we all get de motivated but esp now with this extreme weather.
Exactly!
JRDE is the real problem not the weather, but the lack of funds?
Its tough I know (we know) when you're new to window cleaning, its tough work, you're skint, worried about losing customers, and you can't get out to work because of the weather. It can be demoralising, but that does really sort the wheat from the chaff.
And don't worry about losing customers. If they're due, clean them; end of story; just do it as long as its not 'mental' weather conditions. If you lose the odd one (which is unlikely), you will replace them. As the years tick past, you'll end up with a real hardcore of dependable customers.
And make sure you have an emergency fund to cover at least one months worth of lost income; or at the very least access to credit to cover for a months living expenses. And this is the very least. Don't even think about taking a sneaky day off when you've got work due cleaning if you haven't got an emergency fund behind you.
And when I'm really de-motivated, I just go out with an attitude that I'll spend the day 'mincing about'; you know I'll plod on, listen to my MP3, drink coffee, chat to customers; hell I may even clean the odd window, and once I get going I'm fine. I think the thought of working is far worse than the actual working if you know what I mean. Have a read of the book in my sig (The Power of Now), it's very good and will explain to you why you're feeling a bit on the demoralised side. You're no doubt living in the future and thinking of all sorts of bad possibilities; stuff that will just not happen 99.9% of the time.
Oh, and set everything up the night before - that's important - so you have very little to do in the morning; giving you less time to procrastinate; and it gets your backside out the door early.
Personally, I think we've all learnt something from this years Winter.
Its not the fact of the money m8 at least not yet its just the fear of losing customers especially the newer ones plus i have so called friends who have got me to clean and then wont divulge if they want a repeat clean, i dont like to keep on to them but its annoying too, im going through a rough patch too with other things that dont help much either, add to that this 1c temp with wind that feels like -10 and rain on top and its rotten, even worse than working that day last week in the -2 alot worse. I'll get myself into gear tomorrow again, i have to, although i think part of the problem deep down is the fact i have got nothing new recently and the fear of NOT getting is making me down too. Thanks for your replies lads, its helped me no end so far, thanks.
Try not to be so reliant on "friends' jobs". IME they are notoriously unreliable. I have about 3 or 4 of these and I won't build them in to my regular cleaning. I just say to let me know when they want them doing and I will do them when I can after being notified. That way, although I include the money in my business income, I don't think of it as part of the business as such. I also charge a bit more because such cleans are, by their nature, infrequent. There are a couple I do FOC as well and I'm happy to do that maybe a couple of times per year.
I don't mind the time off. I do mind the lack of income though. I already had a problem looming at the end of the month due to the tax bill. This problem will be more severe than I anticipated due to the weather. I'm bumping along the bottom financially. I have a reasonable income for a sole trader and most of it goes on servicing debt due to mistakes I made in my non business life and due to a major illness that I had (now cured). I have a reasonable income but live the life of a tightwad. I don't like it but that's how it has to be for a few years.
Hey. Nothing terrible happened during the time I typed that post. Today is the tomorrow I worried about yesterday - and all that stuff.
So I may end up bankrupt and homeless. I may not. If push comes to shove I will have to apportion the non secured debts. I don't intend to. Instead I intend to increase my income still further come the thaw.
I have plenty to be grateful for.
I also have enough time and knowledge under my belt to know that no problem ever got solved by taking booze or dope.
I may even have to take a lodger. I hate the idea as I'm on my own in a 2 bed flat (1 bed and 1 office/bedroom) and I'm used to having my space.
Shopping has become a very illuminating experience. The daft thing is that in my quest to reduce my food bill to the bone, I actually eat far more healthily than I ever have done. I'm astonished how little my food bill can be if I shop cannily. I go to the supermarket around 7.30/8.00, get a few bits, then start hoovering up the bargains like a locust with the munchies. Bread for 20p a loaf maybe. Stuff em in the freezer. Fresh veg that's on its last selling day. Buy as much as is reasonable, boil it up, and freeze in in meal size portions. Microwave as needed. I've got enough porridge and pasta to last me till ermmmmm ages.
When things get better for me, I don't think I would ever be able to go back to the way I once was with money. This is a learning curve for me and I am absorbing the lessons.
This snow would be the final nail for me before re-apportioning debts but I do have access to some more credit and I can pull myself out without alarming any creditors if I continue running a very tight ship and get my income up some more.
So I am well motivated. The thought of shiny new vans and big houses do not motivate me. Disaster aversion does.
