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so I havnt posted for a while but I've just gone thru my first year in business as a tradder. pushed over 350 solid customers now sheding many on the way as I want A solid round. gone from 4 week cleans to 5 week cleans only and don't even entertain longer cycles. i have a council contract some commercial on top of normal householders.. I've done so well since starting last August. I started using my m4 golf and now have a van best thing I ever did was start cleaning windows. I have a really good reputation and hardly advertise as my work comes from referrals I even have pole fed guys saying if u want traditional A Pane In The Glass is your man. I have recently even took on a trainee I just wanted to share this with you especially for those starting out and hopefully use as inspiration my next goal is more customers and another employee so I can focus on pushing my business further and taking a step back from window cleaning. ok I might clean a few windows to satisfy my craving

Explain that it is no issue whatsoever. 'I obviously missunderstood you. I thought you wanted a regular monthly service for which the price is £X not a one off clean for which the price is £XXX. I will take you off the monthly lists right away and please feel free to call me next time you are after another one off clean and we shall see where we can fit you in. Once again my apologies for the missunderstanding.' Politely she's dumped but also told that if she wants them done again there will be a significant price hike. One of the reasons we always charge a 'first clean' premium.

I had a call this Friday for a builders clean alarm bells started ringing when the bloke that phoned me claiming to be the site agent said the quote "had to be in that day"(he phoned at 3.30pm i asked where the job was and he wouldn't give me an address.I said "I can't and won't quote blind"but yet he still wasn't keen to give me the site address. He said he had all the info and proceeded to rattle of the number of doors and window it had(this was a big site around 300 units). The conversation went back and forth with him asking stupid questions like "how much do I think"? "And how long will it take."? To which I said that basically he must be on drugs if he thinks some one would be willing to price a job like that with out viewing it and he hung up. The bloke was so stupid he called from a viewable number which I put in to google to see if it was registered and it was. To a window cleaner.

Well who would have thought i got invited to go talk to some kids at a local comprehensive special needs school yesterday, It was bit daunting at first but all in all it was good experience. Some bigger local firms had been invited but never even bothered to turn up despite promising to attend and it was only for an hour or so and the kids had put a lot of effort in and laid on sandwiches etc.

Oh yes Don't clean windows anymore (since 2010) hence the '72' in my name. Spent 40 years running up and down a ladder and five years waving one of them stick thingys about. Still got my business though - having a very happy retirement!

My take on this is that people who ask for a one off are not minded to have it done regularly. I never try to up-sell, I know if I did they would just have it done once or twice and then cancel - or worse, keep skipping to the point where I don't know if I have them as a customer or not. I'm not interested in one-offs, I want full rounds of (reasonably) reliable regular customers - simple to schedule, easy financial forecasting etc etc. I want my business to run smoothly with an absolute minimum of input from me, this is the beauty of repeat 'round' work - it goes on automatically with a 'nudge' now and then to keep it on the right track. Keeping it simple means it runs more efficiently, generates more income from a stable customer base and reduces wasted time. Why complicate things?

Hi thank you for the accept into this forum, i have been following the advice given by many expert window cleaners on here. I own a conservatory cleaning company BrightWhiteUpvc and cover the north west & west yorkshire areas i have a website and if anyone would like any advice from me or i can help in any way please do. http://www.upvcandroofcleaning.co.uk

Well been up and running since beginning of June and wow hardest thing I've done but also the most rewarding job I have had. Almost at 200 regular customers. Made some mistakes but I have learnt from them all. Quit my new job and went for the all or nothing approach lol. Sent using the Window Cleaning Forums mobile app

I am in the process of doing some SEO on his website and new content/ service pages with SEO for Green Pro Clean, and already his window cleaning / homepage has moved up onto page 1 of Google search results for town and county. Commercial window cleaning is also now page 1. ( I should make the point it's a nice looking site and SEO/content was already pretty good ranking halfway down page 2 last week). A new page I wrote and SEO'd for a new target location has also gone straight onto page 1. The page was only published late last week but that's how instant an impact it is possible to make on search results . If your services are not on 1st page of local search results then your site probably generates very few enquiries / jobs. That's because no one sees it! Simple as that. Analysis of search engines data shows that on average 91.5% of searchers do NOT go past page 1. Being on page 1 of Google can transform your business and the higher you rank the better. Not being on page 1 is a disaster. Please message me through the forum for further info.

