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Looking for advice....

Mark Foster

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16
Hi all

So i dont want to go over old ground and bore you with the same old questions but I would really appreciate your help and the benefit of your experience/knowledge.

I have limited experience window cleaning. Im currently self employed and work very hard for very little money. Im considering my options and I am drawn to window cleaning. This is because I know a few people that done pretty well out of it and they seem to have pretty secure, low risk businesses that remain stable over long periods of time.

I see it like this;

  • not many small businesses can estimate their monthly income accurately
  • not many businesses have as little overheads
  • the market is constantly growing, especially where I live. New houses and businesses constantly
  • the market is easy to target, you can canvass exactly where you want the work. No expensive advertising

Im not under the illusion that window cleaning is a licence to print money and I know it will take a lot of will power and hard work to build up a decent round. I see the following problems with window cleaning;

  • you are at the mercy of the weather
  • it is very competitive
  • building a compact round where earning is maximized will be very difficult and time consuming

Please feel free to comment or correct me on any of the above.

Now my first question is this; based on what I know about cold calling the average response is between 1 and 2 in 100. So that means that if I canvassed 1000 houses I could expect between 10 and 20 jobs. Now this seems very spaced out to me in terms of distance and traveling between the jobs would be very time consuming. Im basing all my figures on being able to generate between £20-£25 per hour income, if its less than that then I wouldnt be able to cover my families living expenses.

So my question is what qualifies a round as being 'compact'?

And earning £20-£25 per hour, after an appropriate time 'learning the ropes' (6 months???), is that achievable?

Thanks for reading and I would appreciate any advice you have

Regards

Mark

 
25 quid an hour is doable quite easily even if driving a mile between each job

1000 houses isn't that big an area to travel round if you had a few jobs in that area

I live in a town with a 12 mile circumference with i think 40 000 houses

Don't take more than 10 minutes to drive across from any 1 side to the opposite

 
My road has 300 plus houses and with the side roads that all link up i have over a thousand houses within about a minutes travel in the car and i have more than 20 custys in that area

If you averaged only a tenner a house that would mean 200 quid within a minute from you

Break down your area into little groups like that and distance isn't an issue

 
It is up and down mate

You can't put an average on it

I have had days with only 1 or 2 jobs (i only canvass 2 hours a time tops nowadays )

And i have had some roads/cul de sacs that have been little gold mines

I have 1 of 89 houses where i got 8 in 1 go and since got another 5 from being seen working there and neighbours chatting and 1 newish estate of 62 houses which i leafleted (which i don't usually do) and got 5

2 from facebook today totalling 59 quid

 
Hi Mark, times have changed over the last few years regarding compact rounds. So many window cleaners starting up and taking what work they can get. Many years ago you could be the only shiner in a street and you could take your pick of what houses you wanted to a degree. Travelling between jobs isn't so bad though, you could pass say 50 houses before you reach your next job, but it would only take you 5/10 minutes to get there. I'm waffling on, but you can make a decent wedge even without a compact round. My advice is to hit new build estates that are going up and make a nuisance of yourself by keep canvassing it. I've been targeting a site and have managed to get 7 of out of about 15 that have moved in so far totalling £67 every 4 weeks. The work is so compact that it takes not much more than an hour and a half to do.

Get knocking them doors :thumbsup:

 
I work across my whole town and a local village but i am never in the motor for more than a minute or 2 once i have driven to the area i am doing that day

You will pick customers up in little groups while canvassing and if you get a new one in an area you already do within the space of a couple of cleans you can usually lose or add a few days to slot them into a day you already do that area

 
Hi all
So i dont want to go over old ground and bore you with the same old questions but I would really appreciate your help and the benefit of your experience/knowledge.

I have limited experience window cleaning. Im currently self employed and work very hard for very little money. Im considering my options and I am drawn to window cleaning. This is because I know a few people that done pretty well out of it and they seem to have pretty secure, low risk businesses that remain stable over long periods of time.

I see it like this;

  • not many small businesses can estimate their monthly income accurately
  • not many businesses have as little overheads
  • the market is constantly growing, especially where I live. New houses and businesses constantly
  • the market is easy to target, you can canvass exactly where you want the work. No expensive advertising

Im not under the illusion that window cleaning is a licence to print money and I know it will take a lot of will power and hard work to build up a decent round. I see the following problems with window cleaning;

  • you are at the mercy of the weather
  • it is very competitive
  • building a compact round where earning is maximized will be very difficult and time consuming

Please feel free to comment or correct me on any of the above.

Now my first question is this; based on what I know about cold calling the average response is between 1 and 2 in 100. So that means that if I canvassed 1000 houses I could expect between 10 and 20 jobs. Now this seems very spaced out to me in terms of distance and traveling between the jobs would be very time consuming. Im basing all my figures on being able to generate between £20-£25 per hour income, if its less than that then I wouldnt be able to cover my families living expenses.

So my question is what qualifies a round as being 'compact'?

And earning £20-£25 per hour, after an appropriate time 'learning the ropes' (6 months???), is that achievable?

