Fed up of window cleaning

[Jaygti]

I must be missing something here.
£37k a year?
That’s £711 a week. That’s 2 days work around here.
You need 3 times that amount of work before you can think about employing someone.
All jobs have their downsides. Just get stuck in, get on with it, and keep counting the money

 

[Ethan EZ -Clean]

I must be missing something here.
£37k a year?
That’s £711 a week. That’s 2 days work around here.
You need 3 times that amount of work before you can think about employing someone.
All jobs have their downsides. Just get stuck in, get on with it, and keep counting the money

Maybe yes. I don’t have him full time though. I do lots of additional work my rounds 37k 250 customers and the additional work is at a minimum 1 day a week but takes more than the window cleaning and sometimes if I didn’t have him there I wouldn’t be able to get the job done.

He’s been a massive part of the growth of the business really. Being able to get more work done in a short amount of time means I have more time to focus on the business. Do the marketing, knock doors, leaflet etc etc and it’s worked I found a message before and since he started around 10 weeks ago since then I’ve gained 75 extra customers to the window round and I’ve been on the additional service work weekly because I’m able to push it more with being able to have extra time.

I’m fortunate enough to not need to take a wage only a little bit for bills which is next to nothing with me living at home still so I can focus on growing the business. I went from wanting a £10 average at start up with 200 customers in a year to getting 250 customers and a £17 average.


Yesterday alone I quoted £820 in additional work and £640 of it has been accepted

 

[Nextgen]

Maybe yes. I don’t have him full time though. I do lots of additional work my rounds 37k 250 customers and the additional work is at a minimum 1 day a week but takes more than the window cleaning and sometimes if I didn’t have him there I wouldn’t be able to get the job done.

He’s been a massive part of the growth of the business really. Being able to get more work done in a short amount of time means I have more time to focus on the business. Do the marketing, knock doors, leaflet etc etc and it’s worked I found a message before and since he started around 10 weeks ago since then I’ve gained 75 extra customers to the window round and I’ve been on the additional service work weekly because I’m able to push it more with being able to have extra time.

I’m fortunate enough to not need to take a wage only a little bit for bills which is next to nothing with me living at home still so I can focus on growing the business. I went from wanting a £10 average at start up with 200 customers in a year to getting 250 customers and a £17 average.


Yesterday alone I quoted £820 in additional work and £640 of it has been accepted

Your doing the right thing mate I was doing it all myself got to 250 customers took on my nephew now a year later we are at 450 customers getting over 76k bought another van and I do the pressure washing jobs gutters etc only work 2 or 3 days a week but initially it's all hard work and a drag but if you put the time in at the start it pays off in the end.

 

[P4dstar]

This whole thread is bizarre. We all run our businesses differently, diversity is our strength and all that but this doesn't make sense on so many levels.

As lots of people above have pointed out employing someone when you have a turnover of 37k makes little to no sense (part time or not) The second thing I don't get is making demands of this employee to get a driving licence. The guy only works a few days a week and does the bulk of the work for you. I know from experience how quickly an employee can become p1ssed with your business. It's difficult to come back from once they reach that point. From what you describe I'm surprised he isn't there already.

People have been very complimentary about what you've done with your business, how well you've done etc. I am looking at this completely differently. I see a fella who wants to take the route of least resistance and do as little work as possible. After nearly 8 years I still get out and put a shift in. You need someone strong and in charge in your absence, that person should be in charge of a team not just himself. As for driving someone around to do that little work, it's all a waste of money. You can't gripe about costs while blowing money on wages. If you want to reinvest and grow a strong business then you need to lay the foundations with a bit of elbow grease.

 

[Bell Pallisey]

doing stuff thats crazy often has unexpected benefits. only last week i took on a crapper of a job a second floor flat on an as and when basis. While i was there the lady below asked me to do hers monthly turns out shes another place across town doing that next week. on my way home a fellow calls me saw me at those flats now he owns 3 houses nearby. So many times doing a real shirter-or taking on a shirt van -frog faced employee - turns into gold. i was once wed to a truly crazy ex, to prove i could be as crazy as her i once drove down to a local river at 2am and walked in it waist deep for half a mile. Thing is i still was not crazy crazy

 

[Iron Giant]

Maybe yes. I don’t have him full time though. I do lots of additional work my rounds 37k 250 customers and the additional work is at a minimum 1 day a week but takes more than the window cleaning and sometimes if I didn’t have him there I wouldn’t be able to get the job done.

