Struggling / not sure where to go with myself

[Pjj]

the biggest load of tosh iv heard so many times is "work smarter not harder " most always its said by some guy whose wife is working all hours while they creep out to work at ten a.m.
Iv personally found that the harder i work the more avenues open up. Work to somewhere near my capacity physically is my mantra

It’s a very true saying that , as an example better to have 10 jobs at £20 a go than 20 at £10 a go thats working smarter not harder .

 

[Iron Giant]

Chris has spoken about me a couple times in a couple of videos he’s great Chris gave me solid advice when I was starting up, he’s the reason I became business minded instead of being sole operator minded.

Going to start adding in gutter clearing more as it’s a big earner and we get a fair few enquires weekly for it got 2 booked in for tomorrow one for Friday

Now, now, no one likes a show off each to their own I have never wanted to employ it just ain't me but fair play to you.

In all my years I've never got many add on's I stopped advertising for them years ago as my enquires were minimal, I prefer just doing windows

 

[Chris34]

the biggest load of tosh iv heard so many times is "work smarter not harder " most always its said by some guy whose wife is working all hours while they creep out to work at ten a.m.
Iv personally found that the harder i work the more avenues open up. Work to somewhere near my capacity physically is my mantra

I know loads of people who don't work smart, they're out all day trying to chase turnover and not keeping an eye on their costs, they're working really hard just to earn a living.

I made a big mistake the other week, I was out all week (5 days) of really hard going work and earned less than I can in 3 days... I wasn't working smart, I was physically knackered at the end of the week with muscles that were border line from being damaged due to the long time putting stress on them with awkward one off jobs that were totally not worth my time and effort.

Come the weekend I rested and evaluated where I went wrong with the week, I determined it was add ons and awkward one off jobs that didn't go to plan with equipment breaking on the job and customers asking too many questions, delaying me with their life stories etc...

The following week I set out to just go back to basics, booked 3 afternoons of regular window cleaning and took the rest of the week off. I earn't more in those 3 afternoons than I did in the 5 days previous week, and although it was hard work I was much more refreshed due to having 2 days off. In those two days off I made money on the stock market and made further investments and did more research on potential investments, I also went shopping and bought a few bits of clothing for myself. That's what working smart means!

 

[Bell Pallisey]

It’s a very true saying that , as an example better to have 10 jobs at £20 a go than 20 at £10 a go thats working smarter not harder .

if you are solo ,yes,possibly i can give it to you . But not once you Employ . 20 jobs at ten pounds a go is far better because you get better street presence And youre much more likely to stay busy.
I was reading about McD recently ,their profits are right down in fact running at a loss in the UK for first time ever! I would wager that this is because their prices have rocketed in recent years .

 

[Pjj]

if you are solo ,yes,possibly i can give it to you . But not once you Employ . 20 jobs at ten pounds a go is far better because you get better street presence And youre much more likely to stay busy.
I was reading about McD recently ,their profits are right down in fact running at a loss in the UK for first time ever! I would wager that this is because their prices have rocketed in recent years .

Well I have been employing for 20+ years and it’s worked well for us and countless others I know ,you Sean to have some very strange ideas as to work how many employees do you have ? How many vans ?

 

[Bell Pallisey]

Well I have been employing for 20+ years and it’s worked well for us and countless others I know ,you Sean to have some very strange ideas as to work how many employees do you have ? How many vans ?

iv only ever had 1 or 2 vans but recent yrs just me and 2 employees - for several yrs prior i had half a dozen employees

 

[Bell Pallisey]

i really wanted more vans at that time but non of my workers could pass their driving test . My current side kick is a most excellent worker i paid for his driving lessons at BSM but he cannot pass the theory has taken it several times . Hes decided when he takes over the biz he will employ a little lad to drive ,time will tell on this .

 

[Chris34]

I was reading about McD recently ,their profits are right down in fact running at a loss in the UK for first time ever! I would wager that this is because their prices have rocketed in recent years .

They've not only rocketed their prices but they've somehow seemed to have reduced the quality. It's very expensive for what it is now.

