Where did they go?

[SPCleaning]

I was chatting to another window cleaner recently and we worked out that at least six window cleaners appear to have packed it in during the last two years in our area.

Most were start ups who just decided it was not for them, one was a long timer who had had enough of struggling through the winters. It is not the easy money that some people think.

 

[TolishAPurd]

I can understand why people give it up so easy, its **** in the early days. Lots of driving around and walking for not a lot of gain... and even when you do get a house, its chump change on its own, and you've got to wait another month before it comes round again. This job only works when you get a compact round of sorts, but to get that round you have to suffer the bad times.

 

[Anthony @ SCS]

Same with any job though, unless you buy a ready made business.

Some people just need to open their eyes a little and realise they only get out what they put in.

 

[cheapncheerful]

Its the only job I have ever done so I cant do anything else...but yes there are many days when you think....is it worth it...but then..the sun shines the birds sing and that smell of spring is in the air...we are on the right side of the hill now....and I love it.

..but yes ..loads and loads come and go....but not me...I will be here till I pop off this mortal coil....or what ever ...snuff it, kick the bucket or win the lottery..../emoticons/biggrin.png

and besides....I must one day have a slx22 in my hands....and one of them there posh brushes no names as that turns into a war....and maybe...

loadsa loadsa pure...pure just pouring out everywhere...instead of running out with two panes to go...

I finished a bit early today to get rid of the magazines we deliver and some of my cards too as I want new ones that at least mention my website....and I came to the door of a custy who I have recently lost...now dont get me wrong...it was my fault...as you know ....i KINDA drift on the timing of my cleans and ...I had left it too long....I mean I didnt really like the job as he said only do the bottoms when I took it on because he had stupid prickly bushes growing everywhere...and i just do as the custy wants...so it was only a fiver and a fiver it remained....but as I reached the porch and wondered who had taken my job....I thought well its nice and clean...and then I noticed the standard pattern of wet drops.....well good luck to ya mate...BUT I know how it was cleaned...and I bet it was more than a fiver..../emoticons/biggrin.png

 

[Anthony @ SCS]

I love all the little jobs i do, even with my knackered shoulder. Don't find it a chore to get out of bed ..... well unless its to go and work for my boss but on my days off and doing my own jobs i love it. Roll on my final operation and then the short recovery so i can tell my boss to jog on

 

[SPCleaning]

I think people just assume that anyone can be a window cleaner. It's easy. Not rocket science clearly, but there is science.

Even placing your ladder requires forethought. Correct angle, will it slip? Is the ground wet? Do I know how to safely stand on a ladder and successfully clean a large pane of glass before the sun dries the soap into a white smear? Then there are those large sash windows, six foot high. The only way you reach the top is to place the ladder to the side so that means making your ladder safe twice just to clean one window, and to make it worse the customer has four inches of decorative chipping/gravel spread over the ground which you have to dig into.

Water fed of course is easy, you just stand and point the magic pole at a window and Hey Presto, job done.

Of course we know this is not true. Spotting, water runs, checking TDS, maintaining an RO. Freezing water bursting pumps. Checking Resin. Getting tangled around every plant pot and wheelie bin in the street.

This is all without giving thought to running a business succesfully. Insurance. etc etc.

Our industry has changed. We are no longer scrimming a few panes of glass and then off to the pub with the proceeds. We are running proper professional enterprises, and are every bit the businessmen/women as any other industry.

Those thinking of becoming a window cleaner should do their research very carefully.

 

[cheapncheerful]

cant top that sp cleaning...it certainly isnt easy at times../emoticons/biggrin.png

 

[boarcity]

iv seen a couple of newbies recently. one in a black volvo estate and other in a navy zafira . both looked the part

 

[mrtaytay]

I can understand why people give it up so easy, its **** in the early days. Lots of driving around and walking for not a lot of gain... and even when you do get a house, its chump change on its own, and you've got to wait another month before it comes round again. This job only works when you get a compact round of sorts, but to get that round you have to suffer the bad times.

Spot on Tolish. The compact round Is the only way to go, but it does take time, patience and hard work.

 

[cheapncheerful]

really....we are all waiting for the other windys to retire..../emoticons/biggrin.png

 

[mrtaytay]

It does happen, bit by bit and most of my days nowadays are very compact, where the car never moves or moves just once or twice. But I still have days where I seem to be driving all over the place and end up thinking to myself " just what am I doing!"

 

[Shiny]

It does happen, bit by bit and most of my days nowadays are very compact, where the car never moves or moves just once or twice. But I still have days where I seem to be driving all over the place and end up thinking to myself " just what am I doing!"

There's nothing wrong with driving between jobs...as long as the jobs you are driving too are correctly priced and worth doing...!!

 

[mrtaytay]

There's nothing wrong with driving between jobs...as long as the jobs you are driving too are correctly priced and worth doing...!!

I dont deny that shiny, but I do notice that my earnings are best when I am on an estate and the car doesnt move.