[John Mart]

I agree. Don’t kid yourself that your customers overly care about you. Some won’t even want to see you doing too well. They just want their windows cleaned by a reliable, trustworthy person(s) who looks presentable, for a reasonable price. I’m not too interested in their personal lives, or them mine. It’s a business, a two way street. I do it for money & in return the customer gets clean windows. Then I go home to my family, the people that really care about me. End of.

its still nice to have a bit of a chat with some customers IMO....it helps the day along whether its when im window cleaning or collecting payments.....

from my experience customers seem glad im doing well(as lots of them are wealthy retired folk)....

Some quite definitely don’t like you doing well. I had one that when I started I hugely undercharged on a conservatory roof. £20 I think. They were monthly at the time but wanted to go Two monthly. I agreed to it but made a mental note to up the roof price to £40 when next asked. They never accepted the increase and over two years I watched the north facing roof get greener and greener. When I moved to a bigger house just a few doors from them he made a comment about must be doing well for yourself and then cancelled a few weeks later. Wife looked like she chewed a wasp too. 

[dazmond]

I used to think that having the best relationship with customers and chatting for ages was also really good to develop loyal customers.  I also did collecting twice a week and loved the £250-£500 in tips that i got at xmas.

But when all said and done, my business is way more profitable now that i dont go collecting at all, we only chat to customers for a few mins max, and we choose to be efficient with time, than to be the friendlist chattiest window cleaner.

I'd rather do £300  day in day out all year round, than say £250 a day if it means chatting to lots of customers.  The difference far exceeds losing any customers to loyalty issues imo.

It's like the argument with price rises.  Up your prices, and you will lose some customers, but you will end up doing less work for the same money, so its more efficient.

to me it not all about the money once you reach a certain level of income.......i dont stand chatting to customers for ages but a little chat here and there and a cuppa(and biccies too sometimes)really brightens the day when you work on your own esp during the winter months....

[dazmond]

I agree. Don’t kid yourself that your customers overly care about you. Some won’t even want to see you doing too well. They just want their windows cleaned by a reliable, trustworthy person(s) who looks presentable, for a reasonable price. I’m not too interested in their personal lives, or them mine. It’s a business, a two way street. I do it for money & in return the customer gets clean windows. Then I go home to my family, the people that really care about me. End of.

its still nice to have a bit of a chat with some customers IMO....it helps the day along whether its when im window cleaning or collecting payments.....

from my experience customers seem glad im doing well(as lots of them are wealthy retired folk)....

Some quite definitely don’t like you doing well. I had one that when I started I hugely undercharged on a conservatory roof. £20 I think. They were monthly at the time but wanted to go Two monthly. I agreed to it but made a mental note to up the roof price to £40 when next asked. They never accepted the increase and over two years I watched the north facing roof get greener and greener. When I moved to a bigger house just a few doors from them he made a comment about must be doing well for yourself and then cancelled a few weeks later. Wife looked like she chewed a wasp too. 

i might get the odd customer like that but they dont say anything to my face!(when i turn up in my brand new golf GTD)

[Stoots]

As much as I would like to have 100% go cardless I'm sure it won't happen anytime soon, a lot won't use it so will take many years to get them all on it.

I'm not too bothered, the main thing is do they pay, if they do I don't care whether it's within a few days or a few weeks as long as it comes in at some point it's all good. The fast payers make up for slower ones and as long as cash is flowing it really doesn't matter.

A few minutes twice a week to send out reminders is hardly a lot more work.

Of course there's always the ones who need 5 or 6 reminders and who take the pee, these should be offered go cardless or be dumped

Do you find now your limited its more important to get payments in? Having an employee too.

Is he out alone yet?

Being Ltd doesnt make a difference mate, actually i find it easier managing finances being ltd as i just pay myself a wage, monthly expenses and let the business account build up, this means im always in front. I much prefer it this way keeping things seperate.

As for an employee, i havent actually got one at the minute, i had someone a couple of months ago but it didnt work out, since then ive trialled a couple of lads and had a couple work as temporary subbys but no one permanent.

But having tried a few lads now and having tried both having a guy out on his own and working as a 2 man i have changed my thoughts entirely on my business going forward.

I dont actually want a guy out on his own anymore, two vans is twice the hassle ...i have mastered the art of working as a 2 man now i think, before i was struggling to do much more than what i do solo but now with one guy in particular who i get on well with we can crack out 350-400 a day by 3pm.

On top of that it makes the working day easier and gives me more motivation.

So now im still looking for an employee but it will be 3-4 days a week as a 2 man and thats me done, i dont want anymore growth or stress than that.  At least not for now.

[paul alan]

As much as I would like to have 100% go cardless I'm sure it won't happen anytime soon, a lot won't use it so will take many years to get them all on it.

I'm not too bothered, the main thing is do they pay, if they do I don't care whether it's within a few days or a few weeks as long as it comes in at some point it's all good. The fast payers make up for slower ones and as long as cash is flowing it really doesn't matter.

