Potential earnings from window cleaning
« on: September 09, 2003, 12:37:49 am »
Hi everyone, just starting my own business (Service Champions), what do people think the potential earnings are in your first year?

sham33

Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #1 on: September 09, 2003, 12:00:20 pm »
£60 a day should be easy enouth. If your prepared to work harder than me  ::) £100 plus is possible working by yourself cleaning residential windows.

wazzastud

Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #2 on: September 11, 2003, 07:54:42 pm »
By my calculations and the amount of work i am generating, I should gross between £42K - £72K this year, but then again the only place success comes before hard work is in the dictionary  ;)

sham33

Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #3 on: September 12, 2003, 11:04:46 pm »
"I should gross between £42K - £72K this year"

Is that the earnings you make working on your own or do you have people working for you?

I think i need to work longer than 9am till 2pm  :o

gibbouk

  • Posts: 171
Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #4 on: September 13, 2003, 12:37:03 am »
pottential earings and actual earnings are different things. dont catch your chickens before they are hatched. learn your trade and build up

STEVE71163

Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #5 on: September 13, 2003, 10:46:17 am »
How much you earn each year from window cleaning depends on many factors such as how many hours work you do each day,what area you are working in, what type of work you are doing, bad weather etc etc.

Regards

Steve Lowe

wazzastud

Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #6 on: September 13, 2003, 04:17:36 pm »
My work starts at 8:30 and I work until 3pm cleaning windows, sometimes a bit later depending on the time it takes to travel between jobs, I take half hour for lunch and I clean 4-6 houses an hour average price £8 per house, thats £32 - £48 an hour, thats £192 - £288 a day x 5 days that&s £960 - £1440 per week x 50 weeks per year thats £48,000 - £72000 a year Gross, but obviously you must generate the work to keep you going, I canvass for myself and am currently getting £50 - £75 worth of new residential business an hour.

STEVE71163

Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #7 on: September 13, 2003, 05:23:28 pm »
If you are earning £288 a day cleaning residential houses i must be doing something wrong and been doing it all wrong for the last 18 years.  ;D

Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #8 on: September 14, 2003, 03:28:15 am »
Is this a catch by any chance to reel in sales for your book?
As it seems a bit exaggerated this hourly and daily rate you are getting each day


STEVE71163

Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #9 on: September 14, 2003, 02:51:27 pm »
I agree! When looking at a manual like this you have to ask yourself about the experience of the person writing the manual. Like how long have they been in business? How successfull have they been? How many employees does this person have? And how long has this person been earning £288 for 6 hours work doing residential window cleaning? If the answers are positive then i would not mind buying this manual!

Regards

Steve Lowe

gibbouk

  • Posts: 171
Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #10 on: September 14, 2003, 03:38:34 pm »
after 15 years i must be doing something wrong seems like a marketing ploy. canvessing that much an hour no way sorry mate dont believe you

wazzastud

Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #11 on: September 14, 2003, 05:52:48 pm »
HI Guys, Yes I have written a manual that tells you how to achieve this plus all the other things that you need to consider when starting a window cleaning business,
And yes I want to sell copies of the manual, but you also get discounts off of window cleaning products, some of the cheapest prices for quality equipment anywhere
And yes I do what it tells you to do and yes the figures are correct and I do work on my own at present although I am looking to expend rapidly, I have been cleaning windows for about 3 years on and off and am starting to see how these figures, can be achieved so yes you may have done more time than me but I would say you learned everything in the first year or two and have repeated that process for the past 15 years
Some people work in factories for 30 years or more and look down at somebody that has only been there a year or so, thinking they have twenty nine years more experience, I would say they are both equally experienced as the old chap has one years experience and has only repeated it 30 times, thats all.
I mean some people are quite happy to earn a living, whereas some people are more ambitious and my manual is aimed at the ambitious people, Remember SUPER HOD, he done more hod carrying than most hod carriers he made the head lines and made millions from it, is he still hod carrying...NO, he wrote a book on how to do what he did and achieve what he achieved.
At the end of the day I have 8 years sales skills and marketing experience which I learned a few years back, which I am applying to this industry and am getting the results, if McDonalds hadnt seen the big picture they would still be selling hamburgers from a cart in time square RIGHT?.........Look at Henry Ford, if he hadnt had a vision, of the mass production of cars we would all still be waiting for our motor cars to be built wouldnt we?
This is the 21ST century and things are moving forward FAST, you can either move with them or be left behind.

