[Richie wake]

Hi guys,
Im currently working as a brickie on site and am thinking about approaching the build manager and asking about cleaning the show house windows then from there canvass each new home owner on that site.
there are 175 houses going on there and all are 2-3-4 bed homes.
il add i am just starting out and am currently earning on average £20 ph for a back breaking 8hr shift.
so here are my questions.
Q1. does this idea of mine sound likely to succeeed?
Q2. ideally id like to be earning £30 ph upwards so how much should i charge per house / per window the work is in the birmingham area and i will be working traditional at least to get started?
Q3. how do i go about pricing the show house taking into account its on a dusty building site and how often should i offer my service
Q4. any help on pricing window cleaning / fascias sofit & guttering in the birmingham area would be greatly appreciated.

[robertphil]

better to just do old houses not brand new as new are full of dirt paint and allsorts .        dont delay or doubts creep in  so you should be door knocking today!

  pound a window should get you work is about average in england

[deeege]

The showhome and sales office will probably already be getting cleaned as part of a contract, the site manager won't have any say in this. Who's the builder?

Just get out there canvassing, both the new estate and other areas where you want to work, there's plenty of work out there for those determined enough to get it!

[Paul Coleman]

Just wondering what happened to that round you bought in 2012?

I used to help anyone out but my recent experiences with the economy tightening have made me have second thoughts.  It's not personal of course.  It's just that, if I were to go onto a building workers' forum and write something like
"Hello.  I'm a window cleaner.  It's a bit much for me so I want to start bricklaying and am prepared to work for one or two pounds less per hour than many earn at the moment.  Also, I only have a trowel and am unclear what other tools I will need.  Can any of you bricklayers out there advise me?  BTW.  What is a 'pig'?  Thanks."  Just wondering what sort of response I would get .
I doubt that it would be along the lines of
"Buy some lines and pins, a level, a pointing trowel, a piece of rubber hose for pointing and a spotboard.  To avoid 'pigs', count from the top rather than the bottom."

Really not being funny mate and I genuinely wish you well.  I'm always OK with discussing things with someone who has been going for a while but the easier it's made for new people to start, the more of my work goes walkabouts.  I've only got like this recently.  Too much of my own work has been disappearing to people who have recently started.

[C o z y]

This site will save you re-inventing the wheel mate.
http://windowcleaningcoach.com/

[andyM]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPEWztrcx7I 

[Jonny 87]

Don't do it.

No holiday pay, no sick pay. Time off for bad weather, moaning customers.

Stay away from window cleaning, it's rubbish. Keep earning your 20 per hour brick laying.

[PoleKing]

£20p/h is more than the lads round here are getting.

I'd be surprised if you can hit £30p/h straight off the bat and do a good job traditional.

[Dave Willis]

Go for it if you want to earn less money.

£160 a day is your guaranteed wage at the moment, this includes an hour and a halfs break every day probably plus sick pay plus holiday pay.

Don't believe the joke posters who earn £30 an hour or £60 an hour - they don't. What they mean to tell you is occasionally they hit that figure for a limited time. What you need to know is the weekly average these guys are getting and most won't tell you.
I turn over an impressive wage but out of that comes tax and my business running costs then any holidays, sickness insurance, van insurance etc.

Think long and hard and whether you can take the sudden drop in wage when you start out, it doesn't come overnight. However, go for it if you want.

PS also I doubt you would be able to clean the building site work off a ladder due to health and safety. Might do them off a tower or scaffolding if it's still there. Any cleans after that and if the site owns the houses I wouldn't have thought you could do it trad.

[SeanK]

Go for it if you want to earn less money.

£160 a day is your guaranteed wage at the moment, this includes an hour and a halfs break every day probably plus sick pay plus holiday pay.

Don't believe the joke posters who earn £30 an hour or £60 an hour - they don't. What they mean to tell you is occasionally they hit that figure for a limited time. What you need to know is the weekly average these guys are getting and most won't tell you.
I turn over an impressive wage but out of that comes tax and my business running costs then any holidays, sickness insurance, van insurance etc.

Think long and hard and whether you can take the sudden drop in wage when you start out, it doesn't come overnight. However, go for it if you want.

PS also I doubt you would be able to clean the building site work off a ladder due to health and safety. Might do them off a tower or scaffolding if it's still there. Any cleans after that and if the site owns the houses I wouldn't have thought you could do it trad.

