Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Jimmy Jon on November 08, 2010, 03:52:31 pm
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I am new to Window Cleaning and literally just starting out now. I am 35 years old, 3 kids, mortgage etc and have done various jobs over the years. I come from a building background, Painting & Decorating, Groundworks, Renovated properties, Rent some properties out, Built a nice extension on my house beginning of this year. I Worked in an office for 8 years doing logistics, became branch manager, got bored of that, resigned then I went back into building and am now bored of that and fed up of the hassle and breathing in dust and wanted a change anyway. I've got a friend who earns big money as a financial advisor, He encouraged me to train as a mortgage advisor so qualified last year during the credit crunch. I found a position on a self employed basis for a local mortgage broker but it just felt like I was working for nothing so left that and anyway the industry is so heavily regulated by the FSA it just seemed like a lot of stress for little reward - not for me! Last November/December I took on a large exterior painting job of a house which the owner wanted doing asap even though it's the worst time of year for doing it but I needed the money. One day when it was freezing cold I was up my triple ladders at full extension preparing some woodwork on the apex when I clocked this window cleaner turn up at this bungalow next door (trad). About ten minutes later he comes from round the back, knocks on the door and I see a note changing hands which I am thinking was a tenner as it is a posh area. I thought to myself what am I doing with my life working my nuts off for peanuts, I worked out that he only had to do 3 or 4 an hour to be earning reasonable money. Since that time I have been researching the industry mainly through this forum, BWCA, ACS etc and have got my WFP set up sorted out and practised and practised. I have just picked up a large commercial building window clean and gutter clearance and looking to start the canvassing/leafletting. I would be interested to read other peoples stories (newbies & experienced) and of those that have built up a succesfull business up from nothing. Just for the record my name is Marc and not Terry Tibbs who is in fact a fictional character from the tv programme fonejacker who cracks me right up, it was the first name I could think of when I registered, Thanks ;D
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ad enough of working for someone else and the freedom of doin wat ya want worked in a crappy warehouse for 6 yrs dust dirt and all that started with a few up my street and went from there
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My story is below .... all true apart from the bit about my window cleaner stopped coming ... he only stopped coming cos I was a crap payer !
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heres another version ;D
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Nice newspaper articles Ian, Did any of these bring you much new business? :)
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Nice newspaper articles Ian, Did any of these bring you much new business? :)
Had 3 commercial enquiries so far from it and a few " I saw you in the paper last week" from me customers ...
Did it mainly to put 2 fingers up to my old colleauges who laughed at me when I told them what I was doing.
Since the articles came out my old dealership has laid 10 staff off and im sure I would have been one of them so looks like I left at right time
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couldnt get a job and didnt want to be a plumber no more
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> Wow Ian! Nice copy! Why did you take ten years off your age you little liar! ;D ;D ;D
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Good three point contact too.
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the MONEY
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Bloody hell Ian, you really do look like a car salesman ;D ;D
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> Wow Ian! Nice copy! Why did you take ten years off your age you little liar! ;D ;D ;D
Cheers Gold ..... thats what 25 years in the motor trade does to yer ;D
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Bloody hell Ian, you really do look like a car salesman ;D ;D
Wot u mean Chopsie Ive taken off my fake rolex and chunky gold chains so cant possibly look like a car salesman anymore :o :o ;)
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I am too thick to do anything else, my teacher told me I wouldn't come to anything and would end up cleaning windows
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I took voluntary redundancy from my job in construction this time last year, I was working away 98% of the time, and due to the recession the work was drying up (and they are still really struggling). I was lucky if I was working 3 days a week.
I had split up with my wife the christmas before whom I had 3 kids and a house/mortgage with. The house had sold, I had less commitment financially so decided It was probably the best time I could get out of the game I was in as I would of ended up being stuck in the job as I would of ended up living to my means again by buying another house or something, and as the money was very good it would of been difficult to find anything else that paid even half of what I was getting (of course they might still go bust yet). I had met a girl whilst working in London, She was looking for a job in Derby to be with me, So I decided to get out as I would end up leaving anyway, So I took voluntary redundancy and thought i would just see what came along. I sat at home toying with ideas, and remembered years ago i had considered window cleaning as a extra income, So i researched it a bit, found this place and went out door knocking, and here I am.