But if you would like a copy of my manual (SO YOU WANT TO BE A WINDOW CLEANER) ya never know, you might even learn something from little old inexperienced me please feel free to E-mail me warren@libertynewmedia.com

Have a nice day chaps
;D

wazzastud

Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #12 on: September 16, 2003, 04:44:59 am »
So you want to be a window cleaner?
OK


Answer no to the following questions and we can proceed.


1. Are you afraid of heights?   NO

2. Are you afraid of spiders?  NO

3. Does the cold weather bother you?  NO

GREAT!!!!  

THEN LETS GET STARTED

Service industry here in the UK is booming and this is largely due to people working long hours and earning good money , the economy is doing very well so you are in the right business at the right time, Window Cleaning falls into this category and as we are now in a situation where people are money rich but time poor, people just havent got enough hours in the day to do chores such as clean their windows and weekends are for fun not for doing such mundane chores as cleaning their windows etc
For us this is a very big plus, Now long gone are the days when an old retired chap could be seen up a rickety old ladder, precariously perched cleaning windows, earning a few quid to spend at the bookies or at his local pub, now this seemingly small time activity is huge business as you will see, and the good news is that they just keep on building new properties and estates for us to work.


Window cleaning can be a hell of a lot of fun, and very lucrative, for instance, the average 3-bed semi detached house will take an experienced window cleaner
No more than 10 - 15 minutes to clean the windows, and the average price we are charging is currently between £6-£8 here in the south east of England 2003.

Work that out, being conservative with my figures here, thats the potential for one man to earn £24 - £32 per hour, now assuming you work from 8.30am until 3pm with a half hour for lunch that could earn you
£144 - £192 per day
OR
£720 - £960 per week
OR
£36000 - £48000 per year  
Allowing two weeks for holidays
Or doing 6 houses an hour and charging £8 for six hours will earn you £288 a day or £72,000 a year
Play with the figures yourself; its a lot of fun, and a great motivator.
Not bad for a one man band ah? Some executives who work long hours and sometimes spend long periods away from home and their families dont earn that.

Just look at it this way,
You are an executive Payne clarification professional, you carry a squeegee and a scrim and not a brief case, but at least you get home at a reasonable time and you have the freedom to work where you want and when you want.


SO YOU WANT TO BE A WINDOW CLEANER available now......contact me warren@libertynewmedia.com for your copy

DerekW

Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #13 on: September 16, 2003, 03:45:00 pm »
Gents, please take a few minutes to read our website.  We have the cleaning solution to blow your socks off and earn you £250 per day ... easily ! forget windows ..... clean everything else instead, Drives, Patios, McDonalds drive-thru'e etc ... see our site then call us for your free demo.   www.hydrotech.org.uk

Regards,

Derek

Hydrotech UK (equipment) Ltd

geoffreyspecht

  • Posts: 485
Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #14 on: November 18, 2003, 11:53:43 pm »
clean it up your cheap with your prices the average price of a semi in the south east should be at least 10 pounds now used to clean semis in luton for 6 pounds 14 years ago

Mikey Warner

  • Posts: 254
Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #15 on: November 19, 2003, 01:07:41 am »
Hi Geoff, Looks like prices for cleaning are different around the country.

Where I live if you asked £10 for a standard bay fronted semi you'd most probably have the door shut in your face!!  £6-£7 is the going rate here :( :(

Mikey

STEVE71163

Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #16 on: November 19, 2003, 08:37:47 am »
Hi Mikey,
            You are right. It varies quite a lot from area to area. What i might charge £10 for here in the south east my Dad in Manchester would probably be about £6 ???

Steve

Rob_B

  • Posts: 248
Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #17 on: November 19, 2003, 09:37:00 am »
If this guy is really making this much money, do you think he would need to sell manuals ???

Look back on early post on this forum I remember wazzastud, who i think is the person selling this manual, asking for advice peicing up a commercial job. Maybe we have all contributed to this manual and we are all going to get a share.