He’s been a massive part of the growth of the business really. Being able to get more work done in a short amount of time means I have more time to focus on the business. Do the marketing, knock doors, leaflet etc etc and it’s worked I found a message before and since he started around 10 weeks ago since then I’ve gained 75 extra customers to the window round and I’ve been on the additional service work weekly because I’m able to push it more with being able to have extra time.

I’m fortunate enough to not need to take a wage only a little bit for bills which is next to nothing with me living at home still so I can focus on growing the business. I went from wanting a £10 average at start up with 200 customers in a year to getting 250 customers and a £17 average.


Yesterday alone I quoted £820 in additional work and £640 of it has been accepted

What you've achieved so far is to be applauded, but you need your head on a swivel otherwise you'll loose it,

Paying board at home and feeling like your Billy big boll-ocks employing is no doubt a great feeling, but if your employee doesn't feel valued he'll walk,

Running a business is all consuming and it takes a hell of a lot of continued commitment, there is no let up until you are making a serious profit.

 

[Pjj]

This whole thread is bizarre. We all run our businesses differently, diversity is our strength and all that but this doesn't make sense on so many levels.

As lots of people above have pointed out employing someone when you have a turnover of 37k makes little to no sense (part time or not) The second thing I don't get is making demands of this employee to get a driving licence. The guy only works a few days a week and does the bulk of the work for you. I know from experience how quickly an employee can become p1ssed with your business. It's difficult to come back from once they reach that point. From what you describe I'm surprised he isn't there already.

People have been very complimentary about what you've done with your business, how well you've done etc. I am looking at this completely differently. I see a fella who wants to take the route of least resistance and do as little work as possible. After nearly 8 years I still get out and put a shift in. You need someone strong and in charge in your absence, that person should be in charge of a team not just himself. As for driving someone around to do that little work, it's all a waste of money. You can't gripe about costs while blowing money on wages. If you want to reinvest and grow a strong business then you need to lay the foundations with a bit of elbow grease.

Part of the job description is having a full clean driving licence , no licence no job as far as ime concerned they need to be able to drive to do the job , especially when it’s jobs all over the country

 

[P4dstar]

Part of the job description is having a full clean driving licence , no licence no job as far as ime concerned they need to be able to drive to do the job , especially when it’s jobs all over the country

Completely agree. So I think we would both be in agreement it shouldn't have got this far. From what I can see the OP employed a labourer to take around with him and then decided it was easier to just let him do all the work. Reeks of laziness to me and I'm only reading about it on here, not working it every day. Apologies if that seems blunt or rude but that is how it comes across.

 

[Bell Pallisey]

"reeks of laziness" made me laff, but you boys who wont employ a non driver have got it all wrong .im speaking from experience sounds like youv either never employed AND NEVER WILL as u are one of those selfish so and so types,no gumption or if youv not ever employed a non driver youre missing out but you cannot see the opportunity it presents.Crock -o=shite ADVICE from tuppenny hapenny bar room lawyers

Completely agree. So I think we would both be in agreement it shouldn't have got this far. From what I can see the OP employed a labourer to take around with him and then decided it was easier to just let him do all the work. Reeks of laziness to me and I'm only reading about it on here, not working it every day. Apologies if that seems blunt or rude but that is how it comes acro" made me chuckle. but you lot condemning him got it All wrong specially if u avnt had the guts to ever employ! as i said earlier i had 3 employees non drove i chauffeured them onto a big estate and then let em out with a ladder turned a profit and i never once regretted it .Now these days iv only 1 sidekick and he doesnt drive but worth his weight in gold! i only downsized cos i started up a sideline biz during covid n thats mushroomed

 

[P4dstar]

"reeks of laziness" made me laff, but you boys who wont employ a non driver have got it all wrong .im speaking from experience sounds like youv either never employed AND NEVER WILL as u are one of those selfish so and so types,no gumption or if youv not ever employed a non driver youre missing out but you cannot see the opportunity it presents.Crock -o=shite ADVICE from tuppenny hapenny bar room lawyers

Umm I think I got that… how does it sound like I’ve never employed?

 

[Ethan EZ -Clean]

I’ve stopped reading now. He’s a great worker does what he’s asked but he’s learnt the job quickly and is never off.

