[Sir Squeaky]

Bushpig, you're a rip off.

[groundhog]

I do a good job, I am reliable, both very rare with window cleaners around here. There is another cleaner who lives near me and he earns a lot of money, he prices cheap and does a lightning speed cheap job, but because of his speed his hourly rate is high! I do a high quality job and charge on average double what he charges sometimes more, but there are many people who are prepared to pay because of the quality of work!
We are running businesses not working for someone, whatever we take is turnover, not your take home pay. I was a train driver for 10 years and we used to take about £20 an hour when I left 2 years ago, now to be as well off I probably need to take more than double that amount, even more than that probably if you take into consideration sick pay, holiday pay and pension! come to think of it why did I ever leave!
Oh yes I remember - the freedom I now get to choose how and when I work, and to not have a boss!!
So my advice is for everyone to charge the highest prices they can, thats what we are in business for isn't it!!!

[Russell Macdonald]

Bushpig, you're a rip off.

I think hes talking out of what he sits on 

[Paul Coleman]

  Pigs and flying come to mind   

So Mr Asbo are you calling me a liar?? because I take offence at that!! I was trying to advise Simon that he should be charging more in my opinion, I don't like to talk about money usually but a good window cleaners best work should be approaching £50 an hour at least! I won't tell you how much an hour my very best work is, if you don't believe £50 an hour you certainly won't believe what I take on my best work!!

I would believe you I think.  My very best work exceeds a pound a minute but that's only a tiny percentage of it.  I just wish I had a lot more of it.  It wouldn't surprise me if a few people are turning over £100+ an hour on their best work.

[simon knight]

Guys. I'm sorry but i don't understand the concept of "best work"....surely every job we do should be "best work".

As for £25 an hour....suits me Sir!

[groundhog]

Simon you should always be striving to get better and better work, if you are getting every job that you quote for then you are far too cheap. My round is full now so any new work I take on has to be well worth my while, so I am pricing higher and higher, and now only expect to get about 1 in every 5 jobs that I quote for, which is great because it means that every new job I get is a good one! and will probably replace my lower paying work which I took on when I was starting out. £25 an hour sounds good and it would be if it was your wages, but it is not, it is turn over which means that all your business expenses come out of that, so therefore probably making you no better off than someone who works for someone else doing a similar job!!

[NWH]

I agree with that Groundhog,theres no point in having a diary full of rubbish.I`m the same most of the jobs i quote for i would only expect to get maybe 3-4 in 10 quotes,i`m constantly replacing work with better paying stuff these days and passing on work.Getting in a rutt and doing work for the sake of it is to common in this job.

[simon knight]

I hear you Groundhog but:  At £25ish ph I get all the work I want and have not too much fear of being undercut. Also at £25ph Mrs Smith is happy for me to have me back 6 or 7 times a year...at £50 it'd be 2 if I'm lucky.

But when all's said and done barring petrol £25 is net money...I might replace a scrim/rubber from time to time :

I haven't canvassed for 18 months as all of my new work is from Recs.

I never took up w/c ing to make a fortune...just a nice living being my own boss.

[groundhog]

Nice one nwh! thats the way to do it!!

Simon, good for you if your happy with that! personally I would rather make as much money as I can!!

As window cleaners we barely scratch the surface where money is concerned, I was talking to one of my customers the other day, he calls himself a 'communications consultant' which basically means that he goes around large companies teaching their employees how to write better Emails and letters ect, he charges £1000 a day for teaching people 'common sense' as he puts it!!
I also work for a city trader who recently travelled to Brasil for a meeting and was gone for one day, how much do you think the ticket was for the jet his company chartered for him? It was £7000!!!! It makes our £25 an hour look like pocket money dosn't it?

So come on fellow window cleaners don't sell yourselves short, there is money out there to be had, and we work hard so deserve a decent share of it!!!

[Paul Coleman]

Nice one nwh! thats the way to do it!!

Simon, good for you if your happy with that! personally I would rather make as much money as I can!!

As window cleaners we barely scratch the surface where money is concerned, I was talking to one of my customers the other day, he calls himself a 'communications consultant' which basically means that he goes around large companies teaching their employees how to write better Emails and letters ect, he charges £1000 a day for teaching people 'common sense' as he puts it!!
I also work for a city trader who recently travelled to Brasil for a meeting and was gone for one day, how much do you think the ticket was for the jet his company chartered for him? It was £7000!!!! It makes our £25 an hour look like pocket money dosn't it?

