[sandy]

after a £85 overtime cut i have decided to make window cleaning my full time occupation.ihave been a part time window cleaner for 12 years.so i would just like ask the group their opinion of wether there is enough work to go around.is there enough window cleaners already or is there a shortage of good window cleaners.also whats the best way to test if an area is geting cleaned or not. how do you find areas that need your services

thank to all  sandy
 

[The Bear]

It depends where you are, in our area there is a shortage.

if you work at it full time, you will pick up work easily

Go and knock on a few doors, but be warned, dont under price, even if you NEED the work.

[simbo]

in my street i have seen 3 window cleaners each doing no more than 3 houses each, street has 50 houses never been asked if i would like mine cleaned.
fly whatever street you like the look of then do again a month later that way if you do not pick up anything, it must be covered. Flyers work better second time, but you will have to do a lot, which is where i am struggling at the moment.
I have got 2 good teenage girls putting out 500 a week for me from next week wher i want as i work full time too 6-2 and hate it.
ps in my experience for every 1 new customer i pick up they usually put somebody else on to me as well, if i get a small £6 pound house i knock the next door neighbours to get another which means £12 in just over half hour, not bad
good luck paul

[matt2323]

make sure you do a min charge of at least 10 pounds if we all did this we would all earn a great living.we do 15 pound min and we are getting loads of work ,even on council estates.good luck .

[Rob_Mac]

I know it's sad but listening to Radio 2 recently on Steve Wright he was saying that they had got some info that there were 82 million windows in this country that had a need to be cleaned.

Will that be enough for you

Rob

[Simon Carter]

The real key to building a window cleaning business is not going away. If you just stick around, your business will grow. A real common response I get on the door step when I'm canvassing is 'yes, I'd love a window cleaner, but you are going to last aren't you?. That tells you all you need to know.
The advice to start off with ambitious prices is not bad advice, but you might want just to be  reasonable initially. Your first goal should be to be working the hours you want to put in. You can look at upping your prices thereafter.

[UBA1]

There`s plenty out there, don`t go too cheap though.

Look to realistically do 2 semis or terraces an hour initially, once you go round your round a few times, and get the first cleans out the way, life becomes simpler.

Practice at home too, practice on your technique, and time yourself.

If your reasonably fit, have good technique, and have a fairly well priced compact round, in time you should be able to bang out 4-6 terraced houses an hour, at say an average of £6 each (depending on where you live)

There is scope out there...remember though, it`s best even to drive half an hour from home if the work you pick up is more compact and better priced than on your doorstep.

Good luck...

[Paul Coleman]

after a £85 overtime cut i have decided to make window cleaning my full time occupation.ihave been a part time window cleaner for 12 years.so i would just like ask the group their opinion of wether there is enough work to go around.is there enough window cleaners already or is there a shortage of good window cleaners.also whats the best way to test if an area is geting cleaned or not. how do you find areas that need your services

thank to all  sandy
 

I found that I had to kickstart my business originally by doorknocking.  It took a while to build up but, once I had a regular workbase and people knew they could trust me, the work flooded in.
Two things against me were that I started in 1991 when there were high interest rates and a lot of people out of work.  Also, I started in October just as Winter was coming.  A lot of my early customers saw me around for a while but didn't ask me to start until Spring came around.
I made the mistake of being too cheap at first and eventually, I passed my early work onto someone else who was starting.  I didn't have the cheek to sell the work as my prices were too low.  I figure that if I'm getting too few refusals due to the prices, then I'm charging too low.

