Hi All

[NKK]

Hi All,

I'm not working at this yet but am getting more and more obsessed and excited about quitting my job in the bank and going out doing this. A friend of mine is doing quite well out of it though he started doing because he was made redundant, I on the other hand have a permanent full time job but I hate it and it is soul destroying.

I intended to do a dry run next Saturday and canvass an area to see if I can get some business. I have my full time job so not sure what I will do if I actually get a few jobs.

I don't have a van or any fancy equipment just a normal car. I can see myself working at it and in a few years getting commercial work. I've been looking at loads of youtube videos, checking out local cleaners websites etc as research.

If anyone has any words of advice I'd love to hear it

Cheers

 

[Dave B]

My words of advice:

If you want it go get it

Head down chin up go for it

Knock doors

Get some work

Do the work (go sick if you have to)

You'll be busy in no time

I believe in this game you get out of it what you put in..

 

[norm]

good luck :thumbsup:

 

[Simply Business]

Some great words of advice/encouragement there from @daveyboy1. Best of luck @NKK!

 

[NKK]

This is a great forum. Loads of good stuff to read. I'm sure I will have plenty of questions! Thanks so much

 

[kahoona]

NKK welcome aboard, great thing with window cleaning is that you don't need to spend a lot of money on expensive tools, to get started, you can kick with a couple of hundred pounds max investment and try is out to see if its for you. Vans and water fed poles can come later if you wish. good luck and keep us updated.

 

[Smurf]

Hi & welcome

I agree with what @daveyboy1 has already said but will also like to add

its not for the faint hearted as can be dangerous work & bloody hard graft compared to an office job and to start with will probably pay a lot less.

I dont no what you are expecting money wise from this but most don't earn a great deal at it.

Also helps if you have a bit of money to fall back on too as building a round to generate enough of an income to pay the bills and keep a roof over your head can take longer sometimes than ppl think.

If it was that easy everyone one would be cleaning windows for a living.

Good luck :thumbsup:

 

[Dave B]

If everyone knew how easy it was smurf we would be knackered

It is very easy if you go about it the right way

I know many windies who scrape a living with cheap prices and half arsed attempts at getting work

The cleaning is the easy bit

Pricing correctly is hard and you have to go at the canvassing tooth and nail

 

[NKK]

I'm over the other side of the pond. My mate charges €25 for a standard 3 bedhouse, will add on 5 or 10 euro if there is an extension or conservatory. And bigger houses up from there. He says think €30 per hour. I know it will take a lot of canvassing and work to get the business up to what I want

 

[Tuffers]

I dont no what you are expecting money wise from this but most don't earn a great deal at it.

I don't get what you're saying there Smurf.

 

[Dave B]

I earn well from it..and i am only a tradder lol

 

[NKK]

This might seem like a silly question...do you clean windows in the dark? I ask this because in winter it can get dark around 4/430pm here

 

[Green Pro Clean Ltd]

You'll never make it as a window cleaner if you plan to work until 4 - 4:30 each day! /emoticons/tongue.png

 

[Smurf]

I use to make more money sat on my **** but then found out it was illegal /emoticons/biggrin.png

I don't get what you're saying there Smurf.

 

[NKK]

I did my first practice house today. Took 2 hours. Has a decent sized extension. I had some streaks that I spotted afterwards. Is this down to technique or dirty water, or its normal?

I used microfiber clothes. What's the difference between those and scrim?

Cheers guys

 

[Green Pro Clean Ltd]

Unger microfiber cloths are better than scrims, they dry faster and you can use them when they are damp anyway.

Streaks are down to technique, you can use a strawberry milkshake (not vanilla) to clean a window if your technique is good.

More Youtube and more practice for you young man.

If you worked for me and the house took 2 hours I would expect it to be an £80 house.

First comes technique, then comes the speed. a few more goes and that will become a 20 minute house.

 

[Dave B]

Get some wilkos glass cloths..under 3 quid for big microfibre ones but very good

 

[Alien Human]

Welcome @NKK I joined not that long ago either and have found this forum very very addictive.....I mean helpful. I was suited and booted commuting to London less than a year ago doing very serious things for a pretty decent wage. I actually quite enjoyed my job in London but I LOVE doing this because it works so well around the things which are much more important to me primarily being my family. I am happier, physically (and hopefully mentally) a lot better AND......I am now earning exactly what I was earning in London in half the amount of time!

But - I have had to work hard for it mate. Finding customers and work has actually been the easy part.....overcoming fear has been the main challenge as i have a young family to support but i always flip that over to being a real motivator to succeed and my business is going from strength to strength. Ask yourself what your key motivator behind it all is (family, money, house, being your own boss?) and Go Go Go!.........where the f**k did all that come from! It will rain on Monday and I will come and post how s**t everything is to bring me crashing back down to earth

 

[john39]

welcome to the forum mate, good bunch of lads and lasses on here. you will get tons of help

 

[NKK]

Cheers guys, very comforting to hear that Alien Human and inspirational..thanks

This will be a bit down the line for me but what do you think of this setup for sale

http://www.donedeal.ie/businessopportunities-for-sale/window-cleaning-van-and-system/8931597?offset=6

There are a few ads like this, I wonder why they are selling up? Could be for loads of reasons but I wonder why anyway

 

[Alien Human]

In terms of the van and equipment it looks pretty good to me but just be cautious with regards to how much some adverts say you can earn. If you earnt 200 per day you are talking roughly £50k plus per year (made up from 200 x working days in month 22 x working weeks in year 45) per year and £300 per day would be just short of £80k...............so why sell for £7k? It's either too good to be true or something's not adding up.......either way personally I would ALWAYS start from scratch and build up - great feeling and you know your business inside out. Good luck with it all!