[steve k]

Hope you all had a good weekend.
I did!!  
Anyway...back to work today...got my lad on camera duty again before I took him to school.

Off to work...


Before my diaried work, I had 2 jobs I`d scheduled in from new customers who called over the weekend.
The first is a flat in a big house just round the corner from my son`s school.
It was 2 big windows at front, 1 big and 1 small at the back. All were really filthy...I knew the flat because I had done his neighbours for a few months before they moved out so I was able to quote £20 over the phone...a good price, took me 35 minutes and that was a really good wash.

the house:


The front before cleaning on arrival:


and during cleaning:


I had to pull the hose about 40 feet to get round the back:


Then off to the mother of a customer who I clean for...she has a bungalow and I was thinking this is out of the way and off my route for a bungalow, so had steeled myself for a quote of £10 whatever the size:
As I pull up, there is a window cleaner in the road cleaning trad, so I say to the woman:
"there is a window cleaner...wouldn`t it be more sensible to use him?"
"no, he used to change the price every time so I stopped using him a couple of years ago"
Anyway, I had a look around and it was a £10 job anyway...took me 20 minutes...all WFP...came up great.






Then it was down to the River Mersey...I love it down here...good houses and good people.
These are sash windows and come up great. At the front, I go along all top sashes and then back along bottom sashes.


another view of house.


Then while they are drying off, I go round back and do the middle row of windows...they don`t have the tops cleaned.


while the front and back dry off, I do this glass block window and then finish off front sashes and then back round to back to finish off ground...ALL WFP


Off to next house about 200 yds down the road. This woman sent me a cheque for £20 payment in December PLUS a £20 tip!!
The house is great to WFP...every pane of glass sheets superbly...a joy to clean. She wasn`t in when I cleaned so left her an envelope and it was in my house with payment when I arrived home tonight at 4.30pm!!


same house round the back.


next door is virtually the same design...but every window BEADS??
The owner is a motorbike riding, bearded GP who always comes out when I arrive and cracks a spanking new £20 note into my ahnd with a cheery welcome


bottom patios never come up good so I always trad clean them.
Sparkling


over the road to another goodun.


some great WFP windows at the back.


Finish this cluster of 3 in 1hour 10 minutes due entirely to WFP speed!!
Then another 50 yards to the River and a house that looks like the Iranian Embassy that the SAS stormed.
I have to do all this trad as the paintwork is lousy on every window.
The upstairs are never done via a ladder...the woman lets me in and I climb through sashes onto balconies and do them from there...very safe, very quick and a great view.


going through window.


view from the top of bay.


another view from the top of another window.


House from road.


Finish here so nip home for a snack

[steve k]

then back down the River to another bigun with sashes that come up great with WFP...ALL done WFP.


drying off nicely.


round side of house where I need a ladder to access the roof on bay...carry the short pole up and clean them in a couple of minutes and then do the whole bay in one.


round the back...a couple of high ones...owner really pleased that I can do these.


done and paid in...45 minutes!!

could have finished here but had 3 houses about a mile away outside the local primary school and I thought I might do a bit of WFP theatre for the passing mums to hopefully get some more custom.


a high one at the side...


van at end of drive with safety signs at point where hose runs across pavement.


finishing the last house at about 4.15pm.


then it`s back home agin to set van up in alley for water making and battery recharge...all ready for tomorrow

Covered 12 miles in total today...

[H h20]

Phew that was exhausting just viewing it   ,
you`ve got some good size jobs there Steve,
good on yer,Gaz 

[Morph]

I love work

I could watch you all day Steve
Nice round (of sandwiches!!)


Pj

[P @ F]

Hi Steve , busy boy today !
You got some big houses there aint you , i cant believe that the people with the red roof and triple patio doors let you park in the front room !

 Rich  P @ F

[Moderator David@stives]

yeh   he has even got his bucket under there dining room table

[P @ F]

Nice one Dave , i missed that one !

 Rich

[steve k]

Thanks,
It`s funny but when I started 18 months or so ago, I could never have even contemplated a round like I have now.
I had a daily target to reach (financally and workload) which seemed ok at the time and used to take me 6-7 hours to reach.

ONLY and I mean ONLY by reading the advice on these forums did I question my targets.
I got cards printed from Vistaprint and posted them in all areas where I thought the owners could never do the windows themselves due to size and where it was obvious they had money to pay for the service, put ads in local shops, advertised in local free newspaper, and doorknocked.

Got the calls and priced high in ALL cases...I have had very few "no thank you!"

