[stek67]

I started about 4 weeks ago weekends only to test the market.
500 cards printed from Vista Print and posted in the areas where I felt the owners would be reasonable to a good price for a good job.
I have about £400 business a month and some great customers happy to pay £25.00 a month.(BIG mansion type houses) take me 1-1 and a half hours to do.
The average price for standard residential I am getting is £6.50 per fortnight. Currently taking an hour to do 2 but already I am discovering quicker and equally as good methods of cleaning, so hopefully I should soon be at 3 per hour.
I go out to quote on a new area and sell myself as reliable, accountable and professional.
One of my best customers had the misfortune of my inexperience when a particularly windy day brought my B+Q double extension down on her car!!
It cost me £80.00 plus an immediate purchase of liability insurance (£77 for £1 million from Groupama) plus £141.00 for a trade triple from Landsfords.
Had that mishap occurred on my £25.00 customers, the costs of damage to one of their cars does not bear thinking about.
All in all, a lesson learnt and a customer who was happy to receive prompt payment is recommending me to others.
On the subject of ladders, I have just read the directive and in the appendices, there are a number of items relating to the use of ladders and it categorically states that if it is not practical for other safer means to be utilised due for example a short term use of the ladder, then a ladder can be used as a temporary work platform as long as the user has assessed any risks and is using the ladder in a safe manner.
Anyway, in the continuing adventures of a new window cleaner, yesterday, I had to clean the exterior and interior of a dental surgery. I had gone out to estimate and looked at the 2nd storey windows and said I would not be cleaning them as they were about 40 foot up. They were fine about that and accepted my price of £50.00.
Get there yesterday all fired up, even had 2 sandbags placed at foot of ladder and set off to clean the first floor windows which looked a reasonable height from the ground!! Got onto third extension and thought "no chance!" Got down, re-assessed, and had the bright idea of cushioning the head of the third extension and resting it against the frame at what looked a solid point and would give me the height to reach the top panes of a 6 foot high sash. Halfway up and bang goes the window. I had the whole place to do and all I could think about was the money is going straight to a glazier.
I thought it was important to keep the client happy by responding quickly and efficiently so got it repaired for £35.00 and I am back fortnightly.
Anyway, how to clean the windows?
I ended up halfway up the ladder using a pole, mop and squeegee. The water had dried by the time I had pulled down the pole to change from mop to squeegee, so loads of streaks which I had to deal with by wrapping microfibre cloth around a T bar at the end of pole!!
In the end, job done, lessons learnt AGAIN! customer happy and I made £15.00 for 2 hours work!!
From that job, I had a complete UPVC clean, gutters, facsias etc on a small maissonette for £72.00 so not too bad.
New cards arrived today, I want to try and target bungalows in the more affluent areas. I have put together a letter as well saying if they already have a cleaner, just keep my card and give me a call if things are not working out. I also mention the need for window cleaners to be insured and point out that I am.
I have found that if they are happy with who they have , they wont ring so not treading on anyones toes who deserves the custom.
I work office based in my full time job with a definite view to changing over to my self employment as soon as I have a round that justifies a change financially.
I would like to thank all contributors who have made my life a lot easier with great advice and absolutely love the window cleaning, fresh air, rain or shine, providing a good service, meeting people all the time etc etc.
From the adventures? above, mistakes are being made and learnt from (haven`t we all?) and I hope it brought a little smile to your face when it brought back your starting out memories.
I`ll keep you posted
Steve

[replacement]

£15 for 2 hrs is not good, i suggest you look at your prices and increase them. Sounds like your having fun and looks like you leant a lesson with the two mishaps you have already had. PL insurance is a must i had a customer the other day ask me for mine before i started, just glad i carry it with me. Turned out the last window cleaner broke her sky dish and smashed the conservatory window and did a runner all in the same day.

I started some 4-5 months ago now and love it, like you say you met all kinds of people and the view changes alot. Looks like you dont like using ladders have you thought about Water Fed Pole? Them 2nd floor windows will be easy then and you charge more the higher you go.

Good luck.

