witham direction. i later changed tack and retreated back to colchester central . iv since reasoned it likely wasnt by chance we met, he was very pleasant and kept the talk light .i know i wasnt running a big enuf outfit to be of any real intrest to him i mean iv only 1 van if i had to guess hes got between 10 and 20 cars or vans which would work out 20 to 40 lads but thats a wildcard guess he certainly has 6 that i saw together one day

Interesting! That's impressive.

I'm gonna do it above board though haha! And I come on these forums because I find solutions to problems here, and with you guys all together, we can get the max out of our businesses and rounds efficiently.

I could easy do it all dodgy, £5 houses, £40 a day workers £20,000 round, all cash in hand. But there's no real skill and pride in that. It's like when the mafia make money, it's impressive, but it's cheating.

Building a thriving business despite the challenges the government and tax office throws at you, now that's interesting to me.

 

[DMD]

i come on here for info on traditional window cleaning. I just like to participate in other areas of the forum.

as some know i dont do residential window cleaning, we only really do new build builders cleans including the windows and you cant reach and wash a builders clean hence the trad work and info.

ive got a fairly decent sized company but the domestic stuff sounds like a head f&ck to me. i know when i put an invoice in to our contractors we get paid etc

 

[Chris33]

@DMD that's true it is harder to get paid, well in these early days anyway. But each full cycle I guess my personal aims have been to convert more people to PayPal or bacs.. Slowly slowly catch the monkey

 

[Dave B]

To be honest I'm getting a bit fed up of people not paying or messing about. Had a fair but of work canvassed recently and a lot of it is a pain in he **** tbh awkward access and people who think it's ok not to pay or change their mind Can't pay on onlne only clean on a Thursday etc.
I think l create my own problems as I'm really picky I won't collect so if they can't pay online or leave money out I'm not interested. I don't WaNT any have to be in for access job or those that demand a certain day. I won't work on shitty council estates and I don't want terraced where you have to drive round the back.

My round is about 1800 a month ( I also do a valeting carpets connys etc on top) Once I hit 2k that's it for me I will still advertise but only website facebook and leaflets and just pick up jobs that fit my criteria steadily. I only want jobs I enjoy cleaning.

Think I'm going to then push on with carpet cleaning and pressure washing etc bigger jobs but go farther afield to the affluent areas and am even considering moving house nearer to the posh areas of north yorkshire. just need to convince r lass lol

Shitty council estates!! That's where i grew up and makes me wanna work harder as my son is not growing up on one

However there is nothing wrong with them and most people are just normal people without the means to buy their own place

Not everyone is as fortunate in life as others

Don't judge whole communities of people as you don't know them

Yes you will get the rough element there as well but that is life

I would happily work on a big council estate smashing out £10-£12 semis all day

 

[adamangler]

Shitty council estates!! That's where i grew up and makes me wanna work harder as my son is not growing up on oneHowever there is nothing wrong with them and most people are just normal people without the means to buy their own place

Not everyone is as fortunate in life as others

Don't judge whole communities of people as you don't know them

Yes you will get the rough element there as well but that is life

I would happily work on a big council estate smashing out £10-£12 semis all day

Shitty council estates as in not all of them are shitty.

I currently rent an ex council house, I also rented a council house for years before this one so I've nothing against council per say. But where I live is a very small one with most of them private. Never hear a sound round here.

Although I didn't grow up on an estate I used to hang around with a lot of mates that did some of the roughest ones in leeds.

What I mean by shitty council estates is the the ones full of scoates and drug dealers. The type of gardens full of shite where you see dogs roaming free and kids on motorbikes flying up and down. The ones where the mothers have no teeth and the little kids run around playing in the road swearing.

So what I mean by shitty council estates is just that. There's brilliant people everywhere just the really rough holes I don't like working. No snobbery here but I like working in peace. Another thing is I hate dogs and why does nearly everyone on the roughest estates have to own a dog capable of ripping your leg off.

 

[peter rogers]

dont judge others by there apperance .. people surprise u. i work in rough areas of belfast . all pay on time and always tip.. if theres ever a problem they tell me and we work it out after all they no the value of a pound and wont make u wait the way some well off ones do. id rather have 1000x10 pound hoouses rather than 400x25 pound ones

 

[Dave B]

It's the normal working class people that tip you and appreciate what you do as they know what money is worth

Before i moved from london i did about 300 houses on 1 estate of maisonette flats where i lived and all paid when i knocked round in the evening

Used to do 1st and 2nd floor flats trad with ladders which is 4 actual floors high round the backs as no balconys to stand on

They are maisonettes so each flat has 2 floors

Obviously i never did the 3rd floor flats as i wasn't ever gonna go higher that 4 floors on a ladder and that was dodgy enough

This is where i learned my trad skills and good balance

The 1 with the marker is my old house on the 3rd floor

Back then it was 7 quid a flat but that is 1 cluster of windows top and bottom both sides of the block

In the late 90s that was good money and i could do **** loads in a day

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[adamangler]

dont judge others by there apperance .. people surprise u. i work in rough areas of belfast . all pay on time and always tip.. if theres ever a problem they tell me and we work it out after all they no the value of a pound and wont make u wait the way some well off ones do. id rather have 1000x10 pound hoouses rather than 400x25 pound ones

no its not that i dont these people will pay or that they are bad people, its simply that i dont like working in **** holes i cnat explain any other way than i just dont feel comfortable and i dont like it, makes the job feel a chore. Just not my cup of tea. would rather do the 400x25 quidders in nice areas where i can enjoy my surrounding regardless of who is the better payers. Just my preferance really.

 

[Dave B]

I suppose it is what you are used to

This is the first place i ever lived

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I grew up in the "hood" and as much as i do everything to make sure my family don't have to live like that and own my own house which will be 100% paid for in around 7 more years I am not ashamed of it as you deal with the cards you are dealt in life

I feel comfortable walking round these places at 2am after being out on the lash with my mates but would dread the thought of my son being out round there at night

I reckon it is just the fact i am conditioned in to feeling safe there as before i met my wife working on a job in stevenage i had always lived in the **** parts of london and knew no better

You can take the boy out of london. ...........

 

[Chris33]

@boarcity ?

Get a good laugh with many here too, and as stated they often pay easier than those big houses do.

The posher houses here are good too, gives us/me a different kind of chat while they talk about big high flying work projects etc..nice to get different perspectives.

Variety is the spice of life and all that lads.

 

[Dave B]

@Chris33 that is a listed building believe it or not

Trellick tower otherwise known as westbourne park apartments in w10 london

Had a nice view of battersea power station and shepherds Bush market out my windows

You tube it and you'll find a nice bbc documentary about it called tower of terror lol

There is a mirror image in east london called balfron tower

Built early 70s and designed by erno goldfinger (sounds like a bond villain)

I also lived on south Kilburn estate and that is dodgy even now and you'll see remains of police tape stuck on railings etc as you walk round it

Trellick tower

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South kilburn estate

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[Chris33]

More of a country guy at heart, but those are some cracking views. Will be sure to check that docu at end of week..

Bet that tower has some stories !

 

[Dave B]

I can't find it but there have been lots of filming of that place for various things and films

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[Dave B]

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