How much work is out there.??

[BigFoot]

hi guys,

ive been on this forum a few weeks now and  to cut to the chase.

ive been working offshore for 25 years and to b honest ive had enough ,,, im sick of the travelling ...working with some ***** ,,,,being away from my family ....so ready to pack in after xmas and start window cleaning ,gutter clearing service..

how much work is out there ??? im not scared to chap doors ..approach people ,,, .have already joined several facebook community groups ready to advertise  .... flyers all done ... im very hungry ,,,just feel like complete change and working for myself .

thanks.

if you are knocking doors for a long time don’t be surprised to start to feel down with rejection. You may need to knock 50 doors with replies like no thanks or we already have a cleaner etc Before you get a lead. You may think it won’t effect me but you’ll get some condescending remarks that will catch you off guard. Not trying to put you off just giving you a heads up so you can put preparations in place to help boost your spirits back up.

I knocked most of my work and some days I’d pick up plenty of work others were more of a challenge. I played a lot of five a side at the time so would knock on days I’d play football to help pick up my spirits.

it is very doable but there is a price to pay.

good luck it is worth it for the work life balance. 

 

[dazmond]

1.i never work to full capacity 

2.i dont have any jobs that take 3 or 4 days to clean

Your can make this job as simple or hard as you like...??

 

[Chris34]

1.i never work to full capacity 

This is what I've done since day one.  I realised before I started that doing 8 hours per day 52 weeks per year wasn't possible, so I decided that I need to earn a days money in 5 or 6 hours.  This allows for sickness, holidays etc.  Any hours worked over that in the long days of summer is a bonus.  So 25 hours per week at 40 per hour is 1k, that's the target and once hit it's realistic to hit close to that target every week due to not having to work lots of hours to hit it.  

Don't get me wrong I'm not on that amount of money, no where near it, but I am getting there.  Speed, efficiency and more jobs next door to each other is what will get me to that point.

 

[swc1]

Your can make this job as simple or hard as you like...??

So true! That is the beauty of this trade. ?

 

[Woody86]

I must admit that in comparison to my current job window cleaning has been an absolute doddle so far. Its not even that hard to actually clean the windows properly in comparison to some of their regulars who cut corners. I have found that 3-4 customers over the past two weeks have switched due to their current windy being absolutely ****, lazy or just unreliable. Some clever marketing on facebook has put doubt in the custys mind to check if their windy is actually doing a good job or not, then they seem to switch. I also find a fair few that claim their windy has caused damage to the rendering and frames so I always go over the top sharing that I use bumper guards and that we are extremely cautious. Seems to work!

There appears to be work out there but I echo the 2 years to build a decent round. Knocking doors has pushed me back a fair amount as I have been reluctant to go out canvassing. When the 2nd of December comes I will be out and rattling as many doors as I can. I suspect that is where the numbers will grow at a much higher pace.

All I would say is listen with an open mind on here. Some pointers are great and I wouldnt of progressed at the rate I have without some great guys feeding knowledge, but some are not so much and others tell you how hard window cleaning is yet may have never held any other job. Like someone has said above, you make it as hard or as easy as you want.

As a summary, I absolutely love exterior cleaning of properties and the freedom and literally no stress that it brings. Its by far the easiest money I have ever come to earn. Good luck chap!

 

[Part Timer]

As a summary, I absolutely love exterior cleaning of properties and the freedom and literally no stress that it brings. Its by far the easiest money I have ever come to earn. Good luck chap!

I'm not here to knock your enthusiasm as it's refreshing to hear and reminds us old established how we were at the start of our adventure. What I will say though is yes it is nice and easy at the start and will continue to be so until you start to get busy. Pushing poles 6+ hours a day in freezing cold and hot conditions, filling van, chasing debts, maintenance etc etc isn't easy. It is however, as you say, very well paid. Very few people get to the level of earning very good money, £800+ per week, and have an easy time doing so. Good luck and I genuinely hope you achieve the ultimate goal of a very well paid job that isn't stressful.

 

[Woody86]

Always appreciated your feedback Part Timer and its bang on and to the point. Hopefully whilst I am still relatively young it wont impact me as much. I guess its about building those muscles and conditioning your body to sustain those long and repetitive week days.