Greggs is where it's at now, the value and food on offer is way better plus they're now starting to do drive thru's.

 

[Bell Pallisey]

you are right,Greggs are on the ball. Itll be interesting to see how McD fights there own decline i dont think a price drop will do it ,i dont think cutting costs will do it either . I was once asked to quote 3 local McD BUT a-I was already too busy b-i sensed trouble ,hasslers they wanted them doing like yesterday +signs

 

[Part Timer]

They've not only rocketed their prices but they've somehow seemed to have reduced the quality. It's very expensive for what it is now.

Greggs is where it's at now, the value and food on offer is way better plus they're now starting to do drive thru's.

They have raised their prices and reduced the size of their buns and Baguettes. I always got a Baguette with extra bacon, the extra bacon was 50p, it's now 50p per extra slice.
You also don't seem to get the extras you got on their App. We still use them.on our travels but not as much as we did, we now try and find a little cafe or burger van to get our breakfast if the hotels breakfast doesn't start serving early enough

 

[Deleted member 7446]

Chris has spoken about me a couple times in a couple of videos he’s great Chris gave me solid advice when I was starting up, he’s the reason I became business minded instead of being sole operator minded.

Going to start adding in gutter clearing more as it’s a big earner and we get a fair few enquires weekly for it got 2 booked in for tomorrow one for Friday

May set up a landing page and run some ads

Reference gutters. Don't waste too much money on fancy camera systems as they are a novelty. They are a time wasting exercise and distraction. You'll be able to feel any resistance when working your way around

 

[Chris34]

Reference gutters. Don't waste too much money on fancy camera systems as they are a novelty. They are a time wasting exercise and distraction. You'll be able to feel any resistance when working your way around

Great advice, I have got several over the years and the last one being what I believe is the best one you could get for the purpose intended, cost something like £250, even though the camera works as it should, the time you spend trying to set the thing up you could have made a good start on the actual job. Not only that the glare of the sun is a very big problem, quite often you struggle to see either the camera itself has glare or the monitor screen. They're useful if you cannot figure out what's blocking / in the way, but 95% of the time I just go off feel now and rarely take the camera out with me.

 

[Chris34]

They have raised their prices and reduced the size of their buns and Baguettes. I always got a Baguette with extra bacon, the extra bacon was 50p, it's now 50p per extra slice.
You also don't seem to get the extras you got on their App. We still use them.on our travels but not as much as we did, we now try and find a little cafe or burger van to get our breakfast if the hotels breakfast doesn't start serving early enough

Yeah I didn't realise they had reduced the size of the buns, I knew something was different though. It's not just the price and the food though, it's everything.

Next time you go through a drive thru, look at how they store the food waiting to go out. It's like there is no system in place, there are drinks, bags of food, ice creams balanced on whatever flat surface they can find. A proper business would have a dedicated area to put the food on, like a long bench / shelf. Also the hatches they serve out of are filthy all around the outside, many haven't been cleaned for months / years, just a 10 minute clean once a day would go a long way for their image.

I always looked at McDonalds as a business that adapted with the times and always seemed to get it right, but it's like the last 3 years they've just gone the opposite and completely lost the plot with it. It's a lesson how not to run a business. You don't put up prices and reduce the quality / service / image etc... It's strange how they can get it so wrong so quickly.

 

[steve garwood]

Yeah I didn't realise they had reduced the size of the buns, I knew something was different though. It's not just the price and the food though, it's everything.

Next time you go through a drive thru, look at how they store the food waiting to go out. It's like there is no system in place, there are drinks, bags of food, ice creams balanced on whatever flat surface they can find. A proper business would have a dedicated area to put the food on, like a long bench / shelf. Also the hatches they serve out of are filthy all around the outside, many haven't been cleaned for months / years, just a 10 minute clean once a day would go a long way for their image.

I always looked at McDonalds as a business that adapted with the times and always seemed to get it right, but it's like the last 3 years they've just gone the opposite and completely lost the plot with it. It's a lesson how not to run a business. You don't put up prices and reduce the quality / service / image etc... It's strange how they can get it so wrong so quickly.