A few minutes twice a week to send out reminders is hardly a lot more work.

Of course there's always the ones who need 5 or 6 reminders and who take the pee, these should be offered go cardless or be dumped

Do you find now your limited its more important to get payments in? Having an employee too.

Is he out alone yet?

Being Ltd doesnt make a difference mate, actually i find it easier managing finances being ltd as i just pay myself a wage, monthly expenses and let the business account build up, this means im always in front. I much prefer it this way keeping things seperate.

As for an employee, i havent actually got one at the minute, i had someone a couple of months ago but it didnt work out, since then ive trialled a couple of lads and had a couple work as temporary subbys but no one permanent.

But having tried a few lads now and having tried both having a guy out on his own and working as a 2 man i have changed my thoughts entirely on my business going forward.

I dont actually want a guy out on his own anymore, two vans is twice the hassle ...i have mastered the art of working as a 2 man now i think, before i was struggling to do much more than what i do solo but now with one guy in particular who i get on well with we can crack out 350-400 a day by 3pm.

On top of that it makes the working day easier and gives me more motivation.

So now im still looking for an employee but it will be 3-4 days a week as a 2 man and thats me done, i dont want anymore growth or stress than that.  At least not for now.

I much prefer LTD for the reasons you stated, I love the idea of getting a wage even if I'm not working.


But I do need the money in now, there's 3 wages to pay on top of the bills each month. My guy is coming on well, I have 4 weeks left of my training plan then we'll be doing a couple of test runs with him out alone and me riding shotgun.


The he's out 2 days per week and I cant wait, I know there's going to be headache's etc but nothing that cant be sorted.

[Stoots]

I don't really get any enjoyment out of standing around chatting and drinking tea. In fact the opposite. I get enjoyment out of watching amount of ££ I've made going up and the amount of jobs left to do going down. I enjoy getting finished and going home.

[John Mart]

I don't really get any enjoyment out of standing around chatting and drinking tea. In fact the opposite. I get enjoyment out of watching amount of ££ I've made going up and the amount of jobs left to do going down. I enjoy getting finished and going home.

Exactly the same as me. The tea is usually insipid anyway.

[Slacky]

chasing payments has always been part and parcel of this job...ive been collecting for 25 years!

however these days its minimal and the job has become a lot easier to get paid.i actually like the chit chat with some customers that i collect from...some of them have been with me for 20+ years.......

people actually stop and chat to you occasionally up north....

Im coming through your patch Thursday afternoon Daz.

[dazmond]

chasing payments has always been part and parcel of this job...ive been collecting for 25 years!

however these days its minimal and the job has become a lot easier to get paid.i actually like the chit chat with some customers that i collect from...some of them have been with me for 20+ years.......

people actually stop and chat to you occasionally up north....

Im coming through your patch Thursday afternoon Daz.

holiday?

[dazmond]

I don't really get any enjoyment out of standing around chatting and drinking tea. In fact the opposite. I get enjoyment out of watching amount of ££ I've made going up and the amount of jobs left to do going down. I enjoy getting finished and going home.

most days i get a few coffees.im not standing around for hours adam!!a 5 min chat is ok though...some of my customers make great coffee too!other days i dont get a brew all day and hardly see a soul.....swings and roundabouts.....

[Slacky]

chasing payments has always been part and parcel of this job...ive been collecting for 25 years!

however these days its minimal and the job has become a lot easier to get paid.i actually like the chit chat with some customers that i collect from...some of them have been with me for 20+ years.......

people actually stop and chat to you occasionally up north....

Im coming through your patch Thursday afternoon Daz.

holiday?

Yea. I’m staying in a 14,000* woodland lodge in the Lake District. Private hot-tub and boat for use on my 15,000,000* private lake.

[nathankaye]

I don't really get any enjoyment out of standing around chatting and drinking tea. In fact the opposite. I get enjoyment out of watching amount of ££ I've made going up and the amount of jobs left to do going down. I enjoy getting finished and going home.

most days i get a few coffees.im not standing around for hours adam!!a 5 min chat is ok though...some of my customers make great coffee too!other days i dont get a brew all day and hardly see a soul.....swings and roundabouts.....

One particular customer of mine in a "well to do" area asked if I wanted a coffee. ( Now I know these customers well enough to have some banter with them etc.) the only problem is we only have decaff left, she said. Then turning to the hubby, unless you want a posh coffee (as they call it, but it is proper coffee with freshly grounded beans). The hubby says, nah, he's a working lad just the normal coffee will do him.
Erm no, I said.  I'm a coffee snob and if nice coffee is on the cards that would be great. I don't mind finishing your house and having ten mins with a coffee.    The wife playfully slaps him and off he goes to make me a great coffee 

In order to get more work done in a day, working your tail off getting tired etc isn't the way to go about it.  Absolutely nothing wrong with a ten min break to recharge. Just as long as its not a lot of ten min breaks in a day 😂

[Simon Trapani]

I have a flask for when I’m thirsty & talksport on my pocket radio for when I want to listen to people. That’s all i need. I love it.