So come on fellow window cleaners don't sell yourselves short, there is money out there to be had, and we work hard so deserve a decent share of it!!!

Can I come and work for you then?   

[groundhog]

Yes sure you can - for £7.50 an hour which rises to £10 after a satisfactory 3 month trial! 

[Paul Coleman]

Yes sure you can - for £7.50 an hour which rises to £10 after a satisfactory 3 month trial! 

I couldn't afford you   

[jimnjon]

Groundhog, you said "My round is full now so any new work I take on has to be well worth my while, so I am pricing higher and higher,". Well if your round is full why are you taking on new work? I would have to assume that when you take on one of these new (inflated) jobs, you will have to drop one or more of your old customers. Just adds to the "unreliable window cleaner syndrome".

[NWH]

I`m not in this job for the most reliable wc award and i don`t think Groundhog is either,just politley pass it on and replace it with a better paying one.If it`s done the right way the customer will never no the real reason.

[mark dew]

I`m not in this job for the most reliable wc award and i don`t think Groundhog is either,just politley pass it on and replace it with a better paying one.If it`s done the right way the customer will never no the real reason.

I agree with this and groundhog. There is no point being sentimental for the sake of earning less. Some people are happy to plod along for the freedom alone while others want to do this and earn higher. Others are in business to try to make as much as they possibly can. It is horses for courses.
I think you have to look at your 'business' as a living thing. It grows and changes most of the time. Once things become static the business will suffer. Onwards and upwards is the way to go.
I don't think unreliabilty comes into it when you drop the job. We are not obligated to our ex customers, only our present ones. But our first obligation has to be to ourselves at all times.
I don't see the sense in earning £30 an hour if it is stopping us from earning more.
That's very noble but makes no economic sense.

[groundhog]

It's good to see that there are some on here who want to better themselves and their rounds! by constantly striving to improve the quality of their work!!! Good on yer NWH and Mark
And Jimjam or whatever your name is? Why do you think that I am still taking on new work? To improve the quality and value of my round thats why!! It's not complicated really you know!!!

[neil100]

I think everyone who works for themselves should have a business plan.

If you are just starting to build a w/c round your need is to a build a customer base. The temptation is to underprice your work to increase your customer base. Big mistake as you end up with a w/c round paying you a low wage.

What Groundhog is saying makes a lot of sense. If you take say a minimum of £25.00 per hour, You have 4 days work working 8 hours a day. you will earn Gross £800.00 a week.

You have the option of another day to work, So when you are asked to price another customer up will you price up to £25.00 per hour, Or do you have a Business plan to increase what you earn per hour from then on. You can now set your sights higher, You can price up all new customers up at say £40.00 an hour. Over a period of time your hourly rate will improve as new customers come in on the higher rate and you lose customers on the lower rate.

If you gain lots of new customers at £40.00 an hour and you dont want to work more then 4 days a week you then have the option of selling some lower paid work, or work you dont like doeing to another w/c, increasing your Gross take home pay for the year.

Over a period of time you will find your rate per hour will improve, that maybe in 5 years time your average rate as now increased to £40.00 an hour. In that case new work comes in at £50 or £60 an hour. 32 hours x £40.00 an hour = £1280.00 a week. Thats earning £480.00 extra a week working the same hours as you did at £25.00 an hour.

Its a good business plan and one that makes sound ecnomic sense. Do not let the barriers you set in your own mind restrict your possible earnings. You will still keep a loyal customer base who appreciate a high class service at increased prices. I know I still have customers who have been with me for nearly 30 years.

The only problem some will face is, if you ask a high price you have to be able to clean to a very high standard. If you cant you will lose customers. If you can it will be reflected in what you earn each and every day you work.

Groundhog is offering some sound advice.

Nel.

[groundhog]

Thanks Neil, your post makes a lot of sense! I hope it encourages others to take action to improve the quality and value of their work!! 

[Sir Squeaky]

I've picked up a couple in a village near me because someone was pricing too high.
They're good jobs too.
The last window cleaner doesn't know he's dumped yet, but he was charging so much they asked me for a quote.

He wanted £30-odd for what I asked £20.
I see it as 20-25 mins work, so I've got a really good price.

It's going to lead to others too.
Don't know if it's a cleaner I know, but I don't feel any guilt when they were ripping people off.

You can't price too high, people will look elsewhere.

[groundhog]

Theres plenty of work out there without the need to undercut others!!    I hope some nipper comes along and offers to do it for a tenner!!!!