[jonah]

I have been offered a round that has been worked for 25 years ! But the prices are seriously low     I would have to double them to make it pay .    Would you consider putting up the price straight away or would you ask the existing wc to put them up before he sells ?          By the way the asking price for the round is only 2 cleans !   Any advice gratefull   

[zeusjazmin]

in my opinion you would lose lots of them if you doubled the price quickly.

[windowwashers]

I have been offered a round that has been worked for 25 years ! But the prices are seriously low     I would have to double them to make it pay .    Would you consider putting up the price straight away or would you ask the existing wc to put them up before he sells ?          By the way the asking price for the round is only 2 cleans !   Any advice gratefull   

asking him to up the prices would cost you money and more than likely he will say no anyway, if he is trad and you are wfp you have a good chance to increase the price by adding a service, you will lose some but if you end up losing half and doubling the price you will have good work and have to work less to get it which IMO is good business sence.
I know others will not agree with that.

Ian

[jonah]

Good advice Ian ,  He is a lovelly chap and is retiring this year and he admits he just kept the prices the same year after year !

[Wayne Thomas]

I personally wouldn't buy the work because when you double the price for his customers you will lose a lot of them because they will look elsewhere for cheaper quotes.
Have a word with him about raising his prices with his customers (prior to selling), and get him to explain that you will be WFP instead of trad but remind him to sell the pros of WFP, i.e. clean frames, etc to his customers. You would obviously have to pay him extra for this, but would leave you with a more secure round of customers at reasonable prices who would be aware of your pricing and method of working.

[cvdewsbury]

I have been offered a round that has been worked for 25 years ! But the prices are seriously low     I would have to double them to make it pay .    Would you consider putting up the price straight away or would you ask the existing wc to put them up before he sells ?          By the way the asking price for the round is only 2 cleans !   Any advice gratefull   

what sort of prices are they jonah

[jonah]

£4 for a semi !

[cvdewsbury]

try knocking him down to x1 per clean then drop him a few quid after if you are succesful in getting better prices ....think you should  be ok incresing the price another pound...so are they worth doing at 5.oo each?

[Stevie G]

 

[d s windowcleaning]

my mate took over a round about 2 months ago there was 120 houses that hadnt had a price increase in over 7 years , when my mate took over he put the prices up by 50% and didnt lose 1 customer he got a few moans but if they didnt accept they would then have to look for a new cleaner who would just give them a price that would be for todays prices and not 7 years ago , id put them up jonah but maybe not by double unless the prices are so low . is there many window cleaners who work your area ? if not then you should get the price increase you want .

[Window Cleaning Services]

that's a semi- beach hut for that price i hope?! If you need the work desperately and can afford it then its probably best to take them on and do them a few times before you increase them, and then probably no more than a couple of £s max. If you are not desperate just offer him what they are worth for one clean.  8)Syd

[suds window service]

i am the same boat,if i dont buy then i,ll never get the houses i need to start my business,i am buying £800 worth of business dred to think of what the average must be,at least it will keep me busy....my plan is to do a few cleans show the quality of my work then put the prices up first year must be the toughest!

[s.hughes]

I would go round with him and so that he can introduce you to all the custys, it works well that way and they will know their new w/c from the start. But as he introduces you he can let them know that the prices are going to have to up as they have been so low for so many years. Get him to do this as they have known him for years. If they ask how much then tell them and he can agree with you at the time so they wont feel ripped off. Suggest that you will do it for the same price 1st clean so that they can see your work and then increased for the 2nd clean.
Its worked for me in the past.

Steve

[jonah]

Thanks steve 

[Tim82]

  I have taken on underpriced work once or twice in the past few years and the way I do it is once I've met each customer and done their windows once I explain to them that the price is old and needs updating and ask if it's ok if I put it up to what I think it should be. If they are good customers they will be fine with it. If they're a bit of a pain I just end up putting the price up gradually, say, 50p a year until it's up to what I want it.

[windowwashers]

i am the same boat,if i dont buy then i,ll never get the houses i need to start my business,i am buying £800 worth of business dred to think of what the average must be,at least it will keep me busy....my plan is to do a few cleans show the quality of my work then put the prices up first year must be the toughest!

The toughest thing is if you up the price and it is still to low can take years to sort out, I learnt that from experience I got it wrong big time, then again places like these were not about then and I didnt know anyone to ask either.

Ian

[groundhog]

To be honest with you, unless there is a serious shortage of work in your area I would not even consider buying this work!
I would rather spend the money on an advertising campain, maybe get some quality flyers delivered or get a good ad in the yelow pages.
If you do buy it then I would follow window washers advice and double the price asap, you may lose some but not all!

[s.hughes]

To be honest with you, unless there is a serious shortage of work in your area I would not even consider buying this work!
I would rather spend the money on an advertising campain, maybe get some quality flyers delivered or get a good ad in the yelow pages.
If you do buy it then I would follow window washers advice and double the price asap, you may lose some but not all!

I think its worth buying as it gives you a good start.

[xxmattyxx]

If you can double the price then paying what is at the moment twice the rounds value you'll have effectively bought it at the cost of one clean. Bargain. But is that going to happen?

However if your unable to increase the price and you therefore pay twice the rounds value for what is a crap round your going to regret that. Think about it, there you are with a crap round and youve ALSO given money away to be in that position.

[dai]

If you doubled the prices the customers would think they were being ripped off.

If I was paying for a service and the price doubled, I would immediately look for other quotes. I could accept an increase, but to be asked to pay double, no way.
don't get me wrong, the job may well be worth double, I'm just looking at it from the customers perspective.
My guess is they would cancel, after a few months they will realise that they will have to pay the price if they want their windows cleaned. I doubt if they will give you the satisfaction of paying that price to you though.
"There's nowt as queer as folks". Dai