[combat1]

Typical! my partner has gone back to work in a school and our little boy dosent start primary school until the 12th september and then its only 3hrs a day for quite a while.
So i,m on childcare, only able to work the two weekdays that my partner is off.
What happens - daily phone calls with new jobs from all the new army families moving into their new postings.
Going a bit manic but will just have to wing it and hope people understand.
I must be the slowest window cleaner around, do about 12 -13 3 bed semis and 4 bed detached in a day. Most of the posts on here reckon 20 plus in a day.
Nice to get the new work, facebook recommendations bring in a load.

[Blue Frog Systems]

Sounds like you need some childcare mate. Ask at the school to see if any parents are childminders.

[DG Cleaning]

Better to be with the kids than have child minders if you can help it. Are you trad or wfp? If they are fairly compact you ought to do about 20 a day trad more if wfp. Is there anyway to speed up?

[combat1]

yes, I do appreciate the time with my son, and at 62 time is very precious with him, so def not moaning about it. Must be the oldest dad around!
as to speeding up I do the upstairs wfp with a backpack on a trolley and trad the downstairs, fanning the windows. Cant do the lot wfp as I can only carry 7 barrels max of pure and work at least 30 mins from home all the time.

[DG Cleaning]

Would have thought more houses would still be easily done using that method so long as they are compact. Do you detail a lot?

[combat1]

With the fanning I find that i've not got to detail as much as I did, stopped doing the garage doors as well so prob cuts time a little.

[bumper]

take di with you and just fill up your barrels from outside tap.

[combat1]

Cheers Bumper, Good idea, whose di?! tap water round here is about 280 so quite high. I think its probably me to be honest, probably knacked before i reach the windows.

[Dean Taberner]

Hey mate,

Are you based in Dawlish in Devon?

I've just seen a combat cleaning van at the sainsburys there.

[combat1]

I wish I was! I work all around Salisbury Plain and all my work is military married quarters. Cheers

[stuart mc]

I used to be based in Warminster and know the area well, stick a note up in the naafi shop for a teenager to childmind, my daughter done it for pocket money when we lived on quarters

lots of bored wifes as well sat at home doing nothing would probably child mind for a bit cash, i know my mrs did for other wifes and vice versa so they could work different shifts

[Spruce]

Typical! my partner has gone back to work in a school and our little boy dosent start primary school until the 12th september and then its only 3hrs a day for quite a while.
So i,m on childcare, only able to work the two weekdays that my partner is off.
What happens - daily phone calls with new jobs from all the new army families moving into their new postings.
Going a bit manic but will just have to wing it and hope people understand.
I must be the slowest window cleaner around, do about 12 -13 3 bed semis and 4 bed detached in a day. Most of the posts on here reckon 20 plus in a day.
Nice to get the new work, facebook recommendations bring in a load.

Hi Combat1.

Its our age. We haven't the stamina to keep going like we had when we were younger. The other problem is that we take much longer to recover, so a hard days graft today means a slow day tomorrow. I sometimes only get 4 or 5 bigger houses with conservatories done a day.

Alot of your energy will also get used up entertaining your youngster.

If you do your round every 4 weeks try it on 6 weeks, but don't tell your customers. You also have a Saturday to work, so this means you are 2 days a week short. I would also reduce my 'exposure' until I had more time to clean windows if I were you.

What happened to the van you were going to buy? I found tradding downstairs took longer than WFP as I had to carry steps around to reach the tops of the windows as I'm not very tall. Doing everything with the pole was much quicker.

[combat1]

Hi Spruce, hope you're well. Partner works saturdays and sundays so only get the week days at the moment. When little Theo starts school I will get two full days and three days from after dropping off  until picking up time.
Big problem getting a van, she wont pack up work cos of my age, worried I will get ill or something, cheers! Also have you seen the price of van insurance! I do get frustrated as I could have a brilliant full time business but there you go, overall things are great.
Thanks for your response, all the best.

[EandM]

I feel for you.

I suddenly had an eight month old son and a two and three quarter daughter to look after full time for fourteen months when their mum left.

Best I could do was three days a week work and it ended up costing me a third of my work.

That was 2010 and I'm still putting work back together.

You will find a way. 

[combat1]

Thanks for that, we did plan him, just got together later in life! I'm very lucky to have a partner 17 years younger!!
Work always sorts in the end, as you say. Been 4 years juggling work and looking after theo, housekeeping etc now and its worked pretty well really, have managed to increase turnover by around 30 per cent each year.
I:m lucky in that during the school holidays I can be full time as my partner is off and can look after Theo.
Good luck mate and thanks.

[dazmond]

62 years old with a 45 year old missus AND kids AND trying to work a full time window cleaning business??!!

sheeesh....!!!!where do you find the energy??you must be a fit bloke!!

im knackered and im only 40 with no kids!!with a girlfriend the same age as me!!



regards


dazmond

[combat1]

Hey Dazmond! guessed you'd post! Do you ever use the trad pole still? Quite often i use mine on first floor windows instead of the backpack, its quicker.
I've got 23 houses for tomorrow, working alone. 6 new houses, four bed detached and the rest three bed semis.
Working an eight hour day 20 houses would be 24 mins per house without travelling or set up time. no way! think I will be carrying a few over.
Hows your business going? regards, Chris.

[dazmond]

hi chris im doing very well mate.im already £3000 up on this time last year earnings wise and thats despite all the wet weather and more time off than last year!!

in the last 3 years im earning at least £10,000 more a year than previous years!!happy days!!

i very rarely use my trad pole now mate.i find WFP with a van mount MUCH quicker overall although i do use it for some large plate glass velux on some flat roof extensions and a few cottages with bad wooden frames on a canal bank where its awkward to park the van.

i think itll be more like £12,000 more than 3 years ago the way im going.ive put a lot of prices up over the last 3 years,picked up some good paying jobs and i work more when the weather is bad!!


very best wishes pal


dazmond

[combat1]

Two nuggets mate - work in the rain more. i do as well unless its torrential,
and put the prices up - most of mine is underpriced. As new jobs come on I price them at a decent price, but some of the old four beds are at £10 which is crazy for a detached house. Luckily army people move quite often so it should even out.
Regards

[Spruce]

Hi Chris,
Van insurance is high but at our age it won't be as bad as it is for the youngsters. I once sold a new Citroen C15 van to a couple of lads who were painters working together as partners. One was 21 and the other 22.

One of them asked where they could get insurance and I gave them a couple of names. The 22 year old was so chuffed as they had managed to get insurance from one of the names and it was only going to cost them £2500 a year - that was about 11 or 12 years ago. I was gobsmacked to say the least. £4995 + VAT for the van and paying this amount for insurance!

I didn't have a full no claim bonus when I first started as I had had a company car for years. On my first Suzuki van 8 years ago (which I still have) I got a nearly full no claims bonus as I was a co drivers on the wife's insurance on her car and had never had an accident or made a claim.

Your partner is probably right not wanting to give up work - we are seen as old as honestly I'm feeling it. There is a reason why men's retirement age was set at 65 in the 'good old days'.

Daz - my grandfather was 60 when he remarried a younger woman (my grandmother) after his first wife died, and went on the have 4 more children, the last 2 were twins. He retired from his job on his eightieth birthday. My father also only married at 47 and carried on working until he was 85. I may look like them both, but I'm afraid I won't last as long as they did. Maybe it was having a family late in life that increased their life span - I don't know.

Chris, maybe you need to try to 'enlist' the help of a part time employee to cover your 'babysitting' periods and work along with you ocassionally - although that's probably easier said than done.