[bobplum]

good morning,well its not actually as the rain god as decided to take it out on the chester area again
im responding to the topic headlined "to all the new guys"
why did i start window cleaning!
by trade im a plumber,i was working for a national company for 15 months feb 08 to may 09
prior to that self employed for about 9 years prior to that a tanker driver for shell uk,so taking this as the start point heres how i got to become a window cleaner.
as a driver for shell we were contracted out to a po transport,that meant we lost benefits,so i started to think of ways to make money and get out of driving so for some strange reason i started window cleaning on my days of,then i picked up work for maintenance companies the snowball kept getting bigger was offered redundency at po transport took it picked up more work including the plumbing decided to sell the window round,9 years later the poles and other foriegn workers came along,more people were getting into plumbing because according to the press we were all £5,000 a week!  then the credit crunch,i was offered the job with homeserve,it was actually a good job till they decided that instead of earning money you would earn"points" and because you need to do twice as many jobs to earn earn a lot of points to earn the same money as the last contract we were on i was doing 70 hours to earn 50 hours pay the round came along so i decided to jump and as been mentioned ,this way im earning from day one i did have the experience but rusty,.

i intend to advertise for more plumbing in the winter  but will see how it goes
luv bob

[stephen s]

cheers Bob and good luck mate

[a900]

Im new too and here is my story.

I had left school 2 years ago and was offered a administration & accounts job with a Financial Advisor. I snapped the job up. Things were going well. My small apprenticeship wage was slowly increasing and i was learning so much while getting my qualification in accounts at college.

Then the recession hit. I new my job wasn't secure so i discussed my options with my parents who were window cleaners around 10 years ago before they moved into carpet cleaning. They suggested it to me. (My grandad to was a window cleaner up until he retired) I had made my decision just as i was made reduntant in April 09.

I went for it after speaking my to family and friends that are window cleaners. Got some financial help and brought my system.

I don't look back. One word comes to mind. FREEDOM

I am planning on doing my third year in college this year. Just for something to fall back on.

[Ross G]

Also a newbie round here but a bit of an old relic as far as the honourable art of wc is concerned.
Originally paid off from my warehouse job back in the jurrasic period 1985, one of my workmates brothers was a wc so he had suggested i give it a try so i did and i'm still here. So after 25 years up and down that ladder i decided that i've got to get with the times and change to wfp, I have a big established round, i'm going to switch over gradually i can't see any harm in keeping my eye in with trad as well as wfp maybe one day i'll phase it out  doesn't hurt to have every tool in the box.
After 25 years it'll feel like i'm starting a new career but hey get with the programme. Reading up on it on forums like this has convinced me big time, who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

Ross

[bobplum]

im thinking of geting a back pack/trolley system but i have to admit every time i speak to someone who as used wfp the dont rate it,most of  if not all people dont have agood word for it
very undecided
bob

[Craig 72]

The backpack is a great bit of kit.Everyone I talk to has nothing but good things to say.If you have 4 or 5 houses spaced out in a road I find it much easier to use a backpack than having to wind up the reel and drive on to the next house over and over.Plus there are always houses where you can't park too near to it making the backpack ideal.The only pain is having to fill it up fairly frequently.Cheap as well,my one cost under a ton from WCW.

[PCNW]

Good luck mate