[deeege]

I dont offer free cleans dont need to been i game to long i would rather them sit the clean out

I cleaned 2 elderly customers houses for free last week.......it made me feel good.......these have been on my books for over 25 years......👍

Was that before or after you increased their price? 😂

[Steven Biggs]

I dont offer free cleans dont need to been i game to long i would rather them sit the clean out

I cleaned 2 elderly customers houses for free last week.......it made me feel good.......these have been on my books for over 25 years......👍

why would you clean there windows free of charge . As there income been affected. Pensioners?

[P @ F]

Pensioners should be the safest customers at the moment Daz , they won’t be any shorter of money , doing them free is daft !

[dazmond]

Pensioners should be the safest customers at the moment Daz , they won’t be any shorter of money , doing them free is daft !

The two I did for free have been in hospital for other health problems and are very frail.....they've been good,solid customers for many years.......

[dazmond]

I dont offer free cleans dont need to been i game to long i would rather them sit the clean out

I cleaned 2 elderly customers houses for free last week.......it made me feel good.......these have been on my books for over 25 years......👍

why would you clean there windows free of charge . As there income been affected. Pensioners?

Have you not done anything for free in your life as a window cleaner then mate?

[Stoots]

Don't judge your entire business on a bad couple of days.

I had 2 cancels and about 6 skips in the first week of lockdown. I thought it would get worse but in the 3 weeks since I've only had 1 more cancel and maybe a other half a dozen skips.

I've picked up at least 5 new custs in that time plus had someone one off stuff come in that tbh I didn't really want.

Funny thing is a lot of the ones who skipped cleans are flakey customers anyway, the ones who in the past have a habit of skipping and late paying etc. I've taken the opportunity to remove a few of these from my round. My more established cream work has been very supportive.

If you are that worried just advertise, loads of work out there, social media is king ive picked up another just this morning.

Another thing I would say is in future get more work than you need.  I'm never short of work because I'm always behind schedule.

[deeege]

Don't judge your entire business on a bad couple of days.

I had 2 cancels and about 6 skips in the first week of lockdown. I thought it would get worse but in the 3 weeks since I've only had 1 more cancel and maybe a other half a dozen skips.

I've picked up at least 5 new custs in that time plus had someone one off stuff come in that tbh I didn't really want.

Funny thing is a lot of the ones who skipped cleans are flakey customers anyway, the ones who in the past have a habit of skipping and late paying etc. I've taken the opportunity to remove a few of these from my round. My more established cream work has been very supportive.

If you are that worried just advertise, loads of work out there, social media is king ive picked up another just this morning.

Another thing I would say is in future get more work than you need.  I'm never short of work because I'm always behind schedule.

My last few weeks mirrors this too. A couple cancellations, one was flakey anyway. Picked up a handful of new regulars and one offs.

Most of my commercial is starting to come to life now aswell. 2 quite large offices want external only cleans ready for reopening in early May, management company work has carried on anyway and my showhomes work looks to be kicking off again in a couple of weeks. My retail work still on hold but that’s only a tiny amount these days.

My phones still deadly quiet though for new enquiries, usually getting 3-4 enquiries a day at this time of year but phone hasn’t rang for a couple of weeks. Is this what others are experiencing too?

[dazmond]

good stuff danny....so this lockdown hasnt been as bad for business has first feared then mate?.......the thing is even if you lost say 20% of your income i guess your not spending as much on stuff like eating out,days out with the kids and holidays(and haircuts!)........

my missus has just got a 3 month mortgage holiday so thats given her a bit of extra money for a few months...it was really easy.....i think she ll be itching to get back to work within the next few weeks though as shes done most of the jobs around the house and garden.......i dont know whether she will be allowed to open the shop by then or not.....

i was going to have a week off at the start of may(i would of been on holiday in greece anyway)but ive changed my mind...im just gonna work through this whole pandemic by the looks of it!

[deeege]

good stuff danny....so this lockdown hasnt been as bad for business has first feared then mate?.......the thing is even if you lost say 20% of your income i guess your not spending as much on stuff like eating out,days out with the kids and holidays(and haircuts!)........

my missus has just got a 3 month mortgage holiday so thats given her a bit of extra money for a few months...it was really easy.....i think she ll be itching to get back to work within the next few weeks though as shes done most of the jobs around the house and garden.......i dont know whether she will be allowed to open the shop by then or not.....

i was going to have a week off at the start of may(i would of been on holiday in greece anyway)but ive changed my mind...im just gonna work through this whole pandemic by the looks of it!

Things are definitely looking more promising than I first feared. I’ll be down a few thousand on missed commercial work but I’m more concerned about getting it back long term which has always been my main concern.

It’s been quite difficult to spend money these last few weeks hasn’t it which has been a nice change. I’ve spent a fair whack on materials for the garden though, Indian sandstone patio, new shed etc. All cash which would otherwise no doubt been spent on days out, meals out, weekends away etc.

I must admit Ive also enjoyed the change of pace, slowing everything down. It feels like I’ve stepped out of the rat race for the last 4 weeks and spent loads more time with my wife and kids and refocused on what is really important.

I’m sure your mrs will be allowed to reopen her shop quite soon Daz, the building sites are getting back to work this week and next, plenty will follow after that.

[Stoots]

I hardly ever get phone calls despite having decent Google rankings.

95% of my work comes through fb with the odd email and walk up.

I've spent loads of money since this lockdown. I bought a new PC, desk and chair. Made an office in the spare room, only problem is I'm getting told off for spending too much time in it  . I bought a load of painting gear and resprayed my old car.

Been having a clear out and sold quite a bit of stuff on ebay though, tablet, pc, bike, xbox.

