[rosskesava]

It's becoming very annoying having to convince new customers that just because the last guy cleaned their windows with "a pole thingy" and left them in a worse state than before he started, doesn't mean that I will repeat the procedure.

There seems to be an inordinate number of individuals going round wetting window for a living and disparaging our beloved purified profession in the process.

I had that very situation today. The bloke spoke to me yesterday while I was cleaning shop windows. Went and had a look today.

4 bedroom detached house. Previous window cleaner, shiny new van and in a uniform. Customer said he was there and gone in under 10 minutes. When I saw the windows from the inside of the house - eeeeeeeeeukkkkkkkkkk and the customer had paid £25 for that 2 days ago.

Cleaned just the patio doors and kitchen window just to give him an idea of how windows come up when they are cleaned properly. This evening he phoned me - got a new job to do first thing tomorrow.

Every year around here, and i guess it's the same in other areas, the shiny new vans appear in Spring and Summer but by the following January and February, it's the same old faces and vans as there's always been.

[rosskesava]

I always say decorators all use the same tools, some do a good job and some are 5h1te. Its the same with us

I'm going to use that. What a great quote.

[C o z y]

I always say decorators all use the same tools, some do a good job and some are 5h1te. Its the same with us

I'm going to use that. What a great quote.

Yeah good wasn't it.

[Nick_Thompson]

[/quote]
Cleaned just the patio doors and kitchen window just to give him an idea of how windows come up when they are cleaned properly. This evening he phoned me - got a new job to do first thing tomorrow.
[/quote]

Nice one Ross!

[Stephen.C]

Good luck to him, so if he has put his redundancy into his business he is seriously having a good go at it.
I was In the same boat 5 years ago, new baby on the way wife on maternity leave and I was made redundant from a very well paid job in Print.

[rosskesava]

Cleaned just the patio doors and kitchen window just to give him an idea of how windows come up when they are cleaned properly. This evening he phoned me - got a new job to do first thing tomorrow.
[/quote]

Nice one Ross!
[/quote]

Nick, it works nearly every time.

[PoleKing]

This also works if you clean just about a metre of guttering too.
Don't ask first though, just do it & upsell a SFG clean.

[tlwcs]

I always say decorators all use the same tools, some do a good job and some are 5h1te. Its the same with us

I'm going to use that. What a great quote.

I pinched it from someone on here, I'm not that clever

[KS Cleaning]

This also works if you clean just about a metre of guttering too.
Don't ask first though, just do it & upsell a SFG clean.

If you do it without askin, some customers could be annoyed that the contrast between the clean and dirty gutters is unsightly.

[PoleKing]

This also works if you clean just about a metre of guttering too.
Don't ask first though, just do it & upsell a SFG clean.

If you do it without askin, some customers could be annoyed that the contrast between the clean and dirty gutters is unsightly.

Ooh-good point. Thanks for pointing that out.

[gary999]

lot of new starts in my area but mainly trad...i saw two guys today
in different areas
on foot hauling ladders and all their gear with them. i instantly
thought fairplay at least they have the balls to get off their backsides
and try something.

As for the guy who has the sparkly new van okay he has been
mugged by ionics but he has a start of a round and if he keeps his
head down gets on with learns from his mistakes like we all have to

There is a good chance he could be making a decent living a year
from now.

Me thinks too many worrying about what others are doing,when they
should be watching where they are going themselves

[Richard Neal]

I started up working out of my car, and now many vans later i still respect anyone else who starts up in our trade whether they have a sparkly new van or an old fiesta, just keep your own business going and leave them to it!

[Johnny B]

lot of new starts in my area but mainly trad...i saw two guys today
in different areas
on foot hauling ladders and all their gear with them. i instantly
thought fairplay at least they have the balls to get off their backsides
and try something.

As for the guy who has the sparkly new van okay he has been
mugged by ionics but he has a start of a round and if he keeps his
head down gets on with learns from his mistakes like we all have to

There is a good chance he could be making a decent living a year
from now.

Me thinks too many worrying about what others are doing,when they
should be watching where they are going themselves

Well said.

John

[Ian101]

Feb 2010 I was a new starter with a not very shiny van but with a £16000 loan to buy it and about 200 customers.

Im still here with the loan paid off next year  

HOWEVER if it wasnt for the advice from here I dont think I would be still here.

Obvious difference is I didnt have shiny van but did have a near enough guranteed income.

[SeanK]

Feb 2010 I was a new starter with a not very shiny van but with a £16000 loan to buy it and about 200 customers.

Im still here with the loan paid off next year  

HOWEVER if it wasnt for the advice from here I dont think I would be still here.

Obvious difference is I didnt have shiny van but did have a near enough guranteed income.

You spent £16000 on a van and it wasn't shiny what happened ?

[Big dee]

lot of new starts in my area but mainly trad...i saw two guys today
in different areas
on foot hauling ladders and all their gear with them. i instantly
thought fairplay at least they have the balls to get off their backsides
and try something.

As for the guy who has the sparkly new van okay he has been
mugged by ionics but he has a start of a round and if he keeps his
head down gets on with learns from his mistakes like we all have to
 
There is a good chance he could be making a decent living a year
from now.

Me thinks too many worrying about what others are doing,when they
should be watching where they are going themselves

I'm a new starter so to speak, (2nd time around) with not so shiny van, fitted wfp system and struggling. Need to keep faith that it'll get better. Don't be down on us, most of us mean well. Remember you all started more or less the same way. Unless of course you were born with a silver scrim in your mouth.

[SeanK]

Dee, if was easy everybody would be at it as its a good way to make a
decent living.
I started with 5 mates and another 5 family members so 10 customers in total and worked up from there.
It took a few years before I started making half decent money.
Keep going it will be worth it in the end and best of luck.

[gary999]

lot of new starts in my area but mainly trad...i saw two guys today
in different areas
on foot hauling ladders and all their gear with them. i instantly
thought fairplay at least they have the balls to get off their backsides
and try something.

As for the guy who has the sparkly new van okay he has been
mugged by ionics but he has a start of a round and if he keeps his
head down gets on with learns from his mistakes like we all have to
 
There is a good chance he could be making a decent living a year
from now.

Me thinks too many worrying about what others are doing,when they
should be watching where they are going themselves

I'm a new starter so to speak, (2nd time around) with not so shiny van, fitted wfp system and struggling. Need to keep faith that it'll get better. Don't be down on us, most of us mean well. Remember you all started more or less the same way. Unless of course you were born with a silver scrim in your mouth.

err! i think if you read my post...you will find i wasnt bad mouthing new starters

[paul ette]

im not bad mouthing any new starters either, ive only been doing in a year and half myself so im fairly new too, was just saying the guy spent all that money and thought the work would come running to him, i started with nothing and didnt have any money to get me going(as im sure lots of you on here where the same) was just saying that 10k could of been spent on building up a round fast, then thought about getting a good setup in the future, if he did it that way he could of been earning a hell of a lot more now than what he is

[HampshireWindowCleaning]

If he only started in March and he's got £250 a week coming in thats a grands worth of monthly jobs he's found so thats not bad going really. Another 9 months and he might be doing £500 a week if he keeps at it.