[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!