[zeusjazmin]

be realistic with your prices
up here an average estate house is about £2.50/£3.00,i know some of you will choke when you read this ,but that is the going rate!
do not overprice yourself out the game,and also do not underprice,if you are very reliable you will get recommendations as well......good luck

[pjulk]

up here an average estate house is about £2.50/£3.00

How on earth can you make any money with price's like that you would probably get more money claiming unemployment money or working for mcdonalds.
After you paid your fuel, equipment, insurance, vehicle running costs, Tax, NI  allowed for hoilidays is there any money left.
You would certainly need to knock some house out each day

Paul

[windows_chepstow]

be realistic with your prices
up here an average estate house is about £2.50/£3.00,i know some of you will choke when you read this ,but that is the going rate!
do not overprice yourself out the game,and also do not underprice,if you are very reliable you will get recommendations as well......good luck

Zeusjazmin,

Where are you?  Those prices are mad! 

[baldeagle]

I thought I was cheap at a fiver for a 2 bed semi, but £2-50/£3-50?
The only job I do for £3-50 is one terraced house in a quiet street in Stafford. I do several others down that street, but this one's only got 2 windows, both on the front, one up, one down, and not even a front garden, so I clean it almost "en-passant".
Baldeagle in Staffordshire

[zeusjazmin]

i am in ayrshire,scotland
very recently put up some houses from £2.50 to £3.00  there was an outcry!!!!!!!!
i then explained to customers that elsewere in the uk people pay 6 or 7 pounds for their windows ,i was met with shock and horror as well as disbeleif.
in fact some of my customers stopped short of calling me a liar!
it is a part of the job that pes me off ,knowing i do the same work as you guys and get paid half the price
as i said it depends on the area you live in
in my area an ex local authority 3 bedroom house is valued at around £45,000,i have relatives in england who showed me properties very similar which sell for around £110,000.
maybe you guys could ger a petition going to get me a pay rise

[windows_chepstow]

very recently put up some houses from £2.50 to £3.00  there was an outcry!!!!!!!!
as i said it depends on the area you live in
in my area an ex local authority 3 bedroom house is valued at around £45,000,i have relatives in england who showed me properties very similar which sell for around £110,000.

Zeusjazmin,

How much does a pint of lager cost in your local?  This might sound like a daft question; but it's the Geordie method of calculating the average cost of living in an area; and it really does work.

I think a pint of Stella costs £2.40 where I live.  Personally, I can't imagine cleaning a 3 bedroomed semi for one pint of lager!

Saying that, I once met a window cleaner from Middlesborough, around two years ago, who used to travel to Chepstow (Caldicot) (South East Wales) once a month, lived in cheap accommodation and cleaned windows for a week.  He said his first days work paid for his travel and accommodation and he charged around £7.50 per house, and 'advised' me nicely not to charge cheaper in his area.

When I asked him why he travelled from his normal round in Middlesborough, he asked me, 'How much do you think I can charge up there'?  I didn't have a clue, but guessed there were regional differences in price.  He said he made £120 per day here.  Double for the same work up North.

But still, £3.00 for a house.  What were window cleaners charging five years ago?  If they put their prices up 50p per year, they would've been charging 50p per house.  My Mum's window cleaner charged that in Newcastle in 1976.

My affection for Scotish people is not something I keep to myself.  I'm an avid supporter of the Scottish National Party.  I want the 'tight Jock gits' to get independance and severance from England.  I know the Sweaties have a reputation of being tight, but something needs to be done mate.

That's just plain outragous.  I wish I could offer some advice to help.  Are there any other Jock window cleaners that could offer some advice?

[zeusjazmin]

stella is very expensive in my area £2.05 a pint,better with tennents lager £1.95 a pint
ayr which is 14 miles away is completely different,i think they charge about £5 or £6 for a normal house
funnily enough my relations who live in windsor love coming up here ,cos things are so cheap
i have a customer 6 miles away who lives in a huge house ,5 bedrooms ,2 sitting rooms 22 windows in all,plus double patio doors ,they do not think they are getting a bargain paying me £3

[windows_chepstow]

stella is very expensive in my area £2.05 a pint,better with tennents lager £1.95 a pint
ayr which is 14 miles away is completely different,i think they charge about £5 or £6 for a normal house
funnily enough my relations who live in windsor love coming up here ,cos things are so cheap
i have a customer 6 miles away who lives in a huge house ,5 bedrooms ,2 sitting rooms 22 windows in all,plus double patio doors ,they do not think they are getting a bargain paying me £3

The price of a pint isn't half what it costs here; therefore the price of window cleaning shouldn't either!

