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What customer numbers is classed as good round

Stedon

New member
Messages
23
Location
Manchester
I know this question is like asking how long is a piece of string, I obviously know it’s how much you want it to grow and how many customers you need to give you an income that your happy with. I understand you can get customers by traditional methods of canvassing, word of mouth by doing a good job, or other methods of buying leads.

I have the luxury of having approximately a years salary of my current job saved as I sold my second house, so if I start this buissness I could hopefully afford to give it my all full time cleaning and canvassing.

Would 270 approx customers take long to build up in a year ? let’s say, I’m kind of looking at numbers like 270 x £15 average = £4050 this is if you had them all on 4 weekly ,so £4050 approx every 4 weeks

i obviously know that some customers might want 8 weekly and possibly some jobs might be less than £15 and some jobs might be more than £15 but just wanted some honest advice on here how long did rounds take to build up?

Again I know it all boils down to how hard you work and quality but I could put my full attention to this 6 or 7 days a week cleaning and canvassing to get me going

my only worry is money running out,i know some people starting off get a part time job a couple of days a week just to pay their bills until the round builds up so they can do it full time

Am I talking nonsense with the above? 

Any my advice please ?

 
If you have the cash mayb buy a small round at least you will have some monthly income. 

 
Not nonsense, just questions from someone new at the game. Maybe a fellow Mancunian could give you a better input, all I would say is you're starting from a very firm financial footing and seem to be starting with the right work ethos. Possibly buying a round ot paying for some leads might help you get up and running quicker, I'm sure @Green Pro Clean Ltdwould be happy to help.

 
Number of customers is irrelevant , it’s the amount of money you need to earn that’s the important thing ,you could do a thousand jobs at a pound each or one job for a thousand pounds , I think having a minimum charge is a good thing ,also don’t put all your eggs in one basket with one company , also frequency will affect how many customers you need if doing 4 weekly work you won’t need as many as if you do them all 8 weekly again it’s all about what you are charging . Personally I would rather do ten jobs at £10 each = 100 rather than 20 jobs at £5 each for the same money , 

building a round is time consuming again it depends where you are in the country and how many other cleaners there are what they are charging and the quality of there work , try and offer something that others don’t , maybe cleaning the garage door , porch plastics or something similar , canvassing yourself is also good as the potential customer is seeing you not someone else just trying to get any old job to line there pockets sell your services to the house holder , gutter facia soffit plastic cleans , when doing the windows clean a couple of meters of them do a good job so it stands out like a soar thumb many customers don’t realise how dirty they are and will then get you to do it all , they will then recomend you to family and friends I started off one day a week and it took me 6 months to get to 5 days a week but where I live there was very little competition 20 years ago 

 
My advice would be, if you have the capital, invest in a diverse set up (e.g. pressure washer, wfp equipment, maybe a vac or at least pro gutter tools.
This way if you’re going to canvass you can look at what NEEDS doing. If the plastics are green, target that, if the driveway needs doing, target that, weeds in the gutter? Window frames turned grey? You get my drift?
However, if you feel window cleaning is the way, then set your standard schedule, e.g. monthly, or 6 weekly, and stick to it.
Don’t leave it longer than 6 weeks, as the windows will get noticeably bad, and it’s a long wait for next round when the money isn’t coming in!
Don’t muck around with 8 weeks, 12 weeks, quarterly and all that jazz as you’ll end up in a right pickle. The round is the round and deal with anything else as a one off charged at a premium.
I have no problem with people ringing me as and when they wish, but i am inclined to charge more for it, & i will then fit them in as and when it suits me. you can’t just be available at the drop of a hat, any business that has paid staff on standby idle waiting for the phone to ring then...?‍♂️ the money is going to seep out of it in no time.
Avoid racing around to answer the phone when you’re in the middle of something as you’ll make mistakes. A polite answer phone message saying “i’m either busy on a job right now or driving, please leave your name, address and requests, & i’ll get back to you when i can” have a big diary, and write everrrything down when you’re on the phone. Mental notes and verbal promises are no good because you WILL forget [emoji51]
you don’t particularly want the phone ringing 24/7 with your regulars saying “can you do my windows please” as you’d never be off the phone. So stick to reminder texts, & don’t tolerate messing about for fear of losing customers. You set the schedule, because you are the boss.
I wouldn’t worry about customer numbers so much. What you earn is what matters. Remember, when you’re a solo guy with no secretary, more customers means more phone calls, more admin, more payments to keep track of, it can get complicated very quickly.
Some people may not agree with me but i would say for newbies, the days of the classic compact window cleaning round are over.
Whatever the size of job/type of job or number of customers involved, the ultimate goal is to hit your financial target.
Customers on our rounds are all good as gold and know how we work as they’ve been with us a long time, but i’m not looking to expand the rounds now as i find it too much mentally to cope with.
Today was quiet but we did a window clean on a large detached house and a gutter clearance on a semi. Combined £170 and we were done by mid-day.
Quiet as it was, i prefer one off, higher value jobs now. The traffic is just getting horrendous and its not viable to be doing 20-30 window cleans a day for me as a lot of time is sat behind the wheel [emoji53]
Hope this helps dude? Sorry if it was a bit long winded i just thought i’d try and help a newbie out a bit coz its not easy like






