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Can growth be all year round rather than the summer ?

Can you still grow at a decent rate through the winter with a good work rate and buying ad on equipment like a sky vac ? 
Yes you can and customers that you pick up winter time are normally good customers as they will expect you to clean in poor weather ( windows ) we are busiest  September to March with gutter vac work , as wet weather soon shows up any gutter problems.

 
Yes you can and customers that you pick up winter time are normally good customers as they will expect you to clean in poor weather ( windows ) we are busiest  September to March with gutter vac work , as wet weather soon shows up any gutter problems.
Ok brilliant cheers for that , was getting a bit worried . better buy a sky vac what's best value for money for someone new to gutter clearing ? I want a good all rounder 

 
Ok brilliant cheers for that , was getting a bit worried . better buy a sky vac what's best value for money for someone new to gutter clearing ? I want a good all rounder 
All sky vac stuff is good , but I think the gvs vacs are probably better value for money , especially if you are just starting out as they are about half the price , think it’s the gvs preditor is the latest one the videos of it in action are quite impressive, I have a 5 k skyvac interceptor,which is a Honda petrol powered one but if I were after a mains electric one I would definitely be looking at the gvs one , Ime not so keen on the poles though , but they will do the job ok . 

 
Growth can be done in winter, but it seems most people like to have clean windows more in summer than winter. Year after year I noticed the phone have been ringing the most from: March till June. July/august a bit less due to holidays I guess... Sept/ Okt it rings a bit more but not like March till June. Go work on your website during winter? learn wordpress and some SEO.

 
I bought a skyvac Atom this time last year and it paid for itself within a month.

The key (in my opinion) to good gutter clearing work is to get the customers to agree to an annual clean for a held price for next year or could even give a little discount as chances are they wont be as bad.

"Cor blimey Mr Jones look at what weve pulled out of the gutters, there was alot of gunk in there. Shall i book you in for same time next year, if you do ill knock 15% off this years price"

Youll be shocked at how many people snap your hand off, id say i have a good 80% rebooking rate, especially if people have overhanging trees. 

 
i pick up work all year round including add ons.....personally i dont offer gutter clearing,only work that i can do with existing WFP equipment(plastic cleans,conny roofs and solar panels,etc)....

i earn roughly the same during the winter as i do in the summertime...ironically enough january is usually one of my best earning months just cleaning windows

 
I bought a skyvac Atom this time last year and it paid for itself within a month.

The key (in my opinion) to good gutter clearing work is to get the customers to agree to an annual clean for a held price for next year or could even give a little discount as chances are they wont be as bad.

"Cor blimey Mr Jones look at what weve pulled out of the gutters, there was alot of gunk in there. Shall i book you in for same time next year, if you do ill knock 15% off this years price"

Youll be shocked at how many people snap your hand off, id say i have a good 80% rebooking rate, especially if people have overhanging trees. 
I agree with you apart from the discount ??? dont offer that very often 

 
I worry about this as well, I'm a new start up so its important that I continue to pick up customers through the winter. I usually pick up between 5 and 10 custys when I go canvassing, hoping to continue this trend even if it means I have to knock on 100 more doors per day. 

 
I worry about this as well, I'm a new start up so its important that I continue to pick up customers through the winter. I usually pick up between 5 and 10 custys when I go canvassing, hoping to continue this trend even if it means I have to knock on 100 more doors per day. 
I started in November and by the following March had over 400 regular monthly cleans that was over 20 years ago but we still get enquires all year round . 

 
I worry about this as well, I'm a new start up so its important that I continue to pick up customers through the winter. I usually pick up between 5 and 10 custys when I go canvassing, hoping to continue this trend even if it means I have to knock on 100 more doors per day. 
i never go canvassing,....work comes to me these days.......

have you got a sigh written van?this will constantly get you enquires if it clearly states what you do IN BIG LETTERS.....

 
i never go canvassing,....work comes to me these days.......

have you got a sigh written van?this will constantly get you enquires if it clearly states what you do IN BIG LETTERS.....
No signs on my van, I'm looking into some finance options before I get signage my current van is not going to last me much longer.

 
No signs on my van, I'm looking into some finance options before I get signage my current van is not going to last me much longer.
Bounceback loan is way better than finance, i told tsb my predicted earnings for this year and i got 25% of that. I was a bit optomistic with the figure but it was fine.

 
Growth in the winter is better for me then the summer.

In the summer u get avlot of newbies coming in with low prices , in the winter there becomes a shortage of window cleaners ?

 
If you put exactly the same effort in the winter that you put in during the summer I’d be surprised if you even picked up 25% of what you would in the summer months. 
When I started I built up 400 customers from November to March so it worked well and as it was winter they became good customers as they expected me to work winter months , but some in the spring just want spring and summer cleans not year round , we find new customers in the winter months are better long term ones to have . 

 
I always like the people who walk up to me on a cold chucking it down days and ask for a quote and accept it. You know they want their windows cleaned no matter what the weather is like.

 
Many won’t agree with me. But i’d honestly say it’s tough. Yes you can get enquiries all year round but getting enough of them is the issue. 
There are so many businesses in this field now that people no longer have to wait to get someone, instead of being put on a waiting list they’ll just phone another person and have it done sooner. You cant be in three places at once can you.  I find that its all or nothing, sometimes we are hoping for something to happen/cant get the phone to ring, and then when our scheduled rounds start again or when we are busy with ad ons, thats when people start ringing. Call it sods law but thats how it goes. There’s just no consistency to it. Theres a lot to be said for having a good steady flow of enquiries all year round, or being so full with rounds that you cant take on any more. 
from april-June we’re Jam packed and then from july onwards it slowly drops off and from nov-march its a case of clinging on for dear life financially/weather wise. Luckily the established rounds we have are good rounds with well paying customers, trouble is theres not enough of them so we need a lot of ad-ons to fill the diary. Many people these days dont want regular service, they seem to be phoning on an as and when basis wanting their windows cleaned on the off chance. If its not regular work you have to charge more because its a journey you have to make that isnt part of a scheduled round. also to make up for the infrequency of service otherwise long term theres nothing left in the game. I would probably say right now we are shrinking rather than growing. And we started 6 years ago. 

 
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I've been established for 27 years and have plenty of work all year round.....it doesn't matter what time of year it is......I only work 25-30 hours a week too..I've built up lots of regular work up all in the same area though......so my income is steady.....

 
I've been established for 27 years and have plenty of work all year round.....it doesn't matter what time of year it is......I only work 25-30 hours a week too..I've built up lots of regular work up all in the same area though......so my income is steady.....
It’s not difficult to get a reasonable income for a part timer. Try getting a second van full though. So 8 weekly probably 1,100 customers. Not so easy. 

 
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