[Pete_Riley]

How many average 3 bed semis is it possible to do in an hour with 2 people working.(1 doing upstairs and 1 doing downstairs).I am taking on my b-in-law as a partner and need a realistic estimate of how much we can earn.I have been doing it myself for about 3 months and have been offered £600 a weeks work for £8000.Now I have done my sums and worked on an average of £4.50 a clean.This works out at about 5 cleans per hour working 9-3 mon to fri.Does anyone think this is attainable.I currently take about 25 mins for a 3 bed semi on my own.I would like to be earning at least £800 per week (£400 each) which would need about 6 cleans per hour.Any feedback welcome guys.Thanks in advance.£400 per week to me is rich.I currently earn about £240 per week sat on a forklift for 12 hours 4 on 2 off and god I hate it.

[replacement]

First off £4.50 for a 3 bedroom is too cheap, theres no way in a million years ill charge that small amount. I am more like £12 for a 3 bedroom they take it or leave it. I watch sometimes another local window cleaner working my way charging this silly amount he he working flat out struggling to keep up he works till 5pm and starts at 7.30am. Then theres me i start at 9pm and finish at 3pm and i bet i earn more that him as well. As a friend on these and other fourms always say, you need to work smarter not harder.

Justin

[gleamteamni]

IS Youre B IN LAW  just starting to train, if so  5cleans    
 an  hour   isn't  bad.   once trained  up  and  gradually
get quicker  7cleans an hour should not be a problem.

  BE CAREFUL ,  lazy days are possible.

 Is  youre  b in law  buying into  the  partnership?
  If  not , then he's only working  for a wage so  he  
will   only do enough,  you could end up  working
twice as hard  2 make youre wages,  hope its not the
case.        



         Geordie,   best of  luck  in youre  partnership.

[Philip Hanson]

offered £600 a weeks work for £8000.

That is quite expensive as rounds go, unless it is excellent work.  2.5x the monthly income is more usual, 3x if it is VERY good (And sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but Justin is right, it doesn't sound that good!)
£4.50 as an average price is way too cheap.  Even allowing for regional variations, you need better prices than that.  I'd say a very minimum of £100 per day is what you need, assuming you dont use wfp.

This works out at about 5 cleans per hour working 9-3 mon to fri

This is only possible if you are prepared to work in bad weather, which most WC don't.  Also if you're buying work they will be used to a certain way of doing things and will be reluctant to accept changes as readily as your own customers.  Also, you must take into account travelling time.

In summary, do I think you could earn £400 a week on this round - Yes, but it'll be hard work.

A better way would be to use your £8,000 to live on and pay your bills while you canvass your own work, at better prices than these.  (An average price for a 3 bed semi should be more like £9 - £10)

If you dedicated just 3 days a week to canvassing, and got 5 houses per day (£10 each), you'd be at your £400 a week in just 2 or 3 months.

Buying work is always a bit of a gamble and it will never be as good as work you got for yourself.

-Philip

[Pete_Riley]

Sorry guys a couple of things I forgot to mention.First yes bro in law is buying in and he is mr reliable.Second the price of £4.50 is for fortnightly cleans not monthly.Working in rain aint a problem we have waterproofs.Travelling is nothing (15 mins park up and walk round with ladders.)I am from Yorkshire and £4.50 seems to be about average for fortnightly cleans.(I have asked about).The guy I am buying off is my own window cleaner and has been doing it for past 12 years.

[williamx]

Try and invest in a wfp and your earnings will increase by a least 35%  

[sc]

Follow phills advice. Definetely save the £8000, do your own canvassing, always charge 20% above the average and you wont lose many customers.

[denzle]

The guy that is selling is going to be the only one making money here.... honest.
Firstly his price for the round is way too high and his price per house is way too low. The days of the £4.50 window cleaner have gone for ever, min price for a 3 bed semi, assuming it is easy should be £8.50 more if you can get it.
You will never be able to increase the prices of the work you are buying to these sort of prices right off, as you will almost certainly loose the lot.... customers don't like change especially in price.
I would offer a couple of grand max take it or leave it and build the round of your dreams from scratch.

Hope this Helps
Denzle

[Pete_Riley]

Sorry guys again.I think I better start from scratch.OK,as I said above the work generates £600 per week.They are fortnightly cleans.I also said the £8000 is negotiable(im sure I could get it for 5000.)
I mislead you when I said average price for a semi £4.50.I just assume he charges this as most cleaners round here do.For all I know it may be nearer £7.I myself with the few customers I have charge £7 for an average 3 bed semi and £10 if it has a con.I am meeting him week after next so I will let ya know more details.I know  you all keep saying build round up yourself and all that but I am struggling(lots of cleaners round here).And in the meantime I have mortgage and other bills to pay .Just to add Im sure I read on here once that the going rate was 3.5 times the monthly income.Well 3.5 times 2400 is £8400.

[replacement]

If your struggling you need to ask your self why? I would never buy a round what happens if say 2 months down the line this guy thinks ill get my old customers back, and you lose them all? Or they decide they are not happy with your sercice and cancel you? £8k is alot of money you could invest this into your business with newer ideas and services or live off this amount while you build your business up. As for the other cleaners think of ways to make yourself stand out ie Uniform , Van , Professional approach.

Start to think of the bigger picture theres more than windows to clean.

Justin

[Ian Gourlay]

It looks to me as if you are getting 200 customers for £8000, asking price at present,

£40 per customer.

At that price my mate and myself would make a fortune telephoning any area in the country for Window Cleaners to build their round.

And we would do it legally TPS checked etc.


This is not an offer but I am know wondering .

How much would you pay per customer??

[Sunshine]

My advice- get yourself some leaflets printed up (loads of ideas on this site) and start knocking doors.

For half the asking price you could set up (incl your van and equipment). Doing the sums you are paying £30+ per customer?

Good luck and let us know how ya get on.

[Neil]

Pete,
Do you need much to live on?
I started my round from scratch in November last year, by Christmas I was erning enough to live on (just) by March I was easily earning what I was on in my last job, Now? Well lets just say there anint no way I will work for anyone again!
My point is, I canvased from day one and was amazed at how quickly the work came in, now I get at least 1 referal a day.
I think that if you have got a lump sum available you are better of using it to live off while you build a good round, and dont worry about the fact that there are loads of cleaners in your area, I thought that too but now I have got so much work its a struggle to get round it all.  

Neil

PS, I would rather start now than in October!!!