Any tips on how you have handled the fatigue and what you have done to try and keep it to a minimum would be great to hear. It would be useful for us newbies to the game.

 

[Part Timer]

Any tips on how you have handled the fatigue and what you have done to try and keep it to a minimum would be great to hear. It would be useful for us newbies to the game.

On the physical side I'm built like the proverbial outhouse but one thing I have always pushed, as a lone voice, is for newbies to start with CLX poles. These will assist you to build the muscles you will use when you start and aren't busy. They are virtually indestructible, need very little maintenance and are cheap. Then when you're doing 4+ hours a day upgrade to a SLX, preferably an Extreme.

I'm 57 though and did very physical work in my early work years and then spent 25 years in an office / car and managing fatigue gets considerably harder the older you get. All I would say, that works for me personally, is I always make sure I have rest days every month. I have some very well paid commercial work which means I travel a lot but always make sure that I work 4 days and have a long weekend off.

The biggest tip I can give anyone is do your paperwork every day, this will save you hours of headache trying to do it weekends and will let you know where you stand financially all the time.

 

[scottish cleaning service]

Just got told today that my church needs a receipt for the gutters to be cleaned out every year or their insurance is null and void. Was wondering why I am so busy with gutter clears. ?

 

[ched999uk]

Any tips on how you have handled the fatigue and what you have done to try and keep it to a minimum would be great to hear. It would be useful for us newbies to the game.

One tip I have read is try not to have your pole on one side of your body. i.e. have pole on left hand aside of body 50% of time and on right hand side other 50%. That way you are sharing the repetition between both sides of body plus making yourself a bit more ambidextrous.  

 

[ched999uk]

Just got told today that my church needs a receipt for the gutters to be cleaned out every year or their insurance is null and void. Was wondering why I am so busy with gutter clears. ?

Question I have been meaning to ask. As you cover so many 'trades' window cleaning, gutter cleaning, roof repairs, replacing sealed units, fencing to name but a few how do you insure yourself?

 

[swc1]

Any tips on how you have handled the fatigue and what you have done to try and keep it to a minimum would be great to hear. It would be useful for us newbies to the game.

Proper sleep and nutrition and exercise. Make sure you keep your mind active while working.

Learn to balance out your life with work and play.

When your off work enjoy the things you work so hard for!

 

[scottish cleaning service]

Question I have been meaning to ask. As you cover so many 'trades' window cleaning, gutter cleaning, roof repairs, replacing sealed units, fencing to name but a few how do you insure yourself?

With divine intervention and pray I don't fall. ?

 

[Iron Giant]

I must admit that in comparison to my current job window cleaning has been an absolute doddle so far. Its not even that hard to actually clean the windows properly in comparison to some of their regulars who cut corners. I have found that 3-4 customers over the past two weeks have switched due to their current windy being absolutely ****, lazy or just unreliable. Some clever marketing on facebook has put doubt in the custys mind to check if their windy is actually doing a good job or not, then they seem to switch. I also find a fair few that claim their windy has caused damage to the rendering and frames so I always go over the top sharing that I use bumper guards and that we are extremely cautious. Seems to work!

There appears to be work out there but I echo the 2 years to build a decent round. Knocking doors has pushed me back a fair amount as I have been reluctant to go out canvassing. When the 2nd of December comes I will be out and rattling as many doors as I can. I suspect that is where the numbers will grow at a much higher pace.

All I would say is listen with an open mind on here. Some pointers are great and I wouldnt of progressed at the rate I have without some great guys feeding knowledge, but some are not so much and others tell you how hard window cleaning is yet may have never held any other job. Like someone has said above, you make it as hard or as easy as you want.

