[kris martin]

all this expenses i think is a load of crap, in my eyes window cleaning is a business that dosnt have much expenses, well it hasnt for me in over ten years...  its only this year i have spent more (freedom trolley) than normal but i estimate 5% of my income is expenses at the most...

window cleaning can almost be expense free...

[windowwashers]

all this expenses i think is a load of crap, in my eyes window cleaning is a business that dosnt have much expenses, well it hasnt for me in over ten years...  its only this year i have spent more (freedom trolley) than normal but i estimate 5% of my income is expenses at the most...

window cleaning can almost be expense free...

You are having a laugh I hope.

I wish I only had 5% expense, trad I can see it wfp nope

[kris martin]

like i said i have a trolley, my water is that low  043 in nearly 5 months my reading after RO is 002 and not budging so costs me nothing...   im getting a van and van mount sometime very soon but what im saying is for somebody starting out there is no need to scare them off by telling them expenses are massive when they absolutely dont have too be...

[windowwashers]

like i said i have a trolley, my water is that low  043 in nearly 5 months my reading after RO is 002 and not budging so costs me nothing...   im getting a van and van mount sometime very soon but what im saying is for somebody starting out there is no need to scare them off by telling them expenses are massive when they absolutely dont have too be...

they are not massive I agree it relation to what can be earnt. But I will say that wfp is not in anyway as easy as soon will make out not is it as cheap as some make out.
Water is cheap, everything else is not that you need and you need to maintain  Kris 

[Nathanael Jones]

all this expenses i think is a load of crap, in my eyes window cleaning is a business that dosnt have much expenses, well it hasnt for me in over ten years...  its only this year i have spent more (freedom trolley) than normal but i estimate 5% of my income is expenses at the most...

window cleaning can almost be expense free...

You are having a laugh I hope.

I wish I only had 5% expense, trad I can see it wfp nope

Ditto,.. my expenses are huge!

Fuel, insurance, vehicle repairs and road tax are the biggest,
then there's resin, brushes, poles, rubbers & scrims, more fuel, VAT, stationary, postage stamps, website hosting, uniform, rain gear, sealskins gloves,.... more fuel,...

I know I do spend more than I need some weeks (I do like my wfp gadgets!),.. but even when I'm keeping an eye on costs, it is a fair chunk of my days wage that's "gone" before even the wife gets her hands on it!

[gerard mcmanus]

all this expenses i think is a load of crap, in my eyes window cleaning is a business that dosnt have much expenses, well it hasnt for me in over ten years...  its only this year i have spent more (freedom trolley) than normal but i estimate 5% of my income is expenses at the most...

window cleaning can almost be expense free...

not allot of expenses yes, but 'can be expense free', have you been smoking something not strickly legal.

gerard  

[kris martin]

like i said i have a trolley, my water is that low  043 in nearly 5 months my reading after RO is 002 and not budging so costs me nothing...   im getting a van and van mount sometime very soon but what im saying is for somebody starting out there is no need to scare them off by telling them expenses are massive when they absolutely dont have too be...

they are not massive I agree it relation to what can be earnt. But I will say that wfp is not in anyway as easy as soon will make out not is it as cheap as some make out.
Water is cheap, everything else is not that you need and you need to maintain  Kris 

im not saying totally expense free but my expensise are very low, not as low as when i was trad but still very low... maybe its because im new to wfp and not experienced my first system malfunction (fingers crossed it dosnt happen some time soon) i do think though when i get my van and mount costs will increase significantly...   

[windowwashers]

like i said i have a trolley, my water is that low  043 in nearly 5 months my reading after RO is 002 and not budging so costs me nothing...   im getting a van and van mount sometime very soon but what im saying is for somebody starting out there is no need to scare them off by telling them expenses are massive when they absolutely dont have too be...

they are not massive I agree it relation to what can be earnt. But I will say that wfp is not in anyway as easy as soon will make out not is it as cheap as some make out.
Water is cheap, everything else is not that you need and you need to maintain  Kris 

im not saying totally expense free but my expensise are very low, not as low as when i was trad but still very low... maybe its because im new to wfp and not experienced my first system malfunction (fingers crossed it dosnt happen some time soon) i do think though when i get my van and mount costs will increase significantly...   

Kris, please dont think badly from what I have said I would not be with out the van mount, but it really does cost money but at the same time you canearn more it just depends on your business model

[kris martin]

i dont think badly of what you say mate, the thing is the more expense i have to pay the more money i have to make to pay for it like you said...

[Sir Squeaky]

Over heads on a £50k turnover    

Vehicle payments or depreciation £4k   I'll give you that one. I pay £4k.

Fuel, tax, insurance , repairs £4-£5k      Eh?!  £1500 max surely?

equipment £2k- £3k    How do you manage that?!  Think I spent about £200 last year.                  

advertising , envelopes , computer £2k  

Telephone £300       Free calls at £40 a quarter including personal use.

Where do you get those figures from Dave?  

