[paul alan]

Been a hard week for me, the wife has been at home all week with the boy who's not well so did the lot on my own and its a busy week.

So today I'm all done and am at home with the boy while wifeys getting her hair done, it's pouring down too. Soon as she's back its off down the gym.

Love being a window cleaner.

Got more first cleans to do tomorrow though, and its going to be cold again.

[nathankaye]

Its certainly great being your own boss and i particularly love the job come summer!

The only draw backs  in comparison to being emoloyed is not being paid in full on a set day and not having sick pay. Yet the benefits out weigh these.
I could never go back to being employed, jumping to someones commands and getting £10 - £20 quid an hour if its even that?   It would kill me knowing I could get that in under 15mins on one house.

[Dry Clean]

Its certainly great being your own boss and i particularly love the job come summer!

The only draw backs  in comparison to being emoloyed is not being paid in full on a set day and not having sick pay. Yet the benefits out weigh these.
I could never go back to being employed, jumping to someones commands and getting £10 - £20 quid an hour if its even that?   It would kill me knowing I could get that in under 15mins on one house.

You must be well over the VAT threshold Nathan, I do sort of agree though, some people are better off working in their own little bubbles as they never fit in or thrive when not in them.

[NWH]

Being paid in full mmmm that’s only good if the money’s decent though yeah,you probably clean in a day what some get in a week so I wouldn’t worry about the odd day off. You see it as being money down that week but I’m sure someone working in B&Q or Tesco’s wouldn’t mind your money 2 days a week eh 😂

[Stoots]

i would guess £20 an hour employed beats the socks off most sole trader windys nathan.

Thats £800 before tax for 52 weeks of the year guaranteed, no worrying about weather and customers.

 Clock out and switch off.

Now if an average windy does a grand a week when you factor in non payers, skippers, holidays, weather etc it probably works out the same.

Not that id choose it but 20 quid an hour employed is not to be sniffed at.

[Dry Clean]

Even £500 or £600 a week would be good employment money Adam, £26k to £31k a year with six weeks holidays, sick pay, pension, no hassle, set hours and minimum expense you would be needing to clear over £33k to £40k a year cleaning windows just to be on the same level of earnings.
Some people just get carried away when trying to justify this job especially on here. lol.

[nathankaye]

There surely isnt that many sole window cleaners who cant possibly be on less than £20 an hour?
The only ones i thought would be are the new starters. But even at five quid a pop they should be able to clean at least four an hour.

Im not knocking employment, as i said the benefits of receiving your wage on a set day and have sick/holiday pay would be great. (i was employed before).   
 But holiday pay and sick pay should be taken account when your pricing jobs up.

[Tom-01]

There surely isnt that many sole window cleaners who cant possibly be on less than £20 an hour?
The only ones i thought would be are the new starters. But even at five quid a pop they should be able to clean at least four an hour.

Im not knocking employment, as i said the benefits of receiving your wage on a set day and have sick/holiday pay would be great. (i was employed before).   
 But holiday pay and sick pay should be taken account when your pricing jobs up.

You need to take expenses off though Nathan

[Lee Smith]

i would guess £20 an hour employed beats the socks off most sole trader windys nathan.

Thats £800 before tax for 52 weeks of the year guaranteed, no worrying about weather and customers.

 Clock out and switch off.

Now if an average windy does a grand a week when you factor in non payers, skippers, holidays, weather etc it probably works out the same.

Not that id choose it but 20 quid an hour employed is not to be sniffed at.

If someone is earning £800 a week they are most likely in a very stressful job, my missus is a Manager earns around that and she absolutely hates her job, she certainly can't just clock off and switch off.. Window Cleaning is pretty much a zero stress job and to think most window cleaners will earn more the nurses, policemen, teachers etc is mental.

[NWH]

You should earn more then Poilce men and teachers you are supposed to be running a BUSINESS,if you are just earning a wage your too cheap imo. What happens if like last month I had to pay out best part of 1500 on my van for repairs,if I wasn’t doing enough work I would have been stuffed,you need to earn far in excess of your monthly outgoings or you may as well work for someone and be a wage slave.

[John Mart]

i would guess £20 an hour employed beats the socks off most sole trader windys nathan.

Thats £800 before tax for 52 weeks of the year guaranteed, no worrying about weather and customers.

 Clock out and switch off.