Sent using the Window Cleaning Forums mobile app

 
My advice would be, if you have the capital, invest in a diverse set up (e.g. pressure washer, wfp equipment, maybe a vac or at least pro gutter tools.
This way if you’re going to canvass you can look at what NEEDS doing. If the plastics are green, target that, if the driveway needs doing, target that, weeds in the gutter? Window frames turned grey? You get my drift?
However, if you feel window cleaning is the way, then set your standard schedule, e.g. monthly, or 6 weekly, and stick to it.
Don’t leave it longer than 6 weeks, as the windows will get noticeably bad, and it’s a long wait for next round when the money isn’t coming in!
Don’t muck around with 8 weeks, 12 weeks, quarterly and all that jazz as you’ll end up in a right pickle. The round is the round and deal with anything else as a one off charged at a premium.
I have no problem with people ringing me as and when they wish, but i am inclined to charge more for it, & i will then fit them in as and when it suits me. you can’t just be available at the drop of a hat, any business that has paid staff on standby idle waiting for the phone to ring then...?‍♂️ the money is going to seep out of it in no time.
Avoid racing around to answer the phone when you’re in the middle of something as you’ll make mistakes. A polite answer phone message saying “i’m either busy on a job right now or driving, please leave your name, address and requests, & i’ll get back to you when i can” have a big diary, and write everrrything down when you’re on the phone. Mental notes and verbal promises are no good because you WILL forget
emoji51.png

you don’t particularly want the phone ringing 24/7 with your regulars saying “can you do my windows please” as you’d never be off the phone. So stick to reminder texts, & don’t tolerate messing about for fear of losing customers. You set the schedule, because you are the boss.
I wouldn’t worry about customer numbers so much. What you earn is what matters. Remember, when you’re a solo guy with no secretary, more customers means more phone calls, more admin, more payments to keep track of, it can get complicated very quickly.
Some people may not agree with me but i would say for newbies, the days of the classic compact window cleaning round are over.
Whatever the size of job/type of job or number of customers involved, the ultimate goal is to hit your financial target.
Customers on our rounds are all good as gold and know how we work as they’ve been with us a long time, but i’m not looking to expand the rounds now as i find it too much mentally to cope with.
Today was quiet but we did a window clean on a large detached house and a gutter clearance on a semi. Combined £170 and we were done by mid-day.
Quiet as it was, i prefer one off, higher value jobs now. The traffic is just getting horrendous and its not viable to be doing 20-30 window cleans a day for me as a lot of time is sat behind the wheel
emoji53.png

Hope this helps dude? Sorry if it was a bit long winded i just thought i’d try and help a newbie out a bit coz its not easy like






Sent using the Window Cleaning Forums mobile app




Some very sensible advice hear , I would only add get a good priced regular window cleaning round and view the one off jobs as a bonus 

 
I would say I have nearly have a week's work every month. Would like 2 weeks work a month and the rest of the time I can do the add-ons. I started with one customer 18 months ago and I added a customer or two per month but now its taking off. I believe its just a waiting game where you have to have patience.

