[pingu]

So as we see 2008 drawing to an end...economies are taking a hit and sure as eggs are eggs we'll see a few more downturns in 2009 but we cannot be all doom and gloom and as such we'll need to remain positve for 2009.

2008 for me has brought 23 lost customers including those who have been dropped, moves and those who have dropped me.

Hourly rate has increased and average hours out of the house is 5hr 56 per day and aprox 55km driving per day.

Total of 51 New customers gained, hourly rate has increased...only 2356 leaflets put out this year, no canvassing at all.

Business is doing well, only been going for just over 2 years now but have scope to increase business by aprox 1000 pound every 8 weeks whether I get this I do not know.

Pro's this year:
-------------------

Gained new customers and Year End figure has been around 4k above those predicted in George at the start of the year.


Fuel prices are coming down.


Bad points this year:
---------------------------

Still made a few bad calls when dealing with customers but I am slowly learning.

Starting to dislike this job a bit, get down sometimes I feel alone at times.

Other than that all is well

Aims for 2009:
------------------

Keep the averages about the same and gain 1000 worth of new work for on a 8 weekly cycle.

Be a little more content with work and find ways to enjoy work a little more

Would love to hear about your year and your ups and downs..

Cheers
Dave.

[supernova77]

So as we see 2008 drawing to an end...economies are taking a hit and sure as eggs are eggs we'll see a few more downturns in 2009 but we cannot be all doom and gloom and as such we'll need to remain positve for 2009.

2008 for me has brought 23 lost customers including those who have been dropped, moves and those who have dropped me.

Hourly rate has increased and average hours out of the house is 5hr 56 per day and aprox 55km driving per day.

Total of 51 New customers gained, hourly rate has increased...only 2356 leaflets put out this year, no canvassing at all.

Business is doing well, only been going for just over 2 years now but have scope to increase business by aprox 1000 pound every 8 weeks whether I get this I do not know.

Pro's this year:
-------------------

Gained new customers and Year End figure has been around 4k above those predicted in George at the start of the year.


Fuel prices are coming down.


Bad points this year:
---------------------------

Still made a few bad calls when dealing with customers but I am slowly learning.

Starting to dislike this job a bit, get down sometimes I feel alone at times.

Other than that all is well

Aims for 2009:
------------------

Keep the averages about the same and gain 1000 worth of new work for on a 8 weekly cycle.

Be a little more content with work and find ways to enjoy work a little more

Would love to hear about your year and your ups and downs..

Cheers
Dave.

Good post Dave... Very interesting to see how you are getting on as I remember we setup around the same time as each other!

With regards to beginning to dislike the job... I feel the same at times - I think it's becasue the "thrill of the chase" is no longer there... In the early days what I really enjoyed was building my business... The last year has been a bit flat, so in 2009 I'm aiming to canvass 1 day a week and build my good business into a top notch one!

Andy

[Ian Rochester]

It is a lonely existance if you are working by yourself, especially at this time of year when it's cold and dark.  I found the best way to get rid of the boredom was to work with somebody, once they are up to speed they will more than pay for themselves and you can build up work more rapidly, put them on a percentage of turnover so that they will work harder to earn more.  I'm sure you know someone who is out of work and could work well, even if you just give them a couple of days a week to start with.

All our window cleaning and carpet cleaning staff are on percentage rates and they much prefer it

51 new customers in a year is very low, especially as you also lost 23 old ones, so only a 28 net gain.

Set yourself more aggressive targets for next year, target 5 new customers a week, take flyers Drop a leaflet off at either side of every house you do, or even better knock on their door and ask them.

[ftp]

Very similar to my business too Dave, i think you were a few months ahead of me. We all seem to follow a pattern - mega keen at the start. you can tell the newbies on here just by the number of times we/they are posting. I love working on my own and don't find it lonely. The worst thing for me would be working all day with the same person day in day out, i've always done that in other jobs and it drove me nuts. It's nice when you get to the position of being able to drop customers but motivation can be a problem. Difficult customers or awkward access jobs tend to lagg behind. Christmas was a good time because some of the better people payed some good tips and compliments which helped a lot. Building a vac kick started my interest in 2008 and gave some good returns. I've decided not to concentrate just on cleaning windows next year - it's too boring all the time. Good luck everyone for 2009.

[Londoner]

In this job motivation can be a problem, there's no doubt about that. I find I do better if I keep a close watch on the figures and George is very good from that point of view.