I tried to talk to someone about my issues having a stiffy whenever I have a wee. But he just moved to a different urinal

This advice gets on my mumma sitas. Why sod about with a backpack? Usually about 1 typical semi per fill. Perhaps 2. Then mess about refilling. Lifting 25kg of (water plus another 3 or 4k of battery pump etc) on and off your back every job. Why? Why? Why? The only sane answer is buy a van mount. Especially as you already have a van. If you're going solo operator a 500l tank will keep you in good shape for the day without the infernal messing about. The idea of buying a backpack to 'give it a try' makes no sense to me. Thats a defeatist attitude. 'I'm only getting this one in case it doesnt work out' well your already building in an exit stratagey. Might as well just quit now.

So the van I am currently using is a cold one man system. Two things are in my mind. 1: winter's coming 2: I have some schools over half term that are minging and hot will be a big advantage. Now I know nothing about diesel or LPG conversions so please don't ask. What I do know is that cheap portable Propane shower heaters work really well. So that's the plan. Fit a DIY unit. Now this will be the 3rd one of these I have done so when all the parts arrive in the next few days i will do a real time video to show how simple it is to do in 30 min or less. For now here's the shopping list. Heater Hose. Regulator (this time I went with one with a guage to make any potential trouble shooting easier. Big azz spanner - you need this size to fit the regulator. With the exception of some PTFE tape and a couple of jubilee clips that's pretty much it. Including the propane bottle all in under £150. Video to follow as soon as parts are in stock.

What a great idea! I’m off to Vegas early November with the wife for her 50th. She has booked a helicopter to the great canyon, a Michael Jackson show, circus de lay (or whatever it’s called), a meal in the stratosphere restaurant. But now reading this, I shall ask her if we can cancel these bookings and we’ll go out watching a local window cleaner instead! 👍

All this talk of 'undercutting' really gets my goat. To be able to 'undercut' you first need to know how much is currently being charged and to know that the client either needs to proffer the information first or you need to ask for it. What anybody charges does not matter to me whatsoever I am so not interested you could almost say I don't give a fudge. For any job I quote (regardless of whether or not there is an existing window cleaner in place) there is the price for which I am happy to do the job. That is the only price. Now if I have quoted a house that has a window cleaner..... say for example at £10... and they are currently paying £15... I do not consider that I have undercut anyone. How do I come to this insane conclusion you ask? Simple. I have not asked what they are paying or even endavored to find out if they have a window cleaner. I have simply given a quote with which I am happy. I have not asked what they pay now nor do I care. The price I have given is the ONLY price that interests me. I have had situation where for example I have quoted £12 and been told 'our current chap only charges £10' to which my standard response is 'great, stick with him. If he ever lets you down you have my number' There is no haggle, there is no barter. The price is the price and they can take it or leave it. Entirely down to them but I do not compete on price nor 'price match' so with that in mind I can honestly say I have never undercut anyone. Not that I would actually care if I had.

This is not a game, its business, step on their toes and take their work. I dont care about anyone else honestly, i mean theres a lot of guys on here who seem really good guys, ill still take your work if i get chance though, sorry. (except maybe @Dave B ive seen the tower block he used to live in, im not that daft)

No I don’t but I’m pretty sure if he can make it there he can make it anywhere!

I carry 25 ltrs of water on my trolley. I do about .5 miles a day four days of the week and get through two sets of tyres a year. Don't know if that helps. PS: One always goes bald quiker than the other. Don't know why.

