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Working for peanuts

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2
Location
Nuneaton
Need some advice / guidance please. Expanding my round but constantly finding that some  local window cleaners are charging peanuts. Went to a double bay fronted 3 bed semi today with extension and substantial conservatory . Probably 30mins work for a maintenance clean.Looked to be at least a £15 - £18 job to me. Flabbergasted to hear that her last window cleaner (WFP) charged her £8.  I tried to say that is the reason he doesn’t come anymore and that I am providing a premium service with all frames,cills and doors done but her eyes glazed over. Getting this all the time. Why do so many window cleaners de value the service so much? Quoted a house with 22 windows last week, her window cleaner had been charging £9. 

Getting some good customers who are willing to pay a fair price for a good service but feeling  quite down down about the all too frequent battle against other cleaners comedy prices. I am trying  to earn a decent living to support a wife and children. 

Have you guys guys experienced the same?

 
This is near enough the norm, right across the UK, from people who have been in the game for 20 years and haven't dared raise their prices to often or newbies that come in and think low pricing is the norm because of how the long term windys have areas priced, In my local work area over almost 20 years I have raised my prices continually yet I know people who have been at in 20-30 years and their prices are 40-50% lower than mine.

I have said it before on here and I ain't bragging, I am the most consistently expensive windy in my area on the compact rounds that I have, in terms of business management and ensuring that every aspect of of a window cleaning business is up to date in every way, people are just 5-10 years behind maybe more, they switched off long ago and haven't moved forward,

this in turn hasn't changed the clients perception of what a modern day windy is and what the prices in this day and age are and should be, it's usually a mix of things people in there 40's and older and also a number of younger people who there parent's have always paid peanuts and there mam and dads windy always calls back for the money.

So now after I have waffled on, just keep on pushing on, don't get disheartened and all will come good, the proverbial honey pot for me is new build estates, were I have 100's of jobs were people see the value in the service I offer and are willing to pay the going rate. 

 
@Iron Giant makes sense in what he says.

I clean Trad and ive been in the game 6months and ive learned ALOT very very quickly and the best advice ive had is 'know your worth'

When starting out i rushed in, bought my stuff and went at it, never read the forums or took any advice.

My naivity means i now clean a few houses very very cheaply, the worst being a 3bed detatched for a £10 

7x georgian style sash windows each with 16x 6"sq panes

2x doulbe patio doors

3x large double windows

The whole gaff takes me 1hr n 15mins to clean, i could easily just not bother with it now, but from this ive got her neighbours too which is a small terrace of 3 housing association gaff, 2 beds with 6 windows, and 2 doors each, i also charge £10 for these and all 3 take me 30mins.

So £40 for 1hr, 45mins work.

The terrace all complained, at first "how come we pay the same as her and we are 1/3 the size.

After explaining that she was one of my first custys and my pricing was bobbins at the start anf hers will go up in jan but theirs wont, they see the logic and agree its a fair price for a fair job.

My point i guess is that the fly by nights, come n goers, splaash n dashers what ever we call them just dont understand their worth, and if theyd foumd themselves in my situation with these 4 houses instead of charging the terrace right and the detatched wrong they would assume £10 for detatched means they have to charge £4 forthe terrace.

I do 3x identicle detatcheds on the estate to the £10 one and they all pay £22 and are very happy to pay it, ive spoke to £10 detatched and told them the price is rising in Jan and they are cool, obv i cant put her price up 120% to match the others but shes going upto £15 as agreed, and will go upto £18 in 2021.

Sorry what was the original question? ?????????????

I guess what im saying is know your worth, stick to your prices and dont clean for a tenner coz everybody else is.

I had a custy from the 3house terrace in the week ring me

"Hello Jon, its Liz just letting you know theres another company fly posted the estate today in a blue n green van, i told them id got a cleaner but they could quote me, they were very rude and abrupt, and scribbled £20 on a bit of paper, and shoved it at me! I told them id stick with my cleaner as he was £10, they said 'he wont be around long call us when hes folded'"

I told her im going nowhere and if they want to charge £20 for 6 windows and 2 doors then im not worried about losing any work to them.