I don't dispute you spend that much (although god knows how), but that's not typical of an average window cleaner on here.

Sounds like you give all your money away!

[Sir Squeaky]

all this expenses i think is a load of crap, in my eyes window cleaning is a business that dosnt have much expenses, well it hasnt for me in over ten years...  its only this year i have spent more (freedom trolley) than normal but i estimate 5% of my income is expenses at the most...

window cleaning can almost be expense free...

See?

[windowwashers]

Over heads on a £50k turnover    

Vehicle payments or depreciation £4k   I'll give you that one. I pay £4k.

Fuel, tax, insurance , repairs £4-£5k      Eh?!  £1500 max surely?

equipment £2k- £3k    How do you manage that?!  Think I spent about £200 last year.                  

advertising , envelopes , computer £2k  

Telephone £300       Free calls at £40 a quarter including personal use.

Where do you get those figures from Dave?  

I don't dispute you spend that much (although god knows how), but that's not typical of an average window cleaner on here.

He is not just a window cleaner hes a window cleaning company, I agree with most of the things put on that list.

in the last 2 weeks I have done over 500 mins on mobile business use, and christ knows the amount of mins on phone I pay alot more than £40 a month for landline phone, not including the 0800 number and mobile bill, the list really does go on and on

[Sir Squeaky]

Why do you need to phone people to clean windows then?

If people want me, they phone me.

I spend £15-20 a year on my mobile.

[windowwashers]

Why do you need to phone people to clean windows then?

If people want me, they phone me.

I spend £15-20 a year on my mobile.

Marketing, in calls and replies, customers calling ect

[Sir Squeaky]

You want to get free landline calls like me then.
Doesn't cost me a penny to phone back missed customer calls.

[windowwashers]

You want to get free landline calls like me then.
Doesn't cost me a penny to phone back missed customer calls.

I have that dude, I guess I have to call and speak to a lot more people than you, I wish I didnt but thats life 

[gerard mcmanus]

only realy spend money on listening to voice mail messages, but its not much maybe about £50/60 a year if I add it up.

[Paul Coleman]

Hello all

Want to know if you think it would be possible to earn £30k a year window cleaning.
Been thinking about packing my regular job in to work for myself (fulltime).

Let me know what you think

regards 

S

Yes you can, but don't expect too much too soon.  It can take a number of years to build up that amount of work (though some do it more quickly).  I suggest you start window cleaning part-time at first in addition to your main work and see how you get along.  W/Cing is not to everyone's taste and I reckon there are more who stop it than continue.  If you do decide to invest in WFP equipment, there are a number of companies that do it.  Don't tie yourself in with just one.  The best companies to deal with are not necessarily the ones who market their businesses the best.

[alanwilson]

Alan

Over heads on a £50k turnover

Vehicle payments or depreciation £4k

Fuel, tax, insurance , repairs £4-£5k

equipment £2k- £3k

advertising , envelopes , computer £2k

Insurance , subscription etc £500 ?

Telephone £300

use of home as office £520

protective clothing  £100

Laundry £100

Accountant £400

Training / trade shows ?

Loan interest and charges ?

Employee costs  ? £5k ( Most people dont take £50k on there own)

Bad debts ?

Just a guess really,

but there is more to it than most people think


Depreciation - second hand van, closer to 1.5k per year

Fuel - 2k

Insurance + tax - 1k

Equipment - buy a decent ro and you're looking at closer to £300 a year including resin - the fact that you choose to di only, well thats up to you.

advertising etc - we don't need to, £0

stationary - £100

insurance - £500 granted

telephone - you got a seperate line?  disregarded as most use their own mobile which they would be paying for anyway.

protective clothing, laundry - get a grip, those are living costs, and whoever bought protective clothing to clean windows - a hi-vis vest £3

accountant - do your own if you are that bothered, not hard to do.

training, trade shows - if you really want but a waste of time and money.

Employee costs - the question was to turn over £30k not £50k so I'm disregarding this one as well.

ave the bottom line is can a sole trader make £30k a year pre-tax, the answer is yes.  As I have already explained it is not that hard.  As for costs, again, that isn't what they guy was asking. Before I employed I earned approx £40k a year on my own, I still had 4 weeks a year holiday too, sensible pricing and a determined work ethos is how I did it and thats up here in Scotland, not like some parts of England where it seems no one will clean a 3 bed semi for less than £15.

Sorry to go on but I have done it myself, easily. 

[Dave Turley]

I reckon that starting from scratch and without buying work, you'd be looking at an absolute minimum of two years before you're clearing 30k.

you would need to be VERY switched on, live and breathe window cleaning  with a passion and work seriously hard cleaning, advertising, leafleting/canvassing , collecting, improving equipment etc and be totally dedicated to achieve this.

it might take some 5 years, some 10 years, and some may never achieve it.

most probably don't want to as they're happy to earn less than 30k profit and still have a life.

good luck, but a cakewalk it ain't!