[Shrek]

Another thing pal - instead of earning 11850 a year or whatever basic your taking out with dividends so there’s no tax , take more money out ,  pay some tax and live your life!
I’m not saying spend everything you earn but have some luxuries otherwise there’s no point in working just to get by, life’s too short to live like that pal

[Bungle]

I find window cleaning monotonous if truth be told. The thing that gets me through the day is £££. I earn decent money but never seem to have any, this spurs me on to start all over every week. Working for yourself can be a ballache, I never seem to switch off... I can be in the pub relaxing and get a text cancelling the clean for the next day and my mind then goes from being chilled to thinking lost income. Lost income won't kill me but it plays on your mind. Then you have your bookwork, I can spend a couple of hours on a Friday inputting all the work I've done that week and sorting rounds out for the next week. 

I'll be doing this until I retire and then I'd probably do a day here and there just to keep me occupied.

@ Marc Stock, I'd fill your week before even thinking about employing. But, would employing give you unwanted stress?

Anyone watch "Homes Under The Hammer"?

[G Griffin]

Confucius say "stop thinking and rub the glass".

[Slacky]

And then of course there is this whole Brexit thing, is it wise to finance another vehicle, and equipment and commit to employees and put myself under pressure to gain more customers, when half of them might sell up and leave the county anyway?

Need some perspective guys...any opinions?
 

Blimey, that is a really bizarre way of thinking.


Where the hell are they going to go?

Wow, I mean why do you presume if there's going to be some sort of mass population exodus after Brexit (which there isn't) then why would they leave Surrey? Perhaps they'd all be drawn to Surrey. If this happens they've got to go somewhere. Why presume they're all going to leave sunny Guildford? Perhaps they'll all leave Hereford but not Surrey.

Where the heck did that thought come from? Why presume its all going to be bad. Maybe the next thing that happens in your business will be a positive thing and the population of Surrey will quadruple overnight.

[G Griffin]

He might have meant country; which is even more unlikely.
He needs to stop thinking  .

[Stoots]

I struggle with the same issues marc, i put it down to mental health.

My moods are very up and down some days i think i want to go for it, expand, employ and feel great, then i can go through a period of thinking whats the point? why put your self under all the stress and hassle of growth and the extra workload. 

Like you i get very bored of this job, the same customers and the weather like you say wither too hot or too cold/wet and somedays i dont want to get out of bed. Then other days i just give in early and go home.

In winter i struggle to get motivated and then when its summer time i would rather be out on my bike.

I often think to myself would i be happier working 3 days a week, not worrying about money and just earning enough whilst having time to enjoy the simple things in life.
 
I suppose you have to really sit down with yourself and try to figure out what is it that i actually want....is it money? free time? the feeling of achievement ?

Ive thought about this a lot and personally i cant be arsed with years of building work, going through messers and all the hassle of it all without much to show for it until much further down the line.

My goals are very simple, all i want is one full time guy out in a van on his own, leaving myself to do 2-3 days a week in a seperate van.....With an aim of turning over about 80k. That will do me, pay him about 20 - 25k and i can live of the rest more than comfortably...

2 things for me

1. i cant do with stress or hassle of a big business but....
2. i cant do this job 5 days a week without going insane

[Frankybadboy]

it could be worst,you could end up like dazmond 

[Tom-01]

I find window cleaning monotonous if truth be told. The thing that gets me through the day is £££. I earn decent money but never seem to have any, this spurs me on to start all over every week. Working for yourself can be a ballache, I never seem to switch off... I can be in the pub relaxing and get a text cancelling the clean for the next day and my mind then goes from being chilled to thinking lost income. Lost income won't kill me but it plays on your mind. Then you have your bookwork, I can spend a couple of hours on a Friday inputting all the work I've done that week and sorting rounds out for the next week. 

I'll be doing this until I retire and then I'd probably do a day here and there just to keep me occupied.

@ Marc Stock, I'd fill your week before even thinking about employing. But, would employing give you unwanted stress?

Anyone watch "Homes Under The Hammer"?

Some good points, especially about being full before employing.

I used to watch Homes Under The Hammer everyday (I’m off the tools and have a bit too much time), I found myself wasting time watching that, then wasting more time looking for cheap houses, knowing full well I’m in no position to do anything like that yet. Window cleaning is the best way for me to earn money to be able to do that in the future.

So, there’s a goal there to keep me motivated with the business and move it forward. Marc probably needs a goal. There’s good money to be earned in the South East, have a future goal and use the ‘now’ to get to it.

Also I’ve now been looking at houses in Yorkshire thanks to a previous post! 🤫

[Bungle]

I find window cleaning monotonous if truth be told. The thing that gets me through the day is £££. I earn decent money but never seem to have any, this spurs me on to start all over every week. Working for yourself can be a ballache, I never seem to switch off... I can be in the pub relaxing and get a text cancelling the clean for the next day and my mind then goes from being chilled to thinking lost income. Lost income won't kill me but it plays on your mind. Then you have your bookwork, I can spend a couple of hours on a Friday inputting all the work I've done that week and sorting rounds out for the next week. 

I'll be doing this until I retire and then I'd probably do a day here and there just to keep me occupied.

@ Marc Stock, I'd fill your week before even thinking about employing. But, would employing give you unwanted stress?

Anyone watch "Homes Under The Hammer"?

Some good points, especially about being full before employing.

