Doing it wrong….

[Nosey]

Hi Everyone,

I hope someone doesn’t mind given me a little bit of advice…..

I’m well established and have more than a full round that I am struggling to get round. 3/4 of the work is priced right and the rest needs increasing not drastically, but in line with the new cost of living. I work on a four week basis but this keep going over because of kids, appointments etc…. I’m mostly trad, do wfp but am limited to trolley system so need to invest to have tank for ease and not barrels which are a faff. I just feel like I’m running around like a headless chicken all the time working 6 days a week. I take time off when I want too, but that’s mostly for days out with the family or holidays. This funds it but I need to find that balance. I also need to start putting more in to pension. I’m only in mid thirties but just stuck in a rut and need to come up with a new way of working that benefits me and the family properly.

Obviously the prices need updating to the right levels. I’m sure I will lose some but the others will make up for it which will free time.

I don’t know whether to get rid of some work so I can keep within the 4 weeks or change the cycle to 6 weeks which is much more simpler timeframe to work within, but just keep my commercial work on four weekly (20% of round). All my work is very compact so don’t like idea of selling work to someone, who will then be on the same road more a less than where the rest of my work is. I know you will all recommend going full wfp, which is a hell of a lot easier. But just concerned I will lose more as I keep getting told of new customers they haven’t been happy with the wfp from other cleaners. But I’m guessing it’s not the wfp just the operative? If I did go full wfp I know it’s hard for people to say as no one know my round, me or circumstances. But would that knock a huge percentage of time of the duration compared to traditional. Potentially get round all my work within the four week. I also don’t want to hire anyone at the moment.

I live in the north west and just trying to get a bit of a different perspective and wondered if anyone else has ended up in a similar situation. I’m just getting fed up with it and think it’s not the window cleaning just my inefficiency and being stuck in my ways.

Any advice will be much appreciated.

Many thanks David.

 

[ched999uk]

I would say if you are running round like a headless chicken then you have too much work or have to work too many hours.
Say you put up all prices by 10% and you lost 10% of your work, you then have the same money but 10% 'spare time'.

I don't really do trad so I'm slow when I do but when I started I started with wfp, backpack out of car. I was slow, very slow, but my speed has increased massively since having a van system plus experience. I don't feel I'm doing anything faster but the more you do the more you work out hose routes round properties, exactly how far to extend your pole for every window, your technique (what order you clean windows i.e. top, right, left, glass sill, then rinse etc) etc it just all comes together to speed things up. A trolley system works but it's slow, so if you are comparing that to your trad work then you would be amazed at how much faster a van system and experience can make you, especially if it's compact work.

Switching to a 6 week cycle might work but you need more customers and ideally you charge a bit more as it's 6 weekly. That might be worth using as a wfp selling point - i.e. switch to 6 weekly wfp at same price - you will initially earn less but once up to speed you should earn more, and do more jobs, plus customer should be happy as they save money over the 12 months and get what could be a better job - I don't want to start a wfp vs trad argument but you could sell it to a customer that all frames, sills, glass is cleaned and should stay cleaner longer type of thing....

If 20% of your work is commercial and you want to keep that on a 4 weekly maybe you could schedule all that work for, say a Tuesday (towards beginning of week to cope with bad weather and no bank holidays) then the rest of your work on the other 4 days.

 

[Pjj]

Hi Everyone,

I hope someone doesn’t mind given me a little bit of advice…..

I’m well established and have more than a full round that I am struggling to get round. 3/4 of the work is priced right and the rest needs increasing not drastically, but in line with the new cost of living. I work on a four week basis but this keep going over because of kids, appointments etc…. I’m mostly trad, do wfp but am limited to trolley system so need to invest to have tank for ease and not barrels which are a faff. I just feel like I’m running around like a headless chicken all the time working 6 days a week. I take time off when I want too, but that’s mostly for days out with the family or holidays. This funds it but I need to find that balance. I also need to start putting more in to pension. I’m only in mid thirties but just stuck in a rut and need to come up with a new way of working that benefits me and the family properly.

Obviously the prices need updating to the right levels. I’m sure I will lose some but the others will make up for it which will free time.

I don’t know whether to get rid of some work so I can keep within the 4 weeks or change the cycle to 6 weeks which is much more simpler timeframe to work within, but just keep my commercial work on four weekly (20% of round). All my work is very compact so don’t like idea of selling work to someone, who will then be on the same road more a less than where the rest of my work is. I know you will all recommend going full wfp, which is a hell of a lot easier. But just concerned I will lose more as I keep getting told of new customers they haven’t been happy with the wfp from other cleaners. But I’m guessing it’s not the wfp just the operative? If I did go full wfp I know it’s hard for people to say as no one know my round, me or circumstances. But would that knock a huge percentage of time of the duration compared to traditional. Potentially get round all my work within the four week. I also don’t want to hire anyone at the moment.

I live in the north west and just trying to get a bit of a different perspective and wondered if anyone else has ended up in a similar situation. I’m just getting fed up with it and think it’s not the window cleaning just my inefficiency and being stuck in my ways.

Any advice will be much appreciated.

Many thanks David.

If ones aren’t happy with the results of WFP that’s down to one of two things , either operator error or using water with a high TDS .
have you thought of employing? If you don’t want to go down that route why not in sections drastically increase the job prices say 10 houses at a time , if you loose a third it won’t matter as you will be earning more money for doing less work , if you loose the majority of the jobs you put up try reducing the amount you put them up by until you hit the sweet spot . I feel going to 6 weekly isn’t beneficial to you , 4 weekly is the best for you as less customers needed windows aren’t to dirty and it’s easier to manage , obviously what you decide to do is up to you but this is what I have done for years and it’s worked for me .