Now if an average windy does a grand a week when you factor in non payers, skippers, holidays, weather etc it probably works out the same.

Not that id choose it but 20 quid an hour employed is not to be sniffed at.

If someone is earning £800 a week they are most likely in a very stressful job, my missus is a Manager earns around that and she absolutely hates her job, she certainly can't just clock off and switch off.. Window Cleaning is pretty much a zero stress job and to think most window cleaners will earn more the nurses, policemen, teachers etc is mental.

Window cleaning is NOT zero stress.

[NWH]

No I agree ask Pryor lol

[paul alan]

Put the wages to one side for a minute, I like being self employed because I can do as I please when I how I please.

When you work for someone else all that goes out the window, if you decide to take a day off you could possibly get the sack if you do it often enough. If you want to knock off early you have to ask and probably be told NO!

I would happily take a pay cut to be my own boss, I'm not a bad bloke to work for.

[dazmond]

You should earn more then Poilce men and teachers you are supposed to be running a BUSINESS,if you are just earning a wage your too cheap imo. What happens if like last month I had to pay out best part of 1500 on my van for repairs,if I wasn’t doing enough work I would have been stuffed,you need to earn far in excess of your monthly outgoings or you may as well work for someone and be a wage slave.

you wouldnt have to fork out £1500 on van repairs if you could afford a decent van nigel......

[dazmond]

Even £500 or £600 a week would be good employment money Adam, £26k to £31k a year with six weeks holidays, sick pay, pension, no hassle, set hours and minimum expense you would be needing to clear over £33k to £40k a year cleaning windows just to be on the same level of earnings.
Some people just get carried away when trying to justify this job especially on here. lol.

if you worked for someone else you d have to work A LOT  more hours for your money though sean......you wont get 40k+ a year working 25-30 hours a week like you can  window cleaning.....days off when you want,holidays when you want.....its the freedom i like as well as short days....and virtually no risk of getting sacked/made redundant.....

[Dry Clean]

Even £500 or £600 a week would be good employment money Adam, £26k to £31k a year with six weeks holidays, sick pay, pension, no hassle, set hours and minimum expense you would be needing to clear over £33k to £40k a year cleaning windows just to be on the same level of earnings.
Some people just get carried away when trying to justify this job especially on here. lol.

if you worked for someone else you d have to work A LOT  more hours for your money though sean......you wont get 40k+ a year working 25-30 hours a week like you can  window cleaning.....days off when you want,holidays when you want.....its the freedom i like as well as short days....and virtually no risk of getting sacked/made redundant.....

To be honest Dazmond there's no way Id get £40k a year for 25 to 30 hours a week cleaning windows but I'm still more than happy with what I can earn, that and  the other plus points you mentioned make it a win win for me.

[Marc Stock]

I think it was mentioned before on a previous thread. We are Business Owners, your turnover is not your profit/earnings.

From my experience most people start up a window cleaning round not to earn as much as possible, but do it for personal reasons. Some like the flexibility it offers, so if they have other interests like religious or educational studies/pastimes they can spend time enjoying those things in thier lives.

Some people window clean due to health issues, i know a guy who works 1 day a week he has to look after his ill missus most days and his restbite is a bit of work.

The point is most of these people are not businessmen/women they simply want to enjoy life doing the things they love, looking after those they love.

Then there are those who look at it as a business, as being in business is their pastime, they enjoy the challenges of growing the company and making a living from it even in window cleaning.

No disrespect Nathan but your threads surprise me sometimes, to get your turnover mixed up as your earnings is a very basic mistake and its one you shouldnt be making at your stage of business now. Your earnings are your profits left over.

[Slacky]

To be honest Dazmond there's no way Id get £40k a year for 25 to 30 hours a week cleaning windows

Why not thats only £28 an hour with 6 weeks holiday.

25 hours work a week. If you cant do that then you're a light-weight fair-weather cleaner. Thats part-time.

[dazmond]

To be honest Dazmond there's no way Id get £40k a year for 25 to 30 hours a week cleaning windows

Why not thats only £28 an hour with 6 weeks holiday.

25 hours work a week. If you cant do that then you're a light-weight fair-weather cleaner. Thats part-time.

No it's not.....

It's £35 an hour at 25 hours a week,working 46 weeks a year to hit 40k.....

[dazmond]

I aim to hit £40 an hour as an AVERAGE over the course of a week,month,year.....even though some hours I earn more (the average is lower)....