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Career change. Is it to late

Indieclean

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Evening all, long story short. At the at of 32 and having spent 15 years fixing cars i have had enough. Don't enjoy the job anymore.

Am i to late? Should i just stick with what i know. I don't  want to earn fortunes but the thought of being my own boss and being able to provide a service does appeal.

 Any thoughts or advice, positive or negative would be appreciated. 

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Cheers  

 
I have a motor trade background, and been window cleaning now 20 years , I have no idear how much competition there is where you live , but if you are prepared to work hard I don’t see why in time you cannot be successful, you do need to be motivated to be your own boss and get customers . Is it an option to go part time with your currant job and try doing one or two days a week and build on that with the window cleaning ??? If you know anyone in your area maybe you could go out with them for a day or two just to learn a bit . I was older than you when I started window cleaning so you arnt too old ???. Have a read on hear with regards to start up use the search function , there is a lot of very sound advice and some very experienced people  on here that will give you good advice , just ask . If you have no knowledge at all with window cleaning then try and learn by going with someone, I know some on hear will disagree and say why should they help someone for free , I just wish when I started that I had known of forums like this it would have saved me a small fortune and saved me from making some of the basic mistakes I made . You can earn a decent living doing this but don’t give up your main source of income without having any customers or kit or experience as Ime guessing you will have bills to pay   and it takes time to set up a round and earn a reasonable amount , don’t take that as a negative but it’s an important point to remember , a lot start up this time of the year but don’t last long , to succeed you will have to be reliable, honest, sell yourself well , do a good job , and work hard but if you are motivated enough and prepared to give it a go Ime sure you can make a go of it 

 
I'm 55, set the business up 8 years ago for my  son. Had a working life in the Aluminium scrap industry, still dabble in it. If you have savings that, after set up costs, will last you a year, then go for it. If you haven't then do as @Pjjsaid, build it doing part time work. 

If I'd known the life style and earning potential 8 years ago I would've done it for me not my son. 

 
Evening all, long story short. At the at of 32 and having spent 15 years fixing cars i have had enough. Don't enjoy the job anymore.

Am i to late? Should i just stick with what i know. I don't  want to earn fortunes but the thought of being my own boss and being able to provide a service does appeal.

 Any thoughts or advice, positive or negative would be appreciated. 

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Cheers  
No mate. You're just the right age to start I'd say. You will have gotten well used to getting up in the morning and putting in a committed day's work. You'll know how to handle money and how to meet bills. I'm 63, been doing wfp for 5 years, having done several different types of work in the past. I started out working on my own, with my wife managing. The last 2.5 years working with my wife and son as  equal one third partners , wife still managing and keeping the books. This works very well for us. 

 
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Never too late mate

I know a old guy who got bored being in retirement so he became a window cleaner in his late 60s.

I don't think he is married and found in retirement very lonely. He started cleaning his friends neighbors / windows and his little rounds just grew and grew by word of mouth. 

He doesn't do wfp.

 
Competition is tough these days. All the information is easily available and it has never been easier or cheaper to get set up. 

You will hear established cleaners saying they canvassed for a couple months and then just word of mouth from then on. That’s very rarely the case any more. It will take a considerable effort over more like 3-4 years to be established and have a solid round.

you only have to look at all the rounds for sale that are £250-300 a week to appreciate how difficult it is to grow beyond that...

 
Go for it bud and you'll never look back. Im 35 been a bathroom fitter all my life and at the early stages of building my window business. Absolutely love it. As the guys say if you have savings great or try and go part time in the short term.

Go for it with all you have and ignore the little chimp in your head that will pop up with irrational thoughts of fear and doubt from time to time. The brain  doesn't like change.

 
I've been doing it for 2yrs and I'm 53 soon. Was going to buy an old guys round but it was every two weeks and £3 a go but those days are well gone. Its beginning to be very lucrative and the prices are far higher now. Once a month seems the optimum with the customers now and it suits me fine, you wont be disappointed. 

 
I started my business at 34. Been going for 5 years at the minute. Certainly and absolutely not too late. I wouldn't even think 42 is too late.

 
Met an old school windy yesterday. 66 and been at it since 1976. Used to be trad only but works off backpacks now.

he plans to be at it til he’s 70 he said. Was a pleasure to meet him.

A guy in scotland didnt quit his mens rugby team til he was gone 80, he fought in ww2, he is still about, hadnt played for ten years but just to see what he was still made of, he played the whole 40 minutes of the first half of a match in 2018 at the age of 97? Ish. and scored a try too, this is against blokes of much younger ages.

there is a 95 year old “paper boy” in the west country.

window cleaners, plasterers, roofers and all sorts of trades have been known to go on past 80.

if your body allows it, why not. Its often the “get up & go” attitude that keeps people living so long. My great uncle is 82 and still works 9-1 5 days a week as an accountant at a builders merchants. They have offered him retirement many times and give him plenty of understanding due to his age, but he has no intention of quitting. 

Age affects people in different ways, its luck and genes usually. Some people seriously struggle in their 60’s, others just go on forever. 

There is a guy round here who is gone 80 and still clears gutters the only reason i know this is because he knocked a custys door (after the custy had booked in with us) offering to clear them out, the custy said sorry mate ive already got someone booked (and said to us that he felt a bit uneasy about letting someone of that age go up the ladder)

 
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