Early days but going well!

[dazmond]

Coming up to 9 years now, honestly it feels like yesterday i was noob on this forum asking all sorts of questions.

Window cleaning is a great one man start up business and its quite unique in that its repeat work. It is however very boring and monotonous once you get established. I think you either need to employ eventually or enjoy it for what it is : a great part time gig. Its pretty rare you`ll find anyone who works 40 hours a week on their own for any period of time, its just too hard both mentally and physically.

Personally i enjoy it in moderation, but too much of it and i began to hate it, my mental health suffered, was depressed a lot, didnt eat right or exercise much as just too run down with work and stressing about keeping on top of it in bad weather etc.

Working 3 days a week allows me a great life balance, i will never be a millionaire but i think once you become ok with that and live within your means you start to enjoy life more.

Great Post Adam....30 years window cleaning for me.this job is so easy these days compared to my ladder days.

No ladder climbing
No collecting for hours.
Short hours(20-25 hrs per week)
Good money.
Minimal stress.

I'm so glad I've stuck at it through all these years as I've got a round I could only have dreamt about at one time....

 

[johnny bravo]

i think the only reason people get fed up with this job is if the pricing is low compared to others in the area . im happier now as i put most of my prices up to suit me . if you have enough customers you can increase gradually. thankfully none have cancelled.
all newbies get a price to keep me happy .
making this job more pleasing

 

[scottish cleaning service]

One thing I have noticed from folk who do well in this job is this:- They interact with their customers and point things out to their customers. I pointed out today that they need their solar panels cleaned because its costing them money with the feed in tariff. So I'm doing it for a ton as soon as possible. I cleared a back gutter today an extra score which took 10mins with ladder. I have to cut a two 10 feet trees which are 600mm thick because they have been cut many times before, £200 but includes gutters getting cleared, 20mins with Vac. Going back out to clean windows and fit a plastic vent above window opening, a tenner. Because I interact and tell my customers I can do other small stuff if needed so they ask me first. One has got to be proactive or the work can't find you. You only get what you put in, in this job so it's up to us to create work and then the momentum will continue. fwiw

 

[dazmond]

One thing I have noticed from folk who do well in this job is this:- They interact with their customers and point things out to their customers. I pointed out today that they need their solar panels cleaned because its costing them money with the feed in tariff. So I'm doing it for a ton as soon as possible. I cleared a back gutter today an extra score which took 10mins with ladder. I have to cut a two 10 feet trees which are 600mm thick because they have been cut many times before, £200 but includes gutters getting cleared, 20mins with Vac. Going back out to clean windows and fit a plastic vent above window opening, a tenner. Because I interact and tell my customers I can do other small stuff if needed so they ask me first. One has got to be proactive or the work can't find you. You only get what you put in, in this job so it's up to us to create work and then the momentum will continue. fwiw

That's great for you because your an odd job man too and that makes you happy as well as earning money.

I'm the opposite.i just want easy, regular,repeat window cleaning so I can finish early and get back to my non worklife.?

 

[johnny bravo]

i think the only reason people get fed up with this job is if the pricing is low compared to others in the area . im happier now as i put most of my prices up to suit me . if you have enough customers you can increase gradually. thankfully none have cancelled.
all newbies get a price to keep me happy .
making this job more pleasing

your in Spruces part of the country i see

 

[THL4KEL]

your in Spruces part of the country i see

thought you were

 

[scottish cleaning service]

We all price jobs too low when we start up. We may feel embarrassed when we price over a tenner to clean windows. But one soon realises the effort and equipment needed all costs money. After a few years the penny drops and after 5 years when you have plenty of customers then the only way is up. I don't even tell the customer if I am not coming back again if they don't deserve it. In the end it all comes down to experience and they are either in the gang or not, too busy now to get messed about.

 

[Mattymarske]

thought you were

I'm in the neighbouring village to Spruce. The windy down my road is willing to travel 20-25mile each way to get to the affluent areas where Duncan Bannantyne used to /still lives Wynyard/Yarm. But then he still collects on a night after a day's work. I told him about BACS etc but the lad he works for (his brother in law at 30% weekly commission!) Loves door knocking so he's driving miles and miles and getting in 8pm most nights. He asked me if I like the job as he's coming up to a year and pulled out with it. Used to be a scaffolder and says this is harder lol. ?

 

[Part Timer]

Got a long time pal that lives in Wynyard. He lived in a 4 bed detached with his wife and child. When they had their 2nd he had to buy a 5 bed as they needed the extra room. Didn't sell his first house as renting it virtually paid his new mortgage. His 4 bed is double the size of my 4 bed semi.
Said he could get me all the houses around him at the time. When he told me the price they were getting done at I declined his kind offer

 

[spruce]

That's great for you because your an odd job man too and that makes you happy as well as earning money.

I'm the opposite.i just want easy, regular,repeat window cleaning so I can finish early and get back to my non worklife.?

I think that this is the best way of looking at window cleaning.

