[KarlJones]

I know it sounds silly.  But at first I did not feel confident cleaning windows on my doorstep.  So off I went all over the place getting new orders and quoting up.  I seem to be pretty good at giving quotes ect.  I do not have too much problem getting orders.

So why do we do it?  Why do we work in what seems to be a 10 mile radius on average when around where we live we drive past customers each and every day to get to a job the other side of town?

Meanwhile, someone else is doing the exact same thing and driving towards where we live.

I swear we are mad.  Especially those of us that work traditionally as I am sure a van is over doing it and a bicycle would suffice.  Not only that your a lot more likely to build a compact round on your doorstep.

We are crazy fooooools!!

[steve5000]

Your right karl,i travel 35 minuites to work,mainly because my area has to many window cleaners working here,i also feel a bit uncomfortable working to close to where i live.
Maybe its because we dont want local people knocking our doors,or maybe its just we dont like our neighbours knowing our business,but your right we are all mad 

[steve k]

I travel away from my home area to the areas where the occupants are more inclined to pay better for the service.
I also don`t want people stopping me every day to talk about window cleaning.

Riding round with a bicycle and a bucket...get real mate...that is the dark ages

[Paul Coleman]

I know it sounds silly.  But at first I did not feel confident cleaning windows on my doorstep.  So off I went all over the place getting new orders and quoting up.  I seem to be pretty good at giving quotes ect.  I do not have too much problem getting orders.

So why do we do it?  Why do we work in what seems to be a 10 mile radius on average when around where we live we drive past customers each and every day to get to a job the other side of town?

Meanwhile, someone else is doing the exact same thing and driving towards where we live.

I swear we are mad.  Especially those of us that work traditionally as I am sure a van is over doing it and a bicycle would suffice.  Not only that your a lot more likely to build a compact round on your doorstep.

We are crazy fooooools!!

I have found the old saying about "familiarity breeds contempt" can be true more often than I would like.  I used to work close to home at the very start but the not today thank you brigade were always out in force - many of them being people I know/knew.
Another reason is that where I live there are miles and miles of sprawling housing estates.  Plenty of room for a very compact round except that most of these houses were built with no  way to the back of the house except through the house.  I soon discovered that this was not a good idea so had to travel out a bit.  It's Ok on the private estates around my way as there is usually access but on the council estates around here, access is poor or non-existent.  I have seen window cleaners around my way but, in all honesty, they never stick around long.  They just use it to get started (like I did) and then either quit or move on to better pastures.

[Clive McDonald]

You can get electric powered bikes now(get real bucket and bike this aint dark ages), and you can also get those little trolleys that tow along behind.
Ironicaly WFP and trolley system would probably be easier to manage than trad bucket and ladder. What a great system if you have to work within the congestion charge area, or as a fall back  if you lose your licence. And for all those people that want to put another van on the road but can't quite afford it, what a cheap route to expansion!

[Russell Macdonald]

You can get electric powered bikes now(get real bucket and bike this aint dark ages), and you can also get those little trolleys that tow along behind.
Ironicaly WFP and trolley system would probably be easier to manage than trad bucket and ladder. What a great system if you have to work within the congestion charge area, or as a fall back  if you lose your licence. And for all those people that want to put another van on the road but can't quite afford it, what a cheap route to expansion!

That i would like to see, a bike & trailer with 300ltr & all the kit  .

I think i'll stick with my Transporter thanks 

[Tosh]

I've probably got around 150 accounts within a three-mile radius of where I live (I've about four days work in the area where Squeaky lives) and the bulk of the rest in an area fifteen minutes away.

I do travel longer for some jobs; but no more than thirty-minutes; tops.

It suits me, since I work with Wor Lass who only works from 9.30 am till 2.00 pm (four days a week), so I can drop her back home and head back out to work; usually.

I won't clean houses in the imediate vicinity of where I live as I prefer neighbors to be neighbors; not customers.

[pylofm]

I am building my round in 4 distinct different area's....which means that I do not have to have to worry about getting loads in just one place....plus I do not want a round in my town as I like the idea of working somewhere different to where I live...home is home..