I guess they feel how your feeling, but my prices are reasonable because 'I KNOW MY WORTH, and SO DO MY CUSTOMERS'

 
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It is hard, but sometimes it’s a game of patience. If a competitor is charging way below market price, the Likelihood is that the books will either fill up quick to the point they can’t take any more on, in which case new enquiries will be coming in your direction again. or they will fold. Quite a few vans and rounds for sale st the moment i’ve noticed. It is october though? ☔☔
Starting out is hard and there are so many windies out there, the only escape i honestly found to get me beyond a brick wall was to do add ons. We invested a hell of a lot more money for the equipment but thankfully it paid for itself and brings extra work in.

always remember that trad cleaning is pretty much pure profit, there are fewer of the expenses associated with water fed pole cleaning, so you could theoretically charge less and not send yourself through the hoop. But dont be put off by this as its a modern age of kitchen extensions, roof lanterns, velux windows loft extensions. So the market for wfp is only increasing as people extend their houses in to more complex shapes which would make life hard if Trad. 
also, what you’ve got to consider is that some of your competitors might not have the same lifestyle as you. They may not have a wife or children, and may be quite happy living alone in a relatively small property with less outgoings than yourself. 
i think many will understand your pain. But in any business price competition will be a recurring barrier. Theres always someone coming in and under cutting you. The question is...how long can you weather the storm? If you are still about in 5 or 10 years time when many others have come and gone, then you’ll know. Wish you the best and try to keep your head up.

 
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Thanks for the replies everyone. Some great advice that I will seek to heed. I just need to concentrate on doing a great job for a decent price, know my worth, look and be professional, build those customer relationships and forget about the bucket bobs charging peanuts. 

If potential customers dont don’t want to pay for a great all round clean then I will jog on.

Best wishes 

Thomas Edward 

 
Any low price jobs i have. I  clean them in a way i call "angry window cleaning" which i just work faster to get it over with, any complaints,then i will talk about price going up, i have a few jobs i do like that,no complaints tho. 

 
Been putting my prices up over the last 12 months and so far 2 cancelled, but one text back after 7 months asking if we could start again. unfortunately had to let her no we were to busy now. It was a grand total of £1 increase. You cant believe how little some people value your efforts. 

 
as long as you are earning £30 + over you are doing ok.   a lot does depend on your county. + location.

making over £200+ a day is very rewarding.

I myself can never understand why people will pay say £15    when they know they can have the same service for £10 for there sized property.

I cant entertain these when I have canvassed and got my customers.  they come and ask me to clean theres , I say No.   you are quite happy paying over the odds before.   I have my customers now 

Goodbye

some windys are quite happy overpricing   but I am not.      everyone has there way.   just be glad we have a steady customer base when lots are loosing there jobs in this country .  I have a good pricing structure and people still try to undercut my prices.      I just have a cuppa and carry on.

 
Need some advice / guidance please. Expanding my round but constantly finding that some  local window cleaners are charging peanuts. Went to a double bay fronted 3 bed semi today with extension and substantial conservatory . Probably 30mins work for a maintenance clean.Looked to be at least a £15 - £18 job to me. Flabbergasted to hear that her last window cleaner (WFP) charged her £8.  I tried to say that is the reason he doesn’t come anymore and that I am providing a premium service with all frames,cills and doors done but her eyes glazed over. Getting this all the time. Why do so many window cleaners de value the service so much? Quoted a house with 22 windows last week, her window cleaner had been charging £9. 

Getting some good customers who are willing to pay a fair price for a good service but feeling  quite down down about the all too frequent battle against other cleaners comedy prices. I am trying  to earn a decent living to support a wife and children. 

Have you guys guys experienced the same?
A lof of companies all around the UK will be facing this type of problem, a lot of new companies are now setting up down South because the average price down south is £15.00, you can get set up with a few grand ££  and have an average price of £10.00 with 300 customers and earn a good healthy living.

Up North it is the total opposite the average price for a window clean is half of what the average price is down South,the pricing up North is pretty rock bottom and can not really get any lower. So i think a lot of people down South will feel the effect of losing more customers by new companies starting up and charging £9-10 for the house that the established company was charging £14-16 for.

I believe within the next 2-3 years the window cleaning down South will have its average price brought down massively and i can see it become low priced like it is up North.

The reason for this is because a lot of people are jumping on the bandwagon it is a easy business to start up during the summer but in the winter is when things start to get tough , a lot people decide this game is not for them. Its easy getting kitted out with reach and wash systems but the hard part is running the business earning money all year round.

Dont worry about what other people charge, stick to your pricing structure that you are happy with and worry less about other window cleaning prices, aslong as your growing and going up in customers then thats all that matters ?