 
Thanks Darren at Green pro yes I have heard of your services and watched your you tube vids, I haven’t started at present it’s something I need to decide on as currently I am employed that pays decent money but too much stress ! I suppose we are never happy ? it’s something I need to make my mind up and if so go full at it in new year so yes your leads could be a very good investment 

thanks

 
I believe its just a waiting game where you have to have patience.
No, it isn't.

In less than 18 months I have nearly 300 customers. I don't bring in 4k a month as everyone round here seems to want quarterly cleaning so its often a battle to get them to 8 weeks.

It says you're from Manchester. I would personally avoid the trap of hitting the rows and rows of terraced houses. Chances are there will be a bucket bob guy doing fronts for a fiver. Works great for some of the longer standing guys who have tons of houses in a row but it could take years to catch them up.

I left a full time job earning good money in April, prior to that I started part time. This is much less stressful most of the time.

 
Yes live approx 4 mile outside Manchester City Centre very busy spot with mixture of properties from terraces to mansions 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I would say I have nearly have a week's work every month. Would like 2 weeks work a month and the rest of the time I can do the add-ons. I started with one customer 18 months ago and I added a customer or two per month but now its taking off. I believe its just a waiting game where you have to have patience.


I'm really really sorry, and I know i'm going to take a beating for this from some but please believe it's not intended to sound as disrespecting as it will typed out but....  from your statement above I can fathom that in 18 months you're at less than 50 customers. You said in a recent post some of those are £5 jobs as well.  Sorry mate but that is a business model seriously lacking in any form of drive or ambition.  You must have either great benefits, another job or simply be a rich dude doing this as a hobby? 

Also advising diversifying before even starting out not good.  Pick one service, get good at it fast and build a core around that then if you want to diversify.  

50 clients is achievable in 30 days without much effort.  14 days if you put in some effort and just 7 days if you sweat for it.     

 
I'm really really sorry, and I know i'm going to take a beating for this from some but please believe it's not intended to sound as disrespecting as it will typed out but....  from your statement above I can fathom that in 18 months you're at less than 50 customers. You said in a recent post some of those are £5 jobs as well.  Sorry mate but that is a business model seriously lacking in any form of drive or ambition.  You must have either great benefits, another job or simply be a rich dude doing this as a hobby? 

Also advising diversifying before even starting out not good.  Pick one service, get good at it fast and build a core around that then if you want to diversify.  

50 clients is achievable in 30 days without much effort.  14 days if you put in some effort and just 7 days if you sweat for it.     
I don't even think Dave could disagree with that mate. I believe that for @scottish cleaning service this is just a hobby for a retired fireman who is passing the time.

Honest feedback for you though Scottish, you need to think before you hand out advice. This chap is leaving a full time job to be a windy and doesn't have time for ''patience'' or to play the waiting game. You always give advice on WFP cleaning but you're trad, I didn't even realise that until a few weeks back. Its cool that you want to help but to be honest you need to think about your audience

 
I'm really really sorry, and I know i'm going to take a beating for this from some but please believe it's not intended to sound as disrespecting as it will typed out but....  from your statement above I can fathom that in 18 months you're at less than 50 customers. You said in a recent post some of those are £5 jobs as well.  Sorry mate but that is a business model seriously lacking in any form of drive or ambition.  You must have either great benefits, another job or simply be a rich dude doing this as a hobby? 

Also advising diversifying before even starting out not good.  Pick one service, get good at it fast and build a core around that then if you want to diversify.  

50 clients is achievable in 30 days without much effort.  14 days if you put in some effort and just 7 days if you sweat for it.    