@meridion approached me about improving his search result rank for window cleaning in Leeds as he was then on pages 3 - 4 for different search terms. So I expanded the content and re-optimised it, created new content/ pages, did all aspects of SEO across the site and 1 or 2 other things. He is now 1st, 2nd or 3rd on page 1 of Google for all relevant search terms in Leeds - including - window cleaning leeds, window cleaners leeds, window cleaner leeds domestic window cleaning / cleaners / cleaner / leeds commercial window cleaning / cleaners / cleaner / leeds traditional window cleaning / cleaners / cleaner / leeds (offers wfp & trad) He also now appears in the Local 3 Pack for some terms and in addition is 1st for less common search terms like interior window cleaning. The secondary target location was Yorkshire Using the above search terms but replacing the location with Yorkshire instead of Leeds he is now 1st on page 1 for nearly every search term and 1st in Local 3 Pack. I've attached a couple of screenshots as examples and it's fair to say he totally dominates 'window cleaning yorkshire' search terms. If you would like to improve your rank in search results and reap the benefits of being on page 1 of Google - at unbeatable low prices - with more enquiries every single month all year long then - contact me through the forum.

Just dropping in to say hi, who's still about? Going to take me a while to find my way with this new forum layout. Sent using the Window Cleaning Forums mobile app

Thanks Sul, In all honesty it was a last minute thing I had to drop everything and be their in 10 minutes. The head teacher is a long term client and when she phoned and asked me I couldn't say no as the kids would have been disappointed as only 2 invitees out of 17 turned up. If I am asked again next year in advance I will happily go Sent using the Window Cleaning Forums mobile app

as i said, it does seem, and most likely is unfair. Pedantic? well yes and no... You asked how is it that they don't have to pay water rates whereas we do... The answer is because they're a different country and not part of Great Britain and hence the Northern Ireland government make up their own rules (to a certain extent) for society. My kids have set off last month to Uni at a cost of £9k per year for tuition (plus living costs) If they lived in Scotland it'll be free for them.... how is that fair? I suppose if I wanted free university for my kids I'd have to move to Scotland and I wanted free water I'd have to move to Northern Ireland! BUT, I love living in London as its the best city in the world and so I'll continue to pay water and university fees

So I was noticing today that Spider season is in full swing... and they're huge at the moment! Was doing a door and a orb weaver as fat as a marble dropped down next to me, as I was doing the sill, a 3 inch wolf spider shot out to tackle my brush before deciding it was a bad idea. So I was thinking they're bigger than usual today, then turned around, went straight head first into a massive web with a big one in the center! After a bit of jumping around and shouting trying to get the little monster out of my hair I calmed down and was more careful but three times today I ended up getting my head in a web! They were everywhere, hundreds of em! Some houses had 2-3 per pane and there were huge today. I broke one web spanning a path to get by and the blighter ended up getting catapulted straight at me! Another path looked clear but the sucker was at head height suspended in mid air until I went through it. Climbed over a balcony and put my finger on something furry under the rail- another huge wolf spider. I'm sick of em! I got so on edge I even splashed water on the wall in the shape of a huge spider and made myself jump when I noticed! Usually I'm not bothered but today on that estate it felt like I was on the cast of arachnophobia.

I use a large keter storage cupboard as it's more pleasing to the eye to hide my Ibc tank, Used to have two 200l waterbutts linked together in a smaller keter cupboard but couldn't use my auto shutoff valve with that set up so decided to get an Ibc which holds more water and and is now more automated.

Having fun cleaning a velux window. Sent using the Window Cleaning Forums mobile app

I mixed business with pleasure in the past. Ended in divorce and cost me a house

did you not take a run up then bounce up to the velux with a squeegee?? Sent using the Window Cleaning Forums mobile app

Well I've just done my first day with my electric reel [emoji1] [emoji1] It took a good few hours to setup and sort everything up... 2 weeks it took lol.. but I only fiddled with it on the weekends. The reel is not 100% firm on the wood base but it's lined up with the 300w motor. I cleaned 4 houses before the quick link fell off... But I had a spare link so after 10 minutes of fiddling again I was up and running. It's so much faster and less work to just stand there with a glove on and press the remote button and reel it in lol... I don't have a hose guide because ... Well it's my first day so it's a learning curve. I'm going to buy a few hose reel brackets this week and line up the reel and fasten it in the floor firmly. Well chuffed... Now feel like I'm working smarter not harder. Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