You get a weekly, monthly and yearly figure automatically so its not too hard to keep trying to beat your personal best week, month or year.

I find improvements come now from improved efficiency. Working more efficiently with my van mount is my current holy grail.
Getting new customers at the right price is important but also recognising customers that are a drain on your time and doing something about it.

We all have customers that are underpriced for what ever reason, bad quote, due for an increase, change in the job details etc but we soldier on without confronting the issues.

A tip from me if anyone is prepared to take it. Buy a stop watch and time each and every job and record it properly. I time it from handbrake on when I arrive to handbrake off when I leave.

Then divide the price in pounds by the time in minutes. This gives you your rate per minute and you will be amazed at the variations from job to job.
Keep the watch around your neck and you can see where the time goes. Ringing the door bell, the initial chat, setting up, waiting for them to open the door, finding their purse, the list goes on.

Also record the travel time between jobs, even with a compact round like mine it can be an eye opener.

Once you start to collect the figures, after a while the questions will answer themselves but you have to do it seriously if its going to be any long term good. It also gives you the feeling that you are doing something positive and not just drifting along.

Good luck in 2009!

[simon knight]

Morning Vince,

Definately for me motivation can often be an issue. The getting up on a dark frosty morning and knowing that all I've got for the next 6-7 hours is cleaning windows for me can be awful.

One thing I'm going to make a point of next year is to take a lunchbreak rather than work straight through.

[Alex Gardiner]

The one thing that I would not like to do is to work on my own, I always work with someone.

You will not cover twice the work, but if you pay them say 35% of the daily take then you are still doing OK. The upside is that when the going is tough you have someone else to 'chivvy' you along.

Another way is to swap work. You do a 5 hour day for them once a week and they come and do a 5 hour day for you. You do need to have a good relationship for this to work.

[Ian Rochester]

Alex

I have actually found that two people working well together will actually do more than two people working individually.

We always put one on the tops, either pole or ladders and one on the bottoms who also does the collecting.  Find this way they can actually do about 20% more than if they are working by themselves.

We've also tried teams of three, but that rarely works well, the third person doesn't know where they should be and it all gets confusing and therefore inefficient.

On really big rounds I'll send two teams to the same area and they'll each work as pairs but also as a team of 4.

When I first started doing windows I did it by myself for the first 4 months before taking someone on, much easier and more enjoyable.

There are lots of people on NEW DEAL where you can get them for a period of time for very little outlay, before taking them on properly.

[Alex Gardiner]

I agree that 2 people work very well together whereas 3 just do not.

We have found in the past that two well motivated people will sometimes do more work than 3 people.

I occasionally have to do a little work on my own and whilst I am efficient, I do not enjoy it.

[ftp]

It's all down to your personality, you always come across as a calm friendly guy Alex, whereas deep down i'm a miserable bugger! I might be better now i'm off shiftwork though. I always used to latch on to a workmate at first then become bored and find they weren't as driven as me. It's very difficult if you are forced together to work for years on end. Swapping work is a good idea though, especially if you can help out at holiday time or sickness or even those big contracts that have to be done to a deadline.

[Dave Turley]

In this job motivation can be a problem, there's no doubt about that. I find I do better if I keep a close watch on the figures and George is very good from that point of view.

You get a weekly, monthly and yearly figure automatically so its not too hard to keep trying to beat your personal best week, month or year.

I find improvements come now from improved efficiency. Working more efficiently with my van mount is my current holy grail.
Getting new customers at the right price is important but also recognising customers that are a drain on your time and doing something about it.

We all have customers that are underpriced for what ever reason, bad quote, due for an increase, change in the job details etc but we soldier on without confronting the issues.

A tip from me if anyone is prepared to take it. Buy a stop watch and time each and every job and record it properly. I time it from handbrake on when I arrive to handbrake off when I leave.

Then divide the price in pounds by the time in minutes. This gives you your rate per minute and you will be amazed at the variations from job to job.
Keep the watch around your neck and you can see where the time goes. Ringing the door bell, the initial chat, setting up, waiting for them to open the door, finding their purse, the list goes on.

Also record the travel time between jobs, even with a compact round like mine it can be an eye opener.

Once you start to collect the figures, after a while the questions will answer themselves but you have to do it seriously if its going to be any long term good. It also gives you the feeling that you are doing something positive and not just drifting along.

