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!

I'm new to the game- starting out end of january

dave83

Active member
Messages
116
Location
suffolk
Hi everyone,

Going to start out window cleaning end of january- my thoughts- everyone will be either spending for xmas or skint after- 20 jan is start off day.

I'm going to canvass the hell out of a small town of 7500 properties.

Location- Suffolk- Bungalow City to be precise.

Competition- After reading the forum, they are not my customers, if they approach me and already have a windy then fine but won't be looking to poach anyone.

Bungalows- not sure what to charge, surely it's easy for people to do there selves if they have a bungalow, although this is a retirement, pretty sleepy suffolk market town. Any help on pricing would be much appreciated.

Pricing model:- if i secure 3 properties along the same street at £10, to get the next two would you drop to £9 and to get the next five drop to £8?

Equipment- I'm going to buy a 25 litre trolley and buy a pole. This is to stop buying a van so early. This leaves me with lack of presence- i.e a visual sign of a van but will wear uniform with name of business etc. R/O system already present.

Payment:- I will eventually setup a website- I have done this before for other businesses, i will make sure paypal is an option of payment to avoid the dreaded knock on the door when no one is ever in.

Added Services- I was thinking of cleaning the wheelie bin whilst at the address. This is to add value. My background is chemicals so the idea would be to use a seperate brush for the bin and then leave lemon/bubblegum/vanilla. This is an added value service so i'm thinking of doing this for a low price of £3, if they dont want there windows cleaned then it's £6.

I appreciate any advise, i've done the university, couldn't do the office- surrounded by vipers, and slit your throat in your sleep individuals!

Thanks

Dave.

 
heya fella. wherebouts in suffolk are you ,i might be able to slide some work your way purely cos ur on this forum ,as im in suffolk too. with a few exceptions,suffolk windies are a bunch of cooonts who wont help you but Will hinder you.

heres my thoughts on your post

dont delay starting ,or doubts creep in . start today! There can be a lot of hostility to WFP especially if youre following in the tracks of a flash harry water guy . you will need charm to get a toehold and u will need to work a squeegee cos theyll want insides doing . make em laugh ,if you can, do handstands a chuckle goes a long way i promise you

bungalows, they wont come easy ,sure theyre the cream dead easy to do but in my opinion go for the houses first or you might get despondent with the results of canvassing . Suffolk prices , dont go below a pound per window or you will regret it.

wheelie bin clean well uv got to be followin the binman , not a day later

just my opinion.

 
Last edited:
if i secure 3 properties along the same street at £10, to get the next two would you drop to £9 and to get the next five drop to £8?
Nope. Bit daft that idea ( in my mind)

When you go back month 2 the first three say ' well you only charge that end of the street £8' and you look like you're trying to pull a fast one.

Same size house = same price.

You will get them say. Oh well you are on this road already so you can do a better price.

Sky TV - Virgin etc are on that road already but they aren't going to lower their price.

 
The best of luck to you. I do a lot of bungalows in my area and use a smaller/lighter pole for them (Gardiners CLX-10). Bungalows are somewhat easier than houses however in my experience you are more likely to get obstacles in the way such as gardens pots/gnomes etc... which means the job can take a little longer and you therefore need to charge more. As far as add-on services are concerned I like the idea of wheelie bin cleaning but you'll most likely also get asked to clean conservatories, fascias, gutters (inside & outside) as well ...

 
First 2 bungalows £10

Next 3 are £9

Next 3 are £8

Lady of the 1st talks to lady of the eighth & just mentions in conversation what a bargain we get for our windows at £8.

Lady of 1st says but ours are £10. Why??

 
Thank you everyone I have some really good advice.

Re: prices don't go too low u guess the saying busy fools comes to mind. Your only one person best to clean 10 properties for 100 rather than 15 for 120.

Re: trolley I'm looking at the baysan impressor trolley coming in at £378 need a pole can anyone recommend a good pole and is it worth getting 25 foot to reach a solar panel. Just trying to work out if 25 foot would reach a solar panel on a roof and if 80 psi would pump water that high.

The baysan does have a pole with it for £438 not convinced by the quality.

Thank you once again.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Window Cleaning Forums

 
Thanks Steve. I even got a welcome to the forum from Millwall, such a friendly bunch!
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Window Cleaning Forums
AAAAAHHHH, NO NO NO!!!! Attention @Gav! Quick get onto this! Banning order required! @dave83 is a bloody hammer! /emoticons/wink.png/emoticons/biggrin.png

 
Depending on your local competition and what they are pricing will determine what pricing you will need to go in at.

Cleaners who are well established will either charge a good price on slightly higher.

The penetration/predatory pricing route can work but **** me you can upset people along the way.

Also on the trolley and pole. That should be a second ban. So far better making one as you need to know how all this stuff work.

I see "veteran" window cleaners of 2 years asking wha P5 means on a controller lol. Don't be one of them /emoticons/wink.png

 
Thankyou everyone for the advice, I'm nearly there now.

Decided:

Trolley system- Window Cleaning Warehouse http://www.windowcleaningwarehouse.co.uk/wcw-trolley-system-35l.html

Pole- Gardiner SLX22, I read alot about fibreglass poles and feel the pole is the key to doing lots of houses without needing an on call physio.