I just think cleaning a large house for £3.00 is... well... too cheap to put it politely.

I wish I could give you some decent advice to help you out, but you obviously know the area better than me; and you know the general views on pricing on this forum (which even by my standards are more than what I charge).

I couldn't do a £10.00 minimum charge; not for a good few years; after whittling down my smaller accounts and keeping on my better paying ones.

I think I know the type of area you clean in though.  I've stayed at a friends house in Troon, which isn't far from Ayr (if memory serves me rightly).  It was really rough there; even by Geordie standards.  Many Southerners wouldn't believe what a Scottish 'rough estate' is really like.  Wor Lass says certain estates round here are rough; but they're posh by the standards I grew up in.

I think you ought to target some rural type accounts; charging them double what you'd normally charge.  Just get a whole load of leaflets; post them; and door knock a day or two later.  Also do you advertise in your Thompson Local?  Try for some commercial work.

You need to do something, Mate.

Regards,

Tosh.

[dennis buller]

just come back from helensburgh in scotland, the prices are same there has in ayrshire, telling them what the average is in milton keynes. 2 window cleaners in strathclyde thought i was taking the micky so the phone for a couple of quotes. proving i was right. they have to work there socks off all day every day. they want to muscle in my patch down here(AH-AH). yet if every window cleaner in ayrshire got together and priced fixed, wouldnt that solve a problem ?
DENNIS

[Paul Coleman]

just come back from helensburgh in scotland, the prices are same there has in ayrshire, telling them what the average is in milton keynes. 2 window cleaners in strathclyde thought i was taking the micky so the phone for a couple of quotes. proving i was right. they have to work there socks off all day every day. they want to muscle in my patch down here(AH-AH). yet if every window cleaner in ayrshire got together and priced fixed, wouldnt that solve a problem ?
DENNIS

Yes but I think that would also be illegal.  I may be wrong but price fixing cartels were outlawed some years ago.  It's not relevant anyway as it wouldn't happen.  The economics of supply and demand would dictate the rates.  When someone tells me that they are a pensioner and don't have much money, I just tell them that I don't want to end up in their position too.  Bear in mind that the cost of living is generally lower in Scotland and the north though e.g. cheaper houses so lower mortgages, lower rents etc.
I visited my sister in Co Durham a while back.  I went into a cafe for breakfast and got a pretty full cooked breakfast for about £2.50.  That would be at least £4.50 in Sussex where I live.  I didn't save much though as I had a pudding too 

[zeusjazmin]

i think chepstow hit the point when he said i know the area best
in all honesty people in this area would rather do without a window cleaner than pay £5,the wheelie bin cleaner charges £1.20!!
troon is about 20 miles away ,but i would imagine i could charge more realistic prices there,but it is run by a different council and i do not have a licence to operate there
ps i cleaned a computer shop for 2 years one large window plus one door,my fee was £1 ,another cleaner does it now,the reason?,they wanted it done on a saturday,it suited me to do it on a friday one week,result,they are £1 better off

[s.hughes]

I'm sorry but I feel really depressed reading this topic. I just cant belief there are window cleaners out there only earning a pitance. Paul hit the nail on the head. How the hell do you make a living. Petrol must be the same price, Insurance w/c and car wouldnt be any cheaper. Also how can you afford to save for the rainy days, we all know you get a lot worse weather conditions in Scotland than we get here.
Its funny. I read that a starting price should be £10.00 and that make me feel that I should be putting up my prices. Then I read a topic like this and think I should lower my prices, which of course I wouldnt. But it makes me feel very content and most certainly lucky with the work I have.


Steveyboy