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5 years cleaning windows! It's my business's birthday today. Can't quite believe how fast it's gone. Started off with me, a bike and a baby, and moved on all the way up to a full van setup, staff and a kid in his second year of school 😂 I don't come on here as often as I should, but without you guys I don't know if I'd have made it out of the starting blocks, let alone 5 years. So thank you , thank you , thank you 😎

I have an expert which is the same as the dispatch. I have it organised like this

Here's the rear of my Toyota Hiace.

I'm not getting on to you @Pattingham Window Cleaning, this is a comment aimed at all the Newbies, it is far better for your personal business development skills to look at the job and price it the way you think it should be, even if you're clueless. You will get it wrong many times but at least you will learn by doing so. Listening to multiple people on here is confusing, even to an old codger like me. You will get £100 variations, £200 from @Pjj😁 on £150 jobs. If you listen to the high price and miss it you'll think I should've listened to the lowest price. Then again you quote the lowest price and then get it and hate the job as it's underpriced. The technical information supplied on here however, from the many boffins, is priceless. In finishing my drink fuelled lecture, you will learn far more quoting blind and far more asking technical / business advice, however good luck in your venture.

Here is a blog i wrote with some key points of why gutter cleaning is important. Perhaps you can use it to upsell to customers, as we enter the busiest time of year for gutter clearing and cleaning.. https://fifewindowcleaningservices.co.uk/six-reasons-to-use-a-fife-gutter-cleaning-company/

Here's a few pictures. I've posted these before but they will give you an idea of what I've done and may be helpful to you now even if later you move to a van mount.

Worked with my father and my uncle for for the last 20 odd years and never any hassle, very different people but try to look after each other. We are all sole traders but help each out. An extra body is an extra body, the goal is the same, be smart and make money. Have been arguments along the way but nothing major. They are both in the 70's and still cracking on with work. Been my safety blanket for a long time now and vice versa but they won't be doing it for much longer. I will get a shed load of work when they pack it in, so that is something that I will have to plan for, extra bodies will be needed. I do get why people say never work with friends though, can ruin a relationship.

I'd avoid it, you'll end up with 2/3 lads cash in hand and on the dole as well! Walk away, if he's conning HMRC then he's almost certainly conning you. If you buy it and get caught you'll be screwed big time. A gardener round here got caught with cash in hand staff and fiddled books couple years ago, cost him his house, car, business and family, it's just not worth it

slx best all round pole on the market but if you have a well estabilished round doing plenty every day then i'd recommend an xtreme, used slx for years but dubious about buying an xtreme then i took the plunge and its been bang on, finish work every day feeling good and not worn out and i found ive been making more money since buying it so its paid for itself easily too and making more money! all about working smart for me, i'd rather wear a pole out then wear my joints out.

Hi there ,I’m sure the advice will be invaluable in the coming weeks and months ,you’ve taken a bit of time to reply in the depth you have and it’s really appreciated . I wish you well and thank you 👍

Hi John. Regarding first cleans this is what I do. Firstly, get yourself some TFR. I personally use Screwfix Degreaser but others use UBIK etc. First thing I do is give the window and good wetting up. I then spray my brush with the degreaser and then give the window a good scrubbing with it with the water off..including the vents! Once the window is covered, I let it dwell and work it's magic while I move onto the next window and do exactly the same. Once the second is done and dwelling, I'll then move back to the first, turn the water on and give it another good scrub. Once I can tell that it's clean I'll start the rinsing and give it a damn good rinse. Check it over and repeat if needed. Move onto next window etc. Regarding customers...firstly you'll more than likely lose some..expect it! I suspect you'll already have an idea on your 'fussy' customers right? I transitioned back in February and found there's 3 types of customers reactions. 1) The ones that will instantly drop you as they 'dont like the brush' or *insert excuse here*. 2) The ones that will come out and seem worried about what this alien contraption is cleaning their windows but with education and a good explanation they'll be happy to try it out. - They also may drop you after 2/3 cleans. 3) The ones that won't give a rat's behind what you're doing and are just happy to have their windows cleaned by whatever means. For me personally, I found things to settle down after about 5/6 months. Once everyone gets to know the method and see it does a good job it's highly unlikely they'll drop you for 'using the brush' after 6+ months. Also brand new customers will know from the start the method you'll be using so it gets easier. It's the best thing I've ever done personally. The great folks on here give me great advice and that last push to change over as I made a post just like yours here. Do it and don't look back, you may have the odd day of regret especially if you have a few cancel in one day. Hold your nerve and stick with it. Good luck.

