[KarlJones]

Almost ready to start up, have a meeting with my lone parents advisor set of Friday morning.  Thanks to you lot I have been able to work out a pretty neat plan so far of pricing rates ect to allow me to build a good business over a fairly long period of time  (no cleaning windows for peanuts).

One of the things I will be asked is my earn rate,  now because I am just starting out I will need to make some sort of assesment on this.  It is however all based on how good my canvassing is. 

Would any of you be so kind as to advise me on what your best and worst canvassing rates have been.

For example,  (this is made up btw)
My best days canvassing was 25 houses in 5 hours door knocking.
My worst days canvassing was 2 houses in 4 hours door knocking.

I have a plan on how to approach canvassing (leaflets a few days before with information about me) and I am sure I can get some result, but I do need a weekly target in order to make a proper plan.

Thanks in advance to everyone who is a member of this forum.  Your posts, both new and old, have all helped me this last month or so.

[Ian Lancaster]

I'm afraid it's a "how long is a piece of string" situation.

You will get areas which are swamped with window cleaners, then others which haven't any (very rare these days).  The best thing is to set yourself a weekly target of value of new business achieved, then keep at it till you hit the target.  It may take a couple of hours, or a whole week of evenings plus all weekend.

Depends how dedicated you are.

Cheers,

Ian

[KarlJones]

is 20 houses a week a good target or is it hard to reach in reality?  I understand it is a bit of a guess rather than a black and white answer. 

[Ian Lancaster]

Don't aim for a number of houses.  Set a value that you need to achieve each week to reach your income requirement within a reasonable time.  (Total monthly income required, divided by how ever many weeks you are prepared to spend canvassing - say two evenings and one Saturday and/or Sunday per week for a year, for example).  Then you can monitor your progress.  If you need to acquire £100 per week of new work, and you get two £50 jobs the first evening then you're on target.  If you only manage £35 of new work by Friday then you'll need to do some serious weekend canvassing to stay on target.

The trick is not to fall behind - if you're ahead do some more - then it's easier to maintain the effort in the bad weeks.

Cheers,

Ian

[KarlJones]

Ian I owe you big time for this. 
Total Monthly divided by weeks sounds obvious but somehow I missed it.
Thanks, it is obvious now you have pointed it out.

Canvass for good priced work until you have reached a weekly target, once reached ease up a bit.

thanks.