[steve k]

curious...you cannot be serious...riding around on a bike, electric or otherwise, towing your gear in a trolley behind you...

[KarlJones]

Your right karl,i travel 35 minuites to work,mainly because my area has to many window cleaners working here

See this is what made me ask.  Where I live I see about 6 or 7 window cleaners.  It is not a very big area.  So I stated up and just drove to somewhere I thought would be ok.  Sure enough I got work.  I thought I had been clever, as I dodged the competition.  In reality this isn't so.  I am sure I must be one of many in the areas I work.  But yeturday I spotted an ad in a shop asking for a reliable window cleaner to clean their windows.

So it set me thinking.  We are mad.

[pjulk]

Virtually all of my work is within 2-3 miles of my house.

i do have some work about 5 miles away also but only 2 days worth and all well priced.

Most of my work i can get to in 5 minutes.

Paul

[crystal.clear]

all my work is in my own town. longest i have to drive for a job is about 5 min. the nearest is next door.

[KarlJones]

There is some stories about guys with trollys and no vehicle.  I reckon they have got it right.  We all go on about how much we are on per hour, then totally throw a big spanner in the works by actually losing money for some time.   

Time for a bit of maths for those that can not see it...

If you spend 30 mins a day driving to work, and 30 driving back then the chances are for that hour you have worked you lose £5 in fuel costs (maybe more!)  Yet if you spent that hour earning at a rate of £20 per hour you would be £25 up on the day. You could do that four days a week and be £100 up each and every week.

This isn't the sort of money to be scoffed at. 

[supernova77]

I have about 2 days worth of work in the village where I live...

The rest of my work is between 3 - 25 miles away. I like to have work away from where I live because it helps seperate work from home.

Andy

[cottonbud10]

i must admit,,,i don,t have a great deal of work,,only about  £1700 per month,but i don,t travel to far from where i live,because it,s a pain in the bottom when i have to go round picking money up

[JM123]

I clean a few of my neighburs but would rather they moved away!!

[dai]

I travel 25 miles to get to my round. I used to live near where my round is now and moved.
I do have work on my own estate, they are the worst payers on my whole round.
I swear some of them think I'm a charity, many think because they have known me for years, they are entitled to some kind of discount. Some are 2 or 3 months in arrears and pass my house every day to take the kids to school. I have dumped 4 of them and now they don't speak. These are neighbors.
I would never have taken them on in the first place, but they begged me to do them. I thought at the time it would be handy if I retired, just to have a few round here to earn a bit extra. It was a mistake.
The O,A,P's are great, it's the young ones that are the pain.
There is a big cull coming, and soon. It may work for some of you guys, but for me it doesn't.
GOD HELP ANY OTHER W/C THAT TAKES THEM ON. Dai

[AuRavelling79]

I do travel longer for some jobs; but no more than thirty-minutes; tops.

30 minutes? You could reach my house in that time!

[Clive McDonald]

Quote from Tosh"Most of us work to a four-weekly shedule for domestic customers, but from reading posts on this forum, I believe this has evolved from a two-weekly-schedule; believe it or not.

Thirty-or-so-years ago, before everyone had cars, window cleaners were limited in the areas they worked as to how far they could travel pushing a cart and their ladders.  Therefore they cleaned once-every-two-weeks.  It still happens in some areas; so I believe; for routine domestic work.

Now we've got motorised transport, we do four-weekly cleans, but I think over time, we'll evolve to longer cleaning frequencies.  I already do quite a few 'every-other-month' cleans at a higher price than my monthlys"
The reason I'm quoting this if it's not too off topic, is I think it's a little 'window' on the future, our future. Taken together with the point that Karl is making I think it's the basis for part of a future strategy.

[Tosh]

I do travel longer for some jobs; but no more than thirty-minutes; tops.

30 minutes? You could reach my house in that time!

Do you want a quote?  I'd be looking at seventy quid at least; to get me over the 'bridge' plus the cost of the toll!

I'd do a good(ish) job though.