? Starting From Zero - Follow Along

[rigmarole]

Don't forget you need pure water!

25lts barrels can be had from car washes or you can buy them on Amazon, ebay etc.

Printing wise I have found Bizay to be good and cheap. There are lots of deals about so register with the link then they send you different deals quite frequently. It seems they are based in Portugal but they do delivery when they say and have some designs but you can do your own and they seem to be very flexible in what you can do with the designs. 

I'm just about to start my first repeat cleans this week ? All good so far but weather has been perfect so that makes things easy.

First cleans are slow, very slow, probably more me than the clean being slow. I recently bought a 20m extension hose to go from backpack to pole and it does make things easier as don't have to keep repositioning backpack, but it does take a bit of getting used to the extra hose that is. I'm hoping the 2nd cleans will be quicker but maintaining a quality clean. As I don't have many customers it's not a problem that 1st cleans take a long time (longest was 1:30) and I do more work than I really should but I want to get a good reputation so a bit of pink stuff on the odd door scuff or oxidised sill makes the job look so much better. I won't go as far as using pink stuff on frames as once you start on a frame then you might need ladders and I'm avoiding them...

Good luck and get going mate.

Thanks for the info @ched999uk

Yeah, sorry, I forgot to mention I already have a 11L resin vessel and my TDS is around 70, so I should be fine for pure water.

It took me an age to do that first clean. But it was really bad and I was playing around with technique and experimenting a bit. Plus I'm still learning so I'm very slow and want to make sure everything is good quality. 

Hope your cleans all go well this week

Glad all is well mate. Will catch up in the week

That would be great, we'll sort something out. Thanks for the link to the Jerry cans too ?

 

[NewGuy]

4 litres of blackcurrant squash in the cool bag, will probably need it all. 

And factor 50 ?

 

[Part Timer]

And factor 50 ?

No suntan cream, work outside and build a tan during spring and never worn it in the UK. If I did I'd use Calypso Once a day SP20. Horrible to apply but as long as you dont rub it in lasts all day. Use it in St Lucia and never been burnt.

 

[AW Services]

No suntan cream, work outside and build a tan during spring and never worn it in the UK. If I did I'd use Calypso Once a day SP20. Horrible to apply but as long as you dont rub it in lasts all day. Use it in St Lucia and never been burnt.

During summer you change your ethnicity ?

 

[Part Timer]

What you talking bout Willis

 

[Part Timer]

During summer you change your ethnicity ?

Actually from May onwards I don't really change colour. Tend to tan fairly easily early on and barely change throughout the summer.

 

[NewGuy]

No suntan cream, work outside and build a tan during spring and never worn it in the UK. If I did I'd use Calypso Once a day SP20. Horrible to apply but as long as you dont rub it in lasts all day. Use it in St Lucia and never been burnt.

I don't burn either but I find it keeps me cooler by not burning my skin. If you like, I'll call over and rub it on your back. 

 

[Part Timer]

I don't burn either but I find it keeps me cooler by not burning my skin. If you like, I'll call over and rub it on your back. 

I'm old and fat but must admit I've had better offers recently ?

 

[AW Services]

Actually from May onwards I don't really change colour. Tend to tan fairly easily early on and barely change throughout the summer.

I've always got some good colour. Shorts and t shirt all year round

 

[rigmarole]

UPDATE

With life getting in the way it's taken me a little longer to get set-up and started than anticipated but I've finally got my first regular paying customer.

Had some amazing help from @Apw1210 who met with me and answered lots of questions that I was struggling with, thanks so much for that.

Also I owe a massive debt to @Pjj who was so kind to let me come on a ride along for the day with him on his rounds. I had an absolutely fantastic day, Learned tons and the day flew by, really enjoyed it. It was seriously inspiring to see how you and your crew do the job. Thank you so much, it was a massive turning point for me.

Finally got the chance to go out knocking on doors in my local area, managed to knock on approx 80+ doors in an afternoon, had my business cards and flyers to hand out, Managed to speak to a lot of people surprisingly. Even more surprisingly, people were generally very nice, a good few even encouraging me and wishing me good luck. Never saw that coming! Making me reconsider how I answer the door to random callers, I'm normally a bit grumpy to be honest.

It was interesting to find out how many people actually already have a window cleaner, it was a lot more than I expected. I just assumed most people would do it themselves or just wouldn't bother. 

