[groundhog]

I have a friend who is very keen to build himself a round as he is going to lose his job in a couple of months time. He has been asking me lots of questions about how long it would take to build a reasonable round. Now its a long time ago that I started out building my round, but I reckon that it probably took a few months to get a round with a livable wage coming in. How long has it taken you guys to build up to a reasonable level?

[ben M]

2 years

[groundhog]

2 years

Blimey!! Thats a long time to build a round!! I think it just depends on the effort you put in to build the round up, the more leaflets you deliver and doors you knock on then the more customers you are going to get.

[dazmond]

21 years!(to build a very decent round!)

[johnwillan]

Canvassing 1 in 50 (50 knocks per hour)
Leaflets 2.5 per 1000 (100/150 leaflets per hour)
Retention approx 75%

Average cost per clean X
frequency of clean ?

You do the maths

Have fun

[groundhog]

21 years!(to build a very decent round!)

Ok I can see that I'm not going to get any sensible answers here! I am going to help him build his round, and I reckon that if he does as I advise him then he should have a reasonable sized round in a few months time. The thing with window cleaning is that like most things in life, the more effort you put in, then the more rewards you get out of it!

[groundhog]

Canvassing 1 in 50 (50 knocks per hour)
Leaflets 2.5 per 1000 (100/150 leaflets per hour)
Retention approx 75%

Average cost per clean X
frequency of clean ?

You do the maths

Have fun

Thanks for that John, although I have to say that my experience is that the numbers of customers gained from leaflets and door knocking is far greater that what you suggest above! When I first started out I targeted a couple of newly built estates by first leafleting then following up the next day by knocking the doors, and my success rate was almost 1 customer for every 3 doors knocked! Mind you I'm very good at it!! 

[Smudger]

You'll get out what you put in, that means canvassing evenings and weekends booking in first cleans during the day then back out canvassing, no slacking off for little holidays, weekends away, oh, can't be bothered today blah blah

And you should be able to generate enough customers to bring in 1k to 1500 turnover every four week cycle after 10 to 12 weeks
Has your friend done window cleaning before ?

Darran

[groundhog]

You'll get out what you put in, that means canvassing evenings and weekends booking in first cleans during the day then back out canvassing, no slacking off for little holidays, weekends away, oh, can't be bothered today blah blah

And you should be able to generate enough customers to bring in 1k to 1500 turnover every four week cycle after 10 to 12 weeks
Has your friend done window cleaning before ?

Darran

Thats how I see it too Darran! He has no experience at all, but I'm going to take him out with me for a week or so to show him the ropes. Thanks

[PoleKing]

I think Ben M is about right actually.
He could build a round in a couple of weeks but to hone it to a 'living wage' I think would be a couple of years.

[groundhog]

I think Ben M is about right actually.
He could build a round in a couple of weeks but to hone it to a 'living wage' I think would be a couple of years.

Depends on how many leaflets you are prepared to deliver, how many hours work you are prepared to put in, how well you price the jobs and how good you are at dealing with people! I know that I took over one hundred customers on in one week when I first started my round, by leafleting on new estates and following up with door knocking.

[Smudger]

Two years for a living wage ? You'd never make it at that rate

I had 4 months to get an income of £1600 pm to cover household bills etc...

I was at around £1800 12 was in, that was 5 yrs ago.

Groundhog, the biggest problem I see is the learning curve of WFP, learning all the little tricks of the trade, battling weather conditions, equipment. If he's dedicated and you can help him out over the first few weeks by training and guidance then he will make it, but any sign of slacking will ultimately lead to failure as the rewards will not materialise

Darran

[Mick Kent]

I pit my soul into builing up my business again, although i have been going 12 years, i decided to restart 3 years ago, and in 3 years i have built up 2 full rounds!
I dont see how the hell he will do it in a few months?? It isnt possible, how would a newbie be able to cram in so many first cleans, how would a newbie manage to even gain that many to be going strong in a few months on his own??.
A nice average round would be 400 customers(100 customers a week or 20 a day mon to fri)
You wont want more than 20 new first cleans a week to do but having said that the reality of him getting even that many a week is pretty slim and then you will average a 25 percent dropout rate before and after the first cleans!. Be a realist if he is trusting you for advice and help! It will take at least a 6 months to a year to get a sort of reliable customer base but 2 years plus to be full of decent customers and that would be going some.

[koopmaster]

its taken me 2 years to get to 360 customers - Good customers with the average of £11 per a customer.

It took about 2 months of solid weekend and evenings to build up the first 100 and about 4 months to be on £1500 PM.

that being said I have dumped a lot of time wasters and hard cleans over the years to get to where I am now. George database is showing almost 600 customers I have gone through.

[Smudger]

Mick- there is no reason whatsoever why it can't be done you require 8 customers day at £10 average at the of 12 weeks. That's £80 a day for four weeks, canvass hard from 5.30 till dusk now every evening will get you between 2 and 6 per night even at the lower end 3 cycles gets you 168 customers in 12 weeks

And your telling me you can't manage 3 first cleans in a day

On the second cycle you'll have a few regular cleans and another 3 new cleans



Darran

[ascjim]

took me 3 years to build a good round, with only good customers. No rubbish jobs

[8weekly]

A good round takes at least 2 years.

[groundhog]

I pit my soul into builing up my business again, although i have been going 12 years, i decided to restart 3 years ago, and in 3 years i have built up 2 full rounds!
I dont see how the hell he will do it in a few months?? It isnt possible, how would a newbie be able to cram in so many first cleans, how would a newbie manage to even gain that many to be going strong in a few months on his own??.
A nice average round would be 400 customers(100 customers a week or 20 a day mon to fri)
You wont want more than 20 new first cleans a week to do but having said that the reality of him getting even that many a week is pretty slim and then you will average a 25 percent dropout rate before and after the first cleans!. Be a realist if he is trusting you for advice and help! It will take at least a 6 months to a year to get a sort of reliable customer base but 2 years plus to be full of decent customers and that would be going some.

I love it when someone tells me something isn't possible!! What you actually mean is that it's not possible for you!! And a 25% dropout? How does that happen? I rarely lose a customer, never more than 2 or 3 a year!!

[koopmaster]

OHH, I remember all those first cleans..... LOl I thought its would never end.  It can suck up your days,  then theres the round route to sort out.  driving all over the place for the first 6 months till you have enough customers to get a route.  

then life starts getting easier.

[8weekly]

I pit my soul into builing up my business again, although i have been going 12 years, i decided to restart 3 years ago, and in 3 years i have built up 2 full rounds!
I dont see how the hell he will do it in a few months?? It isnt possible, how would a newbie be able to cram in so many first cleans, how would a newbie manage to even gain that many to be going strong in a few months on his own??.
A nice average round would be 400 customers(100 customers a week or 20 a day mon to fri)
You wont want more than 20 new first cleans a week to do but having said that the reality of him getting even that many a week is pretty slim and then you will average a 25 percent dropout rate before and after the first cleans!. Be a realist if he is trusting you for advice and help! It will take at least a 6 months to a year to get a sort of reliable customer base but 2 years plus to be full of decent customers and that would be going some.

I love it when someone tells me something isn't possible!! What you actually mean is that it's not possible for you!! And a 25% dropout? How does that happen? I rarely lose a customer, never more than 2 or 3 a year!!

Seriously? Only 2 or 3 a year? I reckon that on a new round the drop out rate is higher than 25%. I would also say that if you really only lose 2 or 3 a year you are too cheap.