 

[Bart90]

Hi Everyone,

I hope someone doesn’t mind given me a little bit of advice…..

I’m well established and have more than a full round that I am struggling to get round. 3/4 of the work is priced right and the rest needs increasing not drastically, but in line with the new cost of living. I work on a four week basis but this keep going over because of kids, appointments etc…. I’m mostly trad, do wfp but am limited to trolley system so need to invest to have tank for ease and not barrels which are a faff. I just feel like I’m running around like a headless chicken all the time working 6 days a week. I take time off when I want too, but that’s mostly for days out with the family or holidays. This funds it but I need to find that balance. I also need to start putting more in to pension. I’m only in mid thirties but just stuck in a rut and need to come up with a new way of working that benefits me and the family properly.

Obviously the prices need updating to the right levels. I’m sure I will lose some but the others will make up for it which will free time.

I don’t know whether to get rid of some work so I can keep within the 4 weeks or change the cycle to 6 weeks which is much more simpler timeframe to work within, but just keep my commercial work on four weekly (20% of round). All my work is very compact so don’t like idea of selling work to someone, who will then be on the same road more a less than where the rest of my work is. I know you will all recommend going full wfp, which is a hell of a lot easier. But just concerned I will lose more as I keep getting told of new customers they haven’t been happy with the wfp from other cleaners. But I’m guessing it’s not the wfp just the operative? If I did go full wfp I know it’s hard for people to say as no one know my round, me or circumstances. But would that knock a huge percentage of time of the duration compared to traditional. Potentially get round all my work within the four week. I also don’t want to hire anyone at the moment.

I live in the north west and just trying to get a bit of a different perspective and wondered if anyone else has ended up in a similar situation. I’m just getting fed up with it and think it’s not the window cleaning just my inefficiency and being stuck in my ways.

Any advice will be much appreciated.

Many thanks David.

Switching to WFP will shrink the time considerably.

Poor WFP results are usually down to the user but there are some windows that can be a pain in the ....... there are always work arounds though once you know your problem jobs.

You don't need a van and tank to switch to WFP. My advice would be to focus on switching with what you've got now, then see where you are after that. If you're worried about losing customers because of WFP, switch parts of your round at a time before you move to the next. That's what I did.

I work using a trolley/Gardiner back pack. Although there's a convenience with a van and a tank, I don't believe having it makes you any more profitable.

Best of luck.

 

[Scrubsy]

@Nosey hello David. Sorry to read you are overworked mate. Personally I wouldn't switch to 6 weekly if your customers are happy with 4 weekly. I do 6 weekly and as @ched999uk said you'd need more customers overall. If any of the work isn't very nice/convenient work you could consider passing or selling it on. I do a mix of water fed and traditional (traditional only on small bungalows). On normal houses I used to do all traditional, and then went wfp on top windows and squeegee on lower windows, and then mostly wfp. Wfp is quite a bit quicker and better than lugging a ladder around the property. I moved house last year and can't afford a van now as we sank all of our savings into moving, but I know for fact I'd get more work done with one. I use a backpack and trolley and it's fine, but I'm considering building a pump box and feeding it through my larger water containers on some jobs to help speed up. As for customers not liking wfp, I have found some don't care how their windows are cleaned, some have had a poor experience with a wfp cleaner, and some just want you up a ladder regardless.
PS. Completely agree with you regarding feeling inefficient sometimes. Some days we seem to get through work fairly quick and very few issues, other times we seem to find loads of faults and delays - you question yourself on what on earth you're doing wrong. I think it's normal to feel like that so don't beat yourself up.

 

[Iron Giant]

Ultimately if you haven't got complete structured days and are taking time off you are going to fall behind, once up to speed with wfp you will complete work faster that's a fact, but it will take a while to convert your rounds and get up to standard.

Having too much work will sicken you off as well as working Saturdays and losing money through not completing all your jobs, you need the right balance of jobs, I know this because I was in a similar situation this year I had worked since 2020 with too much work but just kept going I got totally fed up this year, through losing jobs for various reasons house moves etc and me dropping work that I just couldn't be chewed with anymore and 6 months or later right now I'm down to a manageable level and a 4 day week and not chewing my wick out.

When I switched to wfp over 16 years ago most people didn't care how their windows were cleaned I got some complaints as I learned as there wasn't all the free information and videos online back then but customers stuck with me, some dropped me despite after more than 6 months of cleaning their windows wfp and nothing been wrong with the windows they wanted them done trad they had no idea how I'd be cleaning their windows for the last 6 months until they off work one day.

The issues with wfp are down to the operator as plenty don't give a stuff and don't put the time and effort into their work they give wfp a bad reputation, tell your customers you need to switch to keep yourself safe with two feet on the ground and a young family to provide for 99.9% will understand and appreciate your reasons once you mention the reasons for switching

 

[Scrubsy]

@Iron Giant completely agree, your work has to be a manageable level. Horrible feeling like your chasing your tail all the time.

I had similar a few years ago. I'd cleaned a house for ages using wfp. The lady didn't seem to be bothered and just wanted clean windows. One day her husband was in. They were both oap's but he still worked. He went ballistic and they had a massive argument in front of me and my wife (we work together). The lady was telling him they'd been done like that for months on end but he was having none of it and said he'd clean them himself from then on.

 

[ched999uk]

Completely agree with you regarding feeling inefficient sometimes. Some days we seem to get through work fairly quick and very few issues, other times we seem to find loads of faults and delays - you question yourself on what on earth you're doing wrong. I think it's normal to feel like that so don't beat yourself up.

I thought that was just me . Most days go well but others just don't seem to flow and lots of little things just seem to slow me right down.