How much earnings per day

[Suhrly]

When I first started in early 2014 it was only because my mate came to me and asked if I fancied started up a window cleaning business (Trad). At that time I was only working as a musician on the weekend in bands so had nothing on during the week so I said yeah, what have I got to lose. I had no idea on pricing or the whole window cleaning business in general. My whole philosophy at that time was 'if I can make an extra £200 a week...brilliant!'. So we cracked on and as usual, made virtually nothing at the start whilst building the business gaining customers. Where I live in an old pit village area it seems the prices are also old and still, as sad as it is, at the £5 every 2 weeks stage. I just went with it cos that is 'the norm' around here. Again, at this point I had no idea about what everybody else around the country was earning. Some bucket Bobs around these parts even charging less than that. £3.75 for a standard 3 bed semi is the norm for these guys round here every 2 weeks but they won't touch ya frames or ya sills for that. I once watched one of these guys 'complete' a 3 bed semi in under 4 minutes!! Granted he missed a few windows out ? but I digress.. 

I carried on this way for 4 years with my mate and we built up a decent round. Consolidating where we worked and all that jazz and we could never make more than about £150 per day between us at that point. This is for 8hrs a day as well. At this point after 4 years, something inside me was telling me something wasn't right here and we should be earning a lot more money at this point. I had seen and watched some WFP window cleaners around when we had been sitting having a break or dinner etc and seen how much quicker they were with a lot less effort, not to mention the safety aspect. At this point I mentioned to my mate/business partner that we should start looking into transitioning into WFP. He was 100% NOT interested in anything to do with WFP WHATSOEVER! Anyway, for me, the seed was planted and I started to give things a lot of thought and started to look into it. 

And this is when I found this forum! (Thank GOD!!) I came on here asking if I should transition and if anybody had done so. It was pretty agreed upon as you can imagine to make the switch ASAP. So, I then made the (hard) decision to leave the current business with my mate, we split it down the middle 50/50 as it should be. No fall outs, we're still mates. But getting to the original post...because of this forum I had the confidence to switch and not only double my income, but at least triple it! Switching in itself gave me the ability to work faster but I also realized the potential money that could be earned (while still taking into account the 'going rates' in my location btw) so within months, I put my prices up considerably. Bearing in mind I/we hadn't raised them in 4 years!! Granted, I lost quite a few when I did but I didn't care and stuck to my guns realizing my worth and the service I provide. So I think talking about prices can be VERY helpful to give people a general idea of what you can earn with good, honest graft. Had it not been for this forum, chances are I'd still been working for less than £10 an hour doing trad and going up and down ladders all day. Now I'm averaging around £30-45ph. Which I have to keep reminding myself is very good for where I live, but I'm always looking to increase it. I like to make at least £150 a day in about 5 hours of solid graft. 

So when you start, like others have said, go in on the high end of pricing to drive our earnings up. I've said it a million times on here, imagine if the whole country charged 'roughly' the same prices, especially the cleaners in the same counties or villages. We could all put our prices up every year without fail without the fear of them saying, 'I'll just get Bob then cos he's charging half what you do'. It'll then come down to reliability and skill rather than price.

BTW, if you're interested, my mate who I split from is still doing trad and he hasn't put his prices up in 6.5 years!! Why? Well, because he doesn't come on forums like this so he's 'blind' to what others are making so he has no frame of reference. Luckily, I do ? Like BT says, 'It's good to talk'. 

 

[Davy G]

When I first started in early 2014 it was only because my mate came to me and asked if I fancied started up a window cleaning business (Trad). At that time I was only working as a musician on the weekend in bands so had nothing on during the week so I said yeah, what have I got to lose. I had no idea on pricing or the whole window cleaning business in general. My whole philosophy at that time was 'if I can make an extra £200 a week...brilliant!'. So we cracked on and as usual, made virtually nothing at the start whilst building the business gaining customers. Where I live in an old pit village area it seems the prices are also old and still, as sad as it is, at the £5 every 2 weeks stage. I just went with it cos that is 'the norm' around here. Again, at this point I had no idea about what everybody else around the country was earning. Some bucket Bobs around these parts even charging less than that. £3.75 for a standard 3 bed semi is the norm for these guys round here every 2 weeks but they won't touch ya frames or ya sills for that. I once watched one of these guys 'complete' a 3 bed semi in under 4 minutes!! Granted he missed a few windows out ? but I digress.. 

