Window Cleaning Issues - Canvassing, pole systems, pricing, problems, etc.
How much doyou earn?Posted by adge (adge), 23 January 2004
I appreciate this is a broad question BUT how much does the average full time window cleaner earn?Posted by Neil (wylie), 23 January 2004
Sorry cant answer that in case the missus reads this 
Posted by sham33 (sham33), 23 January 2004
Or the tax man 
Posted by pdhanson (Silly Philly), 23 January 2004
This depends on many things:
Location
Distribution of work (domestic/commercial)
Average speed
Areas worked
"Full time" is a difficult concept to apply to window cleaning, as it is weather dependent. No-one can work 5 days a week unless they also have indoor work and this is relatively rare. Also, many window cleaners (not me) stop working at 2 or 3 pm.
I'd say, if you lived in the south of England, were quite fast and priced your work properly, worked from 9-5 with 1hr for lunch, a daily average of £140 is easily possible.
You can usually depend on about 4 days of good weather per week.
Assuming all these things, and that you had enough work, you end up with an annual profit of (£140 x 4 x 52) = £29,120 before tax.
(This would assume no holidays or sickness though, and unlike other jobs you do not get paid for that time)
However, if you have mainly commercial work you might earn closer to £240 per day. Also if you use a pole system the speed/daily rate might be greater still. Inside work you do for 5 days.
Anyone any other thoughts?
SillyPosted by Majestic (Majestic), 23 January 2004
Hi Silly
Please explain
If you lived in the south of England, were quite fast and priced your work properly, Posted by adge (adge), 23 January 2004
Thanks for the input, how easy have you found the aquisition of commercial business.......car dealerships, shops etc?......Posted by Majestic (Majestic), 23 January 2004
I think its being in the right place at the right time most places have a regular window cleaner , even if they are not happy with the quality of there work .I would pick a area and then give them a call Posted by adge (adge), 23 January 2004
yeah i figured the "right place right time" issue would be prominent. What about the acqusition of normal residential business, how quickly can your business develop?Posted by STEVE71163 (Steve Lowe), 23 January 2004
As quick as you get out knocking on doors or delivering leaflets
StevePosted by Majestic (Majestic), 23 January 2004
Thats another tricky one , you could go down a street knocking on doors and get 2 / 3 new jobs and you could turn the corner and get 10 + again its all down to are there any other window cleaners in the area. A good way to judge things is have a walk down a few streets see if the windows are dirty , if they are give them a knock and say you have just started in this area ( and not just started up ) and are looking to get a few more customers Posted by adge (adge), 23 January 2004
I'll be sure to get started asap what about leaflet response, is the 1 - 3 % a reasonable return to expect?Posted by Majestic (Majestic), 23 January 2004
Depends on the area,
I did my own on one side I put
Do you have a window cleaner
Do you want one
Please leave this in your window
On the other side I put
Yes please clean my windows.
Then a couple of days later I went around the area and then put another flyer through saying what day I would be calling Posted by STEVE71163 (Steve Lowe), 23 January 2004
You may only get a small response from a leaflet drop but when you go to clean you will probably pick up a few more.
StevePosted by adge (adge), 23 January 2004
would you suggest pursueing the obviously large housing estates or could there be equal if not better response from the sleepy villages and towns in the surrounding areas?, any help/guidance would be appreciated......thanksPosted by STEVE71163 (Steve Lowe), 23 January 2004
All of them are worth a go. Just do a bit of research on pricing because its harder to put them up if you get it wrong in the beginning
StevePosted by adge (adge), 23 January 2004
cheers , does anyone "branch out" when the weather permits?..............cutting grass etc........ 
