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Moving from London to the country side

harvey69

Member
Messages
36
Hi all 

I’ve just sold my round . after working as a wfp window cleaner in London for 10 years I’m now moving to Suffolk. I was just wondering how much harder it is  to set up a business somewhere rural compared to the city? I’m not a newbie so I won’t bother you with starters questions but a few advices such as how challenging canvassing could be ( without upsetting any well established windies) and whether buying a round might just be the best option? (  it seems harder to buy a round those days!) . when I started in London 10 years ago , i canvassed ,canvassed, canvassed and found it relatively easy to pick up customers but from what I’ve heard it’s harder those days! Any advices would be very much appreciated! Cheers folks

 
 when I started in London 10 years ago , i canvassed ,canvassed, canvassed
There's your answer mate. ??

Lol in all seriousness, when you have been comfortable for a long time and haven't needed to canvass work, you loose confidence in yourself which is natural, and this post demonstrates that.

The way I see it is this, you did it once built up a business from scratch.

So nothing is stopping you from doing it again, you already proved to yourself you can do it. 

Good luck.?

 
Many thanks for your advice. You just hear stories about how funny windies can be in the countryside when someone infringe on their patch lol

 
Many thanks for your advice. You just hear stories about how funny windies can be in the countryside when someone infringe on their patch lol
You know as well as anyone no ones owns a "patch"

If you get a twit giving you grief, tell them to grow up and push off, and if their doing a good job they have nothing to worry about. 

 
Hi all 

I’ve just sold my round . after working as a wfp window cleaner in London for 10 years I’m now moving to Suffolk. I was just wondering how much harder it is  to set up a business somewhere rural compared to the city? I’m not a newbie so I won’t bother you with starters questions but a few advices such as how challenging canvassing could be ( without upsetting any well established windies) and whether buying a round might just be the best option? (  it seems harder to buy a round those days!) . when I started in London 10 years ago , i canvassed ,canvassed, canvassed and found it relatively easy to pick up customers but from what I’ve heard it’s harder those days! Any advices would be very much appreciated! Cheers folks
Theres plenty of work no matter where you go. 

You have the knowledge and experience to build up a round, just put it to work.

You got this. Good luck on the move and your new round!

 
Many thanks for your advice. You just hear stories about how funny windies can be in the countryside when someone infringe on their patch lol
Hi there,

I’ve always worked in the rural areas although affluent.

I found knocking on people’s doors and saying “Hi I’m your new neighbour” had people saying come in would you like a coffee… Then got around to what I do and yes they’d love a quote. 

Got loads of work like that. 
 

I found you could price high and an 8 week cycle suited me and them. But that’s for you to control. 

Don’t forget to price to allow for the driving between jobs… I love driving so no problem for me. 

All the best 

?
 

 
Hi@harvey69 and welcome. You have a massive advantage in that : you already know how to run a business. Even better you know how to run a wfp window cleaning business. You know the equipment and the techniques.
You know how to deal with the different types of customers.  You know how to manage a round efficiently.

I knew very little about most of these aspects when I started 7 years ago. I'm not alone in that. ?

My advice is : be yourself. Find or make your own niche within a distance that you're prepared to work in. Be willing to try different fairly local areas. A mile or a few can make a huge difference in the disposable income of the potential clientele and the willingness to engage our trade.

Don't worry about other traders. Don't set out to take their trade or to undercut them. Aim to keep the prices buoyant for all our sakes. I've never had any direct animosity with any other traders. In fact quite the opposite, most of us will exchange a nod and a smile, and a friendly greeting on the rare occasion we're actually working on the same street at the same time. Get out there. If folk say they already have one. I'd compliment them on their loyalty, thank them and move on.
A bit stressful starting again in a new area, of course but you'll be fine. ??

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I suppose it also depends on where about in Suffolk you are going to, I think @ks789is in Ipswich and said it's very competitive there.
It's only competitive if you roll around in the mud with the rest of them.

For saturated areas, you want to be 2 or 3 times more expensive, and be the best..rise above the competition.

 
Give some thought to a keyword-rich ,SEO friendly optimised business name (i.e. location + service) and claim a free business listing using your new address on Google My Business and Bing Places, and some of the other top free business directories.

Also register with a few more free local directories specific to your area - town / county / region - to improve your local relevance.

Optimised business names (and domain names) are still an influential ranking factor for the GMB local 3 pack and are an advantage on Bing too. Keywords in your business name on their own won't rank you in the top 3 but it all helps (& there are other ways of optimising for GMB). It can be very useful / lucrative ranking in the top 3 and you don't even have to have a website to claim a listing (but it does help ranking) ....and all the above won't cost you a penny, just a bit of your time - even in Suffolk they use Google!!

