Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Adam19 on January 21, 2011, 08:13:40 pm
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Hi, I want to start window cleaning in Guernsey there seems to be a lot of money in it over here as the current window cleaners charge £15 - £40 a house, i got a few questions i'd like to know before i setup :)
Water - I know some people use hot water from the houses they wash and some just use cold (and some have water boilers in their vans) but what do you do? is there a huge difference between hot and cold water?
Liability insurance - is it worth getting or not? how much do you pay for it?
what % of customers do you get complaints from?
how much business do you lose during the winter months? (if any)
collentions - with the high prices here I don't think many people will have their windows cleaned every week. do you collect monthly for customers who have it done weekly or is it easier just to ask each time you do a house?
Do you have any suggestions on learning how to window clean? I saw in another thread some people take other people on and show them but in Guernsey I really don't think they will be willing to do that
last one :) how long did it take for you to get a reasonable amount of customers?
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Hi Adam,
Do you speak french?
Dean.
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My mum and sister live over in Guernsey, they have for about 7 years now. Sis over in St Peters Port & mum down in castel round the corner from the Rockmount. Beautiful place, i get out there pretty much every year.
Anyway customers monthly
You wont get complaints if you do a good job ;)
I lost 20% of my customers in the run up to winter (new business but will get less each year)
I got 200 custys in 9 months... if you put the hours in knocking you could get up to speed.
Pricing is 15+ for a reason over there ... eg house prices are silly compared to UK
PL insurance is a must... you screw up and dont have it = your screwed big time
If your just starting out go cold wfp ... costs less and you can upgrade if you feel you need to go hot when you have established yourself
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@ Dean Taberner - sorry I don't speak french lol, most people here don't speak it...well i dont know anyone here who is french
My mum and sister live over in Guernsey, they have for about 7 years now. Sis over in St Peters Port & mum down in castel round the corner from the Rockmount. Beautiful place, i get out there pretty much every year.
Anyway customers monthly
You wont get complaints if you do a good job ;)
I lost 20% of my customers in the run up to winter (new business but will get less each year)
I got 200 custys in 9 months... if you put the hours in knocking you could get up to speed.
Pricing is 15+ for a reason over there ... eg house prices are silly compared to UK
PL insurance is a must... you screw up and dont have it = your screwed big time
If your just starting out go cold wfp ... costs less and you can upgrade if you feel you need to go hot when you have established yourself
Hi, yea the rockmount is one of the best places in guernsey but this rock is so boring ot live on.
what is wfp? water from public?
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Im not the only one that calls it the rock then ;D
wfp - water fed pole - pure water way of cleaning
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BATEMAN ALAAAAARM!!!!! ;D ;D ;D
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What about spanish then? Can you speak spanish??
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What about spanish then? Can you speak spanish??
I can't speak spanish but i can speak morse code :)
also I've been looking at these fed polls, look better than ladders especially with the awkward shapes of a lot of the houses over here, thanks :)
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Hi Adam,
Do you speak french?
Dean.
What about spanish then? Can you speak spanish??
Do you have to be bi-lingual to pass as a window cleaner on Guernsey now then? ;D
That European Union have got a lot to answer for ;D
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maybe every window cleaner should be fluent in every language then :/, I wouldn't be surprised if the EU made a law about it, luckily Guernsey is a 'tax haven' and doesn't answer to the EU, who wants to pay 20% 40% 60% tax anyway? + 20% VAT and social insurance ;)
Last question, if I started using wfp would I need the traditional stuff as well? it would seem strange to me a window cleaner wouldn't use traditional methods at all, or at least on the ground floor?
Thanks for your posts by the way they have been very helpful
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maybe every window cleaner should be fluent in every language then :/, I wouldn't be surprised if the EU made a law about it, luckily Guernsey is a 'tax haven' and doesn't answer to the EU, who wants to pay 20% 40% 60% tax anyway? + 20% VAT and social insurance ;)
Last question, if I started using wfp would I need the traditional stuff as well? it would seem strange to me a window cleaner wouldn't use traditional methods at all, or at least on the ground floor?
Thanks for your posts by the way they have been very helpful
Ok, i thought you werent Bateman, but after those comments im pretty sure your on a wind up
Fuel in Guernsey is around the £1 per L and rising as it has in the past few years.
Tax (on what you earn) is 20% on your worldwide income, not just what you earn in Guernsey