Good luck in 2009!

I also time every job and work out my pence per minute.

when I first started doing this about 18 months ago, I had some jobs as bad as 20 pence per minute , with my best at about 60 pence per minute.

now, with weeding out the poorly paid jobs, better pricing, being choosy about work I take on, a price increase, getting an sl-x and hot water, my worst job is about 45 pence per minute and my best is 185 pence per minute! many are about 100 pence per minute.

this doesn't include for travelling, organising, phone calls to arrange, paperwork and all expenses, but it is a great feeling to see your efficiency and pence per minute improving through ythe year!

[Londoner]

Dave,    I am really glad you picked up on this and replied to it. I have tried to introduce this idea before and its always ignored. I think its a really important way of boosting your business


Vince

[tomy jackson]

i kowe the poor £/// jobs but i like my owen company , worked for many years on my owne long be foer window cleaning  ,

[Clive McDonald]

Vince, for someone who often knocks you i was impressed both with the idea and how you put it across.

I have stayed off this thread, which i believe had been excellent for the very high quality of all the posts because i didn't have anything constructive to add, but did take on board what was said. Maybe others thought the same.

[Alex Gardiner]

Good post Vince. I nearly always do this with all of our large commercial contracts, but have never bothered with the domestic clients. I think that I am going to try this out in 2009. Time to ditch the time-wasters (or put the price up).

Stopwatches at the ready 

[Dave Turley]

Dave,    I am really glad you picked up on this and replied to it. I have tried to introduce this idea before and its always ignored. I think its a really important way of boosting your business


Vince

my pleasure vince.

I even plan my work  by picking all the cherries (best pence per minute jobs) which are due (choosing the biggest first) then fill the day up with the best paid, most geographically sensible jobs available.

this is so much more profitable then just working down the list like I used to.

the cheaper 4 weekly jobs still get done in 5-6 weeks. the good jobs are all done on the day they are due.

[Paul Coleman]

I do like the stopwatch idea too.  If nothing else it will get me working a bit faster I think.  One thing I've done in more recent years is to ensure that talk time with the customer is vastly reduced.  Customer relations is one thing but 10 minutes listening to someone bore me to tears about their sick cat is quite another.
Less time spent on the forum is another one of my goals for 2009.
As for working on my own - I actually prefer it.  I've tried working alone and I've tried working with another.  It may be that I've never actually worked with the right "another" for me but on the whole, working alone is easily preferable.  I've found this on other work too as I've done long distance driving work before, not spoken to another person all day long, and loved it.
If I were ever to go in nick, I think I would request solitary LOL.

[Dave Turley]

I also like my own company, some people hate being on their own

[groundhog]

In this job motivation can be a problem, there's no doubt about that. I find I do better if I keep a close watch on the figures and George is very good from that point of view.

You get a weekly, monthly and yearly figure automatically so its not too hard to keep trying to beat your personal best week, month or year.

I find improvements come now from improved efficiency. Working more efficiently with my van mount is my current holy grail.
Getting new customers at the right price is important but also recognising customers that are a drain on your time and doing something about it.

We all have customers that are underpriced for what ever reason, bad quote, due for an increase, change in the job details etc but we soldier on without confronting the issues.

A tip from me if anyone is prepared to take it. Buy a stop watch and time each and every job and record it properly. I time it from handbrake on when I arrive to handbrake off when I leave.

Then divide the price in pounds by the time in minutes. This gives you your rate per minute and you will be amazed at the variations from job to job.
Keep the watch around your neck and you can see where the time goes. Ringing the door bell, the initial chat, setting up, waiting for them to open the door, finding their purse, the list goes on.

Also record the travel time between jobs, even with a compact round like mine it can be an eye opener.

Once you start to collect the figures, after a while the questions will answer themselves but you have to do it seriously if its going to be any long term good. It also gives you the feeling that you are doing something positive and not just drifting along.

Good luck in 2009!

Hi Vince, I have been using a stopwatch since my trad days, and I have mentioned it on the forum a few times in the past. It's amazing the motivation that this can give me, and I always try to beat my previous best time, since going wfp I can get some of my long standing jobs done in less than 1/4 of the time it used to take trad, I have now got to the stage where I am over the moon to shave a few seconds off a job! and I'm always looking for new and more efficient ways of working. Time really is money in this game!!!!