[Nathanael Jones]

I aim for €300 per day and rarely work more than 6 hours a day.

I rarely reach that target,.. but I would consider £30 per hour reasonable & do-able on most days,.. not every day, but most days.

It sounds like a lot of money, but by the time I pay VAT, TAX, Income levy, Pension Levy, Equipment costs, Vehicle costs, accountant fees etc etc, I actually take home about half of what I earn.

[Sapphire Window Cleaning]

This week I earned an average hourly price of £27 per hour, mind you I did have more tea breaks than normal as most of my customers were in and they kept asking if I want a cuppa, I said yes as I don't want to offend them plus a nice hot cuppa is needed in winter and like a few customers in the past once I said no they didn't offer again.  

The time you spend actually cleaning I would say £25 if its less than £20 you need to either pull your finger out or up your prices.


Matt

[darren clarke]

£30 ph x 6 hours a day x 50 weeks a years is £46800, no wonder this business is full of newbies, they sit there and do that sum and go wow,,  but they think they will earn more that than as they will do 8 - 9 hours a day

its getting like the plumbing and building industrys,  people saying they earn loads and loads so people want a part and just lower the prices, as they are all undercutting each other to get the work that should just be falling in to there lap

[gewindows]

The thing is Darren very very very few of the window cleaners out there use internet forums.

They arent aware that these posts even exist.

It isn't like the plumbing and building industrys, what were they like by the way? just what you read in the papers?


First off it was the Polish coming over, then hose-pipe bans, now its newbies starting up. What next you going to worry about?

You're paranoid over nothing.

[andyM]

Interesting subject and I agree £30 per hour is a reasonable and achievable figure.
It all comes down to novices not understanding that this is not the net earnings a window cleaner will
collect 38 hrs a week, month in month out. Some hours you can earn even more than that.
It does sound attractive to an outsider who doesn't know how a business is run and the costs involved.
A beginner trying to charge £30 per hour for their services will have difficulty achieving that rate due to a lack of speed and experience in the majority of cases.
It's not all milk and honey  
 

[Wc Solutions]

£30 per hour is very possible and its more often than not i get that done.

with commercial its very very very easy to do that!

and aslong as you have a good compact and well priced round on domestic then that £30 should be done.

[Smudger]

Interesting thead guys,

i would say that if you want a growing successful business then you need to be earning £30.00 p/h
this is not what goes into your pocket p/h hour !!

while working on windows/driving/doing your round the above figure will then cover expences and hours of work
at home ie..  paperwork, filling van, canvassing, quoting etc...

when all these are factored in then you get your true paid rate which is going to be less than a third of the £30.00

no offence to any1 here but i had never asked or given my hourly rate or £££ got for a job - thats between me my partner the custy and finally the tax man.

Darran

[telboy]

Keep reading posts claiming £30 per hour just read one £205 for 4 hours. We all know this is not possible. 8 hours a day, you may be lucky and land a good job,but what about the rest of the day.Travelling to the next job,set up and packing away ,talking to the customer,collecting,keeping records, banking. Then the weather, i know some will say they work all weathers but when its pouring its no fun and customers complain. Dole boy reads this £30 per hour and grabs a ladder and undercuts us thinking get rich quick,all this really does is get us a bad name,so why not all keep £ out of the equation to stop all the cowboys, Talk about your funerals as well as your weddings,customers who dont pay are never in and dont send envelope. Tax returns and NI and running costs,fuel etc

Probably commercial

you can do that  easy

[Craig Trevain]

If all this monies being earn't why do some window cleaners waste time tralling the net looking to save a few quid on a bag of resin or build a pole from a roller holder(harris)rather than just order from a bespoke supplier,  because surely the time this diy'ing or price hunting takes must cost them hours!!

Also spares can be carried with these sort of earnings, so the supplier is not made to feel bad when a pump takes 48hrs rather than 24 hrs to reach them, and is told they lost 2 instead of 1 days work costing them 1000's !.

[darren clarke]

The thing is Darren very very very few of the window cleaners out there use internet forums.

They arent aware that these posts even exist.

It isn't like the plumbing and building industrys, what were they like by the way? just what you read in the papers?


First off it was the Polish coming over, then hose-pipe bans, now its newbies starting up. What next you going to worry about?

