Start up costs.

[dazmond]

the problem with buying cheap older  vans and equipment is you have to keep changing your set ups every few years or so...i cant be bothered messing about any more...its ok when your trad but with wfp you need a decent new or newish van and a decent reliable system....hopefully my van and system will last me many years now relatively trouble free.... 

 

[adamangler]

If someone hasn't cleaned a window before and has with respect neither real drive and ambition to run a successful window cleaning business then saying get a van on HP and spend 10k on a system, lead gen etc, this is something that needs fixing in one's mind from the outset @Chris33 & @P4dstar  are very good examples of people with a serious amount of drive and ambition and have built rounds from nothing in the last 2 years and been newbies to window cleaning. 

There's more than one way to skin a cat. 

You can start with nothing and knock doors for a year and build a great round.

Or you can spend money on things such as lead gen and canvassers to do it for you.

Not everyone is comfortable knocking doors or has the know how to market successfully online.

There comes a point in business where if you want to grow further and doing it all...the canvassing , cleaning, advertising, SEO etc becomes a huge burden.

Investing money in the right areas is the smartest thing any business can do. It's what all businesses are built on. So many people are scared to spend money because they only see the short term.

And notice i didn't say spend 10k on a a system I said buy a cheap van and spend 10k on gaining customers...spending 10k on a van when starting out is about the dumbest way to waste money. Spend 10k on green pros lead gen would be a very sensible way to spend it, instant round, instant income, instant profit. 

My point still stands if I had 10k in the bank and was starting again I know exactly how I would spend it and would have a full round in months, of course I could knock doors 24/7 and have a full round in months but that's not me and that's far too much hard work.

But that's the difference between a noob and someone who has experience, I know what I could do with 10k a new starter won't and will blow it all on an ionics setup. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

 

[dazmond]

i agree adam....i started with very little outlay,you need the customers first...once you have a solid base of customers and a good paying round then you can think about upgrading your equipment if you so wish to make the work easier......

 

[steve garwood]

This can work both ways. Those who have been members on here for years might remember me posting many years back about selling half my round and my second van to one of my best friend Danny.

He had worked with/for me for 6 years before I sold him that round.

We always got on well and he’s still running that round successfully, I have a big lump sum in the bank and we are still great mates.

I now have a worker (jake) who I also get on great with. He is on the lash with us tonight.

The point I’m making is, if you have a mate that’s a grafter and reliable, it can work ?

 

[P4dstar]

Not everyone is comfortable knocking doors or has the know how to market successfully online.

Agreed mate. Spent years in sales before I did this and i've come across so many people who just can't sell, their brains just sometimes ain't wired for it. Some people take the rejection personally. During my first couple of years I didn't understand these people, I was very flippant of failures and saw them as weak people (Sounds much worse when I write it down). In order to become a manager I had to learn how to get the best from people and weed out the people who just couldn't do it. On here I see a lot of old school lads telling people to just go and knock doors, it's the fastest way to get work. Might be for them but not for someone else.

I had no issue knocking a door and talking to a random. I did however have a lot of time wasters from it. It's about working smarter not harder. For me I was chasing my tail canvassing so I knocked it on the head eventually. I got a good response from social media so I used this a lot. Tried paid advertising and didn't get anywhere near the return I was getting from unpaid both through Google and Facebook. Leaflet drops might work for you, canvassing might work for others. In some areas banging an advert in the local paper might be the way forward. Every person and every area is different.

 

[spruce]

Agreed mate. Spent years in sales before I did this and i've come across so many people who just can't sell, their brains just sometimes ain't wired for it. Some people take the rejection personally. During my first couple of years I didn't understand these people, I was very flippant of failures and saw them as weak people (Sounds much worse when I write it down). In order to become a manager I had to learn how to get the best from people and weed out the people who just couldn't do it. On here I see a lot of old school lads telling people to just go and knock doors, it's the fastest way to get work. Might be for them but not for someone else.