I used to watch Homes Under The Hammer everyday (I’m off the tools and have a bit too much time), I found myself wasting time watching that, then wasting more time looking for cheap houses, knowing full well I’m in no position to do anything like that yet. Window cleaning is the best way for me to earn money to be able to do that in the future.

So, there’s a goal there to keep me motivated with the business and move it forward. Marc probably needs a goal. There’s good money to be earned in the South East, have a future goal and use the ‘now’ to get to it.

Also I’ve now been looking at houses in Yorkshire thanks to a previous post! 🤫

Hi Tom, how are you? You weren't to well IIRC?

[P @ F]

I'd stop telling my customers I'll be with them on a particular day in the future. I have never worked to that degree of inflexibility. It would do anyone's head in surely?

Completely agree with this.
I used to work your way Marc and felt like the business was running me.

Me too, I get there when I get there these days , if it don’t suit then laters taters !
Done my stint of where’s and when’s 😁

[dazmond]

I'd stop telling my customers I'll be with them on a particular day in the future. I have never worked to that degree of inflexibility. It would do anyone's head in surely?

i agree....its a crazy way of working IMO.....im all for routine but NOT that rigid!!

[dazmond]

spring is just around the corner lads so chin up eh?

oh and get some hobbies,whatever interests YOU.....away from window cleaning....i love my life (most of the time) these days..

[tony day]

I just don't know what to do.    I am genuinely stuck!

This last year has been really positive with the window cleaning business & I am on the verge of making a key decision. Do i go for it, pop down to my commercial vehicle dealer buy another van, stick someone in it, and canvass my backside off? Or look at something else. My customers signup list is nudging 60k on the spreadsheet now (and that does not include extras) and i'm still only working 4 days a week, and that's not like working nuts days either..

The problem i have is I find the job BORING, anything window cleaning related, the equipment, the customers, the work, I feel like i have had enough of it (nearly 17 years now). Do i really want to commit myself to a business that I find dull for a further 5 or 10 years whilst i strive to make it grow with employees, dealing with complaints, dealing with bad attitudes on both the customer side and employee side?

Over the last 2 years the weather is starting to get to me too, both summertime when its too hot, and winter when its cold and damp plus its becoming harder to predict what the weather is doing than ever before, and yes to a degree with employees you mitigate that on a personal level, but still the window cleaning business is to a certain extent reliant on fairly decent weather, especially for growth and good profits .  I have a couple of other businesses that i can spend more time on, one the engineering business in Basingstoke, and another small business that is showing promise.

And then of course there is this whole Brexit thing, is it wise to finance another vehicle, and equipment and commit to employees and put myself under pressure to gain more customers, when half of them might sell up and leave the county anyway?

Need some perspective guys...any opinions?
 

Attention Seeker!!

[֍Winp®oClean֍]

spring is just around the corner lads so chin up eh?

oh and get some hobbies,whatever interests YOU.....away from window cleaning....i love my life (most of the time) these days..

I think we all need a "Dazmond plush toy"
for our van dashboards!!

[cleaniac]

O.k.  for those who are saying..i'm an attention seeker, well you are entitled to your opinion i guess..

Listen guys, this isn't some sob story. Its something i am thinking deeply about, and the comments written have been very helpful so thanks  .

You know window cleaning is a very solitary job, and sharing our opinions together all part of being a member of this forum.

Daz, I do have hobbies. 1. Motorcycles 2. Fixing up older cars 3. Model Making 4. Family holidays etc  i'm not referring to the private things i enjoy in my life, this post is simply about the window cleaning business and my boredom with it after 17 years.

I think a few people have hit the nail on the head, and i concede that the next date system probably does make it more regimented, but as a result all of my customers know and expect me to clean, and pay me on time so from a business perspective its better, but not from a mindfulness perspective i suppose.

Gomo understands exactly what I am talking about.

Oddbodds...Thanks for the guidance its appreciated, you along with a few others on here are the saving grace of this forum tbh.

Someone mentioned about being too comfortable.. I suppose there is truth in that, and I have just reached a peak that to continue my interest i need to get out of the comfort zone. Money isn't a major issue, and we are more than comfortable...i'm just B O R E D!   

As Lee agreed; he needs to keep pushing forward to be interested. I guess i'm just discovering that to stay interested in this game, i'm going to have to let go and employ, or franchise or whatever.. just for the sake of sanity

[G Griffin]

Well if we're talking about mental health then it's more serious.
Marc, maybe you're just bored and not just with window cleaning. It could still be the case if you did something else. And if you did something different you might be looking in the wrong place.
You need to change how you feel but is cleaning windows the reason for how you feel?

[֍Winp®oClean֍]

Go and work for Lee Pryor, you'll be on more money and have no time to be bored! Win/win.👍

[Slacky]

Window cleaning is atrociously boring, we have to do things to alleviate that and the other things our profession had to deal with without them becoming tedious and having a negative impact on our mental health.

[Walter Mitty]

The problem i have is I find the job BORING,

Need some perspective guys...any opinions?
 

Yes, I find it boring too, but I do find the time flexibility element worth having.  I have a couple of little hobbies that stop me going around the twist.  One of them is writing, the other is a little voluntary work on odd occasions when I'm able.  Maybe you have some non-work interests that you could develop.  I suspect we are so conditioned by society to see moneymaking as a goal in its own right, we sometimes forget other values.

[Slacky]

Audible, bluetooth headphones.