Thanks for reading and I would appreciate any advice you have

Regards

Mark
You got it summed up well mate

I been doing twenty years and would agree with everything you said

I have always bought rounds - built up then sold until I now work compact only in the areas I want to

E.g wealthy customers !

 
you are overthinking it Mark. the time you spend number crunching it is wasteful.

what i can tell you is that you will take an awful lot of sh/t when you 1st take up doing it. but theres no numbers for that , the way to rise up out of that is to keep looking for fresh work in several different way

if you want to be earning a good wack in 6 months time best you start tmoro, or doubts creep in

 
Last edited:
I work across my whole town and a local village but i am never in the motor for more than a minute or 2 once i have driven to the area i am doing that dayYou will pick customers up in little groups while canvassing and if you get a new one in an area you already do within the space of a couple of cleans you can usually lose or add a few days to slot them into a day you already do that area
For a year I have been doing one property on a very nice private road. It was out of my way so I pushed the price a bit. (£30).

I never door knocked any other properties, I just did the one and went. On Friday I did the job and on Saturday I had a phone call from another property in the road asking for a quote. When I went to give the quote I was asked to provide two more quotes in the road. I have picked up a further £90 of work in this little road and all appears to be down to getting the van sign written over Christmas. I went out yesterday to clean the new jobs so they fit in with the first next time around.

I don't take on new work at the moment, but clearly I would be a prize idiot if I didn't take a job next door to an existing customer.

 
thanks for all the responses

daveyboy1, £20-£25 per hour is that using trad or wfp? Is there a big difference in the two?

also when canvassing another thing that im thinking about is access. How big a problem is this? I'm guessing detached or semis are the most desirable to work on and terraced housing to be a bit of pain. Also parking etc. Can you afford to be that picky?

 
i know what you mean boarcity but I have a family to support I just want to get as much information as I can before I take the plunge.

I am considering doing part time Sat/Sun while still working and trying to build up a full weekend worths of work before starting full time.

Surely the only thing holding you back is how much effort you put into finding work?

 
I am trad mark and earn more than that usually

Access can be a problem where i live with terraced houses but i have a triple ladder that is only as tall as me folded up that i keep on my motor but will reach most 1st floor windows so it is easy for me to carry through houses stood upright and i do these jobs when i know custys will be in

 
Hi and welcome mark foster

I have bits here and bits there and then suddenly you pick up more and its a round....just keep picking away and it will come ...

I was running late this morning with paper work and of course the local windys arrive...well come on...you have to watch dont you..

I said theres always three the wife says but theres only one and then the other two appeared from around the back....

I REALLY havent got the time but ...you have to watch..

now one guy put his ladder up high and vertical to do one over a roof...the other guy put it on the sill...I DIDNT like the guy putting it on the sill buy hey ho its his life not mine and he ran up and the ladder bounced around but he did the job okay...THIS TIME.....

and detailing is good but....I never detail the bottom....and he dragged his detailing cloth through all the sill wetness....not a good idea...but who am I to criticise....

and I think in my little enclave there are two other windys...one wfp and another I havent seen for a bit....and of course...me...who does four....and my own...well ...sometimes..I never get paid for that.../emoticons/biggrin.png

 
Yo. Regarding canvassing percentages. Of 100 houses, I find 50 people in. Of that 50, 25 want a quote. Of that 25, maybe 12 will be booked for cleaning.

This is about how it's working out for me.

All these figures are guestimates mind......

Good luck!!

 
Yo. Regarding canvassing percentages. Of 100 houses, I find 50 people in. Of that 50, 25 want a quote. Of that 25, maybe 12 will be booked for cleaning.This is about how it's working out for me.

All these figures are guestimates mind......

Good luck!!
Really? :eek:

 
hi tuffers

so i shouldnt be overly concerned about how 'compact' my round is? I should just concentrate on getting as much work as i can and working as hard as i can. but what about stepping on other peoples toes? what is the industry like in that respect?

 
taxlossloz you recommend canvassing wealthy areas?

because you can get away with charging them a bit more? or they are better payers?

 
but what about stepping on other peoples toes? what is the industry like in that respect

foo k em..:rofl:...

I would like to point out its a free market and its the custy that has the choice...

and besides...there is plenty of work around if you know how to find it....

it finds me I not so keen to find it...

like today...I had other plans but...well..

can you do my inside and outside windows as i want to put the house on the market...

and whilst I am there...well I DO others in the close so...why wait ...and so I did the rest....and what I was going to do ..is pushed till next week....I just go with the flow...

 
We

taxlossloz you recommend canvassing wealthy areas?
because you can get away with charging them a bit more? or they are better payers?
because they are not going to cancel you cos they can't afford it

Or There not going to start doing there own windows as they would rather play golf

And they won't quibble over a quid or two ( well most of them won't )

They won't ask you to call back Friday once they got paid

On paper you can earn decent money on a council estate ... But it's getting the money in that's a pain

I don't do ANY collecting now as it's pay online or send a cheque

If people value your service they will make sure they pay you

If not then leave them as there's plenty of decent folk out there

 

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