Upto 50 customers

[Cleanco]

50 an hr on your own?400 per day what am I doing wrong lol

Probs nothing mate. Some are happy coasting along doing the same thing for the last 20 years. Nothing wrong with that as long as your happy. I’ve been at this a long time and over that time Ive constantly been refining my work to get better prices, more compact work and also constantly look to improve productivity and safer working conditions. 

 

[Pjj]

We have a minimum charge of £10 evan if it’s one window and a door it’s £10 , smaller jobs arnt worth the hassle or time stopping and  getting out of the van , having this minimum charge increases you daily takings quite considerably, you are better off doing half the work for twice the money , I was like your prices years ago and was a very busy fool , now we are very selective what jobs we take on and all are well priced , sometimes we won’t take on jobs evan at good prices if access is an issue or parking is difficult, I have people quite regularly say they will pay us x amount to clean there windows and what they offer is far more than I would have priced the job at , but there is no parking with in several hundred yards and they are big Victorian 3 storey houses in the middle of st ives a very well off area , sometimes it doesn’t matter what the money is it’s just not worth it . But having a minimum price is a very good thing and £10 theses  days isn’t a lot most don’t bat an eyelid at it and if they do then they are more than likely to be problematic customers , that’s what we have found anyway. 

 

[Tango]

quite agree @Pjj I go out for a minimum of £10 too. Had a spat with an old codger today, bungalow. He initially said he never has his windows cleaned - fair enough i said and wished him a good day. Then he asked what I'd charge. I said £10. Then he asked me what the house over the road would be - I knew what he was getting at but said it anyway - £10. He wasn't a happy man arguing it was stupid to pay double for a bungalow etc etc. I said to himn "Well get your neighbours to book me on the same day as you and i'll call it a fiver per bungalow". He answered "but i don't have mine cleaned". "Exactly" I said. At that point he wanted a leaflet... totally weird. I did then say to him that £10 is my minimum for UP TO 8 windows plus two doors and that many other trades people have a call out charge too. He couldn't argue with that, took the leaflet and cleared off back inside. Odd fella but he did see logic eventually... I suspect i'll be all over the local facebook groups as a con artist soon though lol.

Anyway I believe £10 is a fair deal for a minimum price and for an "up to" pricing strategy I believe it's fair. If there's a 2nd floor on top of the 1st then I automatically add another fiver. I'll be doing that for houses with windows above extensions from now on too as i had another today - bathroom window was literally black with mould and was a struggle to reach. You know me, I got it but it was a pain and almost emptied the back pack. Great customer though, he was a "no thank you" that then changed his mind as i was walking away from his neighbours who didn't answer - he suddenly realised i might be useful to him and called me back and is now a 6 weeker.

 

[Cleanco]

We have a minimum charge of £10 evan if it’s one window and a door it’s £10 , smaller jobs arnt worth the hassle or time stopping and  getting out of the van , having this minimum charge increases you daily takings quite considerably, you are better off doing half the work for twice the money , I was like your prices years ago and was a very busy fool , now we are very selective what jobs we take on and all are well priced , sometimes we won’t take on jobs evan at good prices if access is an issue or parking is difficult, I have people quite regularly say they will pay us x amount to clean there windows and what they offer is far more than I would have priced the job at , but there is no parking with in several hundred yards and they are big Victorian 3 storey houses in the middle of st ives a very well off area , sometimes it doesn’t matter what the money is it’s just not worth it . But having a minimum price is a very good thing and £10 theses  days isn’t a lot most don’t bat an eyelid at it and if they do then they are more than likely to be problematic customers , that’s what we have found anyway. 

Spot on that and you learn things like this with experience over time. Sometimes making mistakes is the best way of learning. That said I do have a lot of work priced lower than a tenner but I can still achieve good hourly rates as it’s very compact, easy work. I price for my time and not how many windows I have to clean. I certainly wouldn’t be charging them sorts of rates for jobs on there own in the middle of nowhere. Tbh I wouldn’t even bother stopping the van for anything less than £25. Imo £10 is too cheap per van stop no matter how many windows there are. 

 

[mike007]

Put your prices up - otherwise you'll be working flat out for not a lot of financial reward. People will always pay a premium for quality work and reliablity. Look around on this forum and see what others are charging, and you will be surprised what people will pay for a good service. ??

We mostly all make the mistake of under charging when starting up unfortunately....perhaps it is part of our "apprentership" together with learning the arts of window cleaning...but we pretty soon learn to price better....those that do not end up doing some other job because window cleaning does not pay for them due to their pricing too low.

 

[Tango]

We mostly all make the mistake of under charging when starting up unfortunately....

Yup, i got one i definitely should have charged £25 for but stupidly said £15 just to get the work. Massive house with windows and skylights everywhere. Yes I'm an idiot but you live and learn!

