Moving To Ireland To Start/buy Round

[Dominic Bond]

I formerly lived in Ireland from 1998 to 2003 and had a successful round in Dundalk for four year and also cleaned windows in Nenagh for one year.

In 2003 I returned to the UK. Later I travelled around Latin America and recently married my beautiful Pervian wife. Since it is very hard to get a visa for her to live in the UK and also since Ireland is a nice family friendly place I am moving back to Ireland! Since we are in very different enconomic times I dont know the current state of play. I may possibly look to move to Waterford, but if there is a town lacking window cleaners I would consider moving there. Also I would consider buying a round.

If anyone has any ideas for my circumstance or even a round for sale please reply.

Many thanks!

Dominic

 

[Gavin]

Welcome to the site Dominic. /emoticons/wink.png

 

[Njones]

You've got mail Dominic!

 

[Dodger]

welcome to the forum bud

 

[mark m]

Welcome to the forum and good luck in your new venture

 

[harunh]

Welcome to the forum matee

 

[Belfastcleaning]

Welcome to the forum!!

There was a guy selling work down south here not very long ago..

Anyone remember who it was? It was a big round

 

[John B]

Hi Dominic, and welcome to the forum.

I am in Kerry, having moved here in July 2011 from England for family reasons. I had a decent run in England which I had built up over the course of 14 years. A week after arriving here in Ireland I started canvassing, and 18 months later I am beginning to establish myself in my local area (Tralee and outlying villages).

I was told that I would find it tough going (they were right!) but with enough determination it is still possible to build up enough work, even in the current economic climate.

I wish you all the very best, and look forward to reading your experiences.

John

 

[Njones]

Its a different ball game in Ireland - a lot less people want a "regular" window clean every 4 or 6 weeks - many of my regular customers are only 4 times a year, and a big chunk of my work is one-offs or irregular work. I have people who call me every year to do a big clean (gutters, footpaths, windows etc) and some who call me every couple of months -but don't want to be on a regular route, they just call me when they need me.

I just learned to accept it,.. charge more for one-offs & irregular cleans. Because of this it does take much longer to build a decent round in Ireland than it does in the UK.

 

[chip]

Wow! We have it good over here!

 

[John B]

Its a different ball game in Ireland - a lot less people want a "regular" window clean every 4 or 6 weeks - many of my regular customers are only 4 times a year, and a big chunk of my work is one-offs or irregular work. I have people who call me every year to do a big clean (gutters, footpaths, windows etc) and some who call me every couple of months -but don't want to be on a regular route, they just call me when they need me.
I just learned to accept it,.. charge more for one-offs & irregular cleans. Because of this it does take much longer to build a decent round in Ireland than it does in the UK.

Exactly what I have found.

John

 

[instrength]

Welcome to the site... and good luck /emoticons/smile.png

 

[Njones]

I was lucky starting out - I inherited my father in law's round when he retired early due to illness.

I have approx 450 customers - but only bother to list the regular jobs on WCP, which is only 66 last count!

It is totally possible to build a round over here - but not if you approach it in a strict "UK style" of window cleaning. You need to charge more (€20 -€25 for a 3 bed semi,.. more in the cities) - be flexible on scheduling - advertise more - door knocking doesn't work well if you haven't got a local accent - push pressure washing & gutter cleaning at premium prices,.. it'll take 18 months to 2 years to get a round you're happy with,.. but its worth the hard work!

 

[mr shine]

hi domonic welcome to the forum,im in cork city and have to agree with nat and john b , i find that city people are more likely to get their windows cleaned more frequently than the country areas, so a lot of annual house cleans. good luck anyway

 

[harunh]

Njones i can imagine how hard it is down their but well dun

 

[Dominic Bond]

Thanks for your comments!

I have ended up in Tramore.

Some of my work is in the town and some is in the country (5 mile radius). With the recession it is fairly tough going compared to ten years ago. Having said that though I have canvassed about 1500 houses so far and already have 30 regular customers and about 20 irregular (the business went live six weeks ago). Soon I should be breaking through the €200 a week barrier at this rate (50% of money from regular customers and the other half from one offs). I am spending about 15 hours a week canvassing and that seems to be paying off.

btw I wish I could charge €20 to €25 for a three bed semi around here. Other window cleaners charge about €12 and I have to match their rates (but I suppose that means that people get their windows cleaned more regularly as the costs are more affordable).

 

[mark m]

Sounds like you are doing great already good luck with the future

 

[Njones]

€12?????

You won't make a living charging that price - the cost of living in Ireland is VERY high!!

 

[Dominic Bond]

I don't have a choice really. €12 for 25 minutes work comes out at almost €30 per hour (add in travel etc. I guess I could push €120 a day). The rates around here are the same as I was charging ten years ago and since then the price of petrol and some other goods have doubled.

 

[Njones]

Honestly,.. with wet days, sick days etc etc and the HUGE cost of living over here, €120 a day is going to be hard to live on. The tax man takes a huge cut, vehicle expenses take nearly as much, and then you've the other business running costs,...

I wish you the best,. but advise you push prices higher wherever you can!

 

[Dominic Bond]

Thanks for your advise!

You are right I have to be careful not to undervalue my services.

I will look to push up prices by a Euro or 5% a year when I can.