Personally find gardiner flocked sill brush.with fan jets a winner

Good day today. 14 firsr cleans done and another 7 added after a quick canvass. Nice chicken kiev for supper and settling in with a cider. Just had to step out and put the bins in the garage as starting to blow about the drive already so written off the idea of any work tomorrow and going to catch up on admin. For you lads on ladders especially dont become another statistic. It aint worth the risk.

You would need to consider your options very carefully and not be too taken in by salesmen and sales literature. As far as diesel heaters are concerned the suppliers usually use Webasto units. Ionics work slightly differently so you have to very carefully weigh up the pros and cons of each system. As with most 2 man systems the suppliers use Webasto ST90 diesel furnaces. If you do a search on the main boating forums you will see that there are numerous issues with boaters/live-a-boards using diesel heaters (Webasto are the most popular of the diesel heaters so take the most criticism.) The problem surrounds the use of red diesel. There was a boater who threatened to take Webasto to court for selling a product not fit for purpose. I can’t remember the full details but he was complaining about regular heater failure and the cost of repairs. Webasto took that same unit and ran it for 6 months on road diesel and found that the boiler was in perfect condition inside, where the same boiler, over the same period of time was completely chocked up with soot and carbon from using red diesel fuel causing it to fail. Webasto didn’t blame red diesel per say but blamed the quality of some of the fuel sold on boating marinas. Hurricane heaters were sold by Brodex at one time and they claimed their heaters worked fine on red diesel. However, an independent boat yard repairer said that they were just as bad – there weren’t many complaints about Hurricane due to the fact that there aren’t many out there to begin with. We live on the North Coast and there is a supplier selling red diesel to the fishermen. One of the window cleaners I talk to uses red diesel in his window cleaning van. He uses a hot box with an exhaust through the roof. The top of his van is black with soot all around the vent from the boiler. No wonder it clogs the internal boiler with carbon. (I have an Eberspacher Airtronic air heater in my van. It runs on road diesel from the van’s tank. It was nearly new when I bought it and it been in my van for 8 years. It’s never had a service and starts each time I want to use it in winter.) Webasto bought Eberspacher (Espar in the USA) out many years ago. Tankless Gas heaters provide instant heat where a Webasto (or Eberspacher, Mukuni, Hurricane etc) doesn’t. A Webasto is primary designed as a diesel preheater for vehicles used in cold countries and has been adapted for window cleaning. It was designed to be switched on about 30 minutes before a journey begins to heat the engine coolant up to just below normal engine running temperature. In the process it also had the electronics to switch the internal blower of the vehicles cabin on when the water got to 30 degrees C to defrost the windscreen and warm the vehicle up a bit inside. Once the water in the engine reached a certain temperature the unit kicks into half heat mode and then when it reaches full temperature it starts its power down and switch off cycle which lasts 180 secs. Start up also takes time as the unit does lots of checks before it starts up. Diesels heaters need to work. If they stop and restart all the time they won’t work well for you. If you are working on a large commercial building where the cleaners are going from one window to the next then this is fine. If you have small residential jobs scattered all over then you are going to have issues. (Ionics have a different setup to some others with pros and cons to consider). When a heater starts it draws up to 20+ amps of current in pulses over a few minutes before it settles down to about what a wfp pump draws. Window cleaners have issues with batteries failing as there aren’t many leisure batteries that will support these high power draws. (There are a few more now such as Numax who also quote CCA (cold cranking amps) on some of their leisure batteries as they have to accommodate caravan movers as well.) You do need a separate battery for the heater IMHO and you can’t rely on a Split Charge Relay to keep it fully charged. These are things you need to know and understand before you decide diesel is the way to go. The main complaints levied by window cleaners are how often the unit needs servicing, the cost of servicing and battery issues. A diesel heater heats up an internal water core including a header tank. In that internal core is one or two water to water plate heat exchangers depending on if it’s a single or twin operator system. These heat exchangers are what draw heat from the internal core and transfer it to the water going to the brush head. Most of the suppliers incorporate a mixing valve onto the heat exchanger which is used to regulate to temperature of the water going to the brush. If the window cleaners stop and talk, the furnace continues to heat the water until it gets to its full heat and starts the process of shutting the furnace down which takes 180 seconds. If the operators start to use the system just after it starts to power down, the furnace will still go through its cycle and after the cycle has finished will then start up again. By that time all the heat in the core will be used up and the operators will be using cold water. If they are doing small jobs then chances are this will be the norm – initial hot with cold ending. Now Ionics use a different system. Their window cleaning pumps work 100% of the time, even when the operator switches his pole tap off. When the pole tap is switched off the pump increases the pressure in the line to above 65psi and a pressure relief valve operates and diverts that hot water back to the storage tank. What this does is keeps the furnace running and reduces stop start. The operators will always have hot water to work with. The downside of Ionic system is that you can’t fine tune the water temperature to the brush. All Ionics gives you is a summer and winter switch that reprograms the furnace to operate at a lower temperature range. .