It's not the most mentally stimulating of jobs, but then very few are these days. It's a means to an end, whatever those ends individually may be. It's all about our attitude toward the job.

 

[CleanDeeper]

I’ve followed a similar path, started in my Ford C-Max. I had 8 barrels and a fixed in hose reel. I’ve bought a small van now with a 350L tank and it’s soooo much easier. I’m just looking forward to the day I need a bigger tank ?. Baby steps! A long way yet but it’s amazing see it grow! It has some massive lows but some amazing highs too.

 

[scottish cleaning service]

I’ve followed a similar path, started in my Ford C-Max. I had 8 barrels and a fixed in hose reel. I’ve bought a small van now with a 350L tank and it’s soooo much easier. I’m just looking forward to the day I need a bigger tank ?. Baby steps! A long way yet but it’s amazing see it grow! It has some massive lows but some amazing highs too.

Yes your next step will be a bigger van and a two man system. Someone was telling me today cold water makes things harder so moving up to hot is a good idea. I am playing catch up just now so I was out again today but because most folk are in I got a new clean next to one I do. Its all money to begin with but after many years and the equipment is paid off the money begins to come in and build up. ?

 

[johnny bravo]

Got a long time pal that lives in Wynyard. He lived in a 4 bed detached with his wife and child. When they had their 2nd he had to buy a 5 bed as they needed the extra room. Didn't sell his first house as renting it virtually paid his new mortgage. His 4 bed is double the size of my 4 bed semi.
Said he could get me all the houses around him at the time. When he told me the price they were getting done at I declined his kind offer

how much for a 4 bed No matter how much money you earn you wont pay over the odds for your window cleaning . Theres always someone new offering a lower price

 

[Part Timer]

how much for a 4 bed No matter how much money you earn you wont pay over the odds for your window cleaning . Theres always someone new offering a lower price

It was around 12 years ago and I think it was £12. We were trying to get £10 for a standard, modern 3 bed semi at the time, and these were at least twice the size.

 

[Iron Giant]

It was around 12 years ago and I think it was £12. We were trying to get £10 for a standard, modern 3 bed semi at the time, and these were at least twice the size.

I belive there was a fella about 10 miles from me going over there with 1000ltr bowser attached to a pick up he is still about round my way I think he was and is known for charging low prices

 

[CleanDeeper]

Yes your next step will be a bigger van and a two man system. Someone was telling me today cold water makes things harder so moving up to hot is a good idea. I am playing catch up just now so I was out again today but because most folk are in I got a new clean next to one I do. Its all money to begin with but after many years and the equipment is paid off the money begins to come in and build up. ?

I’m not there yet however your are correct! I’ve a 850 Peugeot Partner so can fit a 500L tank in, I think this will be my next step. I’m running out of water by 1, although I’m still doing a first clean or two most days. I have goal to max out my week (well 4 days ?) using one 350l of water each day then I’m going to upgrade to a 500L tank and see how I get on after the first cleans are done and dusted. If I can get by happy days if not I’ll be in a good position to buy a bigger van and tank etc.

As regards to pricing, I’m probably one of the most expensive in the area lol. I don’t care, no splash and dash for me so I charge for that. I don’t want to come to hate the work because I’ve priced it too cheap.

 

[Mattymarske]

I belive there was a fella about 10 miles from me going over there with 1000ltr bowser attached to a pick up he is still about round my way I think he was and is known for charging low prices

There's a guy from East Cleveland uses an 05 plate range Rover to pull a twin axle flatbed trailer with IBC strapped to it. Does wheelie bin cleaning usually but over the past year year I've seen him with telescopic pole, vikan green and red brush doing windows and fsg cleans. Not sure if it's pure in the ibc or not.

Think he started up as there's a company round here with a couple of vans and a fiesta derived van pulling wheelie bin jet wash trailer behind it but don't really cover East Cleveland Villages.

That company has been going at least 7 years. Prices gone up from £1.50 to £2 to think it's £2.50 now. They use gocardless as well as cash and BACS. Amazing what people are willing to pay for. They use the big green bin bags now so jet washing clean bins. Not sure how much they charge for a bin bag.

Sorry that's a Tangent (thread hijack al la @scottish cleaning service ? )

 

[scottish cleaning service]

There's a guy from East Cleveland uses an 05 plate range Rover to pull a twin axle flatbed trailer with IBC strapped to it. Does wheelie bin cleaning usually but over the past year year I've seen him with telescopic pole, vikan green and red brush doing windows and fsg cleans. Not sure if it's pure in the ibc or not.

Think he started up as there's a company round here with a couple of vans and a fiesta derived van pulling wheelie bin jet wash trailer behind it but don't really cover East Cleveland Villages.

That company has been going at least 7 years. Prices gone up from £1.50 to £2 to think it's £2.50 now. They use gocardless as well as cash and BACS. Amazing what people are willing to pay for. They use the big green bin bags now so jet washing clean bins. Not sure how much they charge for a bin bag.