STEVE71163

Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #18 on: November 19, 2003, 12:28:25 pm »
Hi Rob,
         If you look at the date of the original posts this was wazzastuds posts (His real name is Warren Shenton ssssh!)  ;D ::)

Steve

paul

Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #19 on: November 19, 2003, 10:13:34 pm »
your earnings will depend on how many customers you have and how quick you can do a quality window clean
i earned nearly £30.000 in my first year of trading

Majestic

Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #20 on: November 19, 2003, 11:25:12 pm »
Paul
Did you tell the tax man that ;D ;) 8)

Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #21 on: November 20, 2003, 12:25:41 am »
Hi Paul, I spoke to you in the summer over the phone regarding starting up etc. Finally everything is in place (business cards, uniform, signed van etc.) Currently working at the weekend and picking up customers every week, can't believe how many people ask me to do their windows whilst cleaning their neighbours its like they haven't seen a window cleaner in years. I'm building up the business so that I have enough to leave my current job and go full time in the New Year (can't wait).
Hope your business is doing well.

Regards.

Stewart.

P.S. Won anymore awards?

simonb

Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #22 on: November 21, 2003, 10:33:11 pm »
No one can work 5 days every week. What about ice, heavy rain, being sick etc?
Then there's collecting the money and the assumption that all the houses are in a row.
You can earn that sort of money but not every day week in week out

bluesteve

  • Posts: 153
Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #23 on: November 22, 2003, 12:38:34 am »
what on earth does &#8217:s mean. ???
"Soldier an' Sailor too" !

matt

Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #24 on: November 22, 2003, 01:28:17 am »
shouldnt this earning thread be shut down, afterall its a joke

geefree

  • Posts: 6180
Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #25 on: June 29, 2006, 11:16:38 pm »
all those days window cleaning eh, painful. ! not to mention canvassing himself on his day off!!!.... and while i doing  all that i will just write a manual in between each house !!!

Hmm.

geefree

  • Posts: 6180
Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #26 on: June 29, 2006, 11:18:24 pm »
oh and collect my money in my sleep.!

Sir Squeaky

  • Posts: 8341
Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #27 on: June 29, 2006, 11:34:52 pm »
shouldnt this earning thread be shut down, afterall its a joke
Absolutely right Matt.
It's a load of crap.

6 houses an hour all week long.....
£1000+ a week...::)

A thread full of people trying to impress. ;)


Moderator David@stives

  • Posts: 8829
Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #28 on: June 29, 2006, 11:42:01 pm »
It seems to me those who shout loudest about earnings are the ones who have a vested interest, some wfp manufacturers state potential big earnings, also those trying to sell books etc, the truth of the metter is they dont live in the real world.

Earnings should be kept close and personal, if people keep shouting these figures where will we be in a few years time.

Have you tried to get on a plumbing course lately, apparently they are fully booked for 2 years , why ?   

Because of all the tales of £50k a year.

Do yourselves a favour and keep your earnings to yourself , you dont get many trades shouting how much they earn

Dave

paul mather

  • Posts: 528
Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #29 on: June 29, 2006, 11:51:17 pm »
Agree with you Dave.
Lets be honest if we all wanted to be millionaires we wouldn't be cleaning windows would we, so lets not try to con others into thinking we're something that we are not.
The truth is we all make as much out of window cleaning as we want to. Some go in for it in a big way employing people but I prefer to keep my life simple and what I earn is only three peoples business. Mine, my wifes and the taxman
Use the wand of power !!


Warrington, Cheshire

jinky230

Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #30 on: June 29, 2006, 11:55:42 pm »
Some people work in factories for 30 years or more and look down at somebody that has only been there a year or so, thinking they have twenty nine years more experience, I would say they are both equally

warren you say you have eight years marketing skills dont yo mean one

 lol
jinky

Moderator David@stives

  • Posts: 8829
Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #31 on: June 29, 2006, 11:56:49 pm »
I dont think he is here the post was mede 18 months ago , i dont know who dragged it back up

jinky230

Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #32 on: June 29, 2006, 11:58:12 pm »
never looked dave guess who has egg on face lol

holland1945

  • Posts: 58
Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #33 on: June 30, 2006, 10:04:08 am »
Well said Dave, I've read quite a few threads with people bemoaning the amount of competition they face from new window cleaners joining the fray.

