[roo]

thats right... ive been cleaning windows for just over a year now (01/01/05), and have gone from £00.00 to £60k in one year.

greedy barsteward!(well done m8)

[macleod]

cheers bear...

another way i found to get commercial is...
a new buildings/office block

i go into the site managers office (with my hard hat, hi viz vest, steel toe caps etc) and ask if they have someone doing the builders clean... (they allways do cos its usally their mate), anyway i then try and find out who is moving in, and when, if they are a local company and the contact...

but the main thing is to have a good look at the building and if allowed i have a look inside, to get a 'feel' for the place...

then phone up the named contact, and ask if they have a w/c for their new office... and when are they moving in, i aslo say ive had a look round and what a great office it looks - just being friendly and laying it on thick...

mention the new regs... say i will pop something in the post...

i usally dont because when i call back in a week or so to arrange a 'viewing' and get a quote in... because they usally are deciding the budget for cleaning before they move in  and i want to be 'helpful' and give them an idea of costs

again, i clean the van (new van with logo etc so looks very professional) wear a clean shirt, and pretend to be the slightly dim, but an honest w/c who will look after their lovely new office...

[macleod]

squeeks... dont get me wrong as i already have said i've no axe to grind about w/c who only use ladders, it just with a wfp i can do the same job in the same time that it takes 2 blokes to do... so the client only has to make one cup of tea per hour and not two!!

they save loads in milk, sugar, tea bags no more nicking of their fairy liquid, or pouring dirty water down their sink, fewer fAg ends, less swearing and well to be honest if they get rid of their w/c its cos they wernt happy with them... cos i dont price cheap...

one example is a residential home £180.00 by ladders, i charged £300.00 with a wfp... they believe they are getting better results, so its worth the money

[geoffreyspecht]

i think your telling lies why pay£300 for having their windows cleaned just because u have got a brush on a stick with water spouting out of it.when they can get their windows cleaned properly for £180

[steve k]

Bear, cannot see any sniping at all up to the point of your post
There are a couple of bragging type jokey posts (one is yours)...but NO sniping.

That being said, I take my hat off to anyone who can build a round of such proportion and quality in such a short time AND "give away loads of smaller work"

£60k...
£300 a day...
Top end commercial...

If you consider the amount of leg work involved in sourcing just 1 commercial contract, you will appreciate the amount of time on the sales/canvassing road this fella has supposedly spent...this is also time spent NOT earning.

If he has earnt £60 k in 12 months...48 weeks work...he would have had to earn an average of £300 a working day from day 1.

No sniping here Bear...just my opinion...NO WAY!!

Do the maths and think of your first year...
what was this fella earning while he was out getting all them contracts...
Richard Branson wouldn`t achieve that level of growth...
There  must be a lot of established commercial window cleaners suddenly finding themselves off contract where this fella operates...

DO NOT BELIEVE...

and another point...do you really believe anyone could phone up all the facilities managers and with 1 days notice expect them to say:
" yes...no problems mate...I`ll drop everything and get round there...what time and where?" : :

[Sir Squeaky]

i think your telling lies why pay£300 for having their windows cleaned just because u have got a brush on a stick with water spouting out of it.when they can get their windows cleaned properly for £180

Ha ha!
Answer that one.

I wanted to say how stupid that looked, but didn't want to start an arguement.

[poles apart]

i think your telling lies why pay£300 for having their windows cleaned just because u have got a brush on a stick with water spouting out of it.when they can get their windows cleaned properly for £180

Ha ha!
Answer that one.

I wanted to say how stupid that looked, but didn't want to start an arguement.

Well if it's the same as round here then the w/c's probably haven't been for six months! It's how I got a lot of my work. Plenty of trads around in the summer but come the winter...nowhere to be seen!
I clean a site in the city centre where they hadn't seen their w/c for 18 months! He's still in business as the residents have seen him around. Oh and I charge more than he was and picked up the building next door
It still amazes me how some people run their business and then moan about lack of work/money. Reliability is a key factor in any business and I may not be the best or fastest window cleaner but I never miss a clean and I haven't lost a customer in 7 years!

Rod

[Morph]

yes but it's different for you Rod.
If you look anythink like your kid, they're feeling sorry for you

And as For Rog Squeaky, you are gonna have to tell the Gopher to relax sometime.  He's been doing 60 a minute for 2 weeks now!  I can't concentrate on your comments.  Or is that the plan?