I had no issue knocking a door and talking to a random. I did however have a lot of time wasters from it. It's about working smarter not harder. For me I was chasing my tail canvassing so I knocked it on the head eventually. I got a good response from social media so I used this a lot. Tried paid advertising and didn't get anywhere near the return I was getting from unpaid both through Google and Facebook. Leaflet drops might work for you, canvassing might work for others. In some areas banging an advert in the local paper might be the way forward. Every person and every area is different.

It is amazing how the world is changing. The younger generation seem to look for everything on Facebook and Google searches for their local area services. Us older ones are still of the mindset that the best way to gain customers in the area you want to gain them is to knock doors in that area. The steam of leaflet drops is long since over imho. In general, the motor trade gave up on them 15 years ago as the return wasn't worth the cost.

You raise an interesting point regarding door knocking. I'm not 'afraid' to knock doors but my son won't unless we are together. I don't understand this tbh. What are the chances of the door being answered by someone with a gun who shoots you at random? The worst case is someone shouting no and slam the door. I've never experienced that. Its not even a sales pitch that a window cleaner has to give to convince the home owner to buy their product. "Hello sir/madam. Sorry to disturb you.  I'm a window cleaner looking to grow my round in your area. May I ask if my window cleaning services and an estimate be of interest to you?" (Sales people still love to use the words "free estimate" or "free quote/quotation" but I think the 'free' has run its course now.)

He must be prepared before he goes knocking on doors. He needs to know what the going rate is for a window clean in that area. Due diligence is a most important aspect in a window cleaners tool box. He needs to have a price list clearly in mind and work with that. He should have done this anyway before he decided to become a window cleaner.

I'm from the North East and we try to aim for £10 for a 3 bed semi in our area. But there are some mainly council areas where the local bucket brigade still charge £4 or £5 for a window clean. I'm wasting my time canvassing this area as I don't want that business.

Now I know of 3 window cleaners from Teesside who have rounds in Cambridgeshire. They tell me they charge £24 for a 3 bed semi in that area. If I didn't know the going rate and quoted NE prices if I moved there, I would be a busy fool.

Back to canvassing. The windie needs to be well dressed as first impressions will mean more than any spoken word. He also needs to be polite, considerate and courteous.

I believe that a newbie window cleaner needs to focus every waking minute on growing his business. If he drives past someone cleaning their windows in 'his' area, stop the van and ask if he can offer his services. I've done that and got a customer we had for many years after that. He can't let an opportunity slip by. As his round develops and he does a good job, he can ask for referrals from his existing customers. Clean a house and when finished knock the neighbours.  If he is cleaning a house and the neighbours are in the garden, talk to them. We have a couple on our books now who had flagged us up as their future window cleaners 10 years ago. He always cleaned his own windows but always said when he could no longer do it they would employ us. (That was a joke between us as he is younger than I am.) I always greeted them when cleaning their next door neighbour and exchanged pleasantries.  He had a heart attack a few years ago now and decided that climbing ladders to clean his own windows was no longer safe.

We had a salesman when I worked for Bosch in South Africa who had a different mindset for that era some 35 years ago. He would work the phone and count to number of "noes" he got. His experience told him that he needed to get 11 "noes" and the 12th call would be a "yes." In our open plan office we could hear him counting off the "noes". It was like he welcomed them. He was estatic the one time when he got 2 "yeses" in succession after just a couple of calls. I will never forget that.

The best motivation for knocking doors is when you have no money left to pay the rent or mortgage and feed the family. Ask @Green Pro Clean Ltd. My late younger brother was a chain smoker and couldn't give it up. Then one day he ended up in hospital for a few days with severe Angina. That was the motivation for him to stop smoking. But the damage was done and he died of a heart attack 9 years ago.

 

[P4dstar]

The best motivation for knocking doors is when you have no money left to pay the rent or mortgage and feed the family.

Absolutely brilliant advice Spruce. I highlighted this one sentence as I think this is where the men are separated from the boys. We live in an entitled society where people know the welfare state will fund them if they can no longer be ar5ed to support themselves. We claim no benefits even though we would probably be entitled to a little tax credits at least at the moment. I rely on nobody to fund me but there are far too many people who do. If you're of this mindset you will find it very easy to quit!