 
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A lof of companies all around the UK will be facing this type of problem, a lot of new companies are now setting up down South because the average price down south is £15.00, you can get set up with a few grand ££  and have an average price of £10.00 with 300 customers and earn a good healthy living.

Up North it is the total opposite the average price for a window clean is half of what the average price is down South,the pricing up North is pretty rock bottom and can not really get any lower. So i think a lot of people down South will feel the effect of losing more customers by new companies starting up and charging £9-10 for the house that the established company was charging £14-16 for.

I believe within the next 2-3 years the window cleaning down South will have its average price brought down massively and i can see it become low priced like it is up North.

The reason for this is because a lot of people are jumping on the bandwagon it is a easy business to start up during the summer but in the winter is when things start to get tough , a lot people decide this game is not for them. Its easy getting kitted out with reach and wash systems but the hard part is running the business earning money all year round.

Dont worry about what other people charge, stick to your pricing structure that you are happy with and worry less about other window cleaning prices, aslong as your growing and going up in customers then thats all that matters ?




Green pro clean has proved this to be false with his lead generation he prices stuff the same up north as he does  down south , we also do work up to 300 miles away from home and charge decent money or it wouldn’t be worth the traveling , the old adage if you dont try you dont get comes to mind . There have been loads start up where I am charging a third of what we and other companies charge and guess what , are they busy with work ?. Picking up loads of customers ? No they don’t last as they cannot make a go of it , they last a few weeks over summer and go bust . Never to be seen again ???? this actually helps us as as when the customer that they have let down phones us saying there cleaner has stoped coming we price the job at three times what they were paying and explain that you cannot run a buisness at that price most then realise this so the next time some cheapskate knocks there door they know that they will not get good regular service so, they stick with us . 

 
I cant help but think once you have been cleaning your customers windows for 2 or 3 years and have been doing a professional job I cant see many being tempted to change to a new business, who they don't no from Adam.

I know this from experience from canvassing well to do area and quoting much cheaper prices when I first  started and still never getting the jobs. At the end of the day your inviting people on to your property who you don't know for £3 cheaper.

 
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As i have said before, the price isn't really that important, reliability is the key. All the old timers have nearly gone and now we have a business culture. Genuine folk want to impress people or the DVLC wouldn't sell registrations. Look at the cars going about on the road and in your customers driveways. I do one with a sixty grand new car in the driveway and i haven't seen it move cause guy work's in London. I price a lot of my new enquiries like the council tax. 100k is £5 to £10, 200k is £10 to £15, 300k is £15 to £20. I quoted £40 a month for a £600k semi and she said the last guy charged £14 but he never came back. I replied no wonder and your house is valued at £700k and she was taken aback. Both doctors and she thought i was daft. I go on zoopla before i visit to quote for a new clean, i need to be armed with as much info as possible. Good thing about this job, if you price it wrong then you are not obligated to go back again.

 
As i have said before, the price isn't really that important, reliability is the key. All the old timers have nearly gone and now we have a business culture. Genuine folk want to impress people or the DVLC wouldn't sell registrations. Look at the cars going about on the road and in your customers driveways. I do one with a sixty grand new car in the driveway and i haven't seen it move cause guy work's in London. I price a lot of my new enquiries like the council tax. 100k is £5 to £10, 200k is £10 to £15, 300k is £15 to £20. I quoted £40 a month for a £600k semi and she said the last guy charged £14 but he never came back. I replied no wonder and your house is valued at £700k and she was taken aback. Both doctors and she thought i was daft. I go on zoopla before i visit to quote for a new clean, i need to be armed with as much info as possible. Good thing about this job, if you price it wrong then you are not obligated to go back again.
Don't you just love Zoopla ? I do the same, Find out when it was bought so if they say they have just moved in you know its true ?

 
Green pro clean has proved this to be false with his lead generation he prices stuff the same up north as he does  down south , we also do work up to 300 miles away from home and charge decent money or it wouldn’t be worth the traveling , the old adage if you dont try you dont get comes to mind . There have been loads start up where I am charging a third of what we and other companies charge and guess what , are they busy with work ?. Picking up loads of customers ? No they don’t last as they cannot make a go of it , they last a few weeks over summer and go bust . Never to be seen again ???? this actually helps us as as when the customer that they have let down phones us saying there cleaner has stoped coming we price the job at three times what they were paying and explain that you cannot run a buisness at that price most then realise this so the next time some cheapskate knocks there door they know that they will not get good regular service so, they stick with us . 
On the commercial side you can get away with the same pricing yes but on the residential side you could not get houses in North for the same price as you do up South.

