How much are you new boys earning at the moment (traditional)

[Belfastcleaning]

Speed is one of the key things with me. I get a little obsessed with the detailing, which slows me down, though the customers notice this, so get loadsa recommendations.

Detailing is important. Never skimp on it. I gotta mate who took a mate on. My mate does bottoms other chap does tops. I've watched him and he does not detail. Just worries how quick he can get done & my mate wonders why he's losing work & will not tell him. He never wipes sill just goes up cleans & down. My mates had a lot of complaints & they are all top windows. I still spend a bit of time detailing & when I started 4 years ago I was getting about £300 a week. 4 years on & I'm still not that quick I get between £500-£600 a week not including Saturdays so you just have to be patient & it will come. Don't run before you can walk & don't skimp on the detailing & if yer prepared to put the hours in it will come. £60-£70 a day is good going.

thats what i have found with detailing i spend a bit too long detailing just making sure i get a nice clean dry edge .

You can never spend to long. Detailing is important & impresses the custy. Had many ask me what I'm doing.

How did you manage to start with £300 a week!!

 

[Posh]

I worked in a factory doing 3 shifts. I gave myself a date when I was leaving and spent 6 months banging in the overtime. When I finished I'd saved enough to have two months off & every single day I went round leafleting & door knocking. I got enough to start which was about 150 custys most on 4 weekly & over the next 3 or 4 months that built up to roughly 200. Once it started growing I changed them to 6 weekly & it's just built up from there. Those 2 months I walked & walked everywhere & it was knackering but worth it. You can advertise as much as you like but you can't beat knocking & leafleting. I also used a friend of mine to doorknock for me when I started cleaning. If you think about it it's only 30 houses a week @ roughly £10 a house which is 6 a day. It was hard work but I really wanted it to work so stuck at it. I think that the ones starting out now on here are doing great &£60-70 a day is great. I was lucky in the fact I could have 2 months off.

 

[A.K WINDOWS]

if you have no debt £70 to £100 a day is very good and you can live well and save some

 

[mrtaytay]

I sometimes look in my appointment and takings book from when I first started last November. There were some sparse days, but you can see that, week by week, the appointment book fills and the takings steadily increase. I can remember at the time that I set myself a target of 50 quid a day and wondered when I would ever achieve it. But then you do achieve it and go beyond. I suppose its natural to strive for more. Getting new customers has never been a problem. Its always been the speed thing with me. But again, bit by bit you pick up tips and learn things that help your speed. I can remember changing from a 10 inch blade to an 18 inch SPC blade. I couldnt believe how much it speeded up the job. Also daft things, like I recently started using one of those unger fine weave micro fibres (24 inch by 32 inch) for drying the edges. They absorb the water fantastically and dont spread it about like some of the cheaper micros. Again, it speeds up the job. you also learn how to use your ladder better, which also helps.


no debt and no mortgage, so it cant be bad!

 

[Belfastcleaning]

Nice one posh. I got young kids and with everything else I don't get that much spare time.. I have 5 or 6 areas picked out to canvass but haven't got round to it.. I do call to the odd ones around areas I do when collecting money and I always pick up 1 or 2 every week.. I need to go find some triple work to get my Money worth out of my pole

 

[chris]

Are the takings that people have quoted here after all expenses have been paid?

 

[GMcleaning]

what expenses? petrol and fairy liquid?lol

 

[laddergarder]

that is exactly what your customers will say to you when you have to put up your prices, but there is more than that to consider.

Chris, when I said £15 per hour per man, I men't takings not profit.

 

[GMcleaning]

as a traditional window cleaner there isnt much more to consider, cloths, rubbers and other consumables are bought monthly if that, if were talking about how much money you made today you cant really take them into account, same as vehicle maintenance, insurance etc. dont get me wrong they are all expenses, but there not daily expenses. once iv got petrol, and iv normally already got the fairy in the motor, its all profit for the day right?

 

[best]

Iv been doing it now about year n half but only changed to wfp before Xmas I averagedat 600-700 a week until recently but av now got my dad working with me so Iv got sum one who won't constantly let me down so I'm now pulling in around 800 mark n do 3 days a week

There's always someone, somewhere who is going to be doing better than you. Don't worry about it. Just keep your head up and do what you need to do. If you are able to learn from them, all well and good, but don't get disheartened.