I then decided that I needed someone to help me...now this never really worked out in that we finished MY weeks work in 3 days so no income for me on the other 2 days...BUT the great thing that happened here was I HAD to canvass really strongly to get work for those 2 slack days a week.
I got some really good work and had filled the days in a couple of months.
At this time, me and workmate parted company so I was left with an abundance of work, the majority of which is great.
I had a look at low payers, non-WFP work and decided to off load them and restructure what I had.

The diaries show work I do virtually every day.
Due to WFP and knowledge of my route, I generally complete all daily work by 3.30pm - 4pm after starting at 9am -9.30am.

I never work weekends unless I have a big backlog due to weather problems and that has to be BAD weather, because I work in all conditions.

I have just restructured again writing to 60 or so customers on a particular run increasing their charge from £6 - £8 or offering front only at £4.00
THIS is actually what I wanted them to go for as the backs add greatly to the time of the run but the fronts are easy and all these houses are in most cases next to eachother.
I told them that no longer would I be climbing over roofs/garages/fences and could only do the back if someone was present to allow me free access.
I gave them all a return tick box and an addressed envelope.
I have had them all back and I have had only 3 cancellations out of the lot.
About a third have agreed to the full price and the rest want front only.
This means that I should be able to do this whole run in a day which will be very profitable, wheras in the past, it took 2 and a half days and was a bore to do. I was contemplating dropping it but decided to test the water with them and they have come up trumps...so I am looking forward to this run now.
The day I save will be to canvass for another day of high paying WFP customers.

[P @ F]

Steve , i wish i could do that , but i feel i dont have enough work at the mo to risk it .
I seem to have not enough work , but i am working fairly full days , this only tells me one thing , either im priced low or am too slow , hold on thinking about it i reckon its a mix of the two !
I dont work on wet or even drizzly days , i hate the idea of losing customers , but maybe its time to get a bit firmer and do it and just live with the losses .
What do you think ?

 Rich   P @ F 

[steve k]

I understand what you mean...but you will find that if you canvass the properties you would like on your round, you will eventually have too much work for 1 person..then you will have no option but to re-structure by dropping the lowest paying, the difficult to access, the late payers etc.

I can really offer no more advice other than pay yourself the respect you deserve (the customers on the whole don`t) and price high...if they say no, just leave them a card and a smile and ask them to contact you if they don`t find anyone else. DO NOT enter into negotiations with the person...stick to your price

[carl_foster]

hi steve nice load of work you have, in that red van you have what size tank doyou have how much water do you carry?

[herbiefatboy]

can any one tell me where you can buy them little poles they look quite handy

[stuart howes]

 hi i love this it is so much better that watching east enders
sorry i know this is a cheek but i have just ordered my trolly system from andy mccann and would like to know how much money you can earn in a day like this and how much water you use in a day like this   thanks mate hope you are not offended by this Q   please  please keep doing the pics each day as it is great to watch when eastenders is on   stu ;D

[windows_chepstow]

I dont work on wet or even drizzly days , i hate the idea of losing customers , but maybe its time to get a bit firmer and do it and just live with the losses .
What do you think ?

 Rich   P @ F 

Rich, Wor Lass works in the rain, when pressed, and she's only 5' 1" and weighs in at around seven-and-a-half-stone.  Drizzly days are good days!  They keep you cool when your working hard.

If any customer objects to me/us working in the rain, I use a line borrowed from Roy Harding.  I tell them not to pay me now, I'll collect on Friday.  If they're not happy with the results; don't pay me. 

I've only ever had to use it twice, but it works.  Other customers just cough up regardless. 

I'm no mathematician, but if you worked EVERY rainy day you'd make far more cash than business lost.  Fact.

[windows_chepstow]

Steve,

You look the ex-para part:

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b105/stek67/day%203/000_0448.jpg

Makes me laugh.

Was it you that slapped my bottom in the Globe Trotter in Aldershot 1986?

[P @ F]

Cheers for the words guys , i made my mind up to crack on rain or shine , if i lose them i lose them , hey ho !

 Rich  P @ F

[steve k]

Tosh,
it changed it`s name to the Queen Vic or something stupid, but everyone still called it the GT.
Funny enough, I did have a thing about slapping butts but it was GENERALLY women and the WOMEN?? who went into the GT (I remember about 4 in 3 years) were harder than any of the men...
I can`t believe you ventured in there...I swear that every time another regiment went in there, within 5 minutes they were knee deep in broken glass, blood and orange stretchers...seriously!! not something I never got into by the way but those times werer an eye opener