[benny donnelly]

Just interested to hear how you all plan and work your days, do you do set hours or certain number of days or certain days per week? Or do you always plan on a number of days off in a month etc?

TBH I dont really take a day off (only a Sunday really) and havent since I started, 6 days a week early morning till lateish evening everyday, dont even take breaks really through the day just eat while im driving and then onto the next job, at this stage cant even think of a setting myself a structure (but I know I do need one) and just interested how the rest of you work.

[bobplum]

I take the total value of the round divide it by 20 and that gives the daily target (money) for 4 weeks, ie mon-fri-x 4 = 20 days, off Saturday, Sunday and then gain the extra couple of days when its a 31 day month.

Have adjusted my technique to spend less time on each house, 15 minutes max per household thats approx 4 houses per hour, roughly 7 hours per day total 28 .
In reality more like 22 due to travelling etc and there is always nice house wife to talk to  

The money target is the one i aim for and once i hit it, approx 3.00pm .....i go home, even if i could fit in another

oh and i stop for a dinner break, 20 minutes or so

[dazmond]

if i have work to do then its usually 9am-4pm.sometimes a bit later,sometimes earlier.always half hour for lunch.

i work my round from A-Z in roughly the same order all year round give or take a few different frequency jobs.

some months i go bang at it 6 days a week for 3 weeks then have a slack week towards the end of the month or the whole week off before starting again the next months onslaught.

im pretty flexible and dont "plan" my days too much!i have a rough plan.as long as my work is completed by the end of the month(which it is 99% of the time)im not bothered!!

i very rarely have a day off due to weather if i have work to do unless its really raining hard(like yesterday!)i work the odd saturday sometimes 3 out of 4 but usually 2 out of 4.

i have 360+ customer mostly monthly.

[Ian101]

I take the total value of the round divide it by 20 and that gives the daily target (money) for 4 weeks, ie mon-fri-x 4 = 20 days, off Saturday, Sunday and then gain the extra couple of days when its a 31 day month.

Have adjusted my technique to spend less time on each house, 15 minutes max per household thats approx 4 houses per hour, roughly 7 hours per day total 28 .
In reality more like 22 due to travelling etc and there is always nice house wife to talk to  

The money target is the one i aim for and once i hit it, approx 3.00pm .....i go home, even if i could fit in another

oh and i stop for a dinner break, 20 minutes or so

+1

[windowswashed]

work to live, .....get a girlfriend or wife, she'll nag you if you're always working unless she only loves your bank account. need to live and enjoy life,

[DG Cleaning]

I take the total value of the round divide it by 20 and that gives the daily target (money) for 4 weeks, ie mon-fri-x 4 = 20 days, off Saturday, Sunday and then gain the extra couple of days when its a 31 day month.

Have adjusted my technique to spend less time on each house, 15 minutes max per household thats approx 4 houses per hour, roughly 7 hours per day total 28 .
In reality more like 22 due to travelling etc and there is always nice house wife to talk to  

The money target is the one i aim for and once i hit it, approx 3.00pm .....i go home, even if i could fit in another

oh and i stop for a dinner break, 20 minutes or so

What did you change about your technique to save time Bob?

[robertphil]

you want to be careful you dont suddenly get sick to death of working if you dont take proper breaks.    i now have at leat 2 weekday days off each month and i wont ever work weekends-your a longtime dead and theres nobody will praise you in the nursing home for working forever

 just work harder on the days you do work and have half an hour for lunch

[Smudger]

We aim to have 1 free weekday per cycle ( weekday ) but this depends on how busy we are getting

Our days are planned for what can be done from 8.45 to 3.15 ie shortest days of the year. During the summer we tend to be working from 8 am upto 6 pm depending how many extra service jobs come in.   As we employ the guys get their lunch break etc...

As advised don't overdo it six days a week etc.. As one day illness will strike and you'll be up a certain creek and no paddle I did this for a time but the goal was to get an employee and expand the biz.  After several months running flat out it was nice to throttle back a bit.


Darran

[bobplum]

I take the total value of the round divide it by 20 and that gives the daily target (money) for 4 weeks, ie mon-fri-x 4 = 20 days, off Saturday, Sunday and then gain the extra couple of days when its a 31 day month.

Have adjusted my technique to spend less time on each house, 15 minutes max per household thats approx 4 houses per hour, roughly 7 hours per day total 28 .
In reality more like 22 due to travelling etc and there is always nice house wife to talk to  

The money target is the one i aim for and once i hit it, approx 3.00pm .....i go home, even if i could fit in another

oh and i stop for a dinner break, 20 minutes or so

What did you change about your technique to save time Bob?

i stopped using water

Increased the flow, i have fan jets this helps you cover a wider area when rinsing and this helped reduce the time rinsing.
i tend to spend less time scrubbing

across the top(twice)
top to bottom, back to the top....move side ways...top to bottom...until the window as been covered,  then a zig zag motion from the top to the bottom
I do this only on regular cleans
practice on your own windows, see the results
my flow rate is about 45-50 psi

[Mr Sparkle]

That's exactly what I do bob plum.
Makes you a lot quicker and you end up using less water with higher flo rate

[dazmond]

benny working 6 days a week early til late will catch up with you eventually and you ll be sick of window cleaning.its quite possible to work 6 days a week working 5 or 6 hours "on the glass" a day without me hating the job!BUT!by the last week of the month im ready for a few days off before next months work!