Got to one door and the guy said he wanted a window cleaner, quoted him £15 @ 4weeks and he said yes, it was late and I didn't want to do it right then, so I said I'd come back the next day to do the first clean. But surprise surprise, when I text him the next day to let him know I was on my way over, he backed out and offered some weak excuse. He was quite strange from the start to be honest, so I wasn't really bothered, except that he was a time waster.

Anyway, I went back out in the morning to do family errands, and got a call for a quote, went to the job, quoted him and he accepted. It was really dirty, and I should have quoted a bit more for the first clean. But I think I wasn't too far off with the £15 for a 4weekly clean. 

I thought, I'll just take my time and do a great job. I was in no rush. Then the bad luck started. I was midway through the front of the house when I felt water on my arm, looked behind me to see a big leak in the pipe on the connection from the pole hose to the orange backpack hose. And there's me, like an idiot with no spares, it was my first job and I didn't even think. I've cleaned my own house dozens of times with the same kit and what are the chances this happens 3mins into my first paid clean!!!!!???

Kept calm, shut everything off and looked at the problem, trying to not draw attention to me stressing. I thought, I'll just carry on, its a small leak, I have 50L of water on me. Tried to carry on, but no good, the water ran out super fast due to the leak. Luckily, I was a 1min drive from my house, so I went back to get more water and found that one of the O clips didn't seem to be working, I got my o clip pincers and jammed it down as tight as I could, luckily, the leak slowed to a weep. I loaded up with water and went back to the job.

Without the leak, the rest of the job went pretty smoothly, a few tricky to reach windows, that I underestimated, but I found good angles to get them in the end. Clients seemed super happy with the job. I was so slow, and used a TON of water because of the leak, must have taken me 1.5hours, it seemed like forever when everything was going wrong.

I felt a bit crappy pulling up in my car (rather than the nice sign written van of a competitor at the end of the road). Wish I had a van, but I need to see if I can at least get enough customers to make this a viable business for me before I start spending money on that.

All the equipment I had seemed good (apart from the leak). Definitely need more practice with the swivel, Water is an issue, I'm running through it like mad, have to get better at conserving it. Thank god I got a uni-valve.

What spares / tools do you guys carry?

I'm going to buy a load of o clips right now, so this never happens again ?

 

[Davy G]

UPDATE

With life getting in the way it's taken me a little longer to get set-up and started than anticipated but I've finally got my first regular paying customer.

Had some amazing help from @Apw1210 who met with me and answered lots of questions that I was struggling with, thanks so much for that.

Also I owe a massive debt to @Pjj who was so kind to let me come on a ride along for the day with him on his rounds. I had an absolutely fantastic day, Learned tons and the day flew by, really enjoyed it. It was seriously inspiring to see how you and your crew do the job. Thank you so much, it was a massive turning point for me.

Finally got the chance to go out knocking on doors in my local area, managed to knock on approx 80+ doors in an afternoon, had my business cards and flyers to hand out, Managed to speak to a lot of people surprisingly. Even more surprisingly, people were generally very nice, a good few even encouraging me and wishing me good luck. Never saw that coming! Making me reconsider how I answer the door to random callers, I'm normally a bit grumpy to be honest.

It was interesting to find out how many people actually already have a window cleaner, it was a lot more than I expected. I just assumed most people would do it themselves or just wouldn't bother. 

Got to one door and the guy said he wanted a window cleaner, quoted him £15 @ 4weeks and he said yes, it was late and I didn't want to do it right then, so I said I'd come back the next day to do the first clean. But surprise surprise, when I text him the next day to let him know I was on my way over, he backed out and offered some weak excuse. He was quite strange from the start to be honest, so I wasn't really bothered, except that he was a time waster.

Anyway, I went back out in the morning to do family errands, and got a call for a quote, went to the job, quoted him and he accepted. It was really dirty, and I should have quoted a bit more for the first clean. But I think I wasn't too far off with the £15 for a 4weekly clean. 

I thought, I'll just take my time and do a great job. I was in no rush. Then the bad luck started. I was midway through the front of the house when I felt water on my arm, looked behind me to see a big leak in the pipe on the connection from the pole hose to the orange backpack hose. And there's me, like an idiot with no spares, it was my first job and I didn't even think. I've cleaned my own house dozens of times with the same kit and what are the chances this happens 3mins into my first paid clean!!!!!???

Kept calm, shut everything off and looked at the problem, trying to not draw attention to me stressing. I thought, I'll just carry on, its a small leak, I have 50L of water on me. Tried to carry on, but no good, the water ran out super fast due to the leak. Luckily, I was a 1min drive from my house, so I went back to get more water and found that one of the O clips didn't seem to be working, I got my o clip pincers and jammed it down as tight as I could, luckily, the leak slowed to a weep. I loaded up with water and went back to the job.

