[zesty]

Be realistic, don’t say ‘no I’d have won the lottery’ or no ‘I’d be a professional footballer’

The longer im in this game the more I’m glad I am, but I do wonder if i would have enjoyed being a sparky/joiner etc. got mates who do both, they both do vert very well and the work is a lot more enjoyable. Having said that, they can’t match my hours to money earned.

Then there’s the private sector world with some fantastic opportunities. I look at my dad, he retired at 57 with a massive lump sum and £2k a month forever more.

On balance, I love my job, but I do wonder if I’d choose a different career if I went back to 18 years old.

[michael mckeary]

Variety is the spice of life. I was lucky to join the fire service and have a joinery trade. Having a pension takes all the stress out of worrying about money. I love window cleaning but doing it day in day out is not for me. Window cleaning every second day is great and doing something else the other days suits me to a tee. If I was 18 again I would do it part time and around where I stay.

[DJW]

It’s one of the few jobs you can earn good money with very few brain cells.
Had I have been more intelligent I would have no doubt chosen a different path.

[Slacky]

Essentially I’ve benefited immensely from being a window cleaner for the last 26 years, but there can be no doubt now, none at all,  after my last day at work, that I’d change certain things.

I’ve scoffed at some things on here other cleaners use to run their business. Going on rooves was one of those things that I now wish I had listened to.

[Ascjim]

I would of turned up to my Art and Design course at college and done something in that field.

I was too scared to go. Now I'm starting all over again @ 37 by going on a course in September.

[Stoots]

Yes and no.

I mean i never even thought about the importance of an education or career until my late 20s. Up until that point i was more bothered about girls and cars and going out with mates etc. So from that perspective i dont know how i could have done much different as i wasnt interested.

I definitely had the brains to become whatever i wanted,  i was always top of the class, pretty much a straight A student untl about 13 or 14 when i just stopped being interested and became the class clown.

So yeh if i could go back to then with todays knowledge i would have done something like law or medical school or at the very least become a sparky to have a trade.

Window cleaning is decent money, decent life balance but lets face it for anyone with a brain cell its extremely boring. Thing is with a family and mortgage etc to go retrain on something for a few years isnt financially viable now. Plus ive just kind of accepted my fate, scrubbing glass until i retire, its mundane, depressing at times but when you look at the big picture it could be much worse.

[Tam1872]

Not one of us would have had any ambitions to be a window cleaner when we left the school, the jobs terrible, anyone who thinks rubbing a brush spitting out water over windows for hours everyday is enjoyable needs there head looked at.

[Splash and dash]

Not one of us would have had any ambitions to be a window cleaner when we left the school, the jobs terrible, anyone who thinks rubbing a brush spitting out water over windows for hours everyday is enjoyable needs there head looked at.

You could be stacking shelves in Tesco for  a fraction of what a decent window cleaner can earn .

[Soupy]

I'd probably win the Nobel prize for physics if I could turn back time.

It's worth $1,000,000.

That's Ionics money.

[Tam1872]

Not one of us would have had any ambitions to be a window cleaner when we left the school, the jobs terrible, anyone who thinks rubbing a brush spitting out water over windows for hours everyday is enjoyable needs there head looked at.

You could be stacking shelves in Tesco for  a fraction of what a decent window cleaner can earn .

That doesn't make what I said any less true though.

[michael mckeary]

You could have been an SNP MP for 9 years and then out of a job and realising how difficult it is to get another well paid job. I was delivering tiles in Edinburgh and a guy went by and they were all smiling and talking to him. He was smiling away and I didn't know who he was. He was their Labour MP or used to be and had to end up driving a taxi to make a living. His health deteriorated and he died quite young. That's when I realised how humbling life can be and always having a part time job comes in very handy in times of need.

[Bungle]

Not one of us would have had any ambitions to be a window cleaner when we left the school, the jobs terrible, anyone who thinks rubbing a brush spitting out water over windows for hours everyday is enjoyable needs there head looked at.

I've got insurance cover for scratches and wheel refurb for my car. I got a scratch on the car so I claimed on the insurance. A lad came out to fix it today. We got chatting. He's only 27 got his own business and does some subcontractor work for insurance companies. He's looking to expand next year. He's got the drive to do it too. I asked him how much it would have cost to fix the scratch through him. £120 he said. He was here about 30 minutes in total. How much stress do we put on our bodies in comparison?

I started window cleaning because I had a few mates who did it too and they showed me the ropes.

I always wanted to be a merchant seaman or a HGV driver. I just like seeing different places.

[Viscount]

I was a window cleaner for 8 years 2003-2011. Wfp from 2004. Felt like I wanted a career. Sold the business, lived off the proceeds for 1 year whilst I did my teacher training ( I already had a degree in History).