[Alex Wingrove]

I work two days a week, Monday and Wednesday.

Start early and go home when the work is done,

Enjoy the other three days off, and use them how you please

[dazmond]

so have you got another job alex?and if not.how do you make it pay only working 2 days a week?


regards


dazmond

[DG Cleaning]

I take the total value of the round divide it by 20 and that gives the daily target (money) for 4 weeks, ie mon-fri-x 4 = 20 days, off Saturday, Sunday and then gain the extra couple of days when its a 31 day month.

Have adjusted my technique to spend less time on each house, 15 minutes max per household thats approx 4 houses per hour, roughly 7 hours per day total 28 .
In reality more like 22 due to travelling etc and there is always nice house wife to talk to  

The money target is the one i aim for and once i hit it, approx 3.00pm .....i go home, even if i could fit in another

oh and i stop for a dinner break, 20 minutes or so

What did you change about your technique to save time Bob?

i stopped using water

Increased the flow, i have fan jets this helps you cover a wider area when rinsing and this helped reduce the time rinsing.
i tend to spend less time scrubbing

across the top(twice)
top to bottom, back to the top....move side ways...top to bottom...until the window as been covered,  then a zig zag motion from the top to the bottom
I do this only on regular cleans
practice on your own windows, see the results
my flow rate is about 45-50 psi

Thanks Bob

[Archer]

Our normal day is 5.30-1.30

We work 6 days per work, but quite often 7 per week.

All my work is planned in a diary, but it is getting a bit harder now to work out, so I will be looking for other ways pretty soon.

[benny donnelly]

Yeah I really do need to set myself a proper structure, its just from when I started ive been very eager to get myself a round and earn the money I was getting from a job i hated doing, TBH I dont mind the long days/weeks etc as at least I know it will benefit me in the long run.

Im kind off thinking it would be nice to start say 9 or 10 and finish about 4 or so and have all weekends off and sure maybe even do 4 days a week or schedule my work so I get a week of every 4 or 5 weeks.

Someone hit the nail on the head with "Live to work or work to live", as thats exactly how I was thinking, im going to make the business work for me a bit more and give me the freedom and choice to do as I please.

Im actually sat in van having me lunch now as its pouring it down out there and im close to a customers house, he owns a fairly successful pub/restaurant and he was telling me he only work 3 days a week sometimes even 2, he has a manager running the place and says it basically runs like clockwork now, says he fills his time playing golf, tennis, swimming and going on short breaks with the wife as they into photography.

So that got me thinking, I think I want more play time   

[C o z y]

All our domestic work is 6 weekly. Start about 9am on the first window.When we reach our minimum of €200 in the day, we go home. We can get all our work done in about 10 to 12 working days. We rarely work later than 1:30 pm.

Not big shakers and movers, just earn enough to live comfortably. We also have a carpet and upholstery business that earns better than window cleaning, and we work about 5 or 6 days a month on that too. I enjoy that side. I'm also lazy, so am happy with how things are going. I used to run at full speed about 15 years ago and didn't have much of a life outside of work. My attitude changed when I got older.

[Alex Wingrove]

so have you got another job alex?and if not.how do you make it pay only working 2 days a week?


regards


dazmond

No just window cleaning

We work hard average our average is about ten hours,

We make it pay by earning us much per hour every hour as we can

[Ian101]

The secret or one of the secrets with this game is consistency - be it canvassing, dropping leaflets or the actual work. I aim to be out of the house for no later than 8-45 and on first house by 9am - work till 12.30 and rest / eat till 1 then crack on until about 3.30 or sooner if my daily target is reached. ... 5 days a week and 4 weeks a month - if loose a day thru weather then poss work a Saturday or do a few days until 4.30 to catch up.

Plan your day the night before, fill up water if your wfp and make sure van has diesel in it ready for next day.

In scuba diving the saying is failing to plan the dive is planning to fail so to amke the most of your time you need to plan and organise as best you can.

Every now and then I get the cant be a rsed feeling today so just take day off - the work will still be waiting for you 

[C o z y]

The secret or one of the secrets with this game is consistency - be it canvassing, dropping leaflets or the actual work. I aim to be out of the house for no later than 8-45 and on first house by 9am - work till 12.30 and rest / eat till 1 then crack on until about 3.30 or sooner if my daily target is reached. ... 5 days a week and 4 weeks a month - if loose a day thru weather then poss work a Saturday or do a few days until 4.30 to catch up.

Plan your day the night before, fill up water if your wfp and make sure van has diesel in it ready for next day.

In scuba diving the saying is failing to plan the dive is planning to fail so to amke the most of your time you need to plan and organise as best you can.

Every now and then I get the cant be a rsed feeling today so just take day off - the work will still be waiting for you 

Makes sense.