Without the leak, the rest of the job went pretty smoothly, a few tricky to reach windows, that I underestimated, but I found good angles to get them in the end. Clients seemed super happy with the job. I was so slow, and used a TON of water because of the leak, must have taken me 1.5hours, it seemed like forever when everything was going wrong.

I felt a bit crappy pulling up in my car (rather than the nice sign written van of a competitor at the end of the road). Wish I had a van, but I need to see if I can at least get enough customers to make this a viable business for me before I start spending money on that.

All the equipment I had seemed good (apart from the leak). Definitely need more practice with the swivel, Water is an issue, I'm running through it like mad, have to get better at conserving it. Thank god I got a uni-valve.

What spares / tools do you guys carry?

I'm going to buy a load of o clips right now, so this never happens again ?

Teething troubles! Reading your post made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. I remember them well.

Spares: O clips, brush fittings and jets, brush hose, hose joiners. Too many items to get my head round at bed time. Tip: look through all your equipment and do a mental rehearsal of what is likely to break or wear out and order spares accordingly and in good time.

Tools : Go by the tools you've needed to date. Carry the ones in the van that you can. Do a mental rehearsal of repairing equipment and aim to carry the tools required. I carry lots of tools from pincers to close the clamps and German mini bolt cutters to cut them to a set of spanners, screw drivers, mini hacksaw, pliers, plumbers grips, hose secateurs, nylon hammer, carpenter's hammer, bbq tongs for clearing downpipe tops, Gorilla glue, PTFE tape, duck tape. That's a few to think about for now. Quite a few other bits but I'm away to bed now. ?

 

[AW Services]

UPDATE

With life getting in the way it's taken me a little longer to get set-up and started than anticipated but I've finally got my first regular paying customer.

Had some amazing help from @Apw1210 who met with me and answered lots of questions that I was struggling with, thanks so much for that.

Also I owe a massive debt to @Pjj who was so kind to let me come on a ride along for the day with him on his rounds. I had an absolutely fantastic day, Learned tons and the day flew by, really enjoyed it. It was seriously inspiring to see how you and your crew do the job. Thank you so much, it was a massive turning point for me.

Finally got the chance to go out knocking on doors in my local area, managed to knock on approx 80+ doors in an afternoon, had my business cards and flyers to hand out, Managed to speak to a lot of people surprisingly. Even more surprisingly, people were generally very nice, a good few even encouraging me and wishing me good luck. Never saw that coming! Making me reconsider how I answer the door to random callers, I'm normally a bit grumpy to be honest.

It was interesting to find out how many people actually already have a window cleaner, it was a lot more than I expected. I just assumed most people would do it themselves or just wouldn't bother. 

Got to one door and the guy said he wanted a window cleaner, quoted him £15 @ 4weeks and he said yes, it was late and I didn't want to do it right then, so I said I'd come back the next day to do the first clean. But surprise surprise, when I text him the next day to let him know I was on my way over, he backed out and offered some weak excuse. He was quite strange from the start to be honest, so I wasn't really bothered, except that he was a time waster.

Anyway, I went back out in the morning to do family errands, and got a call for a quote, went to the job, quoted him and he accepted. It was really dirty, and I should have quoted a bit more for the first clean. But I think I wasn't too far off with the £15 for a 4weekly clean. 

I thought, I'll just take my time and do a great job. I was in no rush. Then the bad luck started. I was midway through the front of the house when I felt water on my arm, looked behind me to see a big leak in the pipe on the connection from the pole hose to the orange backpack hose. And there's me, like an idiot with no spares, it was my first job and I didn't even think. I've cleaned my own house dozens of times with the same kit and what are the chances this happens 3mins into my first paid clean!!!!!???

Kept calm, shut everything off and looked at the problem, trying to not draw attention to me stressing. I thought, I'll just carry on, its a small leak, I have 50L of water on me. Tried to carry on, but no good, the water ran out super fast due to the leak. Luckily, I was a 1min drive from my house, so I went back to get more water and found that one of the O clips didn't seem to be working, I got my o clip pincers and jammed it down as tight as I could, luckily, the leak slowed to a weep. I loaded up with water and went back to the job.