Take this advice, I only wish Id had advice like this when starting up.

[Marc Stock]

Oh dear.

Not a good start there Ritchie..EH?

Look if you really want to go into window cleaning, you can make a lot of money. But it is going to take a long time to reach that goal.

If you were to do solid canvassing for a year I recon you could generate about 18k if you really work hard. Bear in mind though that 2 years later probably 6k of that would be dumped due to messers and deaths etc. So realisticly you end up with 12k of decent customers.

Taking this into account, to get to say a 'respectable living' wage of 35k a year turonver your looking at least 3 years, realistically 4 or even 5.

To be earning 50k upwards your looking at least 6 years worth of hard graft and dedication. Some people I know are earning in excess of 100k but have been at it for over 18 years and are very dedicated. So this job ain't no quick ticket to financial freedom. Good luck though.

G

[robertphil]

you should be able to do the new places off ladders. i know that cos the last 3 yrs been  doin some for a firm all insured ,plus i know for sure one of the big essex builders uses ladder firms on their new build cleans

[Darranvps]

Go for it

In the UK today it is quite easy to build a fantastic business - if you know what you are doing of course.

Can you clean a window?

Can you clean it with enough speed to earn money?

If you cannot - better get a job as a window cleaner and learn the ropes

[James Bulton]

Well done chaps some realistic advice for a change.Most see these questions as a time to boast.

[cgh window cleaning]

Why not concentrate on the bricklaying and turn that in to a business?
Doing any trade for yourself will always make you more money,to set up any business is hard work and good money never comes easy regardless of what you read on here.
The longer you keep at something and the more well known your business and reputation becomes the easier getting new work is whether its bricklaying,painting,electrical or window cleaning.
Two of my mates own building and construction firms and both are doing very well better than most window cleaners I know.

[dave0123]

I wouldnt bother mate.


if your getting £160 for a 8 hour day thats a good wage and your gaurentted that money, with window cleaning youd be lucky to get half of that on the day or half of that at the end of the week.


There is a constant on going debt in this business you will get a lot.. and i mean a lot of customers messing you about also not wanting to pay or taking ages to pay you.

and like has been said it will takes you a good couple years to build up.. and even though window cleaning looks easy its actually quite tiring and hard work on your body. I think a lot of cleaners dont do much more than 5 hours actual work as its pretty knackering.

Ive worked nights 6 days a week about 48=49 hours per week and it was easier than this job lol.

It does have its good points but a lot bad points.. no holiday pay no payment wen ill.. no payment on bank holidays etc.

Ignore people on here like has been said earning 50ph 60 ph.. you want to start on 30ph basically is no chance more like 1 house an hour to start and youl be knackkerd pretty fast using muscles that haven't been used for years, your looking at about 8 months to a year before your fully up to speed traddin/ladder work etc.

[Marc Stock]

Obsolutely agree with above post, but the benefits are...

100% your own boss.

Work harder, earn more.

Once you have stuck it out for I'd say 6 years you have a valuable business, with a decent income which is relatively recession proof.

And you can earn a lot of money, but your looking at years down the line. I have been doing this for 11 years and I'm only turning over around the 55k mark, could be more but I'm relatively happy with the income, prob got about 2 weeks on my alternate months to fill to bring up to my target of 80k but I know that's at least 3 years away ATM. I'd like to employ someone too eventually and down tools, I recon I might be able to before I'm 40.

Please don't be put off by these posts, but you have to be realistic with your expectations. Make a lot of sacrifices and deal with people who think your at the low end of the social scale. It can be soul destroying when your trying to build IP the business, once you get there though its a good living for little or no qualifications.

[SeanK]

Marc has stated on another post that he does 10 to 14 cleans a day so to make £55000
he would have to charge a min price of a least £15 and work 52 weeks of the year, and that's at the top
target of 14 cleans.
I'm not saying he's not achieving this but the mind boggles on how he's going to up it to £80k without
employing.

[SeanK]

I got up this morning and my van wouldn't start so at this moment I am waiting for a mechanic to come
and have a look at it.
While this is happening I am earning nothing and will have to pay out for what ever the repair bill will come to.
Im not saying things like this happen every week but they do crop up every so often. I also have lost 3 weeks
or more because of bad weather (storms) from Christmas.
Would I give up being a self employed window cleaner now? the answer is no.
Knowing what I know and how hard it can be to succeed in this business would I start up a window cleaning
business now ? the answer is still no.
My honest reply to this post would be if you really hate your job then go for it why not.
But don't be under any illusion that's its big money for little effort because its not.

