[Village Gleam]

Leave him alone. Yes DJW and  DJ Thorpe you've made some valid points but Mark (Davo) is a theorist. We've all got a few foibles.The way I read his situation is that he is trapped in a high paying job.

[frames to panes]

Just probing, i'm no business man, i'll freely admit that- i'm still struggling in my first year but i'm open and honest about it. I've been strung along with rubbish advice on here from some members, so just like others to be honest and realistic too. There are one or two who have been cleaning a long time and know what it's like to struggle to build a round and battle with the weather etc They are the ones i like to listen to but they rarely post.

[Davo]

So Mark, are you suggesting we double our prices and half our cleans?

If your charging little  money on a 2 week call cycle then I think you should seriously consider it.

Mark, you keep on posting, as I have no background of direct sales, and have already put some of your advice into practice (what you said earlier in this thread to me) and have got work at a better price. I priced with confidence, and priced not at window cleaning rate
I trawl through the forum picking at info... like a circling vulture....

Dale it does work, not all the time, but the hits make up for the misses and then some. Im pleased you got good money for your time.

Like whacking in a huge price on an unsuspecting customer? - not practical if you want to keep them for return cleans in the future.

A huge price is a matter of opinion, to you £100 might be expensive for a pair of shoes, to someone else it the price they 're happy to pay.
I havent condoned charging £500 to clean a conservatory, merely stated there is middle ground.  I think charging them the same hourly rate you clean windows at is a gross undersell of the value of the work.

Mark

[Davo]

Just probing, i'm no business man, i'll freely admit that- i'm still struggling in my first year but i'm open and honest about it. I've been strung along with rubbish advice on here from some members, so just like others to be honest and realistic too. There are one or two who have been cleaning a long time and know what it's like to struggle to build a round and battle with the weather etc They are the ones i like to listen to but they rarely post.

Well if your struggling get off your backside and go and get some work, go knocking knocking knocking. If youve got 3 days a weeks worth of work go and knock the days your not cleaning. If you already do a lot of door knocking and your not bringing in decent work then your doing something wrong.

If you want to tell me what you say and how you work I can give you some advice to rectify the problem. Door knocking isnt window cleaning, but its the bit that can make or break your business.


Mark

[Village Gleam]

I'm no business man is like saying you could never be a dad or someones father, but one day you are. You make the best fist of it you can. Whineing that Davo gives bad advice ain't gonna help, and looking to honest but poor WC's isn't going to help either. Take some responsibility for your own actions.

You are a businessman fact.

[jonah]

Mark , I have read a few posts of yours and you are clearly good in the field of sales !  Just try a softer approach with your advice as it can come across as a tad harsh , which is a shame because I can see you want to help people on here .     Regards jonah .

[frames to panes]

I'll tell you why i'm no business man I'm too soft to hammer people for a simple job that i don't think is worth the money, like charging someone £400 to £500 to clean the dirt off their conservatory when it takes say two hours max. I don't like to charge £30 for a twenty minute clean of a four bed house. It's not a case of "getting off my backside" - it takes time to build a business, compact it and sort  it.
 Mr sol, you don't seem to be any better than me at it or any more succesfull in your field so i can't see much useful advice there either. The way to make money in my opinion is to be ruthless and uncaring - something i'm not. I'm not interested in making a fortune (strange though it may seem) i'm quite happy just to make a living, not bothered about retiring in a hurry have plenty to live on at the moment. So in your eyes i'm a little odd but hey that's the way i am.

[frames to panes]

The problem to me when i run out of work is not so much the money but the sheer boredom of having nothing to do hence i'm not looking forward to retirement (i'll be bored witless).

[Village Gleam]

 About the giving of advice, yes I'd lke to give Alex Ferguson a few tips, and who couldn't have done a better job than almost any England Manager.

Ryan air run a a no frills cheapest flights airline and have a strategy to secure the secondary locations across europe. Harley Davidson motorbikes aren't as fast or technically advanced as Japanese ones but they sell for more money. Currys and carpet right have large retail park locations, dominoes Pizza prefers the high street.

The point I'm trying to make is there isn't a right or a wrong way to conduct a business, and the great thing about being in business is that you are allowed to get things wrong, to make mistakes.

[Village Gleam]

There are couple of differences between us, one is that you use my being the same or no better than you as an insult.

The way to make money has nothing to do with ruthless and uncaring, that is your subjective opinion, and  unfortunatly that is all you really listen to .

The factual way to make money or create wealth is to find a way of adding value to a product or service and then tell people about it.

It really is that simple.

[frames to panes]

Mr Sol, insult? what are you on? You have a similar van you do the same job the same way you have a similar customer base - how can that be an insult?

[frames to panes]

Ewan, an example of me being a bad business man : i have picked up customers and priced them too high i.e. a tiny terrace house for four bed detatched (in my area) money. Rather than take the money every month and boast on here how brilliant my prices are, i have dropped the price on the second clean to ease my concience (doddery old lady on her own) - bad business obviously. But it makes me feel better to do that.

[Village Gleam]

And what are you doing now if not boasting?

You didn't listen to a word Ewan said, you merely re emphasised what you said earlier.
Ewan said add value, I say Add Value, Davo says add value, it just that we all say it differently.

[frames to panes]

Mr sol, i just told you i'm a bad business man, hardly boasting is it? :

[frames to panes]

Ewan, yes i can agree with your post for the man wanting to sell his house, even i would do the same thing and have done in the past. It's a golden opportunity to make money - a one off clean needed in a hurry and you'll probably not see him again. I do end of tenancy cleans too - you don't know or even meet the customer, the money comes out of the tennants deposit - great.

[Davo]

DJW you definately dont listen, noones telling you to charge £500 to clean a conservatory, just dont do 2 hours work at the same rate you charge for window cleaning.

You do whatever you want, if you want to work for a £5 an hour carry on , but dont come moaning that things are tough. Get out there and get more customers, that is THE KEY to success providing you charge sensible money.


Mark

[Davo]

Mr sol, you don't seem to be any better than me at it or any more succesfull in your field so i can't see much useful advice there either. The way to make money in my opinion is to be ruthless and uncaring - something i'm not. I'm not interested in making a fortune (strange though it may seem) i'm quite happy just to make a living, not bothered about retiring in a hurry have plenty to live on at the moment. So in your eyes i'm a little odd but hey that's the way i am.

Do you think a very successful cleaner whos been in the business 20 years is gonna give you some magic secret thats going to turn things arround? I think your going to be dissappointed.

Theres no magic secret, except work hard AND SMART.


Mark

[frames to panes]

Davo i listen a lot, i don't have to agree with your theories on how to make a fast buck. I have enough people trying to do that with their continuous phone calls thanks. It's up to me how i run my business at the end of the day, i've stated my lack of business skills - i know where i'm going wrong (in your eyes) but overall i'm happy with my lot.

[Davo]

Davo i listen a lot, i don't have to agree with your theories on how to make a fast buck. I have enough people trying to do that with their continuous phone calls thanks. It's up to me how i run my business at the end of the day, i've stated my lack of business skills - i know where i'm going wrong (in your eyes) but overall i'm happy with my lot.

Theyre not theories, they are proven ways of increasing the profit your business can make, not just window cleaning but virtually any business. As for a fast buck, if you want to make a fast buck I think youve chosen the wrong business, yes I agree its upto you how you run your business, but you seem to do a lot of moaning for a man whos contented.


Mark

[L.J.Thorpe]

so why did you choose this business then