 

[AJ Fry]

I can relate with this, still early days for me and you hang and get excited on every enquiry feeling you need to convert each one into a customer. Fortunately from advice i've seen on this forum and a little research seeing what other local windys are charging I'm quickly learning to hold my nerve when pricing. I know I've lost a few because someone will always do it cheaper. Give it a year or two when your established and confident to charge top dollar you don't want half your round under priced from the cheap prices you were giving out in the beginning. I've just totted up the first 30 customers i've got and the average price per clean comes at out £18. That has a good range of properties too with the vast majority on 6 weekly cleans. It seems to be pretty similar to what the other professional lads are charging round my way.

 

[HWCS]

A month further down the line from my OP and im upto around 100 customers, my pricing had got better and im feeling alot more confident in giving what i feel is a decent price for a decent job.

Avg house is being priced at 

£1.00-1.50 a window down

£1.50-2.00 a window up

£7-15 a conservatory depending on size

Same for internal windows.

Ive invested in all new equipmemt from WCW as opposed to BnM/Homebase.

Things are going well and i finish my job as a baker on 26th June to do wimdows full time.

Alot of this is due to sound and solid advice from this forum.

Many thanks guys

 

[Davy G]

A month further down the line from my OP and im upto around 100 customers, my pricing had got better and im feeling alot more confident in giving what i feel is a decent price for a decent job.

Avg house is being priced at 

£1.00-1.50 a window down

£1.50-2.00 a window up

£7-15 a conservatory depending on size

Same for internal windows.

Ive invested in all new equipmemt from WCW as opposed to BnM/Homebase.

Things are going well and i finish my job as a baker on 26th June to do wimdows full time.

Alot of this is due to sound and solid advice from this forum.

Many thanks guys

Well done. Glad it's going well for you. 

Thanks for the update. ??

 

[Clarkus84]

Yup, i got one i definitely should have charged £25 for but stupidly said £15 just to get the work. Massive house with windows and skylights everywhere. Yes I'm an idiot but you live and learn!

I was doing a house on Saturday. Was one of the first I got when I didn't have any confidence in pricing up jobs. Been charging £20 every 4 weeks. Decided to go around, take a look and see what I would quote now. Needless to say, it's easily a £35 house. Done the same on the next house and I'd be about an extra £8 a clean. Was a bit of a kick in the teeth but I learnt the importance of getting prices right. 

 

[Part Timer]

I was doing a house on Saturday. Was one of the first I got when I didn't have any confidence in pricing up jobs. Been charging £20 every 4 weeks. Decided to go around, take a look and see what I would quote now. Needless to say, it's easily a £35 house. Done the same on the next house and I'd be about an extra £8 a clean. Was a bit of a kick in the teeth but I learnt the importance of getting prices right. 

This is how you learn to run a business, you will never learn without making mistakes. Contrary to a lot on here I think you're better off pricing jobs, in the early days, at a level to secure them. You can always put them up, or replace them, when established. You never will learn anything, including techniques, if you don't secure work to begin with. I'm not saying quote £5 on a £15 job but if you turn up at a job that you're not sure about then, personally, I'd go in on the lower end of my price range. If I'm cheap then so be it, can always up it later, can't knock on the door later and drop you're price when you've missed it. 

Class the first year as your apprenticeship, both in technique and learning how to run your business. This is why I think people that post about pricing advice, not knocking them, won't learn anywhere near as quickly as those that "go for it"

Anyway to quote Mr Garwood, pub time 

 

[Tango]

Contrary to a lot on here I think you're better off pricing jobs, in the early days, at a level to secure them.

<snip>

You never will learn anything, including techniques, if you don't secure work to begin with

I got a monster of a house that I do every 6 weeks. 3 floors (G,1,2) and tons of windows plus 4 skylights. Easily a £40 job - maybe even £50. She was my first customer lol and I went with your strategy and quoted her £15. I could have easily said £20 and still got it but was desperate for the work and more importantly, practice of 2nd floor windows with the pole fully extended. I learnt something from that one though, the thought of that extra £5 note seemed to deter them from having me that same day whereas I like to work the same day as i knock the door so when canvassing and wanting the work that day i literally say £10 to anything within reason.

I figured i can up prices or drop custys as i start getting better work / more confident.

 

[Part Timer]

At the end of the day you got the work, you are under selling yourself though. I appreciate you're very keen to secure work but you have to get a reasonable price. If you think it's a £40/£50 job and you were desperate for the job then, personally I'd have gone in at £35. If they baulked then ask them where they saw it. 

 

[Iron Giant]

Yup, i got one i definitely should have charged £25 for but stupidly said £15 just to get the work. Massive house with windows and skylights everywhere. Yes I'm an idiot but you live and learn!