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I am too thick to do anything else, my teacher told me I wouldn't come to anything and would end up cleaning windows
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Don't put yourself down Dave, but we'll see just how thick or otherwise you and others are.Look at my bump
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Bloody hell Ian, you really do look like a car salesman ;D ;D
Wot u mean Chopsie Ive taken off my fake rolex and chunky gold chains so cant possibly look like a car salesman anymore :o :o ;)
I did nearly 2 years working at Toyota at Burnaston Ian, That was like being a robot, Had to press a bell to go for a sh?t !!
Did not know if it was day,night,sunny or raining as there were no windows....bloody Japs :P
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Thanks for your story Chopsie, Are you happier now window cleaning working for yourself than when you were in construction?
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Thanks for your story Chopsie, Are you happier now window cleaning working for yourself than when you were in construction?
Yes much happier (must admit I miss the money a little though), I get to see my kids more than ever, I have them at least 3 nights a week, being my own boss means I can work around their requirements. I get to be in my own house and sleep in my own bed instead of some cheapo dump digs,sleeping 8 men a room.
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i was a car mechanic for 21years but the last 3years i hated fixing those crusty cars and the crusty pesky customers so i sold every tool,every single spanner and had a giant bonfire one night to get rid of all the rest. i set it on fire at night to hide the huge plumes of black smoke !
planned to take a 6 month rest but after 2 months i was going up the wall.
started windows one day on a whim after seeing ladders on special offer in BnQ ,mainly as a day filler.but now have a full round. and anybody get pesky---bye bye you pest !
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i sold every tool,every single spanner and had a giant bonfire one night to get rid of all the rest. i set it on fire at night to hide the huge plumes of black smoke !
Must of been some bonfire to burn tools :P ;D
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i sold every tool,every single spanner and had a giant bonfire one night to get rid of all the rest. i set it on fire at night to hide the huge plumes of black smoke !
Must of been some bonfire to burn tools :P ;D
it really was big, lots of car tyres too. the core of the fire melted down into the ground,almost nuclear !. but it felt very good,to get rid and no chance of going back
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Yeah, we got a call to that in the middle of Tales Of The Unexpected and a chicken jalfrezi. Ya firebug!
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my story has just began, but being a single dad with no car licence for 5 years and living on income support and being sick of my life i decided to get a budgeting loan off the benefit ppl for a new fridge etc and spent the money on learning to drive, passed my test in october this yr and now slowly getting my own window cleaning round going. i get about 3 new customers a week but thats better than nowt. no one would give me a job between 9 and 3 so i decided i love being on my own ( loaner ) now i have a car, not many ppl at the time of thinking about being a WC so took the plung, told job centre i wanna be a WC they said good business choice and i arranged a meeting with a business consultant at the job centre and hes helping me with all the stuff i dont understand, i cant wait, i know its going to be cold in winter but PFFFFFT i riden motorbikes in winter with wind chill of -20c so i should be ok.
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I did nearly 2 years working at Toyota at Burnaston Ian, That was like being a robot, Had to press a bell to go for a sh?t !!
Did not know if it was day,night,sunny or raining as there were no windows....bloody Japs :P
i know burnaston - i visited factory and took a test drive on the race track up the road with 50 other people all in the auris hybrid - know what you mean about the factory - kaizen millitary effeciency only stocked 4 hours of components before next delivery. you had the rope to pull to stop the line in case of emergency. impressive site but know where your coming from there. bet your happier now as a wcer!!
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After 28 years in engineering thinking the company was making a profit only to see the recievers walking in with there big long over coats on-sorry lads your all out of work-manager creaming money of left right and centre. I was b~##ered if i was going to work for some some again. Invested some money in water fed stuff and away i went. 7 months on 92 customers later am i happy yes target was to get 100 by xmas. There you have it! :)
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ian how did u get them custys then, i got a targer to get 100, i would be happy with just 100 by summer
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I did nearly 2 years working at Toyota at Burnaston Ian, That was like being a robot, Had to press a bell to go for a sh?t !!
Did not know if it was day,night,sunny or raining as there were no windows....bloody Japs :P
i know burnaston - i visited factory and took a test drive on the race track up the road with 50 other people all in the auris hybrid - know what you mean about the factory - kaizen millitary effeciency only stocked 4 hours of components before next delivery. you had the rope to pull to stop the line in case of emergency. impressive site but know where your coming from there. bet your happier now as a wcer!!