If you can invest in a van that’s one of the things I would recommend. Working from a car you will wreck it and your misses will not be pleased going on past experience. An R/O system to suit your own needs a 450 gpd will suffice when filling an IBC. But as you grow you then want a bigger and faster R/O and most go for the 4040 system.

Can you not attach a small trailer on the back of it. I appreciate this will attract a penalty at the end of it but personally would prefer to pay that than f@rt around for 2 years

Well the meet went well they,re happy with my price once the formalities of insurance info risk assessment , method statement are emailed over I should have contract agreement next week [emoji3] Monthly £100 3 Monthly £130 Invoice payment on 7 day terms I'm happy with that once I've done month or 2 I,ll have figured out best routine and aim to get it done 2hrs Thanks for the replies all [emoji106] Sent using the Window Cleaning Forums mobile app

Daily issues with left elbow and wrist till last October. Switched to extreme poles. Much stiffer, no flex causing 'energy return' to trigger spasms in my arm. Not one single incident since I switched pole.

I’m 95% finished and can’t wait to get started.. The vans been insulated, ply lined, sealed and had a coat of that rubber paint. Just need to connect everything up, wire up the relay, bolt the frame down and then for the hardest bit get some customers. Sent from my iPhone using Window Cleaning Forums

No one said it a woman couldn’t lift the barrels. What was said was, most of the time a man is stronger than a woman (fact), so most women would find it tougher than most men. Nothing sexist about that.

Your best bet is to work it with him for at least one cycle. Digital records can be doctored just the same as pen and paper although a little harder. There’s no better proof than actually getting out there and meeting and greeting the customers personally. Sent using the Window Cleaning Forums mobile app

Light weight = Gardiner Extreme Long lasting= Slx Or Clx. I prefer the Slx.

Thankfully I'm in a position of not having to eek every penny out of every job. As I said the people that run it are all volunteers. They were actually asking me if they could help and apologising that it was taking so long. Never been defeated in anything in life, yet, and don't intend ever to be so.

Sounds like the PVC frames haven't been cleaned in years and are breaking down. On these jobs you literally have to spend ages scrubbing and then rinsing. You were extra hyper the other night and totally down tonight. I promise you this is part of the ups and downs of starting up a new business, be it window-cleaning or breeding pink orangutans.

update today i cleaned the windows near the factory. as advised, i rinsed well before the brush touched the glass. the came up lovely. then, as advised with drying, i tied a microfiber around my brush i ordered 2 70cm square ones, one for the front, one for the back. again, this seamed to work a treat. dry clean glass. then when i returned to the front, there was another windy cleaning 4 doors down. had a chat with him and he said the dust has never caused him any trouble i.e scratches or clumping. he even went on to advice me of 2 houses i should knock on. picked up one of them for an 8 weekly. so all in all, not too bad of a job, customer pays for the extra time to dry and 2 houses on the same cul-de-sac on the same day.

I got the job! Now just got to hope I get it done in a decent time. I think 2hrs for the first few cleans, and hopefully down to 1.5 once I've got the hang of it. Thanks again for your help.

Hi everyone. My names Oli and I’m based in South Yorkshire. Looking forward to being part of the community, everyone seems friendly and offers solid advice. I’ll do my best to use the search function before asking stupid stuff!! Cheers Sent from my iPhone using Window Cleaning Forums

Don’t mean to sound idiotic, but did you rinse them well after the clean? This is a crucial part of the process. Did the water run-off like milk?? This can occur on first cleans where the pvc frames have become weathered. I had this on my Folks house when I started out with WFP. Its is always good to give first cleans a deep clean with Ubik (see eBay/Amazon) Just spray some on the end of your brush for the top ones, and direct to the frames on the bottoms. This will clean them up proper, ready cleaned for your next visit. All the the best of luck mate.