[wrighty]

Hand on heart when my mum and dad divorced I ended up on a council estate in an area dogs go around in threes.  I have done well so far because of my young family and determination to succeed.  I have worked hard for what I have and I just wanted your opinions about council estates because when you get used to nice big houses when you go to some estates it doesn't really influence me to canvass it.  The reason I asked as I put an add in the local paper for help on my rounds and I got a call from a lady who wants her  windows cleaning and her sisters as they say their estate needs a cleaner and would appreciate a good window cleaner.

So do you think I should do it?

If I lived on an estate like that I wouldn't think twice but I am used to my surroundings and I have cold feet so please telll me your opinions.

Craig

[sc]

Whenever somebody says to me that there isn't a window cleaner in there area it normally turns out that they are the only house that doesn't have one.

And whenever somebody has a window cleaner they always think he must clean every single house  in the area.

Don't put any faith in what they say. But i'd still do it, you can't stereotype a whole estate. There may be some bad customers, but you can weed them out and eventually end up with a good round. I prefer doing smaller houses, they aren't as tight with there money even though they don't have much.

[seandyer2003]

When i started out window cleaning about 2 years ago my first £50 worth of work that i canvassed up was on a council estate in the centre of manchester in hulme!! Its quite a rough area but the work is amazing!!they hadn't had a window cleaner for so long (last one got stabbed!!)that i could charge really well. Its £4 a house and i can do 6/7 an hour on my own and well over ten with the young lad who helps me, i do it every 2 weeks and never collect because every one is always in. i have about 40 regular customers about ten of whom are monthly and i am due to go and canvass about ten more or so.
So i dont think its right to dismiss council. From time to time you do obviously get customers having money problems which is to be expected but theres usually someone else to pick up and make up for it i find.....best thing about hulme is that about 40% of my custies are sweet old irish ladies who ALWAYS TIP! I've thought about selling the round because i go up every other saturday and sometimes cant be bothered but its such easy money i dont think i could see it go. Also if i go a few days early, so its only been like ten days since last clean they dont seem to care! Maybe im just blessed but if you hit the right estate you can find good work!!!

[Ian_Giles]

Good grief! This thread is 4 years old!....must be a record, never seen one resurrected after such a long time before!

You say you can do 6 or 7 an hour, before you get lots of derisory comments about that, just how many windows per house are you talking about?

For me, a £4.00  house would only have 4 windows! And even then I'd charge a tenner as my minimum charge is £10.00.

For those that reply further on this thread, keep the debate sensible please.

Ian

[groundhog]

For me, a £4.00  house would only have 4 windows! And even then I'd charge a tenner as my minimum charge is £10.00.

For those that reply further on this thread, keep the debate sensible please.

Ian

Thats some good sensible advice from Mr Sensible himself, you have to set yourself a sensible minimum price, £10 or more would be sensible!! Is that sensible enough for you Ian? 

[AuRavelling79]

Good grief! This thread is 4 years old!....must be a record, never seen one resurrected after such a long time before!

Ian

Wow! A better comeback than Lazerus!

Sorry - sensible mode ...

I suppose every two weeks means Wrighty can/could fly around, Ian.

I have a minimum charge of £10 for new customers with the following exception.

I have a council estate that was built in the 1970's to replace prefabs (which was my paper round as a kid!) and the homes are a pleasant mix of terraced bungalows and small houses - so a block of five would have one 2 bed house at each end and three bungalows in the middle. When, three years ago I used a trolley I did the tops of the houses wfp and all the downstairs and bungalows trad.

I charged £6/7 for the houses and £4 for the bungalows and could make about £130 a day trad. and similar trolley wfp/trad. Now I charge £6 for a bungalow and £10 for a house (new) but still have some at £5 and £7 respectively.

Due to the compactness of the round, the small yet proportionally large increase and van wfp (still a little trad for an out of the way bungalow). What was one and a half days work and earnings is now compressed into one day.

I did consider dropping it but due to my present plan of compacting work and having a target of a £200 minimum for a day every full (7hr) day I work it is just viable.

[groundhog]

Thats very sensible!!!