A lot of new start ups now also clean windows with tap water, they connect off the tap, gives the reach and wash system a bad name ! Theres a lot more to it then just cleaning windows, you got to purify your water, work in tough winter conditions , organise rounds, chase money, deal with customers , get new customers , people do not realize this until they jump on the boat, once they jump on the boat they want out within 2/3 months and there expensive reach and wash system is up for sale lol

 
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On the commercial side you can get away with the same pricing yes but on the residential side you could not get houses in North for the same price as you do up South.

A lot of new start ups now also clean windows with tap water, they connect off the tap, gives the reach and wash system a bad name ! Theres a lot more to it then just cleaning windows, you got to purify your water, work in tough winter conditions , organise rounds, chase money, deal with customers , get new customers , people do not realize this until they jump on the boat, once they jump on the boat they want out within 2/3 months and there expensive reach and wash system is up for sale lol




Green pro only does  domestic canvassing as far as Ime aware and he prices all areas pretty much the same situation it can be done .

The rest of what you say I agree with so by going in cheap it’s not sustainable so theses people arnt a threat to anyone especially the well established I have seen dozens come and go over the years it just gives us more customers ???

 
On the commercial side you can get away with the same pricing yes but on the residential side you could not get houses in North for the same price as you do up South.

A lot of new start ups now also clean windows with tap water, they connect off the tap, gives the reach and wash system a bad name ! Theres a lot more to it then just cleaning windows, you got to purify your water, work in tough winter conditions , organise rounds, chase money, deal with customers , get new customers , people do not realize this until they jump on the boat, once they jump on the boat they want out within 2/3 months and there expensive reach and wash system is up for sale lol
I’ve been in this game many years and know many other windies including loads of new startups.

I’ve never heard of anyone mention about new starters using tap water ?

 
Green pro clean has proved this to be false with his lead generation he prices stuff the same up north as he does  down south , we also do work up to 300 miles away from home and charge decent money or it wouldn’t be worth the traveling , the old adage if you dont try you dont get comes to mind . There have been loads start up where I am charging a third of what we and other companies charge and guess what , are they busy with work ?. Picking up loads of customers ? No they don’t last as they cannot make a go of it , they last a few weeks over summer and go bust . Never to be seen again ???? this actually helps us as as when the customer that they have let down phones us saying there cleaner has stoped coming we price the job at three times what they were paying and explain that you cannot run a buisness at that price most then realise this so the next time some cheapskate knocks there door they know that they will not get good regular service so, they stick with us . 
I have friends who work around the north who charge the same as me in London/Hertfordshire and are too busy to keep up without putting another van on the road

It's complete rubbish about areas being different on price except some mentally expensive parts of surrey etc

 
I’ve been in this game many years and know many other windies including loads of new startups.

I’ve never heard of anyone mention about new starters using tap water ?
There a certain firm in my area, couple of amazingly tricked out vans with the whole 9yrds and much more, theyve been abojt for 18months and they clearly use tap water through their wfps, do a terrible job, ibe picked up a ton of their work because of their substandard work.

They bought a cpl of retiring windys rounds with zero experience and are slowly but surely dying on their arses.

 
I cant help but think once you have been cleaning your customers windows for 2 or 3 years and have been doing a professional job I cant see many being tempted to change to a new business, who they don't no from Adam.

I know this from experience from canvassing well to do area and quoting much cheaper prices when I first  started and still never getting the jobs. At the end of the day your inviting people on to your property who you don't know for £3 cheaper.


You would think that wouldn't you, but think again it does happen. I had a customer who I cleaned every fortnight for 4 years. She came out and asked if she could go monthly to which I replied of course, the price will go up a couple of quid. Expecting her to say no bother at all instead her face dropped. The next time I came to clean the windows she informed me I was dumped for someone who was charging £3 a month less than I was. I said no problem let the guy crack on cos I wasn't willing to work for those prices. I have been praying she'll catch me again (as I know £6 for her house is way too cheap and hoping the new windy would stop coming) just so I can have the pleasure of telling her no chance. Don't count on people loyalties in this day and age if they can save a few quid. Just my experience ?

 

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