Now, I'm all for competition, but if you go around boasting 'I make more in one day than you do in a week' you're bound to invite excessive competition. And without blethering on like an economics student that leads to oversupply and a weakening of prices.

So take pride in your work, satisfaction from your increased earnings and stress-free existencce, but don't shout about it!

newpy

  • Posts: 153
Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #34 on: June 30, 2006, 05:49:04 pm »
My work starts at 8:30 and I work until 3pm cleaning windows, sometimes a bit later depending on the time it takes to travel between jobs, I take half hour for lunch and I clean 4-6 houses an hour average price £8 per house, thats £32 - £48 an hour, thats £192 - £288 a day x 5 days that&s £960 - £1440 per week x 50 weeks per year thats £48,000 - £72000 a year Gross, but obviously you must generate the work to keep you going, I canvass for myself and am currently getting £50 - £75 worth of new residential business an hour.

I reckon the work could be done, you'd be knackered, and don't forget to knock off your overheads !!! unless you know where to get free fuel etc!!!
Apart from that, just pray your never ill etc!!!
Go for it!!!

macc

Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #35 on: June 30, 2006, 06:10:56 pm »
shouldnt this earning thread be shut down, afterall its a joke
Absolutely right Matt.
It's a load of crap.

6 houses an hour all week long.....
£1000+ a week...::)

A thread full of people trying to impress. ;)



If Squeaky says its crap, its crap.  ;D. Cause in the trad world hes the speed king.  ;)

Macc

sair

  • Posts: 682
Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #36 on: June 30, 2006, 07:27:46 pm »
 yes you can earn that kind of money, whether i can or do is my buisiness  but its only the odd few percent who can! and not from doing £8 .00 houses i used to do that price house 15-18 years ago would do 20-30 a day ,wasnt fit for anything the next day proberly worked like that twice a week.

and lets face it you get older, slow down, see the bigger picture:families come along  yes we all want quality of life but we also sometimes cant be bothered to be that regimental with our work ethics. Window cleaning not for evry one some come with lures of large earnings , but they soon go as they cant take what the weather throws at you and surprise surprise cant earn that type of money
the only thing thats made life easier is WFP
Essentially Pure Ltd

Moderator David@stives

  • Posts: 8829
Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #37 on: June 30, 2006, 07:34:24 pm »
Sair

good post

Dav e

Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #38 on: June 30, 2006, 08:05:48 pm »
Two years ago I sold some work onto a ex-member of this forum; it was only around 20 houses and he had a good deal from me.

But he'd been reading posts on this forum, gave up his job as head gardener of the Celtic Manor hotel, took out a loan and bought an extremely large round from some guy in Barry.

He confidently stated to me that he wanted to be earning 100K within three years.  He was young, fit; used to working outdoors and I thought he actually would do well.

He also had two young children and a mortgage.

Anyway; he employed a friend of his to help him out. 

Three months into window cleaning he phoned me for some advice.  It was going 'pear shaped' with his friend and they were both struggling to make £50 per day; each.

I spent an afternoon with them; for free, and they were doing all the mistakes a new window cleaner does.  For example, instead of wetting a 'maintenance clean' window with an applicator, they were really scrubbing it.

Both their eyes were glazed with fatigue.

Two months later they sacked it and I ended up with phone calls from my ex-customers asking for me back.

I later found out that this window cleaner had managed to get his old job back as the Celtic Manor head gardener!

Window cleaning is not an easy option and reading some of the posts about how much you can earn, although maybe true; still isn't easy.


Ian_Giles

  • Posts: 2986
Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #39 on: July 01, 2006, 09:27:07 am »
couldn't agree more, What we do is manual work, it's outside and done in all kinds of weather conditions.
Cleaning a window might not be rocket science, but to be good at it and to be fast at it takes dedication and hard work, and some people are simply not cut out for hard manual work.

Earnings?