Sorry that's a Tangent (thread hijack al la @scottish cleaning service ? )

I clean wheelie bins, about 10 bins for my neighbours. I used PW for the first clean and now the garden hose to rinse them out. Bought 25l drums of pine and floral fragrance, cheap as chips. Give them a quick spray and everyone happy campers, think I charge them 50p a bin because its all in the windy clean price. Guy here charges £2.50 a bin now and does quite well out of it. No one wants to do manual work up here so I'm very busy. Four words that are given me nightmares now "While you are Here" and then the deadly silence, can you? Heard them twice today, can you get those light bulbs out of that ceiling so I can buy new ones. The next one was can you repair holes in our soffit outside. I was changing a disabled door in a restaurant we go to, I volunteered to change it when they told me how it got damaged. Then in the afternoon I did my windows and near end of day the rain came on and then got heavy so I called it a day, there's always tomorrow.

 

[Iron Giant]

There's a guy from East Cleveland uses an 05 plate range Rover to pull a twin axle flatbed trailer with IBC strapped to it. Does wheelie bin cleaning usually but over the past year year I've seen him with telescopic pole, vikan green and red brush doing windows and fsg cleans. Not sure if it's pure in the ibc or not.

Think he started up as there's a company round here with a couple of vans and a fiesta derived van pulling wheelie bin jet wash trailer behind it but don't really cover East Cleveland Villages.

That company has been going at least 7 years. Prices gone up from £1.50 to £2 to think it's £2.50 now. They use gocardless as well as cash and BACS. Amazing what people are willing to pay for. They use the big green bin bags now so jet washing clean bins. Not sure how much they charge for a bin bag.

Sorry that's a Tangent (thread hijack al la @scottish cleaning service ? )

I'd love to see that tip over in an accident I find it amazing the steps we take then people just stick a 1000ltr in the back of a trailer or on a flatbed transit and an insurance company wouldn't bat an eyelid, be interesting to see the finish on the windows especially if it's not pure as it's hard water over your way.

I don't get the bin cleaning thing at all more these days hardly anyone that I see gets it done as it's a 5 minute job easily done with a garden hose so why bother paying someone

 

[scottish cleaning service]

I'd love to see that tip over in an accident I find it amazing the steps we take then people just stick a 1000ltr in the back of a trailer or on a flatbed transit and an insurance company wouldn't bat an eyelid, be interesting to see the finish on the windows especially if it's not pure as it's hard water over your way.

I don't get the bin cleaning thing at all more these days hardly anyone that I see gets it done as it's a 5 minute job easily done with a garden hose so why bother paying someone

Old folk like to get it done because of the pads they wear. Their bin smells and its embarrassing so getting it cleaned is a must. You will realise in next decade when you want your bin cleaned. ?

 

[Power Clean External Serv]

Just wanted to give an update, which might encourage a few others in the early days of setting up their round...

I started off 4 months ago, doing WFP out of the back of my Fiesta. I had 6-8 barrels in the back, and the hose reel placed in the boot. (Seats down) I had put a pump and flow controller on a small panel of wood, and this would sit in the front passenger footwell against the seat, whilst my leisure battery was under the glove box. I had removed the front passenger headrest so my pole could sit over the top of the passenger chair. (I put two small metal rods in the headrest holes to keep the pole and brush in place).

Now I know many newbies have taken the back-pack route, which I think is an excellent way of doing things, but I wanted to build a system that would transfer over to a van fairly easily. I got the idea from a YouTube video by AEMackintosh where he interviews a young lad starting out who did a similar thing from his VW Polo.

The setup actually worked fairly well, even though it was a faff at times. As most of my early cleans were first time cleans, they would take quite a while, and quite often I'd have to stop round the back of a house, to come round transfer the end of the hose into a fresh barrel, then go back to finish the clean. I also would have a few pressure problems with my flow going up and down for reasons I didn't always understand.

After about 6 weeks of this I decided to take the plunge, commit fully and go and buy a van. So I've bought a small Vauxhall Combo, put a 350 ltr tank in the back (framed and bolted, I didn't want to take any risks), and transferred the rest over reasonably easy. It took a couple of long afternoons, and I'm still tweaking things, but I'm up and running.

The thing I'm enjoying now is having a decent working setup, and doing my second and third cleans. I did get a bit down sometimes, doing 5 or 6 first time cleans in a day, and then reading on the forums about ones doing 200 to 300 quid a day. After a bit more reading tho, I know it will take 2 or 3 years and a lot more work to get to this point.

Anyway, I've spent many hours reading on the forums and gained so much knowledge along the way. It's also given me a boost when I've felt a bit fed up or doubtful whether I can make this work. So thank you to many of you for all your posts, it's really helped me! Hopefully someone might read this and decide to keep pushing to get up and running.

Any questions, pls feel free to ask...

Cheers all.

Well done Bryy. Sounds like you are doing ok. Don't get too down about what other people say they are earning. 9 times out of 10 you can cut the true figure in half.