Don't want to upset anyone but some are making this sound like hard work. I use GoCardless through Cleaner Planer. Now I have been having a brief conversation in PM with someone about the same stuff. Cleaner Planer when used to it's full potential (or even part there of) is a very powerful tool to have. All the others (IMO) are just diary systems. PLEASE PLEASE -- before all the 'I use this and I use that and it's the best' jump in this has nothing to do with any other software so please dont. I have been on CP for 5 years and wont consider anything else. Now with CP we have the Pro level package. We use this for two reasons. 1: The text local service is dead handy. 2: At this level you get a GoCardless integration feature for your website. (we still use the link service as well) There appears to be two ways to add to GoCardless. 1: You set up a plan in the dashboard and add clients to that and then they are on that plan (this seems to be an automatic monthly billing on certain date at certain time) 2: You client registers on GoCardless and authorizes you to collect payments-- you add their email address to their file in Cleaner Planner. How this method works (this is the one we use) is pretty straight forward. Once the worksheet is completed you submit it on Cleaner Planner. Then at the top of your debt list on Cleaner Planner there is a button 'Start GoGardless' - When you click this is it triggers the collection process for your outstanding customers. Why we like this process is that if we miss them, because the job is not recorded as a debt in Cleaner Planner the client does not get billed. Hope that clears it up a bi for you.

My point is real straight forward. He's already got Ubix so why mess about looking for something else? IMO everything else is pretty much a waste of time for sprucing up the UPVC as Ubik does it fine. When it comes to knowing what to mix with what @Dave B you're well aware that I got a good few recipes stashed. What makes me laugh....regardless of what you use is that folk are always trying to find 'better / cheaper' i prefer to stick with what I know works (and cost but pennies) and more importantly how it works. If our OP takes on all comments here @jay198127 he's gonna have no room in the van for a sandwich as it will be too full of chem bottles of varying makes. So yes IMO everything else is a waste of time when there is a perfectly good solution in your van already. I never said anyone's doing it wrong. That's between you and your conscience mate. 😉 What you use is your business. As long as it works for you and you're happy with it carry on. But once you found something that works why bother changing it? UPVC Max is going to change the world! Look at all the errmmm..... reviews. Try ordering some today 🙄 I don't only use the Ubik, I also swear by the Unger Rub Out for the ingrained crud that needs heavy buffing out. @paul alan quite a few on here used to use virosol till switching to these new back room wonder products. Virosol is good but I personally don't like it. I find it too harsh. If it dries out it causes 'yellowing' on the plastic that is a ball ache to get out.