Justin

[Ian_Giles]

Working off ladders is a challenge, it isn't easy at all.
Learning the techniques of a window cleaner takes time too, but that comes with practice.
Once you have them, think about WFP!
Using ladders won't be against the law of course, but methods of use will mean that a safety officer will almost always be able to stop a single operator in his tracks.
Over the years I have had more than my share of mishaps with window cleaning, they add meaning to your life, you suddenly begin to appreciate what 1 metre per second per second really means!  

Ian

[poleman]

Steve
you have not had the best of starts maybe window cleaning is not for you, please think about it as not one window pain is worth your life and for some of the prices that you charge you should sit down and think about it, as you work in a office draw up a business plan and take it from there, if not stick to the day job.

Andy

[matt]

Steve

we all make mistakes, and we learn from them, you seem to be learning fairly quickly the insurance is a good thing and it will save you the hastle of being sued

stick at it, sure as justin has said, £15 for 2 hours work isnt great, BUT people who work in a shop or Office would love to earn that (i spoke to someone who is earning £6.00 a hour in a Office today), i allways aim for £15 a hour, im happy with that (most here will laugh at it and say "you should be earning £20 or £30 a hour", it all depends on what your happy with)

as i said, stick with it, learn by your mishaps and enjoy life

[stek67]

thanks for replies.
Maybe I didn`t make it clear enough. The dental surgery was a £50.00 job for 2 hours work but due to the broken window costing £35.00, I only made £15.00 for 2 hours work...I was attempting to inject a touch of humour!
As I mentioned, I charge £6.50 minimum for a residential and do 2 houses per hour comfortably at the moment (quickly moving towards 3 houses per hour)making my minimum wage at the moment £13.00 per hour which believe me, after speaking to my Liverpool customers is in some cases treble what they have paid to previous cleaners. After selling myself as reliable, insured and attentive to detail, the customers have been happy to pay my charge.
To pole man, I have looked into window cleaning in great detail and have made all attempts to deliver my service in a reliable, accountable and professional manner leaving all my customers extremely pleased with my work and recommending me to others. I feel it important to challenge the pre-conceived image some people have of window cleaners and feel I am doing so successfully.
This is in no small way, due to the many informative and helpful posts on this board.
I cannot believe other cleaners (including yourself poleman)have not had mishaps in their early days. If I were to think twice about a career change because of 2 luckily minor accidents, I would never move on in life.
In any walk of life, mistakes are made, learnt from and the person moves on and forward.

I would think £25.00 for a external window clean taking 1-1and a half hours is good and I got 4 of these after 1 afternoon delivering business cards in an upmarket development. I have now completed the work on them all in one day.(3 at £25.00 and 1 at £35.00 who gave me a £4.00 tip.) All are monthly cleans and all were very happy with my professional approach and attention to detail.
I will continue to develop my round - 2 more customers last night (£8.00 and £6.50) with the likliehood that the neighbours are looking for a cleaner as well.
I have a quickly developing round in upmarket areas, paying a good rate, liability insurance, uniform, van, correct equipment and cleaning materials which I am becoming quickly proficient at using, professional business cards and a computer file of customer letters to remind them of next clean, confirming charges etc.
I have a rapidly deteriorating eyesight from absorbing all the info on this board...and someone suggests packing it all in!
Never mind, I love it and can see a future in it.
Thanks again
Steve

[matt]

good on you steve

nice to hear of some-one trying something new

[g_griffin]

Yes, good luck Steve.

We`ve all made mistakes but  as you know you learn from them. Regarding pricing, I think you know your area better than most, so don`t think you should charge what someone else tells you. They don`t sound too bad to me anyway.
    You will get quicker and I hope you build up your round to go full time.
    This forum will also be a great help to you, so you know where to go if you get stuck.

                       Gerry.

[kevinmchugh]

Good to read your story steve

i knew what you meant re:dental surgery price,unfortunately some people dont take the time to read things through properly!

And take it from me,poleman did have plenty of mishaps in the beginning, i should know, i sold him his first round.

As for all your other prices, they sound fine to me.

just remember all that fresh air you were talking about gets a lot fresher in winter,but hey, it puts hairs on your chest.

good luck & keep up the good work :-/ :-/

[geoffreyspecht]

steve your doing allright mate just carry on as u are a lot of these window cleaners who earn 25 pound an hour on domestic work live down south not in liverpool like you.                  

