Hello everyone newbi here

[JustLiam]

ive been window cleaning 27 years now........its never been a better time to be a window cleaner IMO

THE 2 WORST THINGS ABOUT THIS JOB USED TO BE......

1.CLIMBING LADDERS

2.COLLECTING

both of these things have been eliminated these days(wfp and electronic payments)...

for me you cant beat window cleaning......

1.short hours

2.good money

3.flexible

4.fresh air/exercise

5.low stress

You have just sold it to me...110%

Welcome to our forum.

1. Be prepared to be poor for a very long time to start with.

2. By the time you are making a good living from this game, you will be well and truly sick and tired of the job and wish you did something else. 

3. You can earn good money, like really good money. Problem is once you are earning really good money you get used to it, and all those nice expensive things you treated yourself with, guess what they get out of date and go old and you have to keep replacing it with better newer expensive ****..

4. You then start to really resent the job, because it provides you with a good wage, and you can have more expensive stuff, or go on holidays, but as each year goes by, the job gets duller and duller. 

5. You hit 40.years old, realise that 20 years window cleaning has made you thicker than when you were 10, you earn more or near as much as most GP's make without the pension or sick pay entitlement, so your not going to give up the job, cos let's face it £500 for 4 hours work is pretty good by any standards.

6. You then realise you created yourself a trap. You can't leave the window cleaning, business is too well established, money is good, but the days are dull dull.dull..

Once you get to stage 6, your a seasoned window cleaner..

????

(Sorry feeling grumpy today,  my back is still a bit iffy)

?

Wow..that was depressing 

 

[dazmond]

its not easy starting from scratch though.....one of my neighbours packed window cleaning in after 2 years because he couldnt make enough money.....

he now leaves the house at 7am and he s back by around 5pm  (factory work)....he must think i dont work very often as he goes out before me and im back hours before he gets home........i bet i earn well over double what he earns too for minimal hours......

the hardest part of this job is building up a good,solid customer base....this takes many years of honing and refining........im reaping the benefits these days though.......i get to go on fancy luxury holidays,me and my missus love them,drive a nice car and van,best poles and hot water system,etc,etc......

i recently spent  £2,750 on a new roland TD27KV electronic drum kit too........ive earned it.......im in a very fortunate position financially

BUT i spent many years just about scratching a living together in this game(esp when i was on the ladders)and i nearly jacked it in a few times......so glad i didnt though....

yes the work can get boring at times but its only 5 or 6 hours a day actually cleaning!ITS EASY!

it was far far worse working 10 hours a day on a farm or plant nursery/landscape gardening day after day.....WHAT A GRIND!!!for rubbish money too..........

i feel truly blessed to be a window cleaner in 2020.....

 

[cleaniac]

what a negative post!i reckon you would still be miserable even if you made a living being a porn star!? .....you need a check up from the neck up...you sound depressed to me......

Just being a realist. So many newbies come on here and think they are going to be laughing to the bank every day for minimal work, it does happen but like daz says..IT TAKES YEARS, EVEN DECADES. 

I have many rounds now where I have pretty much the whole estate of houses, I can do one estate in the morning 12 or 13 detached medium sized houses for £30-£40 each, then refill  and go and do a couple of mansions in the afternoon. Doing this day in day out is hard tedious work..that is the fact..it is boring. Not every round is like that, but as the years have gone on, it's becoming the majority of my work now, you end up getting the monopoly and that's when you start laughing to the bank..

When I 1st started that road, it was 17 years ago, for 8 of those years I only had 4 houses, but kept going back. Until all the other window cleaners packed it in, cos they only had 2 or 3 themselves and couldn't do it, make it work..I slogged that road, and many others like it.

BUT IT IS DULL. I know of a few window cleaners who started up and have packed it in because it hasn't happened as fast as they expected..

I'm absolutely fine when I'm back at home, or on the bike. I have very nice hi fi room, nice bike, lots of hobbies..

?

So Yes there are many many perks, but the job is dull. That's just my opinion. No amount of tanks with neon lights, or poles with go-faster stripes slapped on them, no amount of snake oil products, or people making it something it is not is going to change my mind.

It is cleaning glass. It's a job, I think my post puts forward a much more realistic view of the job, too many newbies think it's a walk in the park and easy money.

 

[dazmond]

all i ever wanted was a steady,recession proof job with short hours(so i had time and energy for hobbies too),good money,low stress,flexible and outdoors.........window cleaning fulfills all these wishes.......

how many people do you know that has a job like that?

 

[cleaniac]

all i ever wanted was a steady,recession proof job with short hours(so i had time and energy for hobbies too),good money,low stress,flexible and outdoors.........window cleaning fulfills all these wishes.......

how many people do you know that has a job like that?

Oh I agree..

I wouldn't carry on with the job otherwise. 

Just another 10 years and I can retire anyway. ?

 

[ksp]

all i ever wanted was a steady,recession proof job with short hours(so i had time and energy for hobbies too),good money,low stress,flexible and outdoors.........window cleaning fulfills all these wishes.......

how many people do you know that has a job like that?

With respect, you’re speaking from a privileged position, having worked and refined your rounds for many years. I think starting up now is something else. Now you’re much more likely to have just one house per street, travel greater distances between houses, spend more to acquire less. 
 

I don’t agree that it’s recession proof. Window cleaning is a luxury service, if people don’t have jobs, we will be one of the first cost savings to make. This’ll depend a lot on the demography of your customers. Taking the recession out of it, it seems very obvious to me that there will come a time when the demand is exceeded by the supply of window cleaners who have all jumped in hoping to make £500 per day for 4 hours work. At that point, a lot of people who’ve jumped in are going to see themselves left out of pocket as the business doesn’t kick on and I expect prices to take a nosedive as we all try to remain competitive. 

 

[dazmond]

With respect, you’re speaking from a privileged position, having worked and refined your rounds for many years. I think starting up now is something else. Now you’re much more likely to have just one house per street, travel greater distances between houses, spend more to acquire less. 
 

I don’t agree that it’s recession proof. Window cleaning is a luxury service, if people don’t have jobs, we will be one of the first cost savings to make. This’ll depend a lot on the demography of your customers. Taking the recession out of it, it seems very obvious to me that there will come a time when the demand is exceeded by the supply of window cleaners who have all jumped in hoping to make £500 per day for 4 hours work. At that point, a lot of people who’ve jumped in are going to see themselves left out of pocket as the business doesn’t kick on and I expect prices to take a nosedive as we all try to remain competitive. 

the key is to start building your round up in affluent areas...NOT on your doorstep....i started window cleaning in the 1993 recession....and ironically enough my round has gone from strength to strength since the 2008 recession....in fact i earn over £25,000 MORE  a year than i did in 2008 for less hours too......

 

[dazmond]

to make your business recession proof dont take on large commercial contracts with one company...stick mainly to domestic jobs and the odd office block,care home,etc...that way when you lose a job its easily replaced and doesnt hurt you financially as there is always another job just around the corner....

 

[dazmond]

another great thing about window cleaning is its "covid secure"............even if we go into another lockdown in the future it wont affect us one bit....crack on as usual!

ive only had one week off all year!....?