I agreed to work with him for buttons compared to what I would make off my own work
Yep that sucks.
But look on the bright side, If he's been cleaning 30 years i suspect some of his prices haven't gone up for years. Those buttons that you worked for are probably a good price to him. Is his round well priced??
Would you really want to fill up your time chasing a wage, when with a little bit of time you could pick up work yourself at a much better rate?
Get out and canvass domestic work. Target bigger houses in rural areas, cos these people are more likely to be older with little or no mortgage. I look at these type of customers as recession proof.
Terraces and new builds are generally full of 1st or 2nd time buyers with the new car in the drive. I have found these to be much more fickle and stopped targetting this type of work a year ago.
Parish magazines and village shops seem to be the best way to target rural
customers.
Put it down to experience and move onto better things.
Good luck