No doubt were you are in the UK dictates the minimum charge, but a £10 minimum in my area wouldn't see you getting much work on the smaller houses for example, but you are charging lets say £10 for a 2 bed house and you shoot yourself in the foot on a £25+ by underpricing by almost half makes no sense at all it will take years to get the price were it should be 

 

[HWCS]

Update on my OP.

Upto £1200 a month now, and left my job as a baker Wednesday so full time windy now.

Got about 1/2 my diary full so could easily bang in 2400/2500 worth of work a month once ive got enough ppl on the books.

My pricing has got alot better now confidence has grown nicely, rounds getting sorted nicely into areas grouping customers close to each other on same days, and the wifes still leaflet dropping and im getting new customers on a near daily basis.

One thing that is bugging me is when detailing on some windows im gettimg black marks on the frames which are taking alot of elbow grease to remove and holding me up on some jobs

My cream day of each 6wk cycle is a 2 property day which pulls me in £200 for a 9-1 day

My poxy day is 9 customers for £110 for a 9-3 day but my own fault due to under pricing when i first started in March but i can live with it.

Belows a cpl of b4s and afters of a customers frames, he was happy and so was i with the end result, and i didnt charge him any extra for the first clean which resulted in me picking up work from his 2 neighbours and his mum amd sister all slotted into my 6wkly cycle, so for not charging extra i picked up another £69 quids worth of work.

 

[Davy G]

Update on my OP.

Upto £1200 a month now, and left my job as a baker Wednesday so full time windy now.

Got about 1/2 my diary full so could easily bang in 2400/2500 worth of work a month once ive got enough ppl on the books.

My pricing has got alot better now confidence has grown nicely, rounds getting sorted nicely into areas grouping customers close to each other on same days, and the wifes still leaflet dropping and im getting new customers on a near daily basis.

One thing that is bugging me is when detailing on some windows im gettimg black marks on the frames which are taking alot of elbow grease to remove and holding me up on some jobs

My cream day of each 6wk cycle is a 2 property day which pulls me in £200 for a 9-1 day

My poxy day is 9 customers for £110 for a 9-3 day but my own fault due to under pricing when i first started in March but i can live with it.

Belows a cpl of b4s and afters of a customers frames, he was happy and so was i with the end result, and i didnt charge him any extra for the first clean which resulted in me picking up work from his 2 neighbours and his mum amd sister all slotted into my 6wkly cycle, so for not charging extra i picked up another £69 quids worth of work.

View attachment 16935

View attachment 16936

View attachment 16937

View attachment 16938

Well done. What a difference. That's a satisfying result, eh? ??

 

[Pjj]

Update on my OP.

Upto £1200 a month now, and left my job as a baker Wednesday so full time windy now.

Got about 1/2 my diary full so could easily bang in 2400/2500 worth of work a month once ive got enough ppl on the books.

My pricing has got alot better now confidence has grown nicely, rounds getting sorted nicely into areas grouping customers close to each other on same days, and the wifes still leaflet dropping and im getting new customers on a near daily basis.

One thing that is bugging me is when detailing on some windows im gettimg black marks on the frames which are taking alot of elbow grease to remove and holding me up on some jobs

My cream day of each 6wk cycle is a 2 property day which pulls me in £200 for a 9-1 day

My poxy day is 9 customers for £110 for a 9-3 day but my own fault due to under pricing when i first started in March but i can live with it.

Belows a cpl of b4s and afters of a customers frames, he was happy and so was i with the end result, and i didnt charge him any extra for the first clean which resulted in me picking up work from his 2 neighbours and his mum amd sister all slotted into my 6wkly cycle, so for not charging extra i picked up another £69 quids worth of work.

View attachment 16935

View attachment 16936

View attachment 16937

View attachment 16938

Dont want to teach you to suck eggs but if you are doing properties as bad as bad as this I would get a sprayer and virosol mix it 10-1 and spray on the whole window and frame leave it literally no more than a couple of muinits give it  scrub and thorough rinse you will find this is a lot faster and easier than just using cold wfp and the results will be very good . Well done with what you have achieved , I have been going 20 years and still learning and improving, once you get a good core of customers they will recommend you to friends and family and work will snowball .

 

[Wind o kleen]

Dont want to teach you to suck eggs but if you are doing properties as bad as bad as this I would get a sprayer and virosol mix it 10-1 and spray on the whole window and frame leave it literally no more than a couple of muinits give it  scrub and thorough rinse you will find this is a lot faster and easier than just using cold wfp and the results will be very good . Well done with what you have achieved , I have been going 20 years and still learning and improving, once you get a good core of customers they will recommend you to friends and family and work will snowball .

He doesn't use wfp

 

[Pjj]

He doesn't use wfp

Ah ok sorry ???

 

[Wind o kleen]

Ah ok sorry ???

He could always get little sprayer , do it that way , 

 

[HWCS]

He could always get little sprayer , do it that way , 

Tbf only took a few mins of elbow grease with a wet cloth on each sill/frame