[i.frewen]

hi all
my name is ian my wife owns a domestic cleaning and ironing buisness in s.wales and we're thinking of starting window cleaning as well has anyone got any advice on how to go about this . as i am a complete novice any advice would be more than welcome
                 thanx
                     ian (PIE)

[P @ F]

Welcome Ian Pie {strange name    }
My best advice to you would be to do another post and ask if there is anybody on here local to you that is willing to show you what you need or take you round for a day , it can be done over the PC but there is a lot to cover and hands on expirience cant be beaten in my view .

 Hope this helps     Rich   P @ F 

[windows_chepstow]

Ian,

Where in South Wales are you?

[Sarah Sarill]

Hi Ian,

Welcome to the forum.  You will get all the help you need here.

Starting up is not quite as simple and purchasing the tools, door-knocking and collecting money.

My suggestion would be to research your area thoroughly.  What I mean by that is to look at what specific area around you NEED a w/c and what the potential is in that area.  Some parts of the country struggle to get a reliable w/c whereas other have a real pricing war on their hands because there are too many fighting for the same business.

Once you have established their is a market need then start looking at legalities  and tools needed to start up.

I would also suggest posting your questions individually - then you will get specific answers to the stage of setting up you are at.

Good luck,

Sarah

PS  :  Dont forget to visit the CHAT section - you would be most welcome there too 

[mark dew]

hello Ian,
You have made the best start by joining a forum and asking questions.

The most difficult thing to do when starting up is getting the price right. You will underprice some jobs. It is inevitable. But a good learning curve.

Speak to other window cleaners around where you are and ask if you can spend a day with someone, then do it.
This way you will learn better that not all windows are equal and also get an idea of base prices to guide you and how they approach the job.

The only research you really need to do is door knock or post leaflets.

I have to disagree with sarah when she says find out what specific area needs a W/C.
You will be disheartened dong this as you will notice that there are very few if any areas that don't have a W/C. And most have several.
Just make sure you are not the cheapest.

Have your price fixed in your mind and don't be put off by, "my other window cleaner only charged......" Give your price, be polite and whatever you do don't negotiate.

As long as you don't undercut the competition there is no competition.
Put a post on here asking if you can spend a day with someone. That should answer any questions you initially have.

And once your up and running, try and do the same to the next novice W/C who's trying to break in but doesn't know where to start.

good luck

[Sarah Sarill]

Hi Mark,

You make some valid points.

However I will challenge you on one point but will have to use an actaul example to get accross my point on researching your area prior to start-up.

I live in a medium sized town which has a mixture of classes.  At the moment we have far too many w/c all fighting and undercutting prices to get business to make a living.  Luckliy we have been going for 8 years and dont have a loyal customer base. 

An old friend approached me about 2 years or so ago and asked me the same question as Ian.  I gave her the same advice.  There are too many in this town to make a decent, proffitable business - look at the market in our adjacent towns to see where the gap is.  Needless to say that did not happen and her partner bought all the tools, new van etc and spent the next 10/11 months struggling to attract jobs in ths very saturated market. 

I did some research (YP 118, tester leaflets etc) for her and discovered that just 6 miles up the road in a smaller valleys town people were crying out for a w/c and told her so.  Now they have a small but constant w/c round.

As I said in my previous post not all areas of the country are the same, but what is the harm in finding a niche market before spending money.

REPARATION PREPARATION PREPARATION.

All I suggested was to pull in the reigns, look at it logically and get it right from the start - after all you dont want to start up and get hassle from day one.

My advise but then who says it's right eh 

Good luck Ian,

Sarah

[mark dew]

hiya sarah,
point taken. 
It was sound advice you gave and you have illustrated you point nicely.

mark

[windows_chepstow]

We never took such an analitical approach such as Sarah's.

After 17 years of being in the army I was determined to be my own boss; so I couldn't get messed about anymore; especially after the fire-strikes fiasco and numerous tours abroad.

So I photo-copied thousands of flyers (courtesy of HM Gov), then Wor Lass, I and sometimes even the Little Un posted them though practically every estate letter box in Chepstow and the left half (looking at a road map) of Caldicot (our neighboring town.

We did nothing but leaflet for two weeks.  We had sore knuckles from letter boxes and I had my hand bitten by a sneaky dog that kept quiet behind the door.

Our success rate with leaflets was generally around one or two percent, but much higher in some rare streets/areas that were desperate for a window cleaner.

I was threatened by two seperate window cleaners for leafleting 'their' patches and funnily enough, these patches are now 'mine', though they sold them onto other wannabe window cleaners who didn't last.

From that meagre start, it's taken three years, but we've got quite a nice little round producing an adequate income.  And now we organise work around our lives, rather than vice versa.

Window cleaning isn't glamorous and can often be a dirty job.  Especially when you walk dog poo up your ladders or your hose gets covered in the stuff.  It's hard work too in often arduous working conditions.  But it has it's good points also.

My advice is that if you want to be a self-employed window cleaner, you'll find a way, no matter what the competition is.

Where there's a will, there's a way!

[Sarah Sarill]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with that approach Tosh but you have to be a dedicated and resilient person to do it.

Big companies spend thousands of pounds researching new products and ideas just to make sure it is needed before they invest large sums of money fruitlessly.

Because we bought our round and instantly made money we did not have to do any research at all, but times have changed over the past few years and so has our industry.  Locally here we are saturated with w/c (both legitimate and not !!!) and would bet money that our town could not take another one.

We are constantly getting calls from Pontypool and the east side of Newport so would suggest to anyone that there is a gap and to ‘go get it’.

This must be true of many towns and cities but what approach Ian takes should suit his character and what his financial needs are.  I could not go many months with no income whilst trying to generate business whilst there are areas that need one immediately.

That was my point and in no way inferred sending money on research just a bit of analytical time to do the sums so he gets it right from the start.

Enough said, before I'm battered 

Sarah

[windows_chepstow]

Sarah,

Sorry, I didn't mean to cause offense.  Your way is the 'thinking persons way' to starting a business.  It was seriously good advice.

My way involves 'brute strength and ignorance'.

I remember being taught during a leadership cadre that all 'Great Leaders' (from Churchill to Julius Ceasar) all had five things in common.  One of them was being intelligent; but not too intelligent.

The cleverer you are, the more hurdles you forsee, therefore the more disenchanted you become with completing a task.

The dafter ones amongst us don't see any problems to begin with and just go for it.  I'm in the latter category.

Sarah, I was just trying to give a different point of view.  That's the great thing about forums like this.  You get lots of different information from many different sources, much of it conflicting, then based on that information; you make your own decision.

[chris@c.m.s]

 the more hurdles you forsee, therefore the more disenchanted you become with completing a task.

I've always done that and been a slow worker at times because of it, thought I was just useless, cheers Tosh