Been quite a few years since I worked there, 7 to be exact, I left just before my daughter was born. God didnt realise it had been that long :o I was happier when I went back to construction (I had done this before Toyota). I am happy as long as I am outdoors, I hated being stuck in a factory. Kaizen.....not heard that for a very long time
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I suffered three redundancies in two years during the last recession (early 90s). I had always assumed that being self-employed was less secure than working for someone else. How wrong I was.
There wasn't a sniff of a job so I borrowed a ladder from an out of trade plumber, stuck a roof rack on my old Datsun Cherry, bought a few hand tools from a local janitorial shop, and away I went knocking on doors. Didn't have a clue. Just wanted to earn some money so I could come off the dole. I claimed dole perfectly legally for a couple of months till I was earning enough that I could no longer claim it. Along the way I did a few days driving here and there for agencies. Then I picked up a self employed number driving away for a week each month. I built my window cleaning around that. When all the driving went kaputt I found I had half a (low paid) window cleaning round and still not the sniff of a job. So I just carried on. Still at it nearly 20 years later. Still not the sniff of a job but I haven't wanted one for 19.5 years so that's OK ;D
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did you have to pay for the news paper article?
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Home after a long night on nightshift to meet window cleaner doing my windows, took 5 min,charge £5, missing bathroom window, still dirty in corners cob webs like you wouldnt believe and done 6 of these in a row,less an hr, cash in hand, he was sacked there and then new ladders ordered the same day and never looked back
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Nice newspaper articles Ian, Did any of these bring you much new business? :)
Had 3 commercial enquiries so far from it and a few " I saw you in the paper last week" from me customers ...
Did it mainly to put 2 fingers up to my old colleauges who laughed at me when I told them what I was doing.
Since the articles came out my old dealership has laid 10 staff off and im sure I would have been one of them so looks like I left at right time
must be a car delership thing - i used to do all the Essex Ford's and Toomey motor's Plant when in essex and the car salesmen used to take the p out of me ..... i used to have a chuckle as i earnt double what they did and never worked the weekends lol
good on you ian .
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found myself on the dole in the early 90 s after being sacked from a landscaping job.my dad had kicked me out and i was living on the couch at a mates crummy little flat.i was skint with no hope (in my eyes then)of ever getting a job again or earning any money!
.......THEN THE WINDOW CLEANER TURNED UP!!!i was desperate for a job and some money and asked him if he had any work.if said yes ill pick you up at 845 tommorrow morning!
i worked with this guy for a year and saved up for a van and he sold me a very small round to start me off!
during that year i could see this guy had a great varied round and he worked very hard(he still does at 64)and i could see he was making a good living!!never looked back.
dazmond
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Out of despair really.....it was just getting harder and harder to make a living after the banks started upgrading their security ;D
lmao - you mean the upgrade of security meant you couldnt walk out with a bag of money every night - lol - sorry couldnt resist. ;D
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did you have to pay for the news paper article?
no cost nowt .... just emailed the business desk editor and told him I had a story for them .... met their reporters and gave them a prepared list of facts and info which they love as it saves them messing about.
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ian how did u get them custys then, i got a targer to get 100, i would be happy with just 100 by summer
door knock .... door knock .... door knock ... door knock ... word of mouth ..... door knock ... door knock and then some more door knocking.
also bought some work
this is my opinion ... leaflets too slow .... just door knock however there are lads on here who have build large rounds from just leaflets but too slow for me and my requirements but having said that what Im doing now is when I do a house I do leaflet the other 5 either side of it to get things more compact.
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Out of despair really.....it was just getting harder and harder to make a living after the banks started upgrading their security ;D
I like that post. Nice to see your humour is back Dan. ;D
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After serving 20 years of a life sentence for war crimes, its the only job i could get. I'm half serbian and half croatian, and every morning i wake up and want to kill myself, so killing new window cleaners on my patch would be no problem. ;D ;D
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i was in a call centre (damn) as well as 5 other mail order companys in the same office, had to answer the phone, look after credit card fraud, fix pcs, supervise staff, run reports, clean the kitchen, basically a dogs body.
lasted 6 years before i started to crack under the pressure, boss was really horrible to me.
so i decided to ring my friend to ask if he had a ladder for sale (so i could start trad)
he said hes selling his business and van (wfp) and would i like that instead?
it was a bit of a shock as he wanted £15k for it, so i turned him down, then realised even with a loan i would still be earning treble what i was on then, and would only have to work 2-3 days. so took a huge leap of faith and did it. (scary)
saved me canvassing, and charging £5 a house as i didnt have a clue, his average price was £20 so had nice premium round! been 3 yrs now and even my wife left her legal secretarys job to join me after id been doing it for a year.