It's frustrating  having to order everything and waiting a week for deliverys rather than being able to nip to the shop.

[cgh window cleaning]

I’m full commercial to start with I had loads of cancel cleans and jobs to be put on hold.
They are now starting to come back apart from the retail and pub/resturaunt work and a couple of offices.

I’m still down quite a lot but I was surprised at how much I actually turned over in April for very little work.
Not massive money but still ok.
like others I have spent very little.I don’t think I’ve put fuel in my van for aleast 5 weeks.

The retail work will be the last to come back and some I am struggling to get money out of so out of my own choice even if they come back some are getting dropped.

[NWH]

Talking about fuel I’ve used far less fuel not sitting in traffic,really noticeable tbh I reckon the roads being quieter has saved me £20 a week on fuel.

[Spruce]

Pensioners should be the safest customers at the moment Daz , they won’t be any shorter of money , doing them free is daft !

I agree but they are also the most vulnerable to this pandemic as I am due to age and health.

I've had a couple of elderly ones asking me if I'm working. They were doing their best to convince me that I didn't have to come anywhere near them but they needed their windows cleaned.

Apparently the gardeners are still working. The one customer told me they arrived in different vehicles; one did the back and the other the front and they never spoke to each other.

[Mike Burd]

I haven’t kept count, but we’ve not lost a fraction of what I expected. With new customers coming in (no marketing going on) I reckon we’re slightly up. It’s early days yet though.

[Spruce]

I’m full commercial to start with I had loads of cancel cleans and jobs to be put on hold.
They are now starting to come back apart from the retail and pub/resturaunt work and a couple of offices.

I’m still down quite a lot but I was surprised at how much I actually turned over in April for very little work.
Not massive money but still ok.
like others I have spent very little.I don’t think I’ve put fuel in my van for aleast 5 weeks.

The retail work will be the last to come back and some I am struggling to get money out of so out of my own choice even if they come back some are getting dropped.

We did a previously cancelled commercial clean this morning.  He jumped on it when I suggested Saturday as no staff are around which fitted his company's  Health and Safety plan.

This line has been adopted by a few business as an excuse to cancel/suspend our business relationship. Payment for previous work is still outstanding.
 We consider that a force majeure event has occurred for the purposes of our contract with you and accordingly we would like to suspend our service with you effective immediately.

Our holiday was cancelled by Tui the evening before we were due to fly out the next morning. They have used this same excuse for stalling on a refund payment.

[Stoots]

Talking about fuel I’ve used far less fuel not sitting in traffic,really noticeable tbh I reckon the roads being quieter has saved me £20 a week on fuel.

I never encounter traffic, maybe 10/15 mins to where im starting on a morning then 30 secs between most jobs, home well before rush hour.

[Keiron Bradley]

Yes I am Trad.
I have some nice business cards that state I also clean out gutters, conservatory roofs and FSG.
Normally I would have had a few of those jobs by this time of year.

I did cut a lawn and painted a shed for someone this week. I know this can look bad, jack of all trades etc but hoping it will lead to more window cleaning customers.

I live in a small village and also have dropped leaflets in the surrounding villages but this area is saturated with window cleaners from here and the surrounding areas. Most new customers are either new to the area or messers than nobody else wants. I have dropped whole villages before and not got 1 call. I picked up a few where one had retired last year. Just lucky timing.

Correct Don Kee
1st year profits were 1500 ish (3 months)
2nd year profits were 6500 ish
So 4000 ish 80% 3200 266 a month.
2019/2020 profits were higher but they don't count towards the grant.

The grant would help cover the lost commercial work and inside work so yes I am grateful for that but just concerned that the longer this goes on the more will drop out.
I know it can always be worse and some are a lot worse off than me.

Do you advertise your addons other than just on business cards and try and push these too. And do you have a website targetting your local areas for window cleaning and additional services?
I know some people don't rate websites as source of new work enquiries but that could be for any number of reasons. The chances are there are hundreds of searches every month in your location made by people looking for the local services you offer.
It can only help you if you're able to put your company into a prominent position on search results  pages. Also use and optimise your Google My Business page and try and rank in the local pack - the box of 3 taht appears at the top of page 1 for most local service searches on Google. GMB listings are free and receive a high percentage of clicks. And don't forget these are people specifically looking for a particular local service and so close to making a decision on hiring / buying.
And don't forget Bing Places as another free business listing and an alternative to Google. .https://www.bingplaces.com/
And a facebook page is another free platform.
These are all ways to improve your online presence and possibly / probably generate work. The only cost involved is for a domain name, website and hosting but if you're able to do a site yourself, you can buy a domain name and make and host a WordPress website (amongst others) very cheaply with companies such as 1&1.

[NWH]

I mean during the day in general driving from job to job hardly any traffic at all mainly lorries or delivery vans.

[Granny]

I dont offer free cleans dont need to been i game to long i would rather them sit the clean out

I cleaned 2 elderly customers houses for free last week.......it made me feel good.......these have been on my books for over 25 years......👍

why would you clean there windows free of charge . As there income been affected. Pensioners?

Have you not done anything for free in your life as a window cleaner then mate?

Doubt it.
Steven Biggs
My sons are thinking of employing in the near future . So I said I would help them leaflet and canvas on Monday . There’s a large nice estate where they have a few houses . But they have been told there is 2 windys who are not working for the foreseeable . Might pay off for em .

[Steven Biggs]

Pensioners should be the safest customers at the moment Daz , they won’t be any shorter of money , doing them free is daft !

The two I did for free have been in hospital for other health problems and are very frail.....they've been good,solid customers for many years.......

😁so that means they have even more money . No food or minor expenses while in there . More fool you .