Welcome to the UK Window Cleaning Forums

Starting or own a window cleaning business? We're a network of window cleaners sharing advice, tips & experience. Rounds for sale & more. Join us today!

Register Log in

Please help! New career, new start....

ECLM
WCF

Help Support WCF:

I've always used b&q diy ladders, and they've never let me down, cheap and really sturdy and light..

 
Most will have a selection of different size ladders most suited for the task in hand. Would be not good humping a 12 rung triple about all day if your not going to be needing the extra height.

 
if you have some cash lying around for you to set up a bussiness then good for you, the quickest way is to buy your self some work, get a bit of experience , buy yourself materials to clean traditionally, scrims, blades, applicators, different sizes, ohh and a BUCKET. a £1 one will do. start cleaning your own, YOUTUBE will guide you through. ask some local window cleaners if you can come out for a few hours to see if its for you, just google your area for window cleaners,.

they may sell you some work or ask for your help as and when.

i cleaned all ladder work for 20+ years. i now have a van and mostly waterfed pole work. no good for you if you dont have customers and experience in trad or wfp.

you need customers, have you storage for ladders etc.

check ebay, gumtree for window cleaning rounds for sale, or put one in yourself.

no point wasting a lot of cash if you got no income coming in.

CANVASS yourself. a couple of note books, try it. you may not like this bit.

but it guarantees you work straight away.

 
ive just noticed you want to go straight into waterfed pole cleaning, YOUTUBE will show you.

yes you must have some cash to spend.

you can always sell it on if it dosent work out.

we all love a bargain.

just get your ro system first to get pure water set up going, once you can sort this out you can then look to get working,

 
you can always buy work for a good price, this will get you motivated, no customers no money to recoup your outgoing expense,

you can then have 3 holidays a year, get up when you want, finish when you want,or when nature stops you.

do it all when it suits you.

This is what keeps me doing this.

+ the £20-£30 per hour.

ohh and the cougars showing you there bits. unless im just my customers , perks of the job

you dont need any permission off any one to do what you like and when.

 
Keep your money in the bank incase you don't like it.You don't need a van yet.

Start canvassing today.

Good luck amigo!
Click to expand...
Many thanks for replying, I'll take your advice with me. Leaflets definitely near the top of my to-do list. I'll get cracking.

 
As for ladders trade rated ones are what you need

Diy ones are not h&s rated like trade ones and only designed for occasional usage

Trade ones are rated to 130kilo and won't fail on you

 
you can always buy work for a good price, this will get you motivated, no customers no money to recoup your outgoing expense,

you can then have 3 holidays a year, get up when you want, finish when you want,or when nature stops you.

do it all when it suits you.

This is what keeps me doing this.

+ the £20-£30 per hour.

ohh and the cougars showing you there bits. unless im just my customers , perks of the job

you dont need any permission off any one to do what you like and when.
Click to expand...
Perks. Love it. I've got a little cash to invest. Accept that it might not get much use at first, but I was thinking that I would prefer to buy once and have kit that makes the job easier, rather than struggle with rubbish. I've taken on board the comments people have kindly provided on here, and the consensus is to buy some quality trad kit so I've done that.

You mention the benefits of the job Johnny and they're exactly what has attracted me to it - the main one being flexibility and less stress than I'm dealing with at present. And I currently get to see no bits (wife excluded of course - but that's no perk).

 
Welcome @Smiffy

From what I've read so far it sounds as though you've got the potential to do well in this job mainly cause you have been open & receptive to what the lads have already said. Their advice is spot on and it's not always what newbies will want to hear as they naturally want 'it all' overnight.......which is certainly not a bad attitude to have but it takes consistency and patience to build up.

Personally I did a lot of trad at the start and still do......BUT I also invested in WFP from the start as well and am personally so glad I did as that style also takes time and practice to 'perfect'. I was very certain that this is what I wanted to do and was therefore graceful enough to let my Santander credit cards fund a lot of the early start up costs /emoticons/wink.png It doesn't cost the earth to set up WFP as well and there's loads of good advice about how to do just that on this fountain of window cleaning advice aka this forum.

