Considering Starting Out

Hi Everyone!

Im thinking of starting out as a window cleaner, just pricing things up and considering a few things. Just got a couple of questions (excuse the amateurish terminology):

1) If i get a WFP system using a pure water system, how long does it take to remove the equipment in and out of a van? Or is it fitted in? The reason i ask is that if i have my own van then i can continue doing the work i do now on whatever days i need/want to and do window cleaning on the other days, which is a great option as it means i can gradually increase my round and decrease my other job at the same time

2) How do you determine prices? I dont want to start out too cheap obviously but dont want to be too expensive so i end up with no business! There are a fair few decent sized houses round here so whilst its easier to say £10 per terraced, £12.5 per 3 bed semi and so on i think the further up you go in size the further out you can be! I dont want to quote 70 for a big house that should be 120 for example. Im going to do some leaflet drops and would like to be able to put a rough price on but again i dont want to put 'from £10' then drop it through a 6 bed detached!

Im in the North West, not too far from Preston. Ill probably have a few more questions as i go along, just trying to figure everything out but it. the whole idea seems like a great work/life balance

The size of your van and what you do in your other job is a big factor. Usually if you go down a van system the tank is bolted to the chassis.

It’s be a transit/transporter sized van. It’s courier work so I’d need the van to be empty but if system is bolted in then I guess it’s not optional to empty it once or twice a week

You can use a trolley/backpack system with 25ltr barrels. 
they all come out easily. 
you’ve got to work out where you’ll get the pure water from too. 

First thing to work out first what’s your tap TDS? What’s your water pressure. Then you will know if you can work DI only or do you need a R O system. Or are you going to buy from a seller pure water? That’s the first step. You can’t clean windows without pure water, unless your going traditional. 
Then use the search bar to find answers to your questions as this gets covered loads of times. New ones cropping up everyday

I cant source pure water near where i am (nearest spotless location is 45min drive) so it looks like i need to make my own. I have a garage which has a tap in, i am inclined to put a tank in there and make my own and then use 25l barrels/backpack & trolley. This would be ideal as it would be a relatively affordable way for me to start out without scrimping on quality and would allow me to use the van i have already. The water appears poor quality round here so i would need an RO system feeding into the tank. I am still unsure how much water i will need per day though. I have tried searching and read numerous threads but i havent been able to get any kind of ballpark. Obviously i wont need much as i start out but as i grow then i need plenty for a full day

woody1983uk said:

I cant source pure water near where i am (nearest spotless location is 45min drive) so it looks like i need to make my own. I have a garage which has a tap in, i am inclined to put a tank in there and make my own and then use 25l barrels/backpack & trolley. This would be ideal as it would be a relatively affordable way for me to start out without scrimping on quality and would allow me to use the van i have already. The water appears poor quality round here so i would need an RO system feeding into the tank. I am still unsure how much water i will need per day though. I have tried searching and read numerous threads but i havent been able to get any kind of ballpark. Obviously i wont need much as i start out but as i grow then i need plenty for a full day

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When you are starting out if you pick up a decent amount of work you'll need as much water in the early days as you would if you were full time, the reason been first cleans take 3 times longer than a regular clean and you'll use 3x as much water more so been a newbie. 

On an old style 1970-80's 3 bed semi you might use 50litres plus on a first clean then half that on a regular clean, never skimp on water when cleaning as this will be your downfall. 

Sounds like I’ll need a fair bit! I guess I’ll need a lot of 25l barrels for my trolley/backpack! It’ll be a pain in the early days but as long as I’m growing the work and it’s priced well then I can work towards getting a van which can hold 500l+. I definitely don’t want to hold back on anything which is goi g to affect the job I do, even if it’s a temporary pain in the ****! Cheers for the info, that helps me have an idea 

Obviously go for as many barrows as possible, but 10 should be a decent number to start. 250l should be enough if you’ve only got a few jobs a day when you first start. And eventually that should do you a decent days work when your up to speed. 
 

Also, if you pick up work near where you live (not sure if that’s feasible for you) you could always pop back midday, refill the barrows and grab some lunch. Will you build a holding tank in the garage so you’ve constantly got pure? 

Yes the plan is to put say a 1000l tank in the garage and make pure, I don’t think there’s any other option suitable for me. Initially I would use it to fill up 25l barrels with the a medium term view being a larger storage tank in the van. 

I do plan to get work as close to home as possible so like you said if I do run out I can pop home. It’s unlikely I’ll be further than a 10 minute drive so a bit of a pain but if it’s getting me towards customers then it’s ok. I’d just factor in the probable refill to my days plan 

woody1983uk said:

Yes the plan is to put say a 1000l tank in the garage and make pure, I don’t think there’s any other option suitable for me. Initially I would use it to fill up 25l barrels with the a medium term view being a larger storage tank in the van. 

I do plan to get work as close to home as possible so like you said if I do run out I can pop home. It’s unlikely I’ll be further than a 10 minute drive so a bit of a pain but if it’s getting me towards customers then it’s ok. I’d just factor in the probable refill to my days plan 

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Just do whatever you have to do to get established, 150 customers. Once you are at this level the investment to get to the next stage is relatively easy to do.

Part Timer said:

Just do whatever you have to do to get established, 150 customers. Once you are at this level the investment to get to the next stage is relatively easy to do.

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This. 
Getting the work, and doing a decent job, are the main concerns. 
Efficiency and everything else can be sorted later. 
If you only have 8 hrs of work a week, it doesn’t matter if it takes you 1 or 2 days to do it.

Absolutely, appreciate the advice and pointers

Now to sort out what I need for a garage setup!

Buy a 4040 System. it’s easy to get overwhelmed but Doesn’t need to be a all singing all dancing system. I have a 10” fiberdyne prefilter a cheap Chinese 4040 membrane and a 10?litre di vessel.  A water meter is useful to remind me to change the prefilter, flush it once a month when I remember and test the TDS now and again.
Then just set the kitchen timer to remember to turn it off when it’s finished filling.

On the subject of pricing. I would start at £1.50 per window. Then time yourself on jobs. Have a Price Per Minute you want to earn, and work out a price for each type of window. Make up a form for pricing.

There is way more to it than that, but its a good starting point until you know what your overheads are going to be.

Also most cost are fixed cost, which means you'll have lower overheads per job, the more hours you spend cleaning windows.