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does he regret selling it?
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does he regret selling it?
Good question.Where's he at now?
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well it was a franchise and the guy running it was sacked, so he initially asked if i wanted to be a franchisee or buy it outright, i agreed to be a franchisee, then realised i would be tied in forever at 10% i think it was, so decided to go on my own
although i had to re-sign write the van and change the company name, most custs stayed with me, and it was fine after the first 3 months of learning on the job and teaching myself!
hes doing well for himself, he has a load of franchisees in the west country.
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Just out of interest, if i wanted to buy your business now, without padding to look big, what figures would be arguing about?
I think 15k was very cheap, but maybe it got him out of a hole.
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Just out of interest, if i wanted to buy your business now, without padding to look big, what figures would be arguing about?
I think 15k was very cheap, but maybe it got him out of a hole.
i spose i could sell it for more as its worth a lot more now, or just sell the round for the same price and keep the van? although its stressful being self employed, i need to remind myself of the other options i.e, call centres, shops, factories or the dole.
so no at this point i wouldnt sell for any price as even £40k is only going to last me a year, what am i going to do after that?
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Mark....what made me become a window cleaner? Aged 37, morgaged upto the hilt,just married and ....bang lost my job in aircraft industry(shopfloor c.n.c machinist) which i had been doing 22 years!!!dismissed for something i didnt do(set up!!!)..an on going tribunal due next year.
Got a job in all of places a chinesse supermarket!!!! to make ends meet....3 months of pure hell!!!!! and i racked and racked my brain and bumped into an old school buddy recently back from new zealand who 6 months earlier had set up water fed pole,so i went out with him did some research,went to bank and got a loan,brought van got kitted out with purefreedom 650ltr system got leaflets printed up ,van signwritting,marketing etc etc etc ...and in january 2010 (oh yes that one with the snow!!!!)went out and started door knocking!!!i picked up 42 customers that first month and thought this is what i should have done 20 years ago.....anyhow i have been trading for 10/11 months now and have a customer base of 245 which generates me between £500/£900 a week(depending on monthly/bi-monthly etc...)i am behind my projected end of year target which was to have a soild 300 customers ,but i have been put back a bit the last couple of weeks due to being in hospital with food poisoning(horrible!!!!!)i eventually will get to 400 customers which will generate £1200/£1500 a week thats my target anyway which in my book is top wages and only money i could have dreamed of little less than a year ago.Freedom,Fresh air,own boss and excellent wages.....................regrets,should have done it years ago!!!!!!!! and i would be morgage free...oh well at least i found out eventually!!!!!!!!!
Andy ;)
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Well done Andy (keen n Clean) great story and very inspirational, It seems like the best way is to just get out there and knock as many doors as you can. I would like to think that by this time next year I could build up a similar sized round to yourself through hard work and determination. Thanks :)
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4 years ago i worked as a postman,
My Mrs nagged me left right and centre to clean our windows.BECAUSE WE COULDN'T GET A WINDOW CLEANER!
whilst up my borrowed old wooden ladders with a car scraper/squeegee with a bit of foam on the back. a elderly lady walked by "OOOO a window cleaner can you come and do mine ??"
Never thought much more or how much to charge etc (charged her £5).
Then about 2 weeks later a knock on the door " you cleaned my friends windows a couple of weeks ago can you do mine please?"
Now it's 2010 i have a regular customer base of 450+ spread over a 5 week cycle and employ 1 young lad.
thank the lord for my wife's nagging and that lady walking past at that very time
or else i could still be on the Post lugging that great big heavy red bag for £170 a week.
From little acorns great oaks grow
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i keep hearing about the door knocking but what if u dont have the confidence to knock doors? any tips on what to say or do, i did this other day and got some old biddy say damn off if i want a cleaner id ask ya, go clean crystal palace :-[ so that shot my confidence, i did some flyer delivering today ( 80 flyers ) no come bks on them as of yet. ??? ???