Lastly, nows the time to get started. As soon as that trad kit arrives get practicing on your windows, then your friends and then hit the doors asap. Get that round built now in preparation for winter where mainly the wind causes a bit of disruption to those that clean just glass e.g window cleaners.

Good luck mate :thumbsup:

 
You could start with a d.i.y wfp trolley system, wouldnt cost any more than a good set of ladders, few barrells and chuck the lot in your car. Simple d.i only for a few months until you build up your custies/see if window cleaning is for you then get a van/van mount.

 
Welcome @Smiffy
From what I've read so far it sounds as though you've got the potential to do well in this job mainly cause you have been open & receptive to what the lads have already said. Their advice is spot on and it's not always what newbies will want to hear as they naturally want 'it all' overnight.......which is certainly not a bad attitude to have but it takes consistency and patience to build up.

Personally I did a lot of trad at the start and still do......BUT I also invested in WFP from the start as well and am personally so glad I did as that style also takes time and practice to 'perfect'. I was very certain that this is what I wanted to do and was therefore graceful enough to let my Santander credit cards fund a lot of the early start up costs /emoticons/wink.png It doesn't cost the earth to set up WFP as well and there's loads of good advice about how to do just that on this fountain of window cleaning advice aka this forum.

Lastly, nows the time to get started. As soon as that trad kit arrives get practicing on your windows, then your friends and then hit the doors asap. Get that round built now in preparation for winter where mainly the wind causes a bit of disruption to those that clean just glass e.g window cleaners.

Good luck mate :thumbsup:
Click to expand...
Cheers, that's helpful. Looking forward to getting on with it. Our windows are awful so I have a good practice ground

 
welcome on board Smiffy

clean a load of windows and check out the many tips and advice freely given by a lot of very experienced and friendly crew on here

eh and im here too:laugh:

good luck

 
Hi smiffy, welcome to the party bud , good luck starting up , couple of months down the line , you'll be flying . enjoy the ups and downs , hopefully more ups :thumbsup:

 
Also get on utube and watch people like wagga (christopher Dawber ) and polzn bladz to get some good tips and methods to learn to trad properly

Wagga has one on how to use a squeegee for newbies too

 
There is a load of great advice on this thread. I will just add that it's probably a good idea to view the tutorials on YouTube and spend time practising on your own and friends/relatives homes. It might transpire that you don't like heights and you might take the attitude 'sod this for a game of soldiers'. Better to find before you spend time and money leafleting and weeks canvassing.

Don't start on customers homes until you can do a good quality job, it won't take too long to learn and no customer will sack you for being slow only for doing a poor job, speed will come with time and practice.

 
Got my kit from WCW today and had a go at mine. Took 3 hours and only managed ground floor /emoticons/sad.png

Look good to me at the moment but the early evening sun will tell the real story.

Shoulder aching like mad- need to man up.:shake:

Thanks to all those that have got me this far.

 
Where you live..a mansion??/emoticons/tongue.png

Stick with it bud..soon take 10 minutes with a bit of practice

 
Thanks, I've taken this on board and just placed an order with WCW for a few trad bits and bobs. I need a ladder so that's next. I've seen a Titan triple mentioned on here for £116 with SupaGrip feet. Seems sensible, but I know nowt?
Click to expand...
dont buy a ladder with feet like that [ rubber ]a windie posted how his brand new titan with supagrip lost their grip one day,he removed them immediately

i myself had a bad experience with rubber mats

DONT USE RUBBER OUTDOORS

 
Dont forget your scrims or whatever for detailing, stick your finger in dry scrim and wipe the top and side of inner glass where your squeegy has left any water if any, otherwise it will dry on the glass and show when it drys, when cleaning traditionally

simple techniqes will keep your customers happy and have no reason to let you go

 

Similar threads

F
How to become a window cleaner
2 3
Replies
60
Views
3,161
JCW
J
W
Inside window cleaning - help on pricing
Replies
12
Views
1,692
Iron Giant
Iron Giant
B
Help with new backpack set up
Replies
18
Views
741
Chris M
C
Dan fod
Advice needed please.
Replies
0
Views
576
Dan fod
Dan fod
D
New to the business
2 3 4
Replies
63
Views
3,803
Pjj
Pjj

Latest Posts

Back
Top