I was trying to explain to lads who are afraid to knock doors that there is another way. I hope this doesn't get confused with an easier way. Leaflet drops in my experience deliver a 1-2% return. If someone thinks they can whack 100 leaflets out round an estate and get a full round they will fall flat on their face. I personally find canvassing gives a better return if you do it in a street you already work, in sight of the van. Cancellations are still too high for me to push this as a primary source for new customers though. The other one that worked well is dropping leaflets and then returning a few days later to knock the door. Took my mate with me, he knocked one door and the guy had the leaflet in the porch, when he said he wasn't interested he asked for the leaflet back ?

 

[PDixon cvs]

Absolutely brilliant advice Spruce. I highlighted this one sentence as I think this is where the men are separated from the boys. We live in an entitled society where people know the welfare state will fund them if they can no longer be ar5ed to support themselves. We claim no benefits even though we would probably be entitled to a little tax credits at least at the moment. I rely on nobody to fund me but there are far too many people who do. If you're of this mindset you will find it very easy to quit!
 
I was trying to explain to lads who are afraid to knock doors that there is another way. I hope this doesn't get confused with an easier way. Leaflet drops in my experience deliver a 1-2% return. If someone thinks they can whack 100 leaflets out round an estate and get a full round they will fall flat on their face. I personally find canvassing gives a better return if you do it in a street you already work, in sight of the van. Cancellations are still too high for me to push this as a primary source for new customers though. The other one that worked well is dropping leaflets and then returning a few days later to knock the door. Took my mate with me, he knocked one door and the guy had the leaflet in the porch, when he said he wasn't interested he asked for the leaflet back [emoji23]

Out of all the leaflets I put out they seem to book in a mth or so later where as door knocking they book straight away I don't like door knocking but then I've never needed to I would if I had to.

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[P4dstar]

Out of all the leaflets I put out they seem to book in a mth or so later where as door knocking they book straight away I don't like door knocking but then I've never needed to I would if I had to.

I had calls in December on the back of leaflets dropped in June/July, one woman told me she pinned it up in the kitchen the entire time and kept saying she would call haha.

I find canvassing is a 3 steps forward 2 steps back system in my area. It must work elsewhere otherwise people wouldn't swear by it. I know enough to tell you I wouldn't be paying a canvassing company for work round here. Everywhere is different, round here if someone knocks on a door the local neighbourhood watch would be posting it all over facebook saying something like ''lad claiming to be a window cleaner is knocking doors''... In my home town of St Helens you would probably get offered in for a brew by half of them ?

 

[PDixon cvs]

That's the same round here

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[P4dstar]

That's the same round here
 

Getting offered a brew or reported to the social media police? ?

 

[spruce]

I had calls in December on the back of leaflets dropped in June/July, one woman told me she pinned it up in the kitchen the entire time and kept saying she would call haha.

I find canvassing is a 3 steps forward 2 steps back system in my area. It must work elsewhere otherwise people wouldn't swear by it. I know enough to tell you I wouldn't be paying a canvassing company for work round here. Everywhere is different, round here if someone knocks on a door the local neighbourhood watch would be posting it all over facebook saying something like ''lad claiming to be a window cleaner is knocking doors''... In my home town of St Helens you would probably get offered in for a brew by half of them ?

Its also all about keeping your eyes and ears open as well.

Window cleaning is a business as fluid as the water we use to clean with. There are a lot of new starters, but there are also some who have given up for various reasons or who have retired. Yes, they may have sold the round to someone else, but that doesn't mean they are going to be loyal to the new cleaner or that the new cleaner is actually going to work the round.

Believe it or not, about 10 years ago my now son in law sold his window cleaning round to another window cleaner who did the customers once and was never seen again. My son in law worked that round for a good 3 or 4 years before he sold it.

 

[PDixon cvs]

Getting offered a brew or reported to the social media police? [emoji23]

FB police

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