[dazmond]

seanK marc works around surrey mate!


£55,000 a year turnover is not normal for a sole trader in other parts of the country!but i can well believe it in that part of the country!

£10,000-£15,000  part time

£20,000-£25,000  probably average for a mainly domestic  window cleaner

£30,000-£40,000  above average but still easily doable if you ve been going a few years and are persistent.

£50,000+ very few sole traders earning this much a year.exception being london,surrey etc and a few very driven window cleaners

this is turnover only.tax,insurances and expenses have not been deducted.

as you can see your never gonna make more than a half decent income window cleaning as a sole trader.

this is also often after years of being established.

the great thing about window cleaning is being your own boss,days off when you please and fantastic flexibility.

you cant put a price on that IMO.

YES you can make £50-£60 an hour on some work but its not hour after hour,day in/day out.after all the other time spent on your business(collecting,admin,etc,etc)your hourly rate will be a LOT lower.

i still love it though!

best wishes


dazmond

[LT carpet cleaning]

seanK marc works around surrey mate!


£55,000 a year turnover is not normal for a sole trader in other parts of the country!but i can well believe it in that part of the country!

£10,000-£15,000  part time

£20,000-£25,000  probably average for a mainly domestic  window cleaner

£30,000-£40,000  above average but still easily doable if you ve been going a few years and are persistent.

£50,000+ very few sole traders earning this much a year.exception being london,surrey etc and a few very driven window cleaners

this is turnover only.tax,insurances and expenses have not been deducted.

as you can see your never gonna make more than a half decent income window cleaning as a sole trader.

this is also often after years of being established.

the great thing about window cleaning is being your own boss,days off when you please and fantastic flexibility.

you cant put a price on that IMO.

YES you can make £50-£60 an hour on some work but its not hour after hour,day in/day out.after all the other time spent on your business(collecting,admin,etc,etc)your hourly rate will be a LOT lower.

i still love it though!

best wishes


dazmond

You genuinely love it? You love window cleaning?

[dazmond]

hummer yes i do!!

21 years at it and i love the lifestyle of being my own boss!

nice relaxing day off today after a 6 day week last week.

i bit of admin today and collecting this evening.gym tomorrow and a few equipment maintenance jobs.

no work due until the 7th april now.i was planning on doing a bit of canvassing later on in the week but ive decided to help girlfriend out with the mess thats been left behind from her terrible so called business partnership.awful whats happened.she needs my support.

next month promises to smash my previous best monthly earnings by a fair few quid due to price rises implemented this month and certain cream jobs due.

[G Griffin]

Window cleaning's a physical job, innit? Even if you use a watery fed end pole.
I'm not saying bricklaying's not (and I've got the dvd box set of Auf Weidersehen, Pet) but people often see a wc'er do one house or a window and think it's easy.
There's more to it than that.

[dazmond]

its NOT easy to make half decent money window cleaning when you first start out.

the hard work is getting the work in the first place and keeping the customers happy with a regular,reliable good service.

[Marc Stock]

Dazmond is correct.

Here in Surrey I'm charging £20 min. And this is turnover not profit as he correctly read. I am a very driven individual. When I'm working I'm doing it choca block. Last month I was doing from 8 am to6pm Monday to Friday for four full whole weeks no stopping averaging 10-14 jobs a day.

This month is a little different, I'm only booked up one and three quarter weeks, but still 10-14 jobs a day, I'll have no more work to complete after 16th April where I have nothing till may again. This is when I'm out canvassing 9-5 and then again 6-9 pm to fill in the last two weeks of work.

Then I hope to down tools and get someone..

Look please I'm not boasting, OK. Its just the way I work.

[Paul Coleman]

Dazmond is correct.

Here in Surrey I'm charging £20 min. And this is turnover not profit as he correctly read. I am a very driven individual. When I'm working I'm doing it choca block. Last month I was doing from 8 am to6pm Monday to Friday for four full whole weeks no stopping averaging 10-14 jobs a day.

This month is a little different, I'm only booked up one and three quarter weeks, but still 10-14 jobs a day, I'll have no more work to complete after 16th April where I have nothing till may again. This is when I'm out canvassing 9-5 and then again 6-9 pm to fill in the last two weeks of work.