Not just Gregg’s.
I walked past my local bakery yesterday and noticed a sign that read ‘all cakes fifty pence’
I walked in, selected one and he said ‘
‘that's one pound please’
I then pointed to the sign with a smug grin on my face.
He said ‘yeh, but that’s me-dearer-cake’

 

[Iron Giant]

Not just Gregg’s.
I walked past my local bakery yesterday and noticed a sign that read ‘all cakes fifty pence’
I walked in, selected one and he said ‘
‘that's one pound please’
I then pointed to the sign with a smug grin on my face.
He said ‘yeh, but that’s me-dearer-cake’

Good to see you are still firing on all cylinders and your jokes and as terrible as ever

 

[Deleted member 7446]

Great advice, I have got several over the years and the last one being what I believe is the best one you could get for the purpose intended, cost something like £250, even though the camera works as it should, the time you spend trying to set the thing up you could have made a good start on the actual job. Not only that the glare of the sun is a very big problem, quite often you struggle to see either the camera itself has glare or the monitor screen. They're useful if you cannot figure out what's blocking / in the way, but 95% of the time I just go off feel now and rarely take the camera out with me.

What did you have? The grossly overpriced spinaclean cctv looking camera?

 

[Chris34]

What did you have? The grossly overpriced spinaclean cctv looking camera?

No I got this one, think it was PT that recommended it, prior to this one I had tried cheap action camera's, then a go pro. Nothing wrong with this one but they're just a pain to set up and try and use in good time. End up spending a good 15 minutes just with the camera.

TE910HA 2.4GHz Wireless Inspection Camera with 5-inch HD Mini DVR with screen visor and rotating camera mount

TE910HA 2.4GHz Wireless Inspection Camera with 5-inch HD Mini DVR with screen visor and rotating camera mount for wireless chimney and pipe inspection camera with DVR monitor from 3G Mobile CCTV

www.3gmobilecctv.com

I've not done any inspections for a long while now, must be about 8 or 9 months but the last one I did I actually used a rear view car mirror that I bought cheap from a pound shop type shop and just zip tied it onto my wfp brush, angled it downwards and used that to check, it actually worked pretty well and was a lot faster than the camera.

 

[Part Timer]

No I got this one, think it was PT that recommended it, prior to this one I had tried cheap action camera's, then a go pro. Nothing wrong with this one but they're just a pain to set up and try and use in good time. End up spending a good 15 minutes just with the camera.

I have mine taped to a spare gooseneck and use it with an old WFP. Take the gooseneck out to charge, takes seconds

 

[Marshy]

Evening all.

Thought I’d post a little response.

As of today we have 227 customers, 1 part time employee, ranked 2nd for seo in my area and have exceeded my goal of £30,000.

It was tough, learnt some good lessons and became a solid canvasser just don’t particularly like doing it. Aiming to put on another 100 customers by the end of next month and I’m planning on doing a massive leaflet drop (some will say don’t do it but if it works for Lee Pryor why wouldn’t it work for me)

If anyone is struggling trust me it takes time to build and it eventually will. Keep grinding learn ways of marketing. Knock doors, post leaflets, post Facebook ads.

Upselling is key also! This week alone on 3 new cleans I’ve upsold them to FSG cleans adding £360 to the day.

Hopefully in a few years time I’ll look back at this post with a few vans on the road and think.

I have made it

Keep doing what you're doing buddy. Smashing it, with how hard you work you deserve to be successful

 

[Ethan EZ -Clean]

Reference gutters. Don't waste too much money on fancy camera systems as they are a novelty. They are a time wasting exercise and distraction. You'll be able to feel any resistance when working your way around

Yeah I have a camera. Sits in the van uncharged and has done for many months waste of money tbh but can be good for action shots for marketing

 

[Ethan EZ -Clean]

Keep doing what you're doing buddy. Smashing it, with how hard you work you deserve to be successful

Cheers marshy been a pleasure working with yourself also future is very bright for us both!