[matt]

just remember all that fresh air you were talking about gets a lot fresher in winter,but hey, it puts hairs on your chest.

isnt that the truth  

[Ste_Kinsella]

Thanks for the supportive messages-at least I know it`s not going to be such a lonely business out there!! much appreciated.
As for cold weather, I spent 4 years with The Parachute Regiment (3 Para 1984-1988) becoming very aquainted with the bottom of many rain filled holes in the ground, trenches don`t improve over the years, they will always be cold, wet muddy holes! I then spent 9 years in the fire brigade in Liverpool spending many a bleary eyed dawn sitting halfway up a 13.5 metre ladder pouring water into a smouldering derelict property...always cold and wet!! I think I`ve developed a fleece lined neoprene skin. Funnily enough, I was thinking today about the intensive ladder training I undertook with the brigade...the 13.5m ladder weighed 100kg and was carried by 4 people, extending and positioning it was a military operation..it was so solid it felt like a concrete staircase...no blowing over problems there...I wonder if it would fit through my customers back gate?!!
Thanks again
Steve

[kevinmchugh]

crikey, from what i`ve heard about paras,you should be able to just stare at the windows and scare them into cleaning themselves!!!!!!

[bluesteve]

are paras the one with the pink berets
and the prancing pony as their emblem?
you know you shouldnt of mentioned it!

[gordonswindows]

Well done steve
everyone here has had mishaps,falls and made an arse of themselves its just they have short memories.
you sound like the new brand of window cleaner, smart professional and determined
i am proud to be on this forum with you
never mind the old patronising bores who always know the best way (yeah right)
keep up the good work and prices? prices ? you charge what you want and ignore the "experts" who claim to get squillions an hour ...let the tax man show them what they really earn.£30 per hour is good if you work like me 60hours per week but £30 for 6.5 hours a week is nothing. do it the right way and that way is yours
respect
gordon

[dave0123]

hi steve,

prices seem ok for around this area mate were about in liverpool are you i am a window cleaner in wirral area
not far away.

[Ste_Kinsella]

thanks for continuing support - much appreciated.
I`m in South Liverpool and so far have had only one knock back from a Meldrew type voice after his wife shouted in "what do you think Bob? £6.50 a fortnight"
..."how much!!? for one clean!!..I`ll do it myself"
this is on a road of 81 semi detached who haven`t had a cleaner in 2 years I`ve been told by my other customers I`m getting on the road.
The worst thing was, his next door neighbour who had happily accepted my price and actually introduced me to her neighbours suddenly rang up within 30 minutes of her neighbours rant and cancelled me saying her son thought it was way too expensive and he would do them for her!! The neighbour has obviously put his two pence worth in.
Now, not too long ago, I would have reacted to this in a number of ways not condusive to building a business, but thanks to the advice on the board, I stuck to my price, accepted the womans reasons and offered her my services (cleaning) should she need me in the future.
I am enjoying the freedom of this so much and even more so now I am developing a system of working which is faster and more economical...all the little things you try and discard, the short cuts over back gates etc... and I am building up a round that I have targetted and enjoy working on.
I`m pretty sure I`m losing a little bit of weight off the torso as well as the mind, so thats a bonus too!!
Cheers
Steve

[WavieDavie]

Showing my age here cos I remember these lyrics the first time round - Don Henley (not some boy band doing a cover) and The Boys of Summer . . .

Out on the road today, I saw a deadhead sticker on a Cadillac
A little voice inside my head said, "Don't look back. You can never look back."

Just like the words say - don't go back. I'm not quite sure if I'm trying to prove something, or maybe I'm just stubborn, but if someone's knocked me back I'm happy to return the favour later.

Oh dear, I'm also old enough to recall the irony in the first line. Nurse! - time for my Sanatogen, I think  

[steve k]

wow...memory lane...posted this 18 months ago
still here and still loving it
I think my user name is slightly different.
I`m Steve Kinsella from Liverpool anyway.
Your first post...anyone remember them??

[jon adams]

Well done steve youve made an excellent start and full of enthusiasm, very professional unlike me, totally disorganised even without a buisiness name but on my books are lots of accounts other wc are envious of, though some of the prices are less than they think and i rarely lose good work. So keep up the attitude you started with and you will go a long way. Ignore people who put you down! someone told me 20 years ago i'll never make a wc  but i cant remember who it was.
GOOD LUCK