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To clean? Or not to clean?

D

Dolf112

Hi to everyone here.

I have been reading the threads on this forum for about a week now and I have gotten a lot out of it so thank you. I still have some doubts/questions that are keeping me from pulling the trigger and starting to window clean.

I will list my questions and if anybody can help me out with the answers that would be amazing.

Thanks in advance.

1. Is mid December a great, good or terrible time to start and why?

2. What is a realistic result from canvassing, I have sales experience and door to door cold calling exp too. I read here that someone got 8 in 2 hours. Another got 26 in a day? Is this realistic, if not what is?

3. Is it pretty simple to get the customer on GoCardless from the off? What's the response to it?

4. Is Cleaner Planner an "essential" or is it best to leave that until you feel the need for it?

5. How do you give "perceived value" to your customers?

6. What is the general response to leaflets? Surely because it is maintenance work if you pay for 1000 to be delivered than a response of 0.1% that stays for 6 months covers the cost?

7. On average how much is public liability insurance?

8. Essentially, can you start window cleaning with barebones basic equipment, bucket, mop, squeedgee, pole. Use a smile and knock on doors and build an income that can free you from your 9-5 quickly?

Thank you.

Adam

 
Winters are tough, harder to canvas in the evenings, money is tight for most people, and generally not that bothered about having their windows cleaned, or are just after one-offs.

Canvassing is just luck of the draw, it really depends on how much competition there is, the area, all sorts...

Cleaner planner isn't essential, there are plenty of alternatives, but is the most versatile and will grow with your business..

Public liability is usually around £100..

Of course you can start bare bones, it's the best way, invest as you grow!

 
December is a tough time to start - you'll get lots of one-off cleans who only want that xmas clean but mess you about next month. This is something you'll learn to spot & avoid in time, but its worse this time of year so be prepared.

Canvassing rates vary wildly & it really is down to how hard you work at it. If you have a likeable persona, and put in the hours, you will gain customers even in winter. I'd say on average 1 day of canvassing should give you almost a half days work,.. so if you work a 6 week rota, you'd need 3 months or more non-stop canvassing to fill your books - and of course once work takes time away from canvassing it will begin to take much longer to fill the final spaces in your schedule.

Gocardless is a simple system - but if you're a total newbie it can be hard to convince customers to signup to a direct debit. My advice would be to push it as much as you can, but for the first couple of months accept other payment methods until they know & trust you. Also - the smarter & more professional you look, the more inclined ppl are to signup to Gocardless, so tell people you're expanding in this area" NOT "just setting up"! I'd get a couple of polo shirts printed up with your logo, get some cheap business cards, a basic website etc - look as pro as you can without spending silly money.

Cleaner planner is brilliant - but not essential from day one. Plan to get it as your business expands, but you'll survive a few months with paper & pen.

Perceived value is reliability & trust. People can be very wary about who they want on their property (and rightly so), so initially spending a minute or two chatting so they know a bit about you, being friendly and approachable, having your home address on your cards/ windows cleaned tickets etc etc,.. it all builds trust.

Leaflets have a terrible response rate - BUT they can still work long term. If 5000 leaflets costs you £70 (and probably a week to deliver) and you get a return of 1%, that's still 50 jobs. If they only average £15 each, you've still made £750. If only half turn into long term customers, that's £3250 of work each year for your original investment. Leaflets work slowly, but they do work.

Shop around for PL & make sure you get a policy that covers you for the property you're working on. Gleaming Insurance are pretty good in my experience.

Be sensible about your equipment - don't spend big on gear until your business is earning enough to justify it. WFP is brilliant & probably something you should consider in the future, but starting out you don't need it.

 
If you want out of the rat race bad enough you will make it work regardless of time of year or competition etc

Get some ladders and trad gear

I would recommend using liquidator squeegees as you won't already be set in your ways with other primitive squeegees so can learn with them and not have to change your technique at all (watch Bob Hatt aka polzn bladz on youtube) as that will cut down a lot of detailing even if you don't get it perfect

I said it before that it is all about shoe leather..wear enough of it away door knocking in the evenings and leafletting in the daytime when most people are out at work and you will have the round you need to earn a good living

Just as an example 25 customers a week at £12 will earn you £300 pw so 100 customers a month will be 1200 quid

That is only 5 jobs per day which will leave plenty of time for more canvassing

The hardest part starting up in this game is having the belief you can do it and getting out there

5 hours door knocking and leafletting a day you should easily be able to get 5 jobs and be working for yourself

 
If you want out of the rat race bad enough you will make it work regardless of time of year or competition etc
'Once I get my business off the ground'

'As soon as my friend designs my logo'

'Once the street cleaner has been'

'After my wife has finished her period'

'Once I save up fro business cards'

And on and on and on.

26 custys in one day is not impossible but more like not probable.

8 in 2 hours I have done many times myself on a roll. Biggest issue is keeping the Mojo going for more than 3 or 4 hours on a canvass.

I started this round with a ladder, applicator, squeegee, bucket, 2 microfiber cloths and no transport so yes, it can be done with minimal equipment.

Remember the only person stopping you is YOU.

Good luck.