Without the leak, the rest of the job went pretty smoothly, a few tricky to reach windows, that I underestimated, but I found good angles to get them in the end. Clients seemed super happy with the job. I was so slow, and used a TON of water because of the leak, must have taken me 1.5hours, it seemed like forever when everything was going wrong.

I felt a bit crappy pulling up in my car (rather than the nice sign written van of a competitor at the end of the road). Wish I had a van, but I need to see if I can at least get enough customers to make this a viable business for me before I start spending money on that.

All the equipment I had seemed good (apart from the leak). Definitely need more practice with the swivel, Water is an issue, I'm running through it like mad, have to get better at conserving it. Thank god I got a uni-valve.

What spares / tools do you guys carry?

I'm going to buy a load of o clips right now, so this never happens again ?

Well done mate, Glad you've got started and getting out there. I'll pop down and see you next week or so for a coffee 

Austin 

 

[AW Services]

Teething troubles! Reading your post made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. I remember them well.

Spares: O clips, brush fittings and jets, brush hose, hose joiners. Too many items to get my head round at bed time. Tip: look through all your equipment and do a mental rehearsal of what is likely to break or wear out and order spares accordingly and in good time.

Tools : Go by the tools you've needed to date. Carry the ones in the van that you can. Do a mental rehearsal of repairing equipment and aim to carry the tools required. I carry lots of tools from pincers to close the clamps and German mini bolt cutters to cut them to a set of spanners, screw drivers, mini hacksaw, pliers, plumbers grips, hose secateurs, nylon hammer, carpenter's hammer, bbq tongs for clearing downpipe tops, Gorilla glue, PTFE tape, duck tape. That's a few to think about for now. Quite a few other bits but I'm away to bed now. ?

Great reply mate and useful information. 

 

[AW Services]

Another older example video of mine which highlights the importance of carrying the right tools for the job when faults occur or hoses fail 

https://youtu.be/krhlWABgnuc

 

[ched999uk]

@rigmarole great to hear how you are progressing. I am now in about week 16 since I started. A couple of things, take significantly more pure than you think you will need, when pricing look carefully at the windows not just how many there are but in what condition they are in i.e. old painted flaky frames, loose stuck on lead, blown units etc. 

As for speed don't worry, my first few took well over an hour (backpack and barrels, using my car). The maintenance cleans are significantly quicker plus you will have learned where to put your backpack so you don't have to keep moving it. I bought 20m of pole hose and use it as an extension (Gardiner warranty backpack for upto 20m extension + pole hose) it makes things a lot quicker as you can do a whole 3 bed semi by just moving backpack once. You will also learn how much scrubbing is needed and if you have a procedure you wont be forgetting if you have rinsed a pane and doing it twice. I have found a trigger spray with a strong mix of ubik in sprayed on brush works very well on stubborn dirt.

Don't be afraid of telling customers the cost of the clean, come across as confident. As for people saying they have a windy, there are a lot of people who don't but will say they do to get rid of you from the door, just look at the windows where people say they have a windy!!!! Either that or they have a shockingly bad windy who just cleans the glass ? It's not a problem just keep going, keep smiling and be cheerful with customers.

Keep us updated.

 

[Pjj]

UPDATE

With life getting in the way it's taken me a little longer to get set-up and started than anticipated but I've finally got my first regular paying customer.

Had some amazing help from @Apw1210 who met with me and answered lots of questions that I was struggling with, thanks so much for that.

Also I owe a massive debt to @Pjj who was so kind to let me come on a ride along for the day with him on his rounds. I had an absolutely fantastic day, Learned tons and the day flew by, really enjoyed it. It was seriously inspiring to see how you and your crew do the job. Thank you so much, it was a massive turning point for me.

Finally got the chance to go out knocking on doors in my local area, managed to knock on approx 80+ doors in an afternoon, had my business cards and flyers to hand out, Managed to speak to a lot of people surprisingly. Even more surprisingly, people were generally very nice, a good few even encouraging me and wishing me good luck. Never saw that coming! Making me reconsider how I answer the door to random callers, I'm normally a bit grumpy to be honest.

It was interesting to find out how many people actually already have a window cleaner, it was a lot more than I expected. I just assumed most people would do it themselves or just wouldn't bother. 

Got to one door and the guy said he wanted a window cleaner, quoted him £15 @ 4weeks and he said yes, it was late and I didn't want to do it right then, so I said I'd come back the next day to do the first clean. But surprise surprise, when I text him the next day to let him know I was on my way over, he backed out and offered some weak excuse. He was quite strange from the start to be honest, so I wasn't really bothered, except that he was a time waster.

