Would you put the prices up?

[Part Timer]

Im not sure what's going on on this site but no-one seems to consider outgoings or paperwork time when looking at wages.

£800 A week minus roughly 350 A week on total out goings(fuel, cost of van spread out, equipment, servicing costs, leaflets, tax and NI etc), time for collecting and paper work time.
Potentially your working a 50+ hour week for 450 take home.
All of a sudden your on less than £10 an hour. Which you could get working as a sparks mate or labourer on site.


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I travel all over the place, just got in from 4 nights away in Newmarket, and my costs are no where near £18k a year. I work 6 hours a day and allow a couple of hours to do paperwork and fill van, not exactly hard work the last hours.

 

[Part Timer]

£350 a week on outgoings, no where near that buy get your point. That's why i will be increasing them after xmas. You just hear loads of stories of i make £1000 plus a week blah blah blah. Just trying too get peoples views 

I doubt if many who say they earn  £1k a week are not earning what you are

 

[Squeegee Dan]

That 350 includes replacement of equipment, resin, water bill, paying liability ins, banking charges, accountant costs, tyres, MOT vehicle servicing, leaflets, website design and running costs... When you add it all up it's not far off that

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[Tuffers]

Sky and BT Sport are always putting the price up by £2 here and there so why shouldn't we? I must admit I don't put my prices up very often, but I should really. 

The house in OP  would be £12 every 4 weeks for me.

 

[Minty]

You’ve got to put them up.

i would tell them you are getting £15 for new work of the same house size and they need to keep pace to guarantee your service. I would tell them there going up by £3 this year and £3 in July 2019. (Thus conditioning them)

Hopefully they will see that your doing your best to keep the price keen. 

They will also know it’s bloody cheap..

Let them who want to go, go. 

In the past I’ve been guilty of trying to please my customers on price, finding a reason not to increase them, not any longer. 

Canvass for new work and cull the ones your not happy with. 

 

[Pjj]

Im not sure what's going on on this site but no-one seems to consider outgoings or paperwork time when looking at wages.

£800 A week minus roughly 350 A week on total out goings(fuel, cost of van spread out, equipment, servicing costs, leaflets, tax and NI etc), time for collecting and paper work time.
Potentially your working a 50+ hour week for 450 take home.
All of a sudden your on less than £10 an hour. Which you could get working as a sparks mate or labourer on site.


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£350 per week expenses !!!???? You must be joking I spend £60-75 per week on diesel running a heater , admin time is only 4 hours a week ? Don’t need to collect backs , pay on the day etc Evan if you have a brand new van and system on the worst finance deal of the century I cannot see how you could spend that per week very inoficient buisness I think 

 

[Incheck]

To be fair the market sounds very stable if you’ve got 20 houses all right next to one another. It sounds like a thing of the past where every trad window cleaner did every their own neighbourhood and walked round with ladders. Around where i live those days are long gone. One or two trad guys that do their own estates. But even they are on their way out, ones always in and out of prison and his customers have looked elsewhere. Everybody around here uses a different windy, we have a few streets where we do 5 or 6 houses on. On one street there are 4 houses next to each other and they all have a different windy. There’s a lot more travel involved in our work, and parking in certain areas is an absolute mare. Plus our customers expect a lot as we have a pretty high standard of clean (im sure yours is too) I think you could consider yourself pretty lucky to be having a days work on the glass all in one street. And the custom is fixed, if youve been doing it 7 years then hell theyre hardly gonna get rid of you. Thing is, what you have to think of sadly is that every now and again someone moves house/dies/new owners don’t want a windy for whatever reason. All of a sudden your houses are further apart as a result. So its worth a think.


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[paul alan]

I will face this dilemma on a smaller scale next year, few houses here and there!

Are you happy with the over all hourly rate?? That's all that matters!

It might possibly be that the houses in question are worth more than you are charging that is bothering you, not your hourly rate.

If you are happy with your hourly rate, prime the customers that you will price increase next april and when it comes it should be no bother. I f you are unhappy with the hourly rate but not that unhappy, put them up a £1 this year and £1 next year.

If you are completely dissatisfied with the hourly rate do a cull, as said before the drop-outs will be covered by the others.

Also take into consideration things like, compact? good payers? reliable? easy work? hydrophobic customers?

 

[J and S]

£800 per week and £350 in expenses isn't far out...don't forget that includes tax and NI.

Stick £100 down for expenses and you have 29% for HMRC that's £200.

First 15 weeks are free though with your personal allowance.

 

[Pjj]

£800 per week and £350 in expenses isn't far out...don't forget that includes tax and NI.

Stick £100 down for expenses and you have 29% for HMRC that's £200.

First 15 weeks are free though with your personal allowance.

If you are claming £350 per week expenses you arnt going to be paying very much tax 

 

[Squeegee Dan]

That's my Monthly breakdown.
I'm a Ltd company with a full time employee

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[Squeegee Dan]

That's without leaflets it does include a £100 maintenance fee which covers van servicing, new equipment and all those little extras that we don't usually account for

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[Nicky]

With my van finance,tax & fuel, accountant business wear and tear resin insurance public liability,water, washing& drying uniforms and scrims rd insurance and my NI COMES TO £ 220 a wk

 

[richb77]

Another way to look at it is what the average price per house is in that street compared to the other areas. I have one area where my average is £14 and another is £8. so when I see it that way the lower should definately be increased. So I would compare that street and see where they are in comparison.

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[Nicky]

I forgot advertising £18 wk new wkly total £238

 

[Nicky]

£160 a day doing £8 houses, there are skilled tradesmen not getting that a day. Or factory workers 40 hrs a wk take home £300a wk. Try and build your speed up if your on wfp you should do at least 25 houses a day I o

 

[Pjj]

That's my Monthly breakdown.
I'm a Ltd company with a full time employee

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Thats £275 per week not £350 there is a big difference, still think that’s excessive, I run two vans and mines no ware near that amount 

 

[Part Timer]

That's my Monthly breakdown.
I'm a Ltd company with a full time employee

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Some of those costs are capital expenditure, nothing to do with expenses. If you're buying a van you're buying an asset with a resale value. If you're leasing it then that's an expense you could reduce. You also never mentioned that there is 2 people. Resin at £40 a month needs looking at as well. 

 

[Squeegee Dan]

Any idea where I can save a little money?


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[Pjj]

Any idea where I can save a little money?


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Whats the mastercard at 100 per month ? 

I think you need to talk to a decent accountant Ime no good at figures Ime good at doing the job hands on and pricing up work I let the accountant sort out what’s expenses and what’s not . I notice you do t have any household bills there for light -heat , water , filtration , are you claming what you can there ? My accountant charges me about £400 a year best 400 I’ve ever spent 

 

[Squeegee Dan]

My accountant costs 600 A year and tbh I'm not sure what I get sort from bills lol

I'm looking it it now and I may go back to being a sole trader and go on my own.
Much less hassle and money.

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