[Murdie window cleaning]

How long does it take you to clean this 16 window house ? To say it can't pay this other cleaner to do it for £10 is wrong, because if he does it in half an hour or less and he has a few of them, even deducting costs he could still be earning more per hour than if he was doing factory or retail work.

It's all about how much per hour you are willing to work for, remember the national minimum wage is only £5.80per hour !

[JRDEasiReach]

Initial clean yesterday took me around 45 - 50 mins, had dead flowers to remove of the windows and had flower boxes to remove and replace too 

[windowswashed]

Increase your prices on lowest priced work that you are prepared to lose.

Maintain a comfortable level of work.

Just keep increasing lowest priced work everytime you gain new work and keep increasing prices on new work obtained than previously.

[d.ward]

How do you find the balance of raising the prices to make it worth your while and trying to stop yourself being undercut by another window cleaner doing the same service as you for a lower price?

[d.ward]

How long does it take you to clean this 16 window house ? To say it can't pay this other cleaner to do it for £10 is wrong, because if he does it in half an hour or less and he has a few of them, even deducting costs he could still be earning more per hour than if he was doing factory or retail work.

It's all about how much per hour you are willing to work for, remember the national minimum wage is only £5.80per hour !

The way i see it is if you price high and clean 3 customers and hour at £12 your turnover £36. The other window cleaner cleans 3 customers an hour for £10 getting £30 per hour.
Thats a £6 difference but it would be harder for the higher priced window cleaner to get that work at that price. I think when your canvassing your pricing plays the biggest part of getting customers not if you cleanthe frames etc but in the recession its what they have to fork out and if they can afford it while they are trying to save for xmas.

[sparklebright]

How long does it take you to clean this 16 window house ? To say it can't pay this other cleaner to do it for £10 is wrong, because if he does it in half an hour or less and he has a few of them, even deducting costs he could still be earning more per hour than if he was doing factory or retail work.

It's all about how much per hour you are willing to work for, remember the national minimum wage is only £5.80per hour !

With respect what you say reflects a serious problem and misunderstanding many have. If you were earning £5.80 in a factory, you would probably cost your boss about £20 an hour. NI, heating lighting holiday etc. All those little expenses that you now have to cover.
Take a little while to add up your REAL running costs. To replace your vehicle, pay sick/holiday pay down days cos of weather, tax bill and accountant if you have one.
Add it all up honestly and you'll get a shock I bet.

[sparklebright]

I put my residential prices up every year by a little bit at least.
If you have plenty of work, put the least profitable up by the most, that way you avoid being a busy fool, doing loads of work at low prices.
Better to do enough work at high prices 

Example if you had 10 houses at £10, and you put them all up by a £1, and you lose 1 you're still making £99 for 10% less work.
I always increase work that's in a row by a little less because of time saved by not having to pack away and move.

Bigger commercial contracts are harder to increase. You could risk a £1000 a month for an extra £50 a month. Trust me I know whereof I speak... :

[d.ward]

How is the best way to win commercial contracts?

[mlscontractcleaner]

Approach them and ask if they're interested in a quote for window cleaning :

[jonboywalton75]

i have had my main round for 7 years, and always did it trad. I have put the prices up once in that time, i know i should do it more often but i make what i need to per hour so ive always been happy. i have just switched to WFP with a backpack. Yesterday i did 10 houses, 9 of them big 4/5 detached with conservatories on some, this would usually take me about 3 and a half hours, i did them in just a tad over 2 hour. So in one way im now earning nearly double an hour, ok my overheads go up a bit but i can get more done.

For the first time ever i worked in the rain yesterday as well, it wasnt torrential rain but its a first, usually at the first sign of some rain i pack up and go home. WFP is the future

I Just bought a shurflo backpack and i wondered how much water you used on those ten houses?

[Murdie window cleaning]

How long does it take you to clean this 16 window house ? To say it can't pay this other cleaner to do it for £10 is wrong, because if he does it in half an hour or less and he has a few of them, even deducting costs he could still be earning more per hour than if he was doing factory or retail work.

It's all about how much per hour you are willing to work for, remember the national minimum wage is only £5.80per hour !

With respect what you say reflects a serious problem and misunderstanding many have. If you were earning £5.80 in a factory, you would probably cost your boss about £20 an hour. NI, heating lighting holiday etc. All those little expenses that you now have to cover.
Take a little while to add up your REAL running costs. To replace your vehicle, pay sick/holiday pay down days cos of weather, tax bill and accountant if you have one.
Add it all up honestly and you'll get a shock I bet.

I'm not naive when it comes to cost, but if it cost me £4.20 to clean a 16 window house I would be very concerned.