Anyway, I went back out in the morning to do family errands, and got a call for a quote, went to the job, quoted him and he accepted. It was really dirty, and I should have quoted a bit more for the first clean. But I think I wasn't too far off with the £15 for a 4weekly clean. 

I thought, I'll just take my time and do a great job. I was in no rush. Then the bad luck started. I was midway through the front of the house when I felt water on my arm, looked behind me to see a big leak in the pipe on the connection from the pole hose to the orange backpack hose. And there's me, like an idiot with no spares, it was my first job and I didn't even think. I've cleaned my own house dozens of times with the same kit and what are the chances this happens 3mins into my first paid clean!!!!!???

Kept calm, shut everything off and looked at the problem, trying to not draw attention to me stressing. I thought, I'll just carry on, its a small leak, I have 50L of water on me. Tried to carry on, but no good, the water ran out super fast due to the leak. Luckily, I was a 1min drive from my house, so I went back to get more water and found that one of the O clips didn't seem to be working, I got my o clip pincers and jammed it down as tight as I could, luckily, the leak slowed to a weep. I loaded up with water and went back to the job.

Without the leak, the rest of the job went pretty smoothly, a few tricky to reach windows, that I underestimated, but I found good angles to get them in the end. Clients seemed super happy with the job. I was so slow, and used a TON of water because of the leak, must have taken me 1.5hours, it seemed like forever when everything was going wrong.

I felt a bit crappy pulling up in my car (rather than the nice sign written van of a competitor at the end of the road). Wish I had a van, but I need to see if I can at least get enough customers to make this a viable business for me before I start spending money on that.

All the equipment I had seemed good (apart from the leak). Definitely need more practice with the swivel, Water is an issue, I'm running through it like mad, have to get better at conserving it. Thank god I got a uni-valve.

What spares / tools do you guys carry?

I'm going to buy a load of o clips right now, so this never happens again ?

We all get a few teething problems when starting out don’t worry about it , Ime sure you will get enough customers you have a good manner with people several of mine commented that you were a friendly guy so just use that to your advantage. We carry loads of spares , all hose fittings , all size o clips spare brushes  we been to be able to carry on working especially when hundreds of miles away from home , but it’s not cheap I guess I have around £1,000 of spares in each van ????but that will come with time , just keep canvassing and building once you get a few customers they will recommend you to friends/family then you will pick up work much faster , also speak to ones on the streets you are working in they might ask about you doing theirs if you are friendly. I enjoyed meeting you and wish you all the best building up your rounds anything I can do to help just ask/ phone if you want tk come down again any time you are more than welcome .

 

[AW Services]

We all get a few teething problems when starting out don’t worry about it , Ime sure you will get enough customers you have a good manner with people several of mine commented that you were a friendly guy so just use that to your advantage. We carry loads of spares , all hose fittings , all size o clips spare brushes  we been to be able to carry on working especially when hundreds of miles away from home , but it’s not cheap I guess I have around £1,000 of spares in each van ????but that will come with time , just keep canvassing and building once you get a few customers they will recommend you to friends/family then you will pick up work much faster , also speak to ones on the streets you are working in they might ask about you doing theirs if you are friendly. I enjoyed meeting you and wish you all the best building up your rounds anything I can do to help just ask/ phone if you want tk come down again any time you are more than welcome .

Nice to hear that you've also helped him. He will do well. Decent chap who's done his homework and on the right lines 

 

[rigmarole]

@ched999uk Thanks so much for your detailed response, some great tips there. It's nice that you have experience with the backpack too so you can understand all the weird little things.

I'm definitely going to use a few of the tips you mentioned. 

I'll carry on updating as I go too. I'm off out canvassing all day tomorrow.

 

[rigmarole]

@Pjj Thanks for the kind words mate, I really did enjoy that day. Some great conversation too!

I'm slowly improving, just need more customers now. I'm in a good mindset at the moment in terms of promoting myself and just being friendly and chatting to everyone. It's actually nice as I'm getting to know everyone in my local area.

 

[AW Services]

@Pjj Thanks for the kind words mate, I really did enjoy that day. Some great conversation too!

I'm slowly improving, just need more customers now. I'm in a good mindset at the moment in terms of promoting myself and just being friendly and chatting to everyone. It's actually nice as I'm getting to know everyone in my local area.

North Devon is a far better place for you to be in 

 

[rigmarole]

North Devon is a far better place for you to be in 

So true, especially when I see my two little ones loving every minute of living here.