[D.Salkeld_Ltd]

Hi All,

After spending a lot of time on this forum I feel most of us on here are
Window Cleaners and not realy Business people

What do you feel??

I will add my further comments later.

David

[WavieDavie]

I'm a salesman who also cleans windows, as opposed to a window cleaner who touts for more business.

[matt]

im a window cleaner who works for himself

i dont have idea's of granduar

[D.Salkeld_Ltd]

Wavie.

What do you sell?

Matt,

What is your Aim?

David

[D woods]

We are all salesmen selling our service.

[WavieDavie]

As D Woods says.

I was in sales before I started window cleaning and the customer has got to buy you before they buy your product/service

[matt]

Matt,

What is your Aim?

David

you sound like my career's advisor in school , i told him i was going to be a carpenter / builder

My aim, Hmmmm its a tough 1 that, after a little though, my aim currently is to be able to keep working 3 days a week, my little un starts school next year, so i could work 5 days, BUT dont fancy it, will most prob work 3 or 4 days a week and set up a VW aircooled resto outfit, restoring and fitting custom interior into old VW campervans ( thus my carpentery skils will come into play ) in my spare time, i miss the job satisfaction of carpentry / building work, sure a clean window is a clean window is a clean window ( and i wont rubbish it) but the job satisfaction of fitting a nice kitchen or a clean window, no competion really

the money is good for window cleaning and ive set up a very nice round (mostly brought in, but ive filled the gaps) so i doubt i would pack it in, just take on something else to get that job satisfaction

ive got to be carefull what i type (as my stalker will be watching and is bound to make some snide remark)

Ive also toyed with going to College / uni again , part time 1 day a week , i have my HNC in building studies so could go further that line, or just go for a change, though i dont know if i could put with idiots ( and many students seem to be idiots )

so looks like window cleaning for a while with a sprinkling of Woodwork thrown into the mix

[shammy davis jnr]

im a pc,answer phone wage clerk,sales person ,van driver ,order sales ,have biz meetings, petrol fore court filler ,
accountant, father and in my spare time im a fire fighter ,
i would like to see some biz man come from behind his desk and do this  im even beter than that
oh did i also mention tyre fitter ,mechanic,networker,advertiser,web analist lol
IN FACT JUST CALL ME SUPER SHAMMY DAVIS FROM NOW ON
 

[Jeff Brimble]

Bit off topic, Matt thers a guy in my town does the VW thing, he imports all his from California changes them to RHD and fits them out. He sells them for 10K plus and is doing really well.  Will get his website to you in a day or so.

[matt]

Bit off topic, Matt thers a guy in my town does the VW thing, he imports all his from California changes them to RHD and fits them out. He sells them for 10K plus and is doing really well.  Will get his website to you in a day or so.

its a great little earner, buy them in for 3 K and sell them as if for 10 K

do them up a little and fit a nice interior and you are looking at 15 - 18 K

to be honest, i woudnt do it for the money, just for the joy of it, as i would have my WC'ing to bring in the pennies aslong as i didnt lose cash on the vans then i would be happy

[Extremeclean]

I run a business. Our services are window cleaning.

My employees other than admin staff are window cleaners.

The great thing about window cleaning is that you can get out of it what you want. if you want a nice living with the freedom of being your own boss then fine. Some want more and to achieve that you really have to become a business person. There's been many times along the way that I could happily have gone back to the tools on my own but my responsibilities to others as an employer have kept me going.

I also sub a lot of work out and exprience has taught me to only engage the services of people who treat WC as a business.

Rich.

[Jeff Brimble]

I have been in business since 67, various. I choose window cleaning, to use as a business vehicle -to make money.

[macc]

im a window cleaner who works for himself

i dont have idea's of granduar

Come on Matt, its still your business, it may be window cleaning but its still a business. 

