[ftp]

Also it depends on the area you live in. Groundhog has stated in the past that most of his customers are mega earners.   Maybe they are. But for most of us we are sevicing normal people with normal incomes. The only other well off types are the cash rich retired people who also may have lost touch with reality. However most people who have their marbles won't be paying crazy prices whilst there incomes shrink in the future.
 A good wage in my area would be £15.00 per hour (excellent wage for most jobs in my district) when their wages drop or outgoings rise they won't pay £30 for a £10 job for long.

[Dave Turley]

why not charge expensive if you're still getting the work?

i'd rather have an expensively priced round and lose a few to undercutters than work for a mediocre wage all the time for fear of being undercut.

there are more custies out there looking for a top notch window cleaner, than there are top notch window cleaners to go round imo.

[NWH]

A WC might price up a job and think i`ll do that for £10-15 cheaper than that that`s what the WC thinks,the customer however dosen`t know you and they think that`s a lot cheaper than the other 1 and it gets them thinking a bit more.After more thinking most customers will come to the conclusion that you won`t be as reliable as the present cleaner and would rather pay a bit more for peace of mind and be certain that you`ll turn up and not be a fly by night which in my experience 80% are.Don`t get caught up on price and think that this is what will keep jobs for you it isn`t always the case,customers like people they know they can trust not just a few quid cheaper WC.It might work with your 2 up 2 down but it wouldn`t stand a chance with big domestic type work there not interested in saving a couple of quid here and there,and more often than not there not concerned by recession anyway.

[Clive McDonald]

Thought that craig commented fairly mildly and can't understand groundhogs position. He spent a long time championing the diy harris on price grounds, but claims to be money whizz?

The two things don't do together. You can't mix cheapo mix and match tat with top end hourly rates because the time taken to avoid paying for proper kit such as an xtel is more expensive than the pole.

However, i remember from the vid that he is smart etc and a brisk worker. This isn't to wind him up, just to say that his thinking is why the smart guys just buy the kit and forget it.

[NWH]

Thought that craig commented fairly mildly and can't understand groundhogs position. He spent a long time championing the diy harris on price grounds, but claims to be money whizz?

The two things don't do together. You can't mix cheapo mix and match tat with top end hourly rates because the time taken to avoid paying for proper kit such as an xtel is more expensive than the pole.

However, i remember from the vid that he is smart etc and a brisk worker. This isn't to wind him up, just to say that his thinking is why the smart guys just buy the kit and forget it.

It`s the same with hot water i tried the L5 heater but it`s not worth the agro to be honest,the flame goes out and i don`t care what anyone say`s that heater is not supposed to be used inside a van.What i`ve learnt is that there`s no short cuts you may aswell just get the real thing that is designed to do the job you want it to do,a heater switch it on and forget it or a pole the same,in the long run you`ll only give yourself a headache and end up buying the thing in the end anyway.

[craig b]

may be you need to look again at u tube..

its  not about the harris pole either i made one..

its level of service for price charged...the way things our going hes leaving his self open
for under cutting more and more people will be coming into business with forums like this its so much easier...and prices that get  talked about no wonder.
his potential customer will dry up as people get tighter..he will then have to bring prices down.. then people talk..you charge them x amount but you charge me so so then they lose trust and think they have been riped off..

[NWH]

If they trust him and don`t mind paying him that that`s all that matters the relationship between him and the customer,there not all trying to save a few quid some people don`t mind paying for a good reliable service and in most cases with WC`s you don`t get this especially with the cheap brigade.

[peter holley]

its not all about price, iv had people canvassing my round and undercutting.. but my custies want someone reliable, they wont risk losing a reliable cleaner, for the sake of a fiver..

[NWH]

its not all about price, iv had people canvassing my round and undercutting.. but my custies want someone reliable, they wont risk losing a reliable cleaner, for the sake of a fiver..

[craig b]

what if it was £10 or£15 pounds would that make a difference. how would you feel..

ok talk this time next year and see were we all stand.....
see how we adapted and changed .. if gets as bad as they say (hope not)

[NWH]

what if it was £10 or£15 pounds would that make a difference. how would you feel..

ok talk this time next year and see were we all stand.....
see how we adapted and changed .. if gets as bad as they say (hope not)

Where do you live Craig.