I put my hand up. I am a small minded person who has built up a very successful business all on my own over the last 17 1/2 years [emoji12] [emoji23] [emoji23] Sent using the Window Cleaning Forums mobile app

The way I look at is this if a sparky or a gas engineer or even a house cleaner turned up, no customer would expect them not to use their power.. If there not home I just get them to leave a power cord in a plastic bag through a window. Just post it back through when I'm done..

I recently quoted for and got a domestic job. I was actually more expensive than the guy who was meant to be doing it. That made me feel better as i hadnt gone out and undercut. He was erratic and apparently only turned up occasionally. People generally want a reliable regular service. If you provide that then you are half way there.

Ive put together a short video for potential customers to see a small portion of my work. I'm thinking if they can see it rather than just an ad using words we might see better results! Anyone else tried this and with what success? Sent using the Window Cleaning Forums mobile app

Cheers Dave. Sorry it's been so long. Changed my life around for the last couple of years- More work life balance, time for family, got fit (lost 2.5 stone). Was finding myself working, or talking about working way too much, so decided to turn my life around a bit. Much more content with life these days. Sent using the Window Cleaning Forums mobile app

Full respect Iron Giant my son attends a special needs school. It's a couple of hours out of work. But much more rewarding. Kodos.[emoji4] [emoji4] Sent using the Window Cleaning Forums mobile app

I tradded for 25 years and wfp is definitely better for 1st cleans No way you can get the frames etc as clean on a first clean trad

On first cleans trad is better Sent from my iPhone using Window Cleaning Forums

Had one on the books since April, out of the way job so I did keep forgetting. Emailed an text but after first reply. Sorry will bacs later. Stopped replying. Passing yesterday an knocked the door. Cheeky sod tryed to deny the whole thing. Lost it for a second an called him a **** when he told me to take him to court an prove it. (smirk on his face that got me). Pulled myself together and said OK sir no problem. I must inform you that I will be adding a £40 administration charge to your account. Then sending it to court. Or you could just pay the £30 outstanding. He said good luck proving anything. My turn to smirk. I have all our emails saved sir see you in court. Payment received 8.20am this morning. Dont give up that's the thing. These people seam to think it's only small amounts so we won't chase it. I always will.

Oh, whats that noise??!! oh, its the sound of the worlds smallest violin! Enjoy your cash Tuffers, it's a tough job you got but someones got to do it....

Tell em to get some floor tiles.

I prefer working in winter No more sweating me nuts off all day

The green PU hose is great stuff if you learn to manage it properly. As an exercise, lay a length of it out - say 25 Mtrs - and fix one end to a reel or trolley/backpack and don’t connect it to a pole at the other end. Take the pole end in your hand and untwist it till it lays flat. Once you have done this you will find you can wander about quite a bit whilst holding it without it coiling up so long as you yourself don’t turn a complete circle anywhere. If you do just twist the hose one turn in the opposite direction. It’s easier to write it down than to put it into practice but once you nail it, it makes working with PU hose much more trouble free. The reinforced hose is heavier and more flexible so less prone to twisting up as you turn but it will eventually if you don’t untwist it. If you use a tubeless setup on your pole it makes things a little easier as you can disconnect at the base of the pole if need be every so often, untwist it and reconnect

You still need to solve the reason for the high tds output of the r/o unit.

I mean.... why would you not want to work only 16 hours? I'm 39 years young, I have my health, a beautiful wife and two amazing kids. I work when I want (I must say I never miss a round) how I want, where I want, for the amount I want, therefore I have a certain amount of freedom. Which is priceless. IMO I drive a nice car, live in a decent home, and want for nothing. have I not cracked it?

Yeah I purchased a Numatic 51mm side entry with gasket from Grippa Tank. Carefully traced round the new gasket using existing hole and carefully cut it out, works a treat and it's never blocked.

seems to me like you are trying to cut corners and do a cheap job to customers who want to pay a cheap price - its a viscious circle you will end up stuck in. If you cant afford wfp stick to trad and concentrate on building your work and prices first, then invest in better gear, and on and on it goes..