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Introduction

K

kahoona

Hello all,

I have been reading this forum for about a month now but thought I would introduce myself. I live in Hertfordshire, close to the Essex border. I was recently made redundant from a long service job. and I'm keen to try something totally new, i love the outdoors and am a keen angler so used to being out in all weathers. I love the prospect of the flexibility a window cleaning business offers, but I'm new to this business. I considering buying a round to kick start things and i recall seeing some good info the process of buying of a round, questions to answer etc, but for the life of me I can't seem to find it again. I would be grateful if anyone could point me in the right direction of where I can find this info.

cheers

 
Welcome to the forum @kahoona and congratulations on now being a fully fledged member. There is vast amounts of info on the site so have a good hunt around although I am sure our lovely members will add some useful help here for you. I know smurf posted a few resources the other day about buying a round. You may want to look in the resources area.

 
Hi guys, please ignore the last line of my post above i found the main search function now :) no doubt I will be back with more (hopefully not so stupid) questions.

 
cheers Tuffers, not sure yet I'm looking at buying a round to get me started, so my initial thoughts are to wait until I have secure that work and see whats required then. I have some redundancy and not afraid to invest but will need to do my due dili first.

Before that though I''m trying to get some time in "on the tools" so to speak, not sure best way to approach that, apart from doing friends and family houses which I'm doing with some trad gear I have knocking around. I wonder if there are any local wc's who be willing to take me out for a few days to show me the ropes?

 
I wonder if there are any local wc's who be willing to take me out for a few days to show me the ropes?
Thats exactaly what i was going to suggest next. update your profile and include your location. See if we have any members who might be near you to offer you a day or too so you can tag along and pick up some tips along the way.

 
Hello Kahoona, and welcome to the forum. Your doing the right thing trying before yea buy. Before I invested any money in starting up I went working with a local windy just to make sure I was going to like it, once I was sure I invested the money in a wfp system and 2 and half years later I have never looked back. Really enjoy my work, its hard when you first start building a good round but things all fall in to place eventually ...good luck

 
cheers Shiny its encouraging to hear others making a success of it, and there seems to be an ongoing theme that everyone here enjoys their work, which is not something I can't say about my past years of employment, so i'm really looking forward this.

I have updated my profile so if there are any local windy's who could offer me a few days please fell free to get in touch, I have my own transport and pretty much available any time with a bit of notice.

cheers

 
hi and welcome kahoona and good luck with your future...ebay or fleabay, is a good source of rounds and of course must not forget gavs selling section..if you buy a round a lot of windys will show you the ropes anyway...although doesnt mean you have to stick to their way of cleaning....remember the best bit....im the boss....as jock used to say..let us all know how you get on.../emoticons/smile.png

 
cheers Shiny its encouraging to hear others making a success of it, and there seems to be an ongoing theme that everyone here enjoys their work, which is not something I can't say about my past years of employment, so i'm really looking forward this.
I have updated my profile so if there are any local windy's who could offer me a few days please fell free to get in touch, I have my own transport and pretty much available any time with a bit of notice.

cheers
Too far south for me mate :thumbsdown:

 
Welcome to the forum.....Im from Suffolk, but only do wfp so im no use to you. I also brought a round, so please ask away if you want any advise.

 
Hello kahoona. I was a bit like you three years ago when I accepted voluntary redundancy from a job I had done for 28 years. I had three months notice. I cannot even remember why I decided to become a traditional window cleaner. I just knew I needed something totally different from the type of work I had been doing. I needed freedom, fresh air, no meetings, no bosses and no targets. I decided not to buy a round so started from scratch. By the time I had left my employer I already had fifty customers......I started door knocking within days of being advised of redundancy and cleaned customers windows at weekends and on days off. As soon as I became a full time windy the round quickly built up. I was surprised how quickly this happened. One drawback of building up a round like this is that, initially, your customer base is a little spread out. It does condense over time though as you get spotted and taken on by neighbours. The advantage of buying a round is that you (obviously) have an instant customer base and it is condense. All the best mate.

 
Hi all firstly thanks for the warm welcome, shazzy thanks for that I will defiantly have questions so your help/advise will appreciated. cheers mrtaytay yes my situation similar to yours and reading your story has inspired me even more.

Hi Posh I'm looking to learn both really maybe with emphasis on trad to start with, I expect I will starting out myself trad but it dose depend to certain extent what sort work I start off with and if i buy a round what work that entails.

I'm available pretty much any time Mon - Fri except the next 2 Mondays 24 Mar and Mon 31 Mar where I'm already busy.

 
hi all, just to let you know I still interested and looking for an experienced local windy who might be able to give me some work experience.

to those who have purchased a round can you give me any advice on what look out for and what sort of information I should be checking up on? I notice there are quite a few marketing/canvassing type outfits around, common sense is telling to me to stick to well established rounds on the for sale boards, as opposed to those offering to "build" me a local round. Is this thinking heading in the right direction?

 
hi all, just to let you know I still interested and looking for an experienced local windy who might be able to give me some work experience.
to those who have purchased a round can you give me any advice on what look out for and what sort of information I should be checking up on? I notice there are quite a few marketing/canvassing type outfits around, common sense is telling to me to stick to well established rounds on the for sale boards, as opposed to those offering to "build" me a local round. Is this thinking heading in the right direction?
yep i would steer clear of them.....some cracking rounds around for sale trouble is are they in your area....i have been sent the rounds for sale by email from ebay and only one has come up near me ages ago so its a bit hit and miss...good luck anyway let us know how you get on.....

 
hi all, just to let you know I still interested and looking for an experienced local windy who might be able to give me some work experience.
to those who have purchased a round can you give me any advice on what look out for and what sort of information I should be checking up on? I notice there are quite a few marketing/canvassing type outfits around, common sense is telling to me to stick to well established rounds on the for sale boards, as opposed to those offering to "build" me a local round. Is this thinking heading in the right direction?
hey @kahoona ya buy a round what your buying is goodwill

ya check his books pick out random custys to check

ya have to make sure it is a genuine round best way go round with seller to do a clean and introduced to customers as new windy

work out value of run by monthly income

dont pay all purchase money up front pay deposit do a clean pay remaining money

watch he/she hasnt sold the round to several people

expect to lose some customers as ya new guy

check how long they have had the run

how long a clean takes/how many people

when last clean was / next one due

last price rise was

just some tips in random order

good luck

 
Everything @Whizz\-Bizz, as he is a canvasser, He will guarantee you so much ££. The good point of this, is they are all your customers that he/you have picked up. So they have nothing to compare to.

Good luck

 
Where abouts in Essex are you ? I may have a guy that would take you out for a day, Essex is a big area for me and Im going to be around for about 11 days, your more than welcome to come and meet up.

 
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