 
When i was 15 nearly 16 i started working for my mates dad on Saturdays and holidays and then i left school and started an apprenticeship in panel beating..the garage went into liquidation at the end of my first of 2 years so got the hump and joined the army

During this time i decided i would do windows for friends etc whenever i was around which was surprisingly often considering i was based on a reme (royal electrical mechanical engineers) barracks 3 miles from my house luckily

When i left i thought "nothing ventured nothing gained" and just knocked on doors

No leaflets

It was 1994 so mobile phones were expensive and not many people had them

Just me and a notepad

Managed to build a good round in west and north west london which i was charging 15 years ago not much less than people charge elsewhere now (managed to get work in The Bishops Avenue) which is called billionaires row as the house are too expensive for just millionaires lol

Look on google..1st floor 2 bed flat 10 million quid

Moved away since and started again after selling for a good price

Just takes the determination and belief that you will (not can) do it

 
Cheers for the replies. Absolutely brilliant information. Gives me more of an understanding of what is likely. I'm not shy of getting out there. I started a milk and bread delivery business with my vauxhall corsa and built it into £1000 - £2000 p.w in 6 months all from cold calling. I sold the round because I had no idea how to grow it past that point and then ever scince then I've been in sales and recruitment and worked with guys who run businesses rather than own a job and I'm ready to start again. I don't think it's probably the best way buy if I was to start a canvasser. Whats the going rate? what results can I expect? Do they have to have experience to make up for the lack of passion? What training do you have to put into them?

 
If you hire an established canvasser they will usually charge at least 2x the value of the work they get plus accommodation

Can be quite expensive when you can do it yourself

 
Hi to everyone here.
I have been reading the threads on this forum for about a week now and I have gotten a lot out of it so thank you. I still have some doubts/questions that are keeping me from pulling the trigger and starting to window clean.

I will list my questions and if anybody can help me out with the answers that would be amazing.

Thanks in advance.

1. Is mid December a great, good or terrible time to start and why?

2. What is a realistic result from canvassing, I have sales experience and door to door cold calling exp too. I read here that someone got 8 in 2 hours. Another got 26 in a day? Is this realistic, if not what is?

3. Is it pretty simple to get the customer on GoCardless from the off? What's the response to it?

4. Is Cleaner Planner an "essential" or is it best to leave that until you feel the need for it?

5. How do you give "perceived value" to your customers?

6. What is the general response to leaflets? Surely because it is maintenance work if you pay for 1000 to be delivered than a response of 0.1% that stays for 6 months covers the cost?

7. On average how much is public liability insurance?

8. Essentially, can you start window cleaning with barebones basic equipment, bucket, mop, squeedgee, pole. Use a smile and knock on doors and build an income that can free you from your 9-5 quickly?

Thank you.

Adam
See this video for all the answers. Elcome to the forum.

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Blew the whistle in a government job, lost my livelihood scratched my head, brother started on the glass other side of the country told me it was tidy return on invested time. Knocked doors for a few hours to test the waters and picked up 4 regular customers at a tidy price and when I saw the cash in my hand realised it was worth the effort.

 
Blew the whistle in a government job, lost my livelihood scratched my head, brother started on the glass other side of the country told me it was tidy return on invested time. Knocked doors for a few hours to test the waters and picked up 4 regular customers at a tidy price and when I saw the cash in my hand realised it was worth the effort.
So what are the hard parts to the business, if picking up customers is not as hard as expected. I feel almost as if I'm trying to find negatives that don't exist. Is it that when you start off without exp you don't know who will pay who won't or you underprice and lose when you try to increase the price? Is it that people expect you to put their hanging baskets up for them too? what are the day to day headaches?

Interesting story btw

 
I've found this forum to be a priceless place to find info on how to best run and how to set up a successful Buisness . Don't get me wrong you get down days its a Buisness not a job, it's not all cleaning windows and collecting cash but planning round/ time management, relationship building, networking, accounting and a load of other things. I've loads of respect for the established windys on here as they must all have tidy heads on their shoulders to create a robust well paying Buisness that has stood the test of time. It's physical and mentally challenging too but the rewards are there.

 
I've found this forum to be a priceless place to find info on how to best run and how to set up a successful Buisness . Don't get me wrong you get down days its a Buisness not a job, it's not all cleaning windows and collecting cash but planning round/ time management, relationship building, networking, accounting and a load of other things. I've loads of respect for the established windys on here as they must all have tidy heads on their shoulders to create a robust well paying Buisness that has stood the test of time. It's physical and mentally challenging too but the rewards are there.
I love this forum purely because there is so much value to be had from it.

 
The downsides are working in the winter which i actually don't mind but most don't enjoy it

Working when ill as you can't afford to get behind on your round

No holiday pay so have to plan it properly

Timewasters

Non payers

To be fair you don't get many

And that ***** who walks past and inevitably says "missed a bit" and you chuckle but secretly want to lamp him:rofl:

All that being said it can still be the best thing you could ever do if you want to make a go of it

 
@Dolf112

The first mistake is the hardest to get past.

The first mistakeis coming up with every reason NOT to go out and get on it tomorrow.

Once that mistake is out the way you will make every other mistake in the book as we all did..... but we're still here.

In this game you will have massive highs and historic lows but that's part of the game.

Get out and get on with it mate cause of a bunch of mugs like us can do it so can you. :thumbsup:

 
Are you havin a bath?
Winter my hairy bottom!

13 bloomin degrees today. I woul be t-shirt and shorts tomorrow but i'm on another roof wash!
It's not winter yet

Was nice today

I'm talking when the temperature is in the negative daily

Just need more layers though and it's fine

 
The downsides are working in the winter which i actually don't mind but most don't enjoy itWorking when ill as you can't afford to get behind on your round

No holiday pay so have to plan it properly

Timewasters

Non payers

To be fair you don't get many

And that ***** who walks past and inevitably says "missed a bit" and you chuckle but secretly want to lamp him:rofl:

All that being said it can still be the best thing you could ever do if you want to make a go of it
I know the feeling from cleaning the car... "you'll polish it away" "you can do mine after" You've missed a bit" I think people know that it bugs people but thoroughly enjoy being a T***.

 
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