I took a huge walloping pay cut which only grew in 1.5-2k increments until by 2021 I was earning the same as I was in 2011. I was stressed, tired, had a boss, had deadlines, had to do as I was told and in 2023 was done. I didn't even finish my last year as a teacher - quit before the end of the school year and window cleaned.

I'll tell you one thing, I never want a boss again. Not saying I didn't meet lots of people, learn loads of skills and discovered a talent for writing plays and stories and putting on plays with props and lighting etc, but seriously, give me some windows to clean and be outside all day over that.

[zesty]

I was a window cleaner for 8 years 2003-2011. Wfp from 2004. Felt like I wanted a career. Sold the business, lived off the proceeds for 1 year whilst I did my teacher training ( I already had a degree in History).

I took a huge walloping pay cut which only grew in 1.5-2k increments until by 2021 I was earning the same as I was in 2011. I was stressed, tired, had a boss, had deadlines, had to do as I was told and in 2023 was done. I didn't even finish my last year as a teacher - quit before the end of the school year and window cleaned.

I'll tell you one thing, I never want a boss again. Not saying I didn't meet lots of people, learn loads of skills and discovered a talent for writing plays and stories and putting on plays with props and lighting etc, but seriously, give me some windows to clean and be outside all day over that.

Yeah that’s a rough job.

Plenty of much much better jobs than window cleaning though!

[dazmond]

Personally I wouldn't change a thing...

I never wanted to work when I left school,certainly not full time.i just wanted to screw women and play drums and party my life away.i thought id die before 30..😎👍

Still here at 52 and happy with a well paid, part time,relatively stress free and straightforward window cleaning job

[KS Cleaning]

Not one of us would have had any ambitions to be a window cleaner when we left the school, the jobs terrible, anyone who thinks rubbing a brush spitting out water over windows for hours everyday is enjoyable needs there head looked at.

I've got insurance cover for scratches and wheel refurb for my car. I got a scratch on the car so I claimed on the insurance. A lad came out to fix it today. We got chatting. He's only 27 got his own business and does some subcontractor work for insurance companies. He's looking to expand next year. He's got the drive to do it too. I asked him how much it would have cost to fix the scratch through him. £120 he said. He was here about 30 minutes in total. How much stress do we put on our bodies in comparison?

I started window cleaning because I had a few mates who did it too and they showed me the ropes.

I always wanted to be a merchant seaman or a HGV driver. I just like seeing different places.

£120 to fix a scratch😳 My wife’s car is booked in when we return from holiday, 21” diamond cut wheels refurbed, 4 of them for £360, this includes taking tyres off etc.

[Spruce]

It’s one of the few jobs you can earn good money with very few brain cells.
Had I have been more intelligent I would have no doubt chosen a different path.

Had I learnt the skill of being able to clean the insides of our customer's windows from the outside, I would have gone and worked for NASA.

(We have been called back on a number of occasions over the years to reclean windows which turned out to be dirty on the inside, hence the NASA comment. I'm sure we aren't the only one who have experienced this.)

[dazmond]

In hindsight I just didn't know what I had back when I left school

I had an incredible memory and learnt fast,I remember doing the foreman's job after a year on a plant nursery and knew 100s of Latin names for plants,I also had very good organisational skills.

An old hells angel rocker that worked there could see this in me and said 'don't blow your mind on drink and drugs'...he seen me in work still drunk/high from the night before..

Obviously I never listened to him

That's the problem with youth(it's wasted in my case)I never had any confidence in myself back then

[deeege]

I wouldn’t change a thing tbh. I went into sales straight from school and the stress in that job was unreal. High value sales so I could go 3,4 or 5 weeks without a single order, be the star of the show for a day or two and then the stress would start all over again.

In my circle of friends and acquaintances there’s not a single person I know who has a better work life balance than me that I’d swap with (Well, apart from the one friend who owns over 100 houses and has a team manage them for him and has basicallly retired at 45)

[michael mckeary]

When I started window cleaning on 2018 I had me and the neighbour as customers. In a year I had 20 and went on the other forum and noticed its not just window cleaning. Moved into PW and did the Softwashing course and bought a scaffold. Never had a book of addresses and just did it from memory. Today I'm building a bi-monthly list because I have missed 2 last month. Today I have over 100 customers and adding one every week now without any advertising bar website. Last month I cleaned for a strange new customer and she has bumped me for £60 and I'm not even bothered because I will never deal with her again. Years ago I would be raging but with so much work I believe its a small price to pay to avoid these people. I use the free bank transfers so no charges and take cash also. After 6 years I'm getting repeat business from high end gutter clearing with the Vac. Out of all the jobs I have had in 50 years window cleaning has been the best because of the add-ons.