Then I hope to down tools and get someone..

Look please I'm not boasting, OK. Its just the way I work.

I believe you Marc.  I've been at it years, turn over in the "above average" bracket in Daz's list and regard myself as a fairly lazy bugger a fair bit of the time.  It's not the pot of gold that it may sound like though as it took years of sifting out the bad apples to get even that far.  If I pushed myself much harder over the next couple of years I imagine I could get into the £50k bracket on my own but my body protests sometimes so maybe that's not such a great idea.  I would rather earn a bit less and increase the chances of retaining all my original body parts.

[Ian101]

seanK marc works around surrey mate!


£55,000 a year turnover is not normal for a sole trader in other parts of the country!but i can well believe it in that part of the country!

£10,000-£15,000  part time

£20,000-£25,000  probably average for a mainly domestic  window cleaner

£30,000-£40,000  above average but still easily doable if you ve been going a few years and are persistent.

£50,000+ very few sole traders earning this much a year.exception being london,surrey etc and a few very driven window cleaners

this is turnover only.tax,insurances and expenses have not been deducted.

as you can see your never gonna make more than a half decent income window cleaning as a sole trader.

this is also often after years of being established.

the great thing about window cleaning is being your own boss,days off when you please and fantastic flexibility.

you cant put a price on that IMO.

YES you can make £50-£60 an hour on some work but its not hour after hour,day in/day out.after all the other time spent on your business(collecting,admin,etc,etc)your hourly rate will be a LOT lower.

i still love it though!

best wishes


dazmond

on this basis I feel very happy just under 4 years in and between 40k to 50k but it does take a lot of effort my next George customer number is 860 but have just over 350 customers so that's lot of dross to wade through.

[redstarwindowcleaners]

With window cleaning it probably gives the average Joe the chance to earn decent money over a relatively short working day with little training needed a relatively small  financial outlay and overheads plus the oppurtunity is there to earn more if you wish
With bricklaying yes the rates are going up around 150 / shift in the south east but then you are someone else's slave work is never guaranteed and very much weather dependent cant take a half day off when you want for fear of  someone else taking your place on the line
it's the freedom I like with cleaning windows
go for it mate but it will take time to build a decent business unless you buy a round

if building a round  pick up work initially for weekends and evenings keep your present job and keep the money rolling in  
you'll enjoy the change

[Marc Stock]

100% agree with above posts. I have to say I'm turning 34 this year and on my busy months I am starting to feel it. Which is why I want to build up enough work to down tools, and get a 20 year old lad doing the work for me at a good daily rate. 

[Dave Willis]

What a bunch of whimps!

Franky is 64 this year and still on the tools  And still manages to wobble about on a bike in his spare time.

[dave0123]

Would I give up being a self employed window cleaner now? the answer is no

I would!

Have a employed job go to work work come home and have the ability to switch off and do nothing until the next day must be great! .. Not deal with idiotic customers etc and messers.

4  weeks paid holiday per year paid for bank holidays and a day off ... paid break at Christmas etc.

Guaranteed money on the same day each week or month in your account!


it seems pretty attractive to me!

[pikeman]

Im an ex bricklayer Started window clening about 5 years ago, with a lot of help off this forum. The building trade was In recession when i came across this forum. At first was going trad but was advised to go straight to wfp glad I did. The money in bricklaying then was terrible so nothing to lose really. Now the money is picking up in the building would I start a window cleaning round probbally not. Its been hard work building the round and don't earn what a good many on here do, but I have replaced the bricklaying money took a few years though. Im 57 now so no intention of going back to bricklaying. If I was on 20 pound an hour bricklaying id stick with that. Good luck whatever you decide.

[dazmond]

Would I give up being a self employed window cleaner now? the answer is no

I would!

Have a employed job go to work work come home and have the ability to switch off and do nothing until the next day must be great! .. Not deal with idiotic customers etc and messers.

4  weeks paid holiday per year paid for bank holidays and a day off ... paid break at Christmas etc.

Guaranteed money on the same day each week or month in your account!




it seems pretty attractive to me!

sounds awful to me!as you ve forgot to mention that you have to work every day for someone else on a lower rate of pay and longer hours!the trick is to earn enough to cover all holidays and breaks with ease when your actually working!!i always have a steady stream of money coming in even when not working due to rolling debt paying online or sending me cheques

 

[Dave Turley]

There is some really good advice on the thread. Good luck!