Posted by Majestic (Majestic), 23 January 2004
Are there any other window cleaners in the area, do you talk to them , some are ok if you do talk to any ask what they charge, and do they have any work they dont want , give them your phone no and if anyone asks them to clean there windows and they are to busy , get them to hand over your numberPosted by easycleanwindows (easycleanwindows), 23 January 2004
Weve never knocked doors only leaflet dropped and had great sucsess.And also word of mouth plus picked up quite alot of town houses due to having pole fed felt a little bad as these already had window cleaner but he couldnt get to the top and they see us in their street and change.Posted by Majestic (Majestic), 23 January 2004
I dont but If you dont have much window cleaning you could also do Gutter cleaning , painting etc ,anything that will earn you some money Posted by adge (adge), 23 January 2004
excellent, thanks for everyones advice , any more pearls of wisdom that could help from anyone?Posted by pdhanson (Silly Philly), 23 January 2004
Quote:Hi Silly
Please explain
If you lived in the south of England, were quite fast and priced your work properly,
Yes that is a bit vague isnt it!
South of England - in my experience there is a clear north/south divide in the area of pricing. (See "Southerners charge too much") This obviously goes hand-in-hand with cost of living being more in the south. I would have been fortunate to get up to £100 in the north, whereas now(Bristol) my daily target (on my own) is £175. This is just my experience, if you think I'm wrong about this, then of course your experience is just as valid as mine.
Quite Fast
I mean, not a completely new starter, but not Terry Burrows either. Capable of at least three 3-bed-semis in an hour.
priced your work properly
I mean, when we start out, most of us make the mistake of pricing too cheap. (well I did anyway). When I say that work is "properly" priced, I mean not where you're kicking yourself for starting too cheap.
SillyPosted by Majestic (Majestic), 23 January 2004
Hi Silly
I think that every window cleaner is guilty of under selling themself, there is nothing worse than going to a job knowing that you should of priced it higher . Now I have a look at the job decide a price then add £1 for good luckPosted by simonb (simonb), 23 January 2004
So no-one will tell you what they are earning - no surprise there.
Its all down to how much work you want to put in.
You could earn £350 in a day but you would be so knackered you couldn't get up the next day!
SimonPosted by matt (matt), 23 January 2004
Well im just outside Bath, and 2 of us work, i do downstairs (im 6ft 3 and can reach windows without a pair of steps or pointer) and my mate does upstairs,
we earn about 100 quid a day, now on our own, we would be earning roughly 80 quid a day
its faster if there are 2 of you, you try and beat the other guy, and 1 has to carry the ladder, and the other the bucket and ladder stop 
mainy will say, but the person downstairs has to wait for the guy upstairs, true, BUT i put the "we have cleaned your window" ticket and do the paperwork and take the money if they are home, thus i catch him up then
it works well, im happy with 100 quid a day, 300 for a 3 days weekPosted by adge (adge), 24 January 2004
£100 a day between you and your mate.......how many properties do you do to attain this?Posted by matt (matt), 24 January 2004
thats each
average home is about 8 quidPosted by T_W_CONTRACTS (T_W_CONTRACTS), 24 January 2004
hey do all u guys do houses : any of you work for firms
im a sub contractor self employed ive worked for the same co for 9 years i do 6 marks&spencers food halls
everyday + other contract jobs no houses eccept on
fridays i do sheltered housing for local council a few blocks of flats restaurants . i suppose theres more
opportunity down here in london . but honestly guys get liability insurance & nfmw&gc registration and apply for contract work and you will go from strentgh to strentghPosted by STEVE71163 (Steve Lowe), 25 January 2004
Hi TW
I do quite a bit of commercial work but money is money so why turn away either
StevePosted by T_W_CONTRACTS (T_W_CONTRACTS), 25 January 2004
i dont turn work down i just dont have time to do it.
i was just seeing if anyone worked as subby
im not knocking anybodyf course sometimes when
on a job i sometimes get asked to do peoples houses
sometimes i do it sometimes i dont.my work is not cash in hand i have to bill my employer fortnightly Posted by g_griffin (g_griffin), 25 January 2004
Matt,
Your mate does upstairs and you do down? I suppose you make up for this by putting the ticket through and collecting the money 
I wonder who carries the ladder and who carries the bucket and ladder stop ?
He sounds like a good mate
Gerry.Posted by matt (matt), 25 January 2004
i am afraid to say, i carry the bucket and ladder stop
its a hard job, but some1 has to do it
though saying that, sometimes i only carry the bucket
This page is a thread posted to the cleanitup forum
at www.cleanitup.co.uk and
archived here for reference. To jump to the archive index please
follow this link.