The pole is like the lightsaber to the window cleaner, or Tony Drago with his favourite snooker cue. As soon as someone damaged his cue and he had to switch, he was never the same player.

To use a Sam Allardyce phrase, "no tippy tappy window poles". SLX 22 - SLX Carbon Fibre Pole - Telescopic Poles - Water-Fed Poles - All Products Gardiner Pole Systems

Clothing- Name of business on Jumper, Coats.

Business Cards- 24hr Online Printing | myprint247

Software- I'm going to use Cleaner Planner. Does anyone else use this? I've been looking at the mail chimp and SMS services as part of the £25 a month. What i would like them to do is be able to send a reminder to the customer that i am going to be cleaning there windows and that could they leave the gate open- two days before the clean and to send a message if I've been rained off.

Undecided-

Pricing.

Bungalow city around here, as some have said i need to stick to a pricing model and that's it or you will get confused.

So i thought i would go for £1 a window plus £2.

With bungalows, i'm already prepared for the "I clean them myself" brigade so i will include fascias in the price which they might need to jump on a ladder to get to.

Added Services- wheelie bin clean. This is for existing customers only, £3, I would like to avoid the one off "can you clean my wheelie bin, no i don't want my windows done".

This should add to what i can make out of a property and should provide good value. The wheelie bin man around here charges £7, i guess that's what you need to charge if you going to a property to only clean a bin.

I guess watching the wheelie bin has been the new trainspotting for me! Pretty much know what days they collect and is on all council websites.

Business Name-

I've got it down to two names, Brandon Window Cleaning or Breckland Window Cleaning.

It's either the town name (7500 properties) or the district area, even though Brandon is just on the outside of Breckland, half of my work i'm after will be in Breckland. I'm leaning towards Breckland as it gives the impression i cover a large area.

Thankyou again for everyones help. I'm now off to claim the longest post award.

 
Hi mate and welcome, only been on here a few months myself too, some interesting ideas in your post. The idea of offering a wheelie bin clean is good for help branching out, but including a fascia clean in your price for cleaning windows on a bungalow is a bad move. It will take you far longer to do for a window clean price, say £8 for a bungalow (10-15 minute job) your then including a fascia clean, adding another 20-30 minutes, so for your £8 it's going to take you 35-45 minutes to do. Explain to them that you always wipe down frames and cills during each clean and if and when they require it you will offer a reduced cost for the fascias.

Again don't put it off, get out and get your customers now, you will surprised at the amount of people looking for a windie.

 
Hi mate and welcome, only been on here a few months myself too, some interesting ideas in your post. The idea of offering a wheelie bin clean is good for help branching out, but including a fascia clean in your price for cleaning windows on a bungalow is a bad move. It will take you far longer to do for a window clean price, say £8 for a bungalow (10-15 minute job) your then including a fascia clean, adding another 20-30 minutes, so for your £8 it's going to take you 35-45 minutes to do. Explain to them that you always wipe down frames and cills during each clean and if and when they require it you will offer a reduced cost for the fascias.
Again don't put it off, get out and get your customers now, you will surprised at the amount of people looking for a windie.
Cheers SkulBlaker, quite a few windys around here, but i'm quite confident i'll do well.

 
Hi Dave,

Good luck with your venture!

Regarding solar panel cleaning, unless your'e cleaning them on bungalows 25ft reach will not be enough. I've a regular solar contract and use a 40ft facelift carbon pole, steps are still required depending on the pitch of the roof and access.

Just get out there and smile, all service based industries require personality!

 
Hi everyone,Going to start out window cleaning end of january- my thoughts- everyone will be either spending for xmas or skint after- 20 jan is start off day.

I'm going to canvass the hell out of a small town of 7500 properties.

Location- Suffolk- Bungalow City to be precise.

Competition- After reading the forum, they are not my customers, if they approach me and already have a windy then fine but won't be looking to poach anyone.

Bungalows- not sure what to charge, surely it's easy for people to do there selves if they have a bungalow, although this is a retirement, pretty sleepy suffolk market town. Any help on pricing would be much appreciated.

Pricing model:- if i secure 3 properties along the same street at £10, to get the next two would you drop to £9 and to get the next five drop to £8?

Equipment- I'm going to buy a 25 litre trolley and buy a pole. This is to stop buying a van so early. This leaves me with lack of presence- i.e a visual sign of a van but will wear uniform with name of business etc. R/O system already present.

Payment:- I will eventually setup a website- I have done this before for other businesses, i will make sure paypal is an option of payment to avoid the dreaded knock on the door when no one is ever in.

Added Services- I was thinking of cleaning the wheelie bin whilst at the address. This is to add value. My background is chemicals so the idea would be to use a seperate brush for the bin and then leave lemon/bubblegum/vanilla. This is an added value service so i'm thinking of doing this for a low price of £3, if they dont want there windows cleaned then it's £6.

I appreciate any advise, i've done the university, couldn't do the office- surrounded by vipers, and slit your throat in your sleep individuals!

Thanks

Dave.
dont waste your money on a trolley system get a back pack & stick it on a trolley. save yourself a few hundred quid. trolley systems are way over priced.
 
Back
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it. Advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website.

Our website also relies on advertising to keep the doors open and the lights on!

For the best site experience, please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock