[careless.david@gmail.com]

I started WFP W/c late Sept after being made redundant & have picked up around 30+ customers, mostly at around the £10 mark & usually get 1-3 new customers per week, through referals.
I am currently getting well stressed as money is getting tight & the number of customers wont cover my bills.
My area also seems too have gone from an area with almost no W/C to yesterday, i saw nine. (obviously many in the same situation as me)
I am advertising in the local mag which hits around 7000 homes, for the first time next month, but also i am seriously looking at quitting & going for other jobs.

How long did it take you to get established & any tips on building your business???
Thanks in advance for any replies.
 

[darren clarke]

go knocking doors, easist way to get custys,  u r going to see more and more wc start up this year and then vanish

[Lee Pryor]

David it can take years to build and refine a solid round. It doesnt help that you started at the worst time of the year for gaining new customers but I think were through the worst of it now.

Personally I dont rate local mag or newspaper advertising and so on. In your position the best thing you can do is get out there with some leaflets try to deliver at least 1000 per week and at the same time knock door to door. After that its really just a numbers game you get out what you put in aim for 10-20 new customers per week.

[JoeMax]

So you're having financial difficulties but you have time.

Get a part time job whilst you have financial problems and continue to clean the 30 customers - whilst the round is increasing naturally every week try and find time to deliver more leaflets as Lee said.

[cozy]

The fastest way IMO is to leaflet and follow up knocking within 3 days. I drop leaflets saying who we are and that we will be expanding our business to cover their area. I also say we will be calling in the near future to see if they are interested and answer any questions they may have.

3 or 4 days later, I knock on the door and say something like " Hello, I'm from (company name) Did you get our leaflet about window cleaning?" They can only say yes or no, either way, you now have them infront of you. Never fails. Just remember, some will some wont, so what? The worst that can happen is they say no. Some will say yes, you just have to be better than the guys that are afraid to knock.

A WC around here where I live said to me once: "That's not right, you're knocking on doors". Haven't seen him for a couple of years now................. :

No good poking it with a stick and waiting to see what happens mate. Give it the beans and suprise yourself at your results. Nothing to do with luck, it's down to you.

[supernova77]

I used to do this:

Monday - Canvass (door knock) from 9am til dark. Any new work tell customer I would clean on Wednesday / Thursday.
Tuesday - Canvass (door knock) from 9am til dark. Any new work tell customer I would clean on Thursday / Friday.
Wednesday / Thursday / Friday Clean new work - Canvass when not cleaning.

Then I used to canvass all day Saturday and a few hours Sunday afternoon.

Post leaflets in all "not at homes"... Your round will soon build up and you will start getting some phone calls from the "not at homes" for quotes.

Perseverance is the key!

Andy

[cozy]

I used to do this:

Monday - Canvass (door knock) from 9am til dark. Any new work tell customer I would clean on Wednesday / Thursday.
Tuesday - Canvass (door knock) from 9am til dark. Any new work tell customer I would clean on Thursday / Friday.
Wednesday / Thursday / Friday Clean new work - Canvass when not cleaning.

Then I used to canvass all day Saturday and a few hours Sunday afternoon.

Post leaflets in all "not at homes"... Your round will soon build up and you will start getting some phone calls from the "not at homes" for quotes.

Perseverance is the key!

Andy

Sounds good. The main thing is DO SOMETHING. 

[supernova77]

The main thing is DO SOMETHING

Exactly!

Oh, and don't use your email address "careless.david@gmail.com" on leaflets!

Andy

[careless.david@gmail.com]

Oh, and don't use your email address "careless.david@gmail.com" on leaflets

     I blame the parents 

[cozy]

The main thing is DO SOMETHING

Exactly!

Oh, and don't use your email address "careless.david@gmail.com" on leaflets!

Andy

 

[sgibsoncleaning]

i am interested to know what you expected. you started in september and are getting new customers with referals. have you been knocking, i am wondering where you thought you would be in 4 months.

[martinj]

Absolutely not!

I started last October, not a brilliant time but what I did was systematically door knock my immediate area, print some street maps off google and go knocking! If they arent in either pop back in the evening or post a business card ( I dont think leaflets work too well ). What I do is dress smart casual, first time I went out in shirt and tie and probably scared any custies away! What I say is " afternoon / evening sorry to bother you Im a window cleaner could I give you a quote please" short and polite and smile!!, if yes great if no which will be the majority, say "ok thanks" forget it and move on to the next house. The hard part is keeping going especially after a few hours in the rain with no custies but the way to look at it is youve just eliminated a fruitless area, move on. I guarantee you they are out there you just have to put the leg work in to get them. Ive had people say no then Ive got the house next door and on the second clean theyve come out and asked me to clean! Be methodical and disciplined and you will get them, best of luck

[ascjim]

The fastest way IMO is to leaflet and follow up knocking within 3 days. I drop leaflets saying who we are and that we will be expanding our business to cover their area. I also say we will be calling in the near future to see if they are interested and answer any questions they may have.

3 or 4 days later, I knock on the door and say something like " Hello, I'm from (company name) Did you get our leaflet about window cleaning?" They can only say yes or no, either way, you now have them infront of you. Never fails. Just remember, some will some wont, so what? The worst that can happen is they say no. Some will say yes, you just have to be better than the guys that are afraid to knock.

A WC around here where I live said to me once: "That's not right, you're knocking on doors". Haven't seen him for a couple of years now................. :

No good poking it with a stick and waiting to see what happens mate. Give it the beans and suprise yourself at your results. Nothing to do with luck, it's down to you.

Surely the best post 2day.

[tom2009]

Agree with above, get knocking. Knock 1000 doors as quick as you can and come back on here and tell us how you got on. How quickly can you knock 1000 plus doors?

[Steven Shoreditch]

My advice, and it is valued among many here, is to give up.

[tom2009]

My advice, and it is valued among many here, is to give up.

thinking about it ..................yer right, give up 

[Jimmy Jon]

My advice, and it is valued among many here, is to give up.

 That made me chuckle lol  

[cozy]

My advice, and it is valued among many here, is to give up.

OI!! Give the guy a break. :

[drevitt]

is there any work for sale in your area?
if so buy it and get a loan from the aa or other decent rate lenders,
i bought some work 3 years ago for about 5k and it cost me £150 per month for 3 years, also give you 2 months break from payments at start of loan, mines finished now and its the best thing i could of done, worked out better than canvassing for me!

[Steven Shoreditch]

End of day, you end up doing what is right for you, not what everyone else thinks.

Go for it!  Keep door knocking!  You CAN do it!


Or

Give up.

Which reply do you want to read?