The average window cleaner who has been going a few years can be earning (by that I mean turnover and not income) somewhere around the 17k mark

4 to 6 houses an hour, day in, day out? Do me a favour ::)

Your average semi has 10-12 windows and as I have said many times on the forum, the average window cleaner will take 90 seconds to clean the average window.
Allowing for small windows and so on Mr Average will still take between 15 and 20 minutes to clean your average house.
And Mr Average will average 3 houses an hour, and over the day, which on average will be 5 working hours he will do something like 15 houses in his average day....providing he is cleaning the average semi all day long! ;D

Prices will vary across the country of course, but for that average semi it will usually be somewhere between £6 and £10
Which would appear to make well over a £100 a day well within reach wouldn't it?
Over time though it just doesn't work out like that, and even to get up to Mr Average's time of 20 minutes a house will take most people many months of hard graft before you begin to achieve those times.

The sky is the limit though...but it all depends on the individual, your first years income will be low, it will take several months to build up a full round, unless you buy one of course, but even then it will take you several months before you are even close to getting around in the correct timescale.

With effort, and after a couple of years, most could hope to turnover somewhere in the region of 15-17k
But don't be deceived into thinking that equates to an income of 15-17k...it doesn't!!
You have all your overheads to consider, for most, the biggest will be tramsport...don't fall into the trap of think that, Ahh, but I would have a car to run even if I wasn't a window cleaner...the fact is that without said vehicle you COULDN'T be a window cleaner!!
For those that have waded through my terminally long post...if you want the true indicator of your income, look at your tax bill...if you are only submitting say...£15,000, once allowences and business costs have been allowed for your tax bill will be in the hundreds, not in the thousands.

If you are going into business then you have to look at the bottom line.
I personally know of one window cleaner who works mostly by himself and he turns over almost 50k, and he cleans mostly domestic houses, but he is an exception and it has taken him a great many years to get there too.

So a big income is possible, but it won't happen in the first year!!
And most will never attain an income of that size from window cleaning, because most of us are average...

Ian
Ian. ISM CLEANING SERVICES

Paul Coleman

Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #40 on: July 01, 2006, 09:36:46 am »
In my first year (1991) I literally started from zero turnover.  I took me a while to pick up a bit of technique and to speed up.  I also made the classic mistake of underpricing as I had no guidance.  I think my turnover (not income) was about £8,000 from the window cleaning.  I was lucky in that I had a self-employed driving job where I went away on odd weeks.  That paid quite well and topped up my income.  My personal outgoings were very low back then so I got away with it.

paul mather

  • Posts: 528
Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning
« Reply #41 on: July 01, 2006, 12:47:05 pm »
My personal opinion is there are only 2 ways to make really good money at wcing.
 One, you are lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time to be asked to clean some windows where you know you can virtually name your price. This occasionally happens with commercial work but not always.
And two, you go down the route of employing people to work for you. This has lots of drawbacks mainly the extra hastle involved but many would argue that it is worth it.

I very quickly decided that I was going to be a wcer to keep my life simple so I don't & will never employ people, but that doesn't stop me from working my rear end off when I have to.
 But it also means if I want to finish early one day to watch the footy or go to my kids school sports day I will and I don't have to answer to anybody.
Most of us will never get rich at what we do but for the freedom it gives you I think there are very few jobs that compare. So lets not get completely rapped up into how much the next person on this forum earns and see the real advantages in our job.

I WORK TO LIVE NOT LIVE TO WORK
Use the wand of power !!


Warrington, Cheshire

Re: Potential earnings from window cleaning New
« Reply #42 on: July 01, 2006, 09:06:20 pm »
The best thing I find I like about window cleaning isn't the money, it's  Monday mornings.  In my previous occupation as a soldier I hated Monday mornings  with a vengance and the dread of them would and could taint the preceeding weekend.

All I thought of was the jobs I should've, could've but hadn't done; problems; duties I had to do, but didn't want to do and a whole host of other stuff.  Life was complex and stressfull then.  I ran a team of guys (and gals) and did a 'proper job' within the army, but was usually over-tasked and under-manned.

Now, after a weekend's rest; I'm raring to work come Monday morning.  It's my best day of the week since I'm knackered by Friday.

Being a self-employed window cleaner isn't easy; the weather over the past eight months has been uncomfortable; but overall, window cleaning beats the pants out of other alternatives I've suffered.