wat do i do

[tench0771]

its now taking me 7 weeks to get round i dont wana take any one on do i turn wrk away or do i take it on an wack up the price if ur longer than 7 weeks windows take longer to clean wich means using more water an taking more time grrrrrrr i shouldent complane as at least im bizzy

 

[norm]

nice problem @tench0771 too have, as long as ur keeping your customers happy, as there is only so much one man and his dog can do:thumbsup:

 

[Richard]

Work on your customer’s prices & your profit tench0771, not customer numbers, less busyness and more business.

Keep within your chosen work hours and only turn down work that pays less or the same than you are currently achieving, and replace work when you have no more time to service them.

Enjoy yourself, treat it as a game and refine your round by continually working your prices, one customer at a time.

You window for money, how well you can do this is measured with money, nothing else; the measure is simply a monetary figure to see how well you are doing. (You could window clean to collect a higher number of customers and measure with customers, but why would anyone do this?)

Richard

 

[shazzy692002]

I have had my son whos 15 work with me the last 2 weeks, whilst on school holidays. He mainly get all equipment out and put it away. Wow, how much time does this save. I am earning £30-£60 more a day with his help, I pay him £20 a day we work 830am till 230pm, or whenever I run out of water/customers.....I am not wasting water whilst waliking around houses etc, so im getting to do more houses with my 300l tank.....In the long run its probably worth paying a youngster to help you out.

 

[cheapncheerful]

good position to be in tench...me i would bundle all the cra p py jobs and sell them...when you get rid of some it feels great to be back on track again and of course a bit of cash in your pocket helps.../emoticons/smile.png...me pretty much only got cra p py jobs..

 

[Smurf]

That's not an uncommon problem to have in this game as one person can only do so much.

You must decide for yourself what you want out of it in momentary terms per month without killing yourself in the proccess.

You can either hire extra help which we all know can be more hassle than it's worth sometimes.

Try to gain higher paid work

Increase prices on existing customers

Eventually cull lower paid jobs

Another option to consider is to increase your prices and put existing customers on a 2 monthly or 8 weekly clean instead. In doing so halving your workload in the process and earn a few more bob

Ideally your goal should be work less hours for more net profit which sometimes is not a very easy thing to do if your work has been sold on price alone.

Good luck with that one /emoticons/wink.png

 

[Luke Elliott]

Agree with Smurf. We've all got those customers we could switch to 8 wkly and wouldn't care or perhaps would even prefer it. Start there. See how much you can trim.

 

[Tuffers]

@tench0771, if it's taking 7 weeks to get round and you suddenly start appearing every 4 weeks again the custys might think "hang on, this is too frequent now! I want the windows cleaned less often." I'd try and sell some of the cr@p / messers and go 6 weekly.

The majority of my customers are 4 weekly, which is a bit too often I think. Six weekly is about right IMO.

 

[boarcity]

you are risking burnout ,if you carry on with a full workload. its a real risk. if i was you id employ and i did and have never regetted doing so .

only regret i have is i should have started employing 6 months before i did. but i had my doubts as everybody does " what if i get into this too deep " etc .

ignore those doubts and the doubters in your family or friends who say you will come unstuck , they themselves have no bottle

 

[Luke Elliott]

@boarcity did you emply or sub contract? I have sub contracted from time to time but am often curious about taking someone on permanently. Or permanent sub.