[Moderator David@stives]

that gopher gets on my goat  as well squeeky it makes you looky smug with your replies .nothing personal ..


Maybe he has 60k on his books after 12 months and not actually earned it yet ,

[Sir Squeaky]

that gopher gets on my goat as well squeeky it makes you looky smug with your replies .nothing personal ..

Was planning a new one anyway... me? smug?

You'll like the next one.

[Moderator David@stives]

 

OK arrogant   

[macleod]

hi guys im back on line...

okay glad some of you replied.....

i will answer some questions

i started with £00.00 a year ago (01/01/05) and as of last week after winning a new contract my earning potential for next year is £60k, most of you realised thats what i meant...

just a word of caution dont say i am a liar, i just want to share how ive got commercial work which some of you may find of interest - if you have a question then thats fair enough... ok? friends again, ill buy you a pint!

as for gong from £180.00 to £300.00 its very simple.
the client wasnt happy with the standard of window cleaning (2 guys on a ladder as it happens) i said i could do the work but instead of monthly i would clean every 6 weeks... as i believe that wfp windows really do stay cleaner for longer

so currently they pay:
£180.00 * 12 months = £2,160pa which is split between 2 lads

i changed it to
£2,160 / 8 cleans = £270.00 per visit plus for an extra £30.00 i would clean the frames as well...  they couldnt lose!

therefore £300.00 for 8 cleans

 

[macleod]

another way to 'win' commercial work is swopping...

for example i had 8 shops that took me 2 hours to clean every week at £10.00 each, so in 2 hours i had £80.00 squid in my pocket and after a month (and 8 hours)  i earned £320.00 (or £3,840.00 pa)

talking to a window cleaner who didnt keeep any books, he had an office block that he cleaned (outsides only - again using ladders) took him 6 hours and he charged £300.00 plus a pub that he cleaned for £20.00 for 1 hours work...

so £320.00 for 7 hours work plus the office block took 30 days to pay

i offered to swop... he wanted cash jobs, i wanted commercial

now I can clean the office block in 4 hours, and i charge the pub £60.00 for an hours work... so for 5 hours work i now earn £360.00.

then i offered to clean the office block on the inside for an extra £150.00 (inside top floor one month, then inside bottom floor the following month)

ok... still keeping up?

now i earn 450.00 per month for 6 hours work plus £60.00 for the pub.

that means a total of 7 hours work i earn £510.00, when i used to earn £320.00 for 8 hours work...

[Morph]

....about that beer you're gonna buy?
I live a bit of a way from you, would you mind just getting tesco to deliver instead?

Couple of smart moves, by the way.
You have to have the options open to play with in the first place though.
Location, location, location.

Leamington Spa, I bet?

[macleod]

leamington spa, royal

[steve k]

so its £0 to £60k in 2 years...your first post did not make that clear.

I can see where you are going but you need 30 of those good luck stories to get you through the month...I hope you get them

[dustycorner]

Hi macleod,

 Glad its going well with you, i agree with you on swopping, i've done this 3 times in last 2 years on domestiic side of the business cuts down travelling , on a serious note if you are expecting to turnover to be £60,000 per annum have you registered for vat because the threshold is £58,000 ?.

Cheers Mark.

[macleod]

have a meeting arranged with accountant (in warwick 2 weeks), apparently he says that if i had gone vat registered last year i would be £500.00 better off

but not sure if i am going to split the round and get another van... 650 lt this time.... just as you train your customers to make a cuppa i have trained mine to let me fill up as i work... hence only need 650, and not 1000 lt...

[Grafters Cleaning Services]

talking of swopping how about this,

i used to do adult discos and karaokes but gave it up recently and today i was talking to another w/c who i've know for a long time, anyway he ask me how the enertainment side of the bizz was going and i informed him that i had stopped doing it.

now for the best bit, he wants to get rid of his w/c round (£750 per month mixed domestic and commercial) and concentrate on his chimney sweep bizz and also start up evening work as a dj, he ask me if my equipment was for sale which i replied yes, i think you can guess the next bit.

yep,
i have swoped my gear (valued about £600) for his £750 w/c round, a good swop me thinks!

[preston powerblast]

Thats the way to dit