Him being able to drive would help a lot. Just because they see 37k turnover for the window round only they think that’s my complete turnover. The additionals I get lots and lots of which bumps up the money massively. Getting called lazy because I have someone help clean windows while I build the business which has worked massively it’s comical tbh. The thread was about giving up the windows to go full time additionals and only market for it and somehow I’m being called lazy for a window round I don’t really want to entertain anymore.

Got the advice I needed a while back in the thread and people are still going on about the turnover of the window round.

"reeks of laziness" made me laff, but you boys who wont employ a non driver have got it all wrong .im speaking from experience sounds like youv either never employed AND NEVER WILL as u are one of those selfish so and so types,no gumption or if youv not ever employed a non driver youre missing out but you cannot see the opportunity it presents.Crock -o=shite ADVICE from tuppenny hapenny bar room lawyers

 

[Pjj]

Umm I think I got that… how does it sound like I’ve never employed?

Ignore him he hasn’t got a clue

 

[P4dstar]

I’ve stopped reading now. He’s a great worker does what he’s asked but he’s learnt the job quickly and is never off.

Him being able to drive would help a lot. Just because they see 37k turnover for the window round only they think that’s my complete turnover. The additionals I get lots and lots of which bumps up the money massively. Getting called lazy because I have someone help clean windows while I build the business which has worked massively it’s comical tbh. The thread was about giving up the windows to go full time additionals and only market for it and somehow I’m being called lazy for a window round I don’t really want to entertain anymore.

Got the advice I needed a while back in the thread and people are still going on about the turnover of the window round.

I've added several caveats that I meant no offence to you as the OP. People make a judgement of your business based on a small snippet of what they can read on here. If you want to just focus on the posts where people tell you how well you've done then fair enough. Personally I've always been willing to listen to how things look from the outside and make changes based on it. Similarly if anyone has misunderstood your question you are correct to answer them.

Window cleaning is most peoples bread and butter. The recurring work is what makes it so stable. It provides a lot of stability with regards to employing someone. That said plenty of businesses make a healthy profit without having the benefit of recurring customers. Carpet cleaners are one of the biggest examples of this. It is however a completely different beast to the regular window cleaning round that seems to be described above.

 

[Ethan EZ -Clean]

I've added several caveats that I meant no offence to you as the OP. People make a judgement of your business based on a small snippet of what they can read on here. If you want to just focus on the posts where people tell you how well you've done then fair enough. Personally I've always been willing to listen to how things look from the outside and make changes based on it. Similarly if anyone has misunderstood your question you are correct to answer them.

Window cleaning is most peoples bread and butter. The recurring work is what makes it so stable. It provides a lot of stability with regards to employing someone. That said plenty of businesses make a healthy profit without having the benefit of recurring customers. Carpet cleaners are one of the biggest examples of this. It is however a completely different beast to the regular window cleaning round that seems to be described above.

No offence taken mate.

It was the advice regarding doing additionals full time instead of windows was what I was after & I understand now that the bread and butter money is needed. Some things were just taken out of context you have said some fair and stern words and I appreciate it.

Have a good rest of your weekend

 

[Bell Pallisey]

Umm I think I got that… how does it sound like I’ve never employed?

youv never employed a non driver -if you reply that you have i know youv not.Actually thinking about it i know a big firm ,well i know his missus ,they have lodsa non drivers onboard in fact they are Swimming in them, in a citroen minibus the sort that does airport runs

 

[P4dstar]

youv never employed a non driver -if you reply that you have i know youv not.Actually thinking about it i know a big firm ,well i know his missus ,they have lodsa non drivers onboard in fact they are Swimming in them, in a citroen minibus the sort that does airport runs

Well it would seem you've sussed me out. Well done Poirot

 

[Bell Pallisey]

Ignore him he hasn’t got a clue

only a matter of time till you stooped low. im gonna have a word about you to one of the big guns in the south west.

 

[Bell Pallisey]

Well it would seem you've sussed me out. Well done Poirot

iyou couldnt move in on a big operation in the west end theyd boot you out the back

 

[P4dstar]

iyou couldnt move in on a big operation in the west end theyd boot you out the back

Bet you're a hoot at parties

 

[Pjj]

only a matter of time till you stooped low. im gonna have a word about you to one of the big guns in the south west.

lol fill your boots

 

[Bell Pallisey]

its al

lol fill your boots

l jokey , however ,be straight with me for a mo,,,,,, your biz really IS a tuppenny hapenny operation is" nt it? oh i know you try to flannel folk with your talk of travelling the length and breadth but anyone whose been in this biz a decent amount of time senses a **** talkin holy joe