[craig b]

n.ireland

[tomy jackson]

i woodent swop my haris pole 95% of my work with haris wot i like a bout is liteness of it . my L5 never gos out walst in use  , £150 and 1 hower a genst 2K , haris is not cost but so lite

[Ian_Giles]

sorry for this groundhog but i think you our full of crap...
you seem to be ripping people of...if you tell the truth about your prices.
maybe you do them every 8 weeks or more..and thats why you charge so much.
you dont wear uniform... your probably not insured..god knows what your vans like..
you use a harris pole....you put clips on u tube...again you dont look very profesional or  value  for money..

if your telling the truth...you will feel the pressure over the next few years.
but i dont think you would come this forum a tell us you were losing customers because people would jump on you back..... may be you just like leading people up the garden path...

Craig,
This post was out of order, you just cannot come on here and tell someone he is full of crap, choose your words with a little more consideration, pull someone's post apart by all means, but try not to be inflammatory whilst you do so.


Groundhog:
I still maiintain that you should aim for a £1.00 per minute worked, and at a tenner for a semi, or 12 quid for one with a conservatory the size of the one Matt described it would take me no more than 10 minutes personally...I have worked hard at being very efficient at what I do....but I don't necessarily expect everyone else to be the same as me!
Matt may well take 30 minutes on that account, but that being said, ten or 12 quid is a good price in most area's of the country, and would certainly allow for a price per minute worked of £1.00.

And for any that haven't heard me witter on about '£1.00 per minute worked' that doesn't mean you are going to go along earning £60 an hour, 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week!!!

To achieve something along the lines of and annual income between 20-25k you have to be turning over something along the lines of £32,000 per year, to do that your price per minute worked needs to be somewhere around a £1.00 per minute worked....

What is your annual tax bill...mm?
If it is only a few hundred quid then you are earning pennies, if it is upwards of a couple of grand then you are starting to earn decent money, you only pay tax on your profit, and your profit is your income...it isn't your turnover!

So, so many window cleaners think their turnover is their wage, or they see themselves knocking out a really good turnover for a few hours and think that they are earning mega money, but you can only really work out what you are truly earning by looking back over the last 12 months...and it is your tax return that will tell you that at the end of the day...

Ian

[craig b]

ian get of your high horse.
you need to go and look at other posts . people our been brought down and harrassed for wear they live.. but then thats your mates
crap as in rubbish. i apologized before i said it and after...

[Clive McDonald]

I have big bills.I'm probably just lucky.

Craig is of course right, price is everything.


For years sainsbury's sold on quality (to give one example), not now.

[NWH]

I have big bills.I'm probably just lucky.

Craig is of course right, price is everything.


For years sainsbury's sold on quality (to give one example), not now.

Don`t you mean Marks and Spencer,before the taste the difference range in Sainsburys it was rubbish.

[ftp]

Ian, your post is spot on regarding turnover and earnings. I thought i was earning some brilliant money untill i checked my costs the other day - quite a shock.

[SteveAllan]

Jeepers I wish i could get some of the money you guys are charging. WC round my way (northants) getting £5 on average for a 3 bed.

[matt]

Well I'm with Matt on this one, maybe he could have gone from 10 quid to £12.50 but an average semi is only going to take him 10 or 15 minutes to clean, and 25 or 30 quid falls well into the category of over priced and greedy (in most area's of the country anyway)

Ian

Actually Matt said it took him half an hour, not 10-15mins!! What happened to the Ian who used to say he worked out his prices at £1 a minute?  My point is that if people like you and you sell yourself and your services well, you will be able to charge a higher price! If you go in with a high price, you can always lower it if the customer says no, I have done this many times, and if done right the customer feels good because they feel that you are doing them a favour. Many people I speak to are actually feeling better off than before this whole credit crunch thing, for example my own mortgage has gone down by over £500 a month in the last couple of months! Diesel is cheaper, and there are bargains everywhere! The only customers I think you are going to lose are the ones who are made redundant, and you will probably lose these no matter what you charge!! In the last 3 months I have lost just one customer (he was made redundant) and I have continued to gain new customers at a rate of about 2-3 a week, with no advertising, just a handful of leaflets put out every week.

As for being 'just a cleaner' well I would say that not all cleaners are equal! There is a window cleaner in my area who employs 3 blokes and has well over 1000 customers, I reguarly get calls from his customers asking for a price as they are not happy with his work, on average my price is 2.5 times what he charges, ie he charges £10 I charge £25. And I nearly always get the job! I get it because I have been recomended to the customer, because of the way I conduct myself when I price up, and the fact that they know I am going to do an excellent job! 

i actually said "took me under half a hour" i guess it was 20 mins, it was a first clean for me, so i explained how the system worked and told them abit about myself etc et , next time it will be down to about 15 mins i would guess