[windiewasher]

theres lots on ebay lately.
Isit because the weathers changing?

[Jack Harris]

yep 

[supernova77]

Also...

You will notice a lot of window cleaning rounds for sale on wforsale.co.uk with a monthly turnover of about £1k - It's obvious that over the last year to 18 months lots have setup got to about £1k a month turnover and realised it was either more difficult to gain customers than they thought, or they've realised wiindow cleaning isn't for them.

Andy

[home6442]

Exactly it all depends on the area you start up in and the level of competition.
Start in an area with a shortage of cleaners then your laughing.
Start in an area with a lot of cleaners but doing rubbish work the same goes.
Start in an area saturated with cleaners doing a good job and your in trouble from the start.
In the third point Im not saying its impossible to make a go of it but it will take more time and a lot
longer to make a reasonable wage.
I think a lot give up before this because as we all know at times window cleaning can be a pig of a job
and if your not making the money its very easy to call it a day.
 

[dave f]

when i started it was swamped with windies it  still is and im seeing more and more but i just keep going and i also have a canvassing frenzy now and then ill canvass the same areas now and then just to get known i find it works for me as the summer brigade dissaper which leaves the door open for me , i always say you only get out what you put in

[dave the rave]

maybe they are doing so well that a new van was called for?

[Spruce]

Exactly it all depends on the area you start up in and the level of competition.
Start in an area with a shortage of cleaners then your laughing.
Start in an area with a lot of cleaners but doing rubbish work the same goes.
Start in an area saturated with cleaners doing a good job and your in trouble from the start.
In the third point Im not saying its impossible to make a go of it but it will take more time and a lot
longer to make a reasonable wage.
I think a lot give up before this because as we all know at times window cleaning can be a pig of a job
and if your not making the money its very easy to call it a day.
 

In our area the job center has been advising the jobless to do window cleaning. I'm sure they have also been advising them on how to ask what their current window cleaner is charging and how to beat it. They seem to be targeting easier work like bungalows.

[richard jagger]

When I started I tried the job centre, and on job seekers and asked for help to start a window cleaning.In the form of a small loan all they did was send me on a course how to pay my taxes as a self employed worker. I had to make the money first and the chap at job said that`s the easy part he said." Any one can clean window". Every time I pass there I want to take my squeegees and ask him to show me how easy it is. and how to find customer ,even more so in winter when he is sitting on his fat ass in a worm office.They are as helpfull as a boil on one`s ass.

[robertphil]

ones selling up have no bottle its a fact .    you must dig deep in the early years,to find the gold pot 

[richard jagger]

Robphil you re so right.If you do the spade work at the start the latter part comes easer. Also true about starting in a over traded area. My are is defo one of them. Not that much folk having cleaning done. I find many start without doing a research of there market,even as far as checking the yellow who they are competing with. You would anyone going into business would check that out. I find in the areas I would say only one in 10 use a window cleaner and I canvas and leaflet bid time.

[Spruce]

ones selling up have no bottle its a fact .    you must dig deep in the early years,to find the gold pot  

The thing is that everyone is different.

Not everyone is cut out to be self employed - it takes a lot of self discipline especially in the winter. Being money motivated helps, but some of us are motivated in other ways which becomes harder.

Sadly, a larger portion of the younger generation just aren't motivated at all to do anything (using mobiles excluded) so when they are told to do something by the job center they begrudge doing it. Those who are told to go and clean windows for 16 hours a week mess the market up for us regulars - well in our area anyway.

[robertphil]

lot of folk simply wont eat sh/t , but thats what you must do when you are new ,no matter what trade you are in .     id guess that the apprenticeship in window cleaning is the first 2 yrs,if you can hack 2 winters then you are in .

 bloke i know started up this summer as a garden makeover guy after quittin his electrician job + company van after  a midlife crisis - got the tranny pickup and tools galore
 but wont go out and find work- i rang him with a small job in a nearby town,not a lot of gold i admit but itd cover his diesel and hed end up with 20 quid praps 40 ,but he says no way,he wouldnt even ring the lady up - i predict he will sell the tranny before long