[michael papworth]

If you established guys were to give a newbie THREE pieces of advice about how to build up their business, what would they be:

First, ....... Then, ........ And finally, .............

[Dean Taberner]

1st-Buy some kit,
2nd-Canvass or buy some work,
And finally-Clean it

[Dean Aspects]

Have a minimum price
Dont undercharge just to get the job you will regret it and they will usually pay more than you think
Take holidays dont work yourself into the ground having a break can bring back the energy and you will soon catch up what you have missed

[gordonswindows]

work hard
work harder when its tough
never ever give up

[michael papworth]

1st-Buy some kit,
2nd-Canvass or buy some work,
And finally-Clean it    


That's how to START a business. I'm more interested in BUILDING UP a business.

[michael papworth]

work hard
work harder when its tough
never ever give up

I like this one!!!!

[mr merson]

Listen to the experienced guys advice !       Allways buy quality gear !     And you will get out of this business what you put in  

[WCE]

1. canvass
2. website
3. As much other advertising as poss.
Thats the first 3 things I would say
4. Interview your customers - You might be surprised what they do for a living. Just bring up what they do for a living in conversation, I do and one of my customers turned out to be the purchasing manager for a national services company and they were in need of a window cleaner. Got loads of work of him alone and if I had never asked him what he did I would of never got a look in - It's not what you know but who you know!

[NWH]

Listen to the experienced guys advice !       Allways buy quality gear !     And you will get out of this business what you put in  

The 3rd comment is spot on,you absolutley only get out what you put in and without targets that`s not easy at first but when you set targets completing your goals gets easier.

[Andrew McCann]

1/  Plan your work. Set targets etc. Look pro. (It's not expensive to do this) Decide where you wantto be in say 12months. Know your limitations.. experience etc.

2/ Work your plan..never give up.

3/ Constantly monitor where you are against your plan and adjust accordingly.

[mick hay]

1/ £10 minimum charge   

2/ spend as much on advertising as possible, blanket your area with leaflets 10 - 20,000 of them.

3/look professional i.e. embroided polo shirts, sign writing etc, set yourself apart from the rest!!!

[pingu]

1. Invest in equipment.

2. Set targets, review targets and re-adjust as required.

3. Get up each morning and get out there...whether it's raining or not.

[Craig - CW Window Cleaning]

reference to cold calling / canvassing, I received a leaflet from the office of fair trading about some new regulations on door step selling. That the seller must give a cooling off period of 7 days of goods and services over the amount of £35 and that cancellation rights must be clearly written even if a verbal contract due for the 1st october.

I am starting my own w/c business after a long break

[jaykie]

Sounds like you guys are all talking about me lol

[geefree]

good advice as usual.... in truth how many guys actually do the things they advise on here  ...?... is it what you all did when you first started out? and maybe still are following the plan?

or is it simply good advice you can give on how it should be done... but did not actually do that yourself. if you know what i mean...

just curious again 

[mark dew]

1/ £10 minimum charge

This is the best move i have made.
A customer phones asking for quote, i say i have a £10 min charge and i get told the address. No-one has questioned it.
I have many jobs that are only worth 6/7/8 quid. A tenner minimum charge makes these jobs worth taking on.
This won't expand the business in a customer base way, but it will expand the finances. And with these finances, invest in kit that will allow the hourly rate to increase.
Signwritten van and website are the next 2. I don't have either atm though.

[Kevin R]

1.canvass a small domestic round to pay the bills

2. Advertise and canvass for commercial clients only - don't take on anymore domestic at all

3. Advertise some more and improve kit and image


And not forgetting work hard 

[gordonswindows]

Kevin R

 i know its off topic but just looked and i really liked the content of your website

The photo gallery is about the best ive seen

cheers

[Kevin R]

Kevin R

 i know its off topic but just looked and i really liked the content of your website

The photo gallery is about the best ive seen

cheers

Thank you.

I have a pro photographer organized for a job I have in a few weeks. So hope fully there will be some more good advertising shots.

[Trevor Knight]

well for what it's worth this is my principle on how I run my business, I do this every month end.

1) Review your month and look at what worked well, what didn't work so well.
2) Assess your month ahead and based on your review from last month see how you can increase what worked and reduce what didn't then plan ahead to acheive that.
3) Firefight! I take 1 issue that is bugging me, slowing down the work, affecting the running of the busines etc......and I commit to putting that right in the next month.

An example is this, I have 1 area where a few customers drag their feet on payment so I contacted them, explained how the slow paying affects my business and asked what I could do to help them pay quicker. Some apologised and said they would try to speed up payment, some agreed to pay into our bank and I gave them our account details and 3 agreed to set up a Standing Order.

I cleaned them all last month and only 10% owe now which is much better than the normal 35%. One customer who we rang who promised to pay quicker was so apologetic having said they would help pay up quicker, that they paid the next day and included a £2 tip as an apology!

The one piece of advice I would give to everyone, is this "Take Yourself Seriously" the minute you let your business get sloppy the customers soon follow suit!