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i keep hearing about the door knocking but what if u dont have the confidence to knock doors? any tips on what to say or do, i did this other day and got some old biddy say damn off if i want a cleaner id ask ya, go clean crystal palace :-[ so that shot my confidence, i did some flyer delivering today ( 80 flyers ) no come bks on them as of yet. ??? ???
just knock and say,
hi, sorry to bother you, i am starting a window cleaning around and was wondering if you would be interested?
thats all i say
its like chatting up women in a club, the more you talk too the more chance you have, i started by knocking the roughest council estate i could find, that i knew didnt have a window cleaner, as picked up 2 days worth of work in 1 days knocking, with every house your confidence grows
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i keep hearing about the door knocking but what if u dont have the confidence to knock doors? any tips on what to say or do, i did this other day and got some old biddy say damn off if i want a cleaner id ask ya, go clean crystal palace :-[ so that shot my confidence, i did some flyer delivering today ( 80 flyers ) no come bks on them as of yet. ??? ???
just knock and say,
hi, sorry to bother you, i am starting a window cleaning around and was wondering if you would be interested?
thats all i say
its like chatting up women in a club, the more you talk too the more chance you have, i started by knocking the roughest council estate i could find, that i knew didnt have a window cleaner, as picked up 2 days worth of work in 1 days knocking, with every house your confidence grows
sounds like a plan, hope it rains tomora so i can wack the water proofs on and test ya theory out. ;D
i dont chat women up in the club i use the internet to work my charm lol
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I just say, hi, do you need a window cleaner, simple. must admit its been many many months since i did it. coincidentally i had my best hit door knocking in january in all that snow. I went around a large ish village (well it had more houses than i expected!) Most people were in because of the snow, and i picked up best part of 30 customers in two days of door knocking (not full days obviously), Up until recently it was still my biggest round, Funnily enough my old home town has overtaken it, and I was not going to even bother there as I perceived it to be all sewn up with a gang that came in from elsewhere.
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i keep hearing about the door knocking but what if u dont have the confidence to knock doors? any tips on what to say or do, i did this other day and got some old biddy say damn off if i want a cleaner id ask ya, go clean crystal palace :-[ so that shot my confidence, i did some flyer delivering today ( 80 flyers ) no come bks on them as of yet. ??? ???
any nasty people just smile at them and laugh in their faces then walk away as for leaflets I found people wanted to see who they are dealing with ... in the past Ive leafleted a whole road that I was doing 4 houses in and got no response .... following month went back to do the usual 4 and had another 3 people ask me to do theirs next and all 3 said "oooo you cant get a window cleaner these days" ..... "did you not look at the leaflet I posted last month" I asked them ...... errrr what leaflets they all said ..... leaflets do work eventually but too slow for me and too slow for you by the sounds of it ..... get off yer bum and start knocking !!! ... what can they say to hurt you ??? only NO ... big deal so what ??? no one but urself can make you do it.
You need a plan and a target you can break down monthly .... weekly ... daily.
M8 ..... just get out there and knock ;) simples ;D
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If i set up my 1 day seminar "How to canvass - window cleaning" I will give you a shout. ;) ;)
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Ant...leaflets....
I moved to Holland and my Dutch was appalling....so leaflets were the way forward for me...girlfriend did the phone end..
Before anyone says 'well all the Dutch speak English'...well yes most do but they would be pretty miffed if you strolled up banged on the door and expected them to chat in English whilst your were trying to sell something.
Anyhow's...my round is built entirely from leaflets and word of mouth...80 leaflets is just not going to cut it....now get 20,000 through the letterboxes and your talking...
Personally I find a success rate from leaflets of sub 0.5% to be a good figure. From time to time you'll hit a golden seam...but that's what it will be.
Get a map, mark every street you leaflet...then keep doing this for as long as it takes...it's just a numbers game...repeat, repeat , repeat...
But canvassing will get you the results far quicker...but it can be done with leaflets alone.
Cheers
Dave.
Good luck..
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Well done Andy (keen n Clean) great story and very inspirational, It seems like the best way is to just get out there and knock as many doors as you can. I would like to think that by this time next year I could build up a similar sized round to yourself through hard work and determination. Thanks :)
Its like this i have found.....you get out what you put in!!!! i have no doubt you will acheive your goals marc,i wish you all the success in the world ,but you dont need wishes ,just make it happen mate!!!