Then get a website (on WordPress)  targeting the local areas you want to work in .....or just carry on as if the internet doesn't exist  saying websites don't work. Canvassing is the quickest, cheapest, easiest route but it's not the only way and not everyone is cut out for it

 
Hi@harvey69 and welcome. You have a massive advantage in that : you already know how to run a business. Even better you know how to run a wfp window cleaning business. You know the equipment and the techniques.
You know how to deal with the different types of customers.  You know how to manage a round efficiently.

I knew very little about most of these aspects when I started 7 years ago. I'm not alone in that. ?

My advice is : be yourself. Find or make your own niche within a distance that you're prepared to work in. Be willing to try different fairly local areas. A mile or a few can make a huge difference in the disposable income of the potential clientele and the willingness to engage our trade.

Don't worry about other traders. Don't set out to take their trade or to undercut them. Aim to keep the prices buoyant for all our sakes. I've never had any direct animosity with any other traders. In fact quite the opposite, most of us will exchange a nod and a smile, and a friendly greeting on the rare occasion we're actually working on the same street at the same time. Get out there. If folk say they already have one. I'd compliment them on their loyalty, thank them and move on.
A bit stressful starting again in a new area, of course but you'll be fine. ??

Hello davy 

Many thanks for your long and encouraging reply. Cheers!

 
Hi@harvey69 and welcome. You have a massive advantage in that : you already know how to run a business. Even better you know how to run a wfp window cleaning business. You know the equipment and the techniques.
You know how to deal with the different types of customers.  You know how to manage a round efficiently.

I knew very little about most of these aspects when I started 7 years ago. I'm not alone in that. ?

My advice is : be yourself. Find or make your own niche within a distance that you're prepared to work in. Be willing to try different fairly local areas. A mile or a few can make a huge difference in the disposable income of the potential clientele and the willingness to engage our trade.

Don't worry about other traders. Don't set out to take their trade or to undercut them. Aim to keep the prices buoyant for all our sakes. I've never had any direct animosity with any other traders. In fact quite the opposite, most of us will exchange a nod and a smile, and a friendly greeting on the rare occasion we're actually working on the same street at the same time. Get out there. If folk say they already have one. I'd compliment them on their loyalty, thank them and move on.
A bit stressful starting again in a new area, of course but you'll be fine. ??
Ok. Thank you for your reply. I’ll just try to remember: where there is a will there is a way!

I suppose it also depends on where about in Suffolk you are going to, I think @ks789is in Ipswich and said it's very competitive there.
Actually I’m not very far from Ipswich ?

 
It's only competitive if you roll around in the mud with the rest of them.

For saturated areas, you want to be 2 or 3 times more expensive, and be the best..rise above the competition.
Said by someone that lives in a very affluent area. Try and charge someone £30 for a 20 minute job who needs to work 4 hours to pay the bill. Good luck there

 
Canvass, canvass, canvass ?. There's quite a lot of comments about upsetting other window cleaners. IMO this mindset is holding people back. Competition is good for you, it keeps you on your toes. A good window cleaner isn't worried about competition, because we know that we do a good job and our customers like us. The odd one that thinks that saving a couple of quid a month usually finds that you get what you pay for! When I see new competition, I up my game and make sure that I have canvassed the local area.

 
Canvass, canvass, canvass ?. There's quite a lot of comments about upsetting other window cleaners. IMO this mindset is holding people back. Competition is good for you, it keeps you on your toes. A good window cleaner isn't worried about competition, because we know that we do a good job and our customers like us. The odd one that thinks that saving a couple of quid a month usually finds that you get what you pay for! When I see new competition, I up my game and make sure that I have canvassed the local area.
Thank you for taking the time to reply. That will keep my spirit up!
 

 
If you're determined, you'll do it. If you doubt yourself, then it becomes harder. Take a look at the regular contributors on here, and take their advice. They've all been where you are now. You have the added bonus of knowing what you're doing. Forget about the competition. There's enough work out there to keep everyone happy ? 

 
ive never been worried about other window cleaners...i had phone threats off 2 different window cleaners when i started back in 1993.....i bumped into both of them when i was out and about on "their" patch a few weeks later.....

lets just say they both got in their vehicles never to be seen again.......they both stopped working that area for some reason!?

 
Ok. Thank you for your reply. I’ll just try to remember: where there is a will there is a way!

Actually I’m not very far from Ipswich ?
Hi mate, Im in woodbridge, borders onto Ipswich along kesgrave/martlesham. I do seem to see different cleaners around every week but i think it got worse after the covid thing. As people have said, you already know what your doing so should hit the ground running. Though theres lots about I dont think that generally they're the kind to give grief. The daftest thing is, there will be estates where lots of cleaners have one or two houses, but i think thats the way in a lot of areas now. Some of the new cleaners maybe wont last either. Another good thing, theres a couple of 2000 home estates imminent. You might have to drive about a bit, but usually the traffic aint too bad if you avoid school times.

 
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