You're paranoid over nothing.

lol, i aint paranoid about newbies starting, as to be honest a lot dont last that long anyway once winter comes,  or they buy wfp and cant get the custys to make it pay,

i got out of the plumbing industry as i was sick of being owed thousands,  am still owed about 10 grand from 2 years ago, that i will never see.  when i moved to cornwall, i wanted a easier life so took up wc as couldnt get a proper job lol

it just makes me laugh that newbie can read this forum, think i want some of that, and go out then u get experienced guy saying am losing work to £3 a house guys  or they go down the ionic route and think they can charge £35 a house, and wonder why they aint getting work, and they they have the bright idea to get loads of commercial as that is where the money is

i dont think a lot of newbie have a business plan when starting in wc,

[mlscontractcleaner]

After reading these threads I find it hard to understand why some folk become selfemployed. Thirty pounds per hour is just 4 small flats/houses and if you can't achieve that wfp you should perhaps consider a career change :
I guess that after 20 years or so of window cleaning I should be pretty good at it and I have a daily target of two hundred pounds, including contract cleans first thing in the morning. If you can't make thirty pounds per hour you're either charging too little or not working hard enough

[Nathanael Jones]

£30 ph x 6 hours a day x 50 weeks a years is £46800, no wonder this business is full of newbies

5 days a week is unrealistic for many of us in this climate,.. rain, snow, ice, high winds, sickness, lack of motivation, the mrs wanting jobs done round the house etc mean that I prob work an average of 3.5 - 4 days per week. £30 per hour x 4 days x 50 weeks is £34560. Nearly 50% goes on VAT, tax & expenses,.. I'd be better off on the dole!

[elite mike]

 nat give her a few more kids nat and you will be quids in

look the proof :

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1266649/Theyre-family-Mercedes-drive-getting-42-000-year-benefits-Scroungers-AMANDA-PLATELL-meets-them.html

makes you blooming sick

mike

[ronnie paton]

Eqan I'll tell you what a large national company charges for each man per hour£12-18 so this your statement is bs.

I jn know way say it's not achievable but consider all factors ie you may work for 6 hours but doe 1 1/2 hours travelling and maybe 1 hour collecting and maybe 1/2 paper work ect ect.

So yes you may get 6 hours at £ 30 per hour but your not just doing six hours.

[weetot]

Bumper's the guy to ask, he's an expert on how to make money.

[ronnie paton]

Keep reading posts claiming £30 per hour just read one £205 for 4 hours. We all know this is not possible. 8 hours a day, you may be lucky and land a good job,but what about the rest of the day.Travelling to the next job,set up and packing away ,talking to the customer,collecting,keeping records, banking. Then the weather, i know some will say they work all weathers but when its pouring its no fun and customers complain. Dole boy reads this £30 per hour and grabs a ladder and undercuts us thinking get rich quick,all this really does is get us a bad name,so why not all keep £ out of the equation to stop all the cowboys, Talk about your funerals as well as your weddings,customers who dont pay are never in and dont send envelope. Tax returns and NI and running costs,fuel etc

About £30 per hour is the last time I checked (which was a while a go) is the minimum the industry standard rate.

If you’re not making that you’re not up to standard yet, good luck.

ewan have a read i never said it wasnt possible but your statemnet above is total bs for you to feel you are able to make the decision on what the MINIMUM INDUSTRY STANDARD RATE is purely only ridiculous.

my god ewan you also feel like your qualified to give business advice on on someones rate to the degree of NOT BEING UP TO STANDARD.

HAHAHAH

EWAN IS A WINDOW CLEANING GODM :

[andyjm1]

Perhaps you could enlighten us as to who did set it then? 

[ronnie paton]

ewan you very good at twisting your way around things.

lets get something straight i want you to show me were i have changed my mind on £30 per hour???

my point so its clear for you is your not capable of  telling  someone there not up to standard if they cant earn the minimum industry standard rate a rate you state is £30 per hour.......but who the hell are you???

im not saying having a opinion it is wrong but what your saying is like you are the spokesman for all brittish window cleaners :

[geefree]

Anyway lets simply tell the whole world our earnings eh?

Then we can all jack our jobs in and become a window cleaner.

[ronnie paton]

ok ewan the bully bs, you know f all about my business by i can tell you it turns over around 140k and i do very little.

but you havent a clue......you talk the talk but you cant walk the walk.