[davids3511]

Davids 3511, depends what travelling means to you. I would think all areas can in some way sustain high prices. But they may be fewer customers and more competition so you may need to expand your area.

How many large buildings do you travel past to get to one of your customers!   

My figures are accurate I have not gone into great detail because it’s only pertinent to me. So you only have the hourly rate to work from. £800 a week is £41,600 a year net.

Ultimately you will have to do it yourself, based on your business Not on anybody else. If you have an accountant, speak to them.

Just a question for me to keep moving forward. You can’t do that if you don’t understand expenses you are never going to understand pricing and never know what your true profit could be.

This is business not window cleaning and that is always going to be the differencing facture between window cleaners.

Ewan 

Hi Ewan

Perhaps I am concentrating on the numbers because I have a history in accountancy (qualified as an accounts technician with two years spent training as a certified public accountant before I realized I didn't want to be an accountant) so I do understand expenses, profit and loss and running a business. Your figures of £45 - £65 don’t add up because based on this years working days (253) less say a week sick and two weeks holidays you are looking at 232 working days at about 7 hours workable each day. Instead of £41600 you should be looking at £89320. Where is the other £47720 or do you only work 3 hours a day? Only work 5 hours a day and you are still looking at over £70k.

The point I am trying to make is that yes, it is possible to have SOME hours/days with this type of earning potential but to transfer that over to every hour/every day is not what I believe you guys are doing. I suspect SOME of your hours are like this and it clouds your vision of the rest of your work. Maybe I am wrong, I hope so because I would love to be able to earn that type of dosh doing something comparatively stress free and easy

[davids3511]

Ewan is right, and what he said is true but i admitt the arithmetic is a bit fuzzy,

What I find is that you evovle to this. You do not need daft prices, you just have to be good at what you do and think on your feet a lot.

To start with I earned about £70 a day, and would spend the time not cleaning giving leaflets out. Some days I only had £40 worth of work so how could I earn more. Seeing 200 plus posts on here didn't really gel with my experience, and factor in that wc biz differs slightly to others as your self esteem can and does take a hammering. I have been very successful and am quite the bighead, but even i was humbled at times.

For a long time I thought the target was 30, and i could only hit this for an hour or a morning. But you never really know because you never have enought work. Then you go on holiday and are behind when you come back and need to go like to stink to catch up

This last time by doing new work as it comes I never did catch up, but I've been hittting the lower end of Ewans numbers like a metronome ever since. I haven't got a clue how it happened it snuck up so suddenly, I'm just gratefull.

Discount

Honestly I don't want to come over as though I am having a pop at you and Ewan but would like to get to grips with this earning thing. You say you are earning at the lower end of Ewan's figures. If I take that at £40.00 per hour, and take your full £4k as monthly, you need to work 5 hours a day 5 days a week to do that. If that is the case, why are you working Saturdays and Sundays too? Surely you should have a spare 10 hours a week to any extra jobs?

The figures simply do not add up which is why I suspect some of your hours/days are like this but not all or not even nearly all. Like I already said I hope I am wrong but the figures you guys quote do not withstand scrutiny.

[davids3511]

488 active customers at the moment. 3 on hold. Cleaned 4 weekly.

Do you employ anybody to get through that many or is it all on your own. If on your own I think I need to be looking at revising my 300 target.

I have 1 employee. 2 vans on the road now.

Does your employee come anywhere close to doing a much as you do in a month?

[jonah]

Where do you clean Jonah?

Huddersfield chris 

[jonah]

Where do you clean Jonah?

Huddersfield

[cbcs]

488 active customers at the moment. 3 on hold. Cleaned 4 weekly.

Do you employ anybody to get through that many or is it all on your own. If on your own I think I need to be looking at revising my 300 target.

I have 1 employee. 2 vans on the road now.

Does your employee come anywhere close to doing a much as you do in a month?

I clean more than he does.

[cbcs]

Where do you clean Jonah?

Huddersfield

You trad or WFP Jonah? Commercial or Domestic?

[jonah]

Where do you clean Jonah?

Huddersfield

You trad or WFP Jonah? Commercial or Domestic?

I am trad at the moment chris , but going over to the dark side (wfp) soon  Have a few shops , but mainly domestic .

[cbcs]

If you want to come out and learn a bit with me for a day or two you're welcome. Most of my work is in Mirfield so only over the hill.

