Contracts

[RichieB]

I'm trying to locate some local contracts with schools, nursing homes etc etc. Has anyone experience in this? Also how would you approach these companies? Is there a council website or way of knowing when contracts are up for renewel and how much I'm bidding against?

It's all new to me.

Thanks [emoji4]

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[Bumblebee72]

Get the phone number of the organisation, phone and ask for the person in charge of arranging cleaning contracts. Get a direct number if possible.  Phone and introduce yourself and ask if they would like a quote.

 

[RichieB]

Cheers bumble bee.

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[Eviestevie]

Contract work is good but you must be prepared to wait sometimes quite a while for payment sometimes I have to ring round chasing contract payments months behind 

 

[RichieB]

Thanks. That's good to know. I'm planning on domestics to be my bread 'n' butter while contracts will get me through winter. Thanks for advice [emoji5]

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[Iron Giant]

Contracts can be good payers, But you can take a big hit potentially if you lose one I lost one last week worth a few grand.

Dropped by text [emoji33], You win some you lose some [emoji16]

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[Hotwash window cleaning]

Last group of contacts I had, I had to take them to court to get paid,

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[Bumblebee72]

Hi again RitchieB. If you're just starting out, contract work isn't what you might think.  It's less frequent, sometimes difficult to get paid (as others have said) and can be very short lived.  As for getting through the winter - I've been in this business for over 50 years and only ever had one really bad winter (1986-87).  Your domestic customers will be much more reliable, relatively easy to obtain and don't hurt so much if you lose them!  Better to concentrate on building a good solid round of loyal domestic customers than go chasing the fools gold of commercial at this stage.  When you have a nearly full round is soon enough to look to commercial, then you can pick and choose and only take on really good jobs.  Winter working isn't as hard as you might imagine - even when the temperature is below freezing you can usually keep on working.  Are you trad or WFP?

 

[RichieB]

Hi again RitchieB. If you're just starting out, contract work isn't what you might think.  It's less frequent, sometimes difficult to get paid (as others have said) and can be very short lived.  As for getting through the winter - I've been in this business for over 50 years and only ever had one really bad winter (1986-87).  Your domestic customers will be much more reliable, relatively easy to obtain and don't hurt so much if you lose them!  Better to concentrate on building a good solid round of loyal domestic customers than go chasing the fools gold of commercial at this stage.  When you have a nearly full round is soon enough to look to commercial, then you can pick and choose and only take on really good jobs.  Winter working isn't as hard as you might imagine - even when the temperature is below freezing you can usually keep on working.  Are you trad or WFP?

Hi. Well I'm trad but just invested in wfp. A lot of my customers like both inside and out service, so keeping my fingers in both pies.
I have well over 40 customers in just over 2 months. Contracts I thought would push up the cash.
Thanks for advice [emoji4]

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[Iron Giant]

Don't totally write off contracts just be aware that some will not be so honest shall we say so price them well as i have had jobs just bin me off despite previously been good clients. 

Also with schools it's standard to have £5 million P/L insurance and if you are attending whilst the kids are their you need a DBS Check for past criminal offences, I get mine done and paid for by one of the schools that I clean.

 

[RichieB]

That's good to know re: 5 mill PL. My other line of work already has me checked out to quite a high level. So that's good.

Due to shift work I got no issues doing schools on either a saturday/Sunday if schools prefer. Thanks people for your helpful advice.

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[maddydog]

That's good to know re: 5 mill PL. My other line of work already has me checked out to quite a high level. So that's good.

Due to shift work I got no issues doing schools on either a saturday/Sunday if schools prefer. Thanks people for your helpful advice.

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Weekends might be a struggle coz the school has to pay someone to get out of bed and open up. They'll deffo want them doing during school hols. 

If you're working on your own don't underestimate how tiring and demoralising it can be to clean acres of glass. When you're on houses you get a little break each time plus drink/chat