Not my experience. Set yourself up to do all sorts and smell what sells untill you can pick and choose.  Just my opinion, now at 2x full timers after 18 months.   Window cleaning is the bread and butter without question

 
Not my experience. Set yourself up to do all sorts and smell what sells untill you can pick and choose.  Just my opinion, now at 2x full timers after 18 months.   Window cleaning is the bread and butter without question
Isn't it best to become a master of your trade before you become a jack of others? Like you say, window cleaning is the bread and butter, It's probably best to be on top of your game for it.

 
Isn't it best to become a master of your trade before you become a jack of others? Like you say, window cleaning is the bread and butter, It's probably best to be on top of your game for it.


How hard do we think it is to clean stuff?  When you've finished it's either clean and the customers happy, or it's not...as you get experienced you'll clean stuff faster.

 
How hard do we think it is to clean stuff?  When you've finished it's either clean and the customers happy, or it's not...as you get experienced you'll clean stuff faster.
Enough people make a mess of it pal. If someone thinks they can grab a pole and a canister of resin and just crack on they would probably f**k it up. There is a lot to learn to be fair. How TDS works, how an RO works if required. Maintenance for a pole. Different brushes. Cleaning different types of window. What chemicals to use etc etc etc. I'm still learning now! I changed to tubeless a couple of weeks ago. I've changed all of the connections in the van several times. I literally can't list everything i've learned since I started. I offer pressure washing, Gutters and even bin cleaning (Just stopped this). If I could go back and start over I wouldn't offer pressure washing or bin cleaning in the first place, takes the focus off the main job

 
I would say I have nearly have a week's work every month. Would like 2 weeks work a month and the rest of the time I can do the add-ons. I started with one customer 18 months ago and I added a customer or two per month but now its taking off. I believe its just a waiting game where you have to have patience.
You seem like a decent guy, But the impression you have given in the 10 months you have been on here is you ain't all that bothered about building a decent window cleaning round you say a weeks work, but a week worth of windows? I am certain the other week you said you only had 30 customers, a younger person with a mortgage and maybe a family to support is going to need more drive and ambition to succeed than your good self who is in a totally different position in life  and your post isn't wholly relevant to a newbie looking to build a successful business, with respect at times I would maybe consider your replies before jumping in just for the sake of it.  

 
Yes live approx 4 mile outside Manchester City Centre very busy spot with mixture of properties from terraces to mansions 
Personally I would price the terraces high on a take it or leave it basis. Wouldn't want to get sucked in to the ''The neighbours windy charges £3 for the fronts'' type people. I live in Gloucestershire so the bulk of my customers are in villages and there is a distinct lack of terraced housing but i'm from St Helens where that is pretty much all there is. Up there the windy has to contend with the alley gates they installed, houses often have no access to the back from the front, just messy unless that's all you deal with all day. I am generalising of course, plenty of other property types exist but the bulk of the houses are this type. I would focus my efforts on areas that aren't built like that as the customers usually have no problem paying a little more.

 
Enough people make a mess of it pal. If someone thinks they can grab a pole and a canister of resin and just crack on they would probably f**k it up. There is a lot to learn to be fair. How TDS works, how an RO works if required. Maintenance for a pole. Different brushes. Cleaning different types of window. What chemicals to use etc etc etc. I'm still learning now! I changed to tubeless a couple of weeks ago. I've changed all of the connections in the van several times. I literally can't list everything i've learned since I started. I offer pressure washing, Gutters and even bin cleaning (Just stopped this). If I could go back and start over I wouldn't offer pressure washing or bin cleaning in the first place, takes the focus off the main job


Theres alot to learn with regard to how to clean stuff quickly, but there's not much to the fundamental principal of cleaning a window or clearing out a gutter.  You can do it with the most basic of tools and knowledge.  So while you're starting out, why not offer every service you can?  It gets you out there earning and building your reputation in the community.  Also, I've picked up many window cleaning customers by doing the add ons well for them.

If your end game is to build a window cleaning only business, and you have the luxury of being able to finance yourself to support yourself to achieve this then that's good for you!

 
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