[Fast 1 *]

I admit,im far from a great business man,but then i dont want to be.Im too generous,and possess a conscience

[matt]

im a window cleaner who works for himself

i dont have idea's of granduar

Come on Matt, its still your business, it may be window cleaning but its still a business. 

true, its a business ( and its mine ) BUT i stil would say im a window cleaner

[Extremeclean]

OK folks.  Let me put this scenario to you.

You are a one man band. You can't work for a lengthy time maybe as a result of an accident or illness.  What do you do then? Will your "business" still make money? The honest answer has to be no. Also you will probably lose a large proportion of your customers. They will understand for a month or two but much longer than that and they will go elsewhere.

 I speak from personal experience here. When I got back to the stage where I could work after an illness lasting a few months which was bad enough but lack of money really caused big problems I decided that I had to treat WC as a business to protect myself from anything similar again.

Rich

[matt]

 I speak from personal experience here. When I got back to the stage where I could work after an illness lasting a few months which was bad enough but lack of money really caused big problems I decided that I had to treat WC as a business to protect myself from anything similar again.

Rich

so rich, how did you achive that, what did you do to protect yourself

im interested as on wednesday i pulled my shoulder, the pain was imense and i ended up in the hospital, they thought i could have had a heart attack ( im only 35 and fairly stress free ), 3 ECG's latter they decided i had just muscle damage

it got me thinking

[Extremeclean]

Matt.

Sorry to hear about that

In a nutshell I had to get disciplined and determined to expand to the stage where others could keep me going. Also I took out any insurances that I could find. It may sound cynical about others keeping me but in reallity it doesnt have to be as hard headed and uncaring as it sounds. It IS possible to do this ethically and with decent morals despite the stereotypical image.

Within a year of getting back to work I had 3 employees and things grew from there. So now if I should get crocked my business will still provide me with a good living. People skills are very important and the one big piece of advice is to find someone who is 2nd in command who runs the business from day to day. A general manager for want of better words.

It takes a whole lot of hard work and determination to achieve and not everyone is cut out for it. They are not inferior in any way its just a fact of life.

I am no typical "high flyer" type. I left school with no qualifications.  I've learned from the school of hard knocks. I guess its in my personality to set goals and work until they are achieved.

I'm rambling now so I will leave it at that.

Rich

[D.Salkeld_Ltd]

Thanks for the replies.

As for me.  Well, I am not natrualy a Business man.  I come from a Sth Yorkshire "Working Class" family.  You go to work, do your hours and come home. On Friday you pick up your wage packet! Simple!

I was doing that 20 years ago.............and told em to stuff it!!

But 20years on I still think the same but my work is totaly different.

I enjoy the sales part of our job but soon get bored of the production side.

The reason I asked Matt what his aim was was because I need to ask myself the same Question??

I like this site because there are folks in the same boat as me who understand where I am coming from (job wise)

I would like a little help as to how I can become a businesman and achieve the best out of my little business

Thanks
David

[Paul Coleman]

OK folks.  Let me put this scenario to you.

You are a one man band. You can't work for a lengthy time maybe as a result of an accident or illness.  What do you do then? Will your "business" still make money? The honest answer has to be no. Also you will probably lose a large proportion of your customers. They will understand for a month or two but much longer than that and they will go elsewhere.

 I speak from personal experience here. When I got back to the stage where I could work after an illness lasting a few months which was bad enough but lack of money really caused big problems I decided that I had to treat WC as a business to protect myself from anything similar again.

Rich

Indeed Rich, I fell foul of a lengthy illness too a couple of years back.  I lost a fair chunk of work over it but made sure that I kept my better work (I was able to work part-time on my better days).  I'm not yet ready to start employting.  That is probably still a couple of years away.  First target is to maximise my potential as a sole trader.  Before, I had more work than I could cope with and I wasn't charging enough for my services.  Now it is different.  I still have some work where I should be charging more but the work I have taken on since being ill has a decent price tag attached to it.  Would appreciate it if we could talk when I get nearer the time to start employing (don't wait by the phone for me though     ).