 

[tench0771]

thanks for the replys guys lots to consider /emoticons/smile.png

 

[boarcity]

@boarcity did you emply or sub contract? I have sub contracted from time to time but am often curious about taking someone on permanently. Or permanent sub.

i took on a parttimer at first,jus 3 days a week . i did it the first few weeks "cash only " cos i was winging it and had no idea . i then realized this was asking for trouble as the lad was also on benefits. then not knowing where to turn i rang up the H.M.R.C. to get advice and they registered me as an employer and sent me a disc for my computer .i had to ring them up a few times to get all on track ,but they arent out to fine you if you make a mistake ,they want you to get it right. 3 yrs later iv now got 3 fulltimers and feel a whole lot better for it

 

[mrtaytay]

Tench.....I would, first of all, cull all or some of the crappy out of the way jobs. Try and condense your round so that you are travelling less and working more. I wouldnt want the 4 weekly customers sliding out to 8 weeks. Pull them back to 6 weeks. Only take on new customers if they are neighbours or on the same street or if its a real big earner. It might also be a good time to increase prices. I am doing the same, but very gradually so that I can monitor how customers react. So far, every customer who has received a price increase from me hasnt grumbled. I had hoped that particular ones had moaned so that I could have said goodbye

 

[Luke Elliott]

@boarcity the biggest problem I've experienced with subbies is getting them to do good enough work. Some simply can't clean a window to save their lives. Some can but don't give a flying fig and just want to rush home or to the pub. And others try hard but for reasons unfathomable to me genuinely struggle with techniques.

How have you found this problem once you've gone down the road of employment? Being a proper job do they suddenly treat it like their own work? Or would you say it's more about looking for the right people?

 

[Tuffers]

I had a mate help me a while back. I lost customers because of his shoddy work. I vowed never again.

 

[Luke Elliott]

I had a mate help me a while back. I lost customers because of his shoddy work. I vowed never again.

My biggest concern. Same has happened to me. I turn down work and at the same time bring it in easily enough that making a push to take someone wouldn't be difficult. I'm not scared by employing someone either. It's all about them doing good work. Hands down the biggest problem.

 

[boarcity]

iv been thru about 10 wasters of all ages/races before getting my current crew , who are all 18, youngsters . the 2 lads i employ now just couldnt find work ,when you are 17-18 theres very few jobs going. both were a tad moody ,under pressure from their families,which wasnt helping their case . the moodiness soon went ,on about day 3 ,when they realized i wasnt gonna sack em ,they were convinced i was gonna sack em! .

i also have an 18 yr old girl been with me 2 yrs ,straight from school . she started just doing leaflets while at school then moved onto the squeegee . their standard of squeegee work is very good

i dont let anybody new clean windows the first week or 2 ,till then its only doors and frames and anything else i can think of. scrubbing the whole door wood or plastic all day long is good grounding ,if they hack that it bodes well.

id always say take on 2 parttimers [rather than 1 fulltimer]if you can afford ,this then allows for anybody going sick and if they keep letting you down you can let them go without it affecting the pace of work

 

[shazzy692002]

I have someone work for me 2 times a week, as I don't want to do 5 times a week, I pay him a % of the house. If I get complaints etc, I give them a re-clean, which he has to do. I think this is a good way to employ, as if they mess up they have to sort the problem, Its in there best interest to do the job write the 1st time....

 

[Luke Elliott]

Good advice @boarcity and @shazzy692002

Thanks. My round is pretty big anyway and I could often use the help. My dad cleans three days a week on his own work but often does one off jobs that have come in to me. At 67 - although fit as a fiddle - he isn't going to keep cleaning forever. So when he does retire for good then I will have to find someone to take on his work. I'd rather employ someone I can trust than sell his round. So it's something I will have to address.

 

[Neil]

That's not an uncommon problem to have in this game as one person can only do so much.You must decide for yourself what you want out of it in momentary terms per month without killing yourself in the proccess.

You can either hire extra help which we all know can be more hassle than it's worth sometimes.

Try to gain higher paid work

Increase prices on existing customers

Eventually cull lower paid jobs

Another option to consider is to increase your prices and put existing customers on a 2 monthly or 8 weekly clean instead. In doing so halving your workload in the process and earn a few more bob

Ideally your goal should be work less hours for more net profit which sometimes is not a very easy thing to do if your work has been sold on price alone.

Good luck with that one /emoticons/wink.png

Agree smurf

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