I carried on this way for 4 years with my mate and we built up a decent round. Consolidating where we worked and all that jazz and we could never make more than about £150 per day between us at that point. This is for 8hrs a day as well. At this point after 4 years, something inside me was telling me something wasn't right here and we should be earning a lot more money at this point. I had seen and watched some WFP window cleaners around when we had been sitting having a break or dinner etc and seen how much quicker they were with a lot less effort, not to mention the safety aspect. At this point I mentioned to my mate/business partner that we should start looking into transitioning into WFP. He was 100% NOT interested in anything to do with WFP WHATSOEVER! Anyway, for me, the seed was planted and I started to give things a lot of thought and started to look into it. 

And this is when I found this forum! (Thank GOD!!) I came on here asking if I should transition and if anybody had done so. It was pretty agreed upon as you can imagine to make the switch ASAP. So, I then made the (hard) decision to leave the current business with my mate, we split it down the middle 50/50 as it should be. No fall outs, we're still mates. But getting to the original post...because of this forum I had the confidence to switch and not only double my income, but at least triple it! Switching in itself gave me the ability to work faster but I also realized the potential money that could be earned (while still taking into account the 'going rates' in my location btw) so within months, I put my prices up considerably. Bearing in mind I/we hadn't raised them in 4 years!! Granted, I lost quite a few when I did but I didn't care and stuck to my guns realizing my worth and the service I provide. So I think talking about prices can be VERY helpful to give people a general idea of what you can earn with good, honest graft. Had it not been for this forum, chances are I'd still been working for less than £10 an hour doing trad and going up and down ladders all day. Now I'm averaging around £30-45ph. Which I have to keep reminding myself is very good for where I live, but I'm always looking to increase it. I like to make at least £150 a day in about 5 hours of solid graft. 

So when you start, like others have said, go in on the high end of pricing to drive our earnings up. I've said it a million times on here, imagine if the whole country charged 'roughly' the same prices, especially the cleaners in the same counties or villages. We could all put our prices up every year without fail without the fear of them saying, 'I'll just get Bob then cos he's charging half what you do'. It'll then come down to reliability and skill rather than price.

BTW, if you're interested, my mate who I split from is still doing trad and he hasn't put his prices up in 6.5 years!! Why? Well, because he doesn't come on forums like this so he's 'blind' to what others are making so he has no frame of reference. Luckily, I do ? Like BT says, 'It's good to talk'. 

Well done, Suhrly. Good for you. I was interested in what you're mate did after your split.  For him, he seems satisfied with his lot. Some people are like that. Others of us are always looking, thinking and trying to improve our way of working and our lives.

Well done, again. ??.

 

[Suhrly]

Well done, Suhrly. Good for you. I was interested in what you're mate did after your split.  For him, he seems satisfied with his lot. Some people are like that. Others of us are always looking, thinking and trying to improve our way of working and our lives.

Well done, again. ??.

Cheers Davy. Yeah I guess he's happy. I have tried to tell him over the past couple years but he never seems to want to change. I'm always gonna be thankful to him though cos if it wasn't for him I wouldn't of been at the point I am today and I'll always be grateful for that. 

 

[Omega]

All I would say on this is that you can earn whatever you want to providing you have the skill and marketing approach to back it up.

customers vary. If I were a millionaire I’d happily pay £150 Instead of £50 for window cleaning if the company or person was reliable and didn’t need any management and I trusted them.

Ive had this turn into an argument with so many others who say that’s crazy.
 

Point is that if you are earning more money than you can do anything with in the case of some of the super rich for example, the amount is almost irrelevant. £150 instead of £50 is like the average salary earners buying fuel at a service station instead of a local garage.

for many affluent clients they care more about trust, reliability, convenience and presentation.

so don’t undersell yourselves if what you’re offering is good and of “value“. Value is different to each person.

make sure you do not limit your lens in which you view the world to your own and look at things from others view as in the clients.

this has bee demonstrated with how many say prices in the north are so low and then green pro and others like plum tree are charging prices similar to what many mention down south and have growing and successful businesses.

most customers are buying convenience or something similar and not actually window cleaning as so to speak. 

 

[dazmond]

I joined another forum 11 years ago and switched to WFP not long after.....I earn over 3 times as much money per year than I did in 2009 and work less hours.....i was on the verge of jacking it in after 16 years on the ladders back then...I'm so glad I've stuck at it all these years....

I did it the hard way.....these days with all the info available and wfp,round software and electronic payments this job is literally a walk in a park,its easy....no doubt about it.....

 

[Iron Giant]

I did it the hard way.....these days with all the info available and wfp,round software and electronic payments this job is literally a walk in a park,its easy....no doubt about it.....

No doubt it's a whole load easier, but those looking at us through rose tinted glasses, most simply can't make a successful business and have the drive to do what we do in all weathers and take all the lows, we make it look and sound easy but as we all know it's a different ball game to make it.