[jonah]

If you want to come out and learn a bit with me for a day or two you're welcome. Most of my work is in Mirfield so only over the hill.

Thanks I will take you you up and that  used to clean the little chef there many years ago ! Got a free english too lol .  My email is - sjmclean@blueyonder.co.uk .

[davids3511]

Davids 3511, I was part AAT qualified long time ago but, done the training just so I could understand figures better.

You are just number crunching and not looking at anything else, hence your figures are a lot larger than mine.

All due respect I don’t think you can understand running a business just based on accountancy. As for running any business being stress free and easy, it’s a myth. If that is the case you don’t have a business.

Another way you could better understand if you are ltd and were to employ somebody part time or full time. What would be the going wage for a window cleaner in that capacity? Now consider there on cost your business expenses your margin then your tax.

If you’re self employed what should be your wage?


Ewan 

Hi Ewan

You should not make assumptions. I own two other Ltd companies that have nothing to do with cleaning of any sort.

Compared to those, running a window cleaning business is a breeze but I don't have any employees, which I suspect makes a big difference.

[s.w.c]

well here is my view on this after reading these post,   its not a competition,  as far as i see it as long as i earn a bob or two do a honest days work,  an have plenty of time to spend with my family I'm happy,  there is a cream of the crop but it can take many years to get there an a little luck on the way.   i rather change my round into few houses work less but still earn the same,  I'm not greedy i just value quality time with my kids an Mrs,  Ive been there an done the opposite and worked all hours as a shiner,  an worked all weekends on the doors i did this for 14 years and all work and no play made me a grumpy git,   theses days  i just got my window cleaning and good quality family time and still earn the same if not more than i did back then and happy for it.   each to there own but i find some of your views are putting to much pressure on the new guys come into wfp,   they think they can be at the top in a year when it has taken some of us many years to reach where we are.

[shaun Collier]

hey jonah,

i got work in rastrick not too from you, you got any spare work for sale before you goto dark side.

cheers

shaun

[jonah]

hey jonah,

i got work in rastrick not too from you, you got any spare work for sale before you goto dark side.

cheers

shaun

Sorry mate I havnt , all I have done for the past few months , is advertise, leaflet drop , and canvass  If I here of anything I will let you know shaun 

[neil100]

I have about 600 customers.10 of those are commercial the rest domestic.

It would be too much on my own, but I have help 2 days a week from my mate who has his own wfp van that he bought from my son.

In the fine dry weather you think you dont have enough work but in the bad weather you think I have too much.

I work on a 4 week cycle.But 30 % of my customers are on an 8 week cycle.

I start at 8 am and finnish at 5pm with 40 mins for lunch.

I have set my work up that I have 2 very busy weeks and 2 quiter weeks. On my shortest week I can finnish my weeks work by Tuesday night but only if my freind does 2 hard days with me and the weather is dry. It would be 4 days on my own. I have only finnished by Tuesday night once in the last 10 years.

I have just been in Valencia,Spain last week visting my son where he works.I did 3 weeks work in 2 weeks. So a paid holiday. This is easier to do if you have less work.

You should not be to concerend about how many customers you have. Its your average weekly wage that should concern you. If you have fewer customers it allows you more time to get extra jobs done like Facias and Gutter cleaning and the like.

I would rather have 4 customers in semis to clean that take 15 mins each  rather then 1 customer that takes an hour. I know I need 40 semis for 10 hours work compared to 10 big houses for the same time.If you lose 2 semi customers it does not feel to bad but to lose 2 big one hour customers is hard to take.

Just enjoy the challenge of growing your round. when your round is full sell your worst bits off and replace  them with better work. A good round takes years of work but it can take a lifetime to keep improveing the work.

Neil

[kris martin]

i have about 1300 customers, work 3 days a week (2 of us) tue, wed and thurs, work is based on a 2 week cycle for 50% and 4 week cycle for the other 50 % about 20% of the work is commercial... and at the moment just converting it all to wfp and loving not climbing the ladder.....

[jay105]

hey neil quick question on your buisy week how mainy houses do you clean in a day??

[jay105]

did ya say1300 customers god how long did it take to build that up ??

[kris martin]

11 years but was lucky we bought are first round at a fraction of what it was worth, and i mean a fraction... the guy we bought it off was a cowboy and diddnt realise what he had...numpty.