A lot of the approach to doing this job, especially if you work solo, is keeping your mind and thinking right. The way you are mentally can have a huge impact on how you do.

Notice that the thread was aimed at "traditional". Shaun1977 is now wfp with all the extra costs that you don't have with ladders etc. When I started in '96 I got going for about £300. I've spent a 5 figure sum in the last year going over to wfp.

well said /emoticons/biggrin.png

 

[laddergarder]

as a traditional window cleaner there isnt much more to consider, cloths, rubbers and other consumables are bought monthly if that, if were talking about how much money you made today you cant really take them into account, same as vehicle maintenance, insurance etc. dont get me wrong they are all expenses, but there not daily expenses. once iv got petrol, and iv normally already got the fairy in the motor, its all profit for the day right?

Lol, err no, an expense is an expense regardless of frequency.

Last year I spent 7k on expenses, that is about £30 per day.

 

[AS Window Cleaning]

I know people who made 200 quid a day traditional 5 years ago.

we all have different needs, expenses and responsibilities to cover, experience, and ability.

so long as your meeting those, great. it can only get better with time, learning how to work quicker and do same level of quality, and better pricing.

if there was an average, I'd say the majority are on minimum 12 per hour, most prob between 15 and 20 per hour.

after 8 years and now wfp, I aim for at least 25 an hour, on the glass. obviously brakes, messing around, talking, etc knocks overall day down. I expect that much cus if I earned much less, I wouldn't be a window cleaner. but at that rate it ticks enough boxes.

just think of the poor sods on minimum wage earning 50 quid a day working their nuts off for someone else's benefit. keep doing what your doing mate, your working for your future, and it will only get better dude.

 

[A.K WINDOWS]

bang on a.s windows

sack working for someone else,never again.

 

[Ryan]

ya its mad

i aint got a huge round but been going now 2-3 months so got a small round together as well as working a paye job

so i do 4 hrs paye for £25 work pritty hard to and then i go and do 4 hrs on the windows and earn between £50-60 and a bit more sometimes

just wish i had £50-60 a day everyday every week and id leave my job

 

[A.K WINDOWS]

welsh:windows are hard come by now theres loads of glass but loads of so called windys about who are sh1t and charging p.nuts this is the problem.makes me laff when i see a gang of 3 or 4 doing one house??jokers.all on a quid each lol

 

[meridion]

By myself, £20-25 an hour, with a worker £30+. Just normal houses, no businesses. Only talk to customers properly once every three months, learn all the techniques to get as quick as possible without compromising quality, plan the shortest route do work and collect.

And save wherever you can! Spend here a little, there a little and always a slave. Discounts, bulks, shop around.

 

[mark m]

£1000 per hour who cares we make what we have to and were we come from

 

[GMcleaning]

£30 a day expenses? thankfully it doesnt cost me anywhere near this amount to run my business. im guessing your including advertising/marketing, insurances, vehicle maintenance, as well as equipment and fuel averaged out over the days you worked? tbf thats not that much really, luckily my round is local to me and compact, and i dont advertise so it keeps my cost down a bit i spose, everyones different,lol

 

[meridion]

£1000 per hour who cares we make what we have to and were we come from

^THIS. We're here to gelp each other get better, not waste time figuring out who earns more.

 

[laddergarder]

£30 a day expenses? thankfully it doesnt cost me anywhere near this amount to run my business. im guessing your including advertising/marketing, insurances, vehicle maintenance, as well as equipment and fuel averaged out over the days you worked? tbf thats not that much really, luckily my round is local to me and compact, and i dont advertise so it keeps my cost down a bit i spose, everyones different,lol

Yeah that was everything, even bank charges, we spent about £400 on flyers last year. but we more than made that back with the work we got from them.

Everyone comparing expenses wouldn't really serve anyone very well, as we all have different sized business, and even though I have a couple of employees, its not the size of the business that counts, its the profits that you make.

When I was working on my own my expenses were more like 4k, which would average about £15 a day. Averages over the days I work. Not taking into account days off with bad weather.

That is really only one side of expenses though, because once you employee staff, you have to think about, cost of PAYE systems, paying holidays, employers NI contributions etc.

 

[GMcleaning]

yh i agree, and like you say, you have staff to consider, id say my expenses are closer to the £15 a day mark but again its all dependant on individual work