By comparison to a lot of jobs been a windy is easy, but cleaning windows and running it as a successful business beyond the first weeks and months and then into years is where most do fail,

I feel like I have only ever been a windy and running my own business for almost 21 years, yes I will hold my hand up as some one who does at times pipe up to give people a reality check , as lads think what us successful business owners do is an absolute piece of pish,

but there is more too it than magic water a brush on a stick, inflated prices and customers that just flock to you like rats to the piped piper which appears to be some peoples perception of a window cleaning business 

 

[Damo]

hi guys,

ive been on this forum a few weeks now and  to cut to the chase.

ive been working offshore for 25 years and to b honest ive had enough ,,, im sick of the travelling ...working with some ***** ,,,,being away from my family ....so ready to pack in after xmas and start window cleaning ,gutter clearing service..

how much work is out there ??? im not scared to chap doors ..approach people ,,, .have already joined several facebook community groups ready to advertise  .... flyers all done ... im very hungry ,,,just feel like complete change and working for myself .

thanks.

I think its really hard NOT to build a round nowadays. It's too easy to find work and most of the time you don't even need to leave your house!

 

[harunh]

hi guys,

ive been on this forum a few weeks now and  to cut to the chase.

ive been working offshore for 25 years and to b honest ive had enough ,,, im sick of the travelling ...working with some ***** ,,,,being away from my family ....so ready to pack in after xmas and start window cleaning ,gutter clearing service..

how much work is out there ??? im not scared to chap doors ..approach people ,,, .have already joined several facebook community groups ready to advertise  .... flyers all done ... im very hungry ,,,just feel like complete change and working for myself .

thanks.

The answer to the question is all down to you, how hungry are you? how determined are you ? do you have that desire aswell as patience?  If you want it u will get it ,,, its all down to you, even if there is 30 other windows cleaners within 10 miles of u that should not effect you, cos there is always someone out there who needs a window cleaner, but this day in age a lot of customers have a choice of who to use now,,, 10 years ago they would only know 1 window cleaner... now they know several people and will not be afraid to close the door on u if u let them down so u always got to be on the ball in this game ? If u do a good job then u will get plenty of jobs via word of mouth etc, jus make sure you always do a good job and are always polite and u can not go wrong ?

I been going 8 years now... it is very hard work. Good luck

 

[carp boy]

Thanks.. Great advice... 

 

[Danfire]

I was very lucky to inherit a round of about 50 customers in one village. Spent a few days working with the guy that was retiring, did the whole round with him getting introduced to every customer who were told I would be carrying on if they wanted me. 

He printed off his job sheets with phone numbers, prices, notes for any peculiarities of each job.

When I started I must've been pretty slow but always did a quality job (better than the previous cleaner as he didn't clean the frames).

What seems to happen, when you've got a few like I had, that's 50 customers to recommend you to friends, relatives and neighbours, 50 customers you could add on services to as you've got lots of spare time "would you like me to check your gutters"? "Clean conservatory roof"? Etc. I did grass cutting for one old lady and as a Carpenter, when I spotted some basic repairs that needed doing (gates hanging off, doors not opening/shutting properly, stiff locks etc) I was able to offer my services on that stuff.

That then fills up the days. By being outside, exposed to passers by with the branded workwear, sign written van you are upping your chances of the walk up enquiries which I reckon are the best type. In my opinion, it's better to have someone asking you if you can work for them rather than the other way round, less chance of feeling the need to give a low price. 

I did also put a small advert up in the village store window, that got me a few customers and a free advert on yell.com.

Point of this long rambling message, if you can pick up a small round, maybe buy one, you've got a good base to build on. The thought of door knocking (I did it trying to sell burglar alarms in the 80's) is a bit soul destroying. I know it it was not a good way to sell that product (much like double glazing). Maybe window cleaning will be an easier thing to push on the doorstep but I know a lot of houses have the trading standards "no canvassers' stickers on their doors.

Whatever you do, good luck with it.

 

[scottish cleaning service]

I was out and about yesterday and seen an established window cleaning firm using young lads with ladders and a new van. The guy that owns it was telling me one of the young lad's dropped the ladder on a new car in the driveway and he still gets them to use ladders.

 

[Dave B]

Proper sleep and nutrition and exercise. Make sure you keep your mind active while working.

Learn to balance out your life with work and play.

When your off work enjoy the things you work so hard for!

That is why I'm always fishing.

 

[Iron Giant]

That is why I'm always fishing.

So I'm guessing your missus is in charge of the allotment ?