Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: PAIN IN THE GLASS on February 22, 2011, 12:51:26 pm
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I started cos I was feed up with working nights, and thought something had to be done about this.
Started of canvassing for a few hours each day while still doing full time job. i used to come home have a few hours sleep then go out cleaning.
I couldnt wait for the day to come where I could chuck me notice in.some people like the 9-5 or 2200-0600 for stability. But I now have my own stability and my own freedom plus you cant beat working in the fresh air, and havent looked back since.
So How did you lot start then??
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3rd generation in my family all i ever known have tried other jobs couldnt do it always came back to cleaning windows :)
how sad am i ;D
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I had/have a well paid job in IT working in the NHS. Gave them 15 years service and they made me sick in the head ;D I hardly ever had a day off sick when I worked on the tools all those years ago, I've been off work sick for a long time now.
Working in an office with people you hate in a situation where bulling and Prejudice is rife is to be avoided. I've never been so miserable, just the thought of having to go back to the office is enough to make me very stressed indeed.
Then you get to a point in life when you just have to think of your health not your wealth. Everyone I know thinks I'm mad as a bag of Cats for giving up just under 40k wages, but the fact that I know I'll be a load happier pushing a lawn mower or cleaning windows for the next 20 years says it all in my book.
Sometimes in life you have to make a change, draw the line and take them all on one at a time ;D
I'm currently drawing up my line and should be ready for them all soon ;D
My attitude at the moment is that I will only fail if I let it happen ;)
I'm a very strong believer in 'the 7 P's' and for the last 15 years or so they have done their best to knock it out of me but I know the 7 P's works ;)
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I started cos I was feed up with working nights, and thought something had to be done about this.
Started of canvassing for a few hours each day while still doing full time job. i used to come home have a few hours sleep then go out cleaning.
I couldnt wait for the day to come where I could chuck me notice in.some people like the 9-5 or 2200-0600 for stability. But I now have my own stability and my own freedom plus you cant beat working in the fresh air, and havent looked back since.
So How did you lot start then??
For me the simple answer is - unemployment. It was 1991 and I suffered my third redundancy in two years. There were no jobs about. So, with no particular skills, a cheap, old car, and being OK with climbing ladders, I felt that it was the right move for me.
I never intended to stick with it. It was just a stopgap until I found a job. 20 years later I still haven't found one ;D .
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When I left school (1979) I couldnt read or write so the only job I could do was window cleaning.
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My old man had a massive round in Denham years ago and was raking in £100 per day in cash. My one pays much more than the factory job and i don't have to take any cr/\p. Unfortunately i'm only doing it part time at the mo.
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i started six years ago as a stopgap while i retrained after 20 years in printing industry.........best thing i ever did and will probably be what i do till i die hopefully
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after closing my car repair shop,with a massive bonfire ,i was then living with a woman who was driving me nuts . one day she mentioned her windie had been and his boss drove a big new 4 x4 . that seed set in my mind and shortly after id left her and got a ladder etc
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Was truck driving from Germany to Tunisia in the late 80's. What a fantastic job that was............... spent loads of time in tourists towns on the coast waiting for the trailer to be loaded. 8) Got made redundant and my mate was setting himself up as milkman and window cleaner in a nearby town (Bielefeld).
I went with him for a day to see how it was. I saw what he earned in a couple of hours cleaning soldiers houses and decided I'd give it a go. Went home and over the next couple of days got leaflets printed. Dropped about a thousand and a few days later followed up knocking doors. Got a smallish round together and it went from there. Within a coupe of months I had a full round. Hardly any competition!!
I've had a break a few years back to go back to truck driving, it's fun on international runs, but I've come back to WCing now for the money and free time.
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Needed to pay my mortgage (on my own) so became a windie :)
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cos no fkker will be a boss of me?
well it took me a good few bosses to try,to realise that it just wasnt going to happen.
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as he sez ya own boss and all me personally got bored of the job i was in at the time :'(
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Used to be striker for West Ham, but the kids got really embarrassed when their mates asked them what their Dad did for a living ;)
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Our window cleaner sacked me last year cos i was a slow / crap payer and I didnt like the look of any I saw locally so missus told me i had to do them ;D ... neighbours said half joking u can do ours next and sorta went from there ;D ... not seen the old windie to apologise to yet but will do when i see him
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the thought of £200 a day ;D
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Started back in 1983 I was out of work on the dole and a mate of mine needed a hand so I try it and never look back since. ;D
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Confessions of a window cleaner :o ;)
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the thought of £200 a day ;D
think youve put a extra naught its £20 per day ;D
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at 13 years old I asked my dad for pocket money, and he laughed and on a saturday morning he handed me a list of houses, about ten and said do them every fortnight, then gave me a wooden double and all the kit, done it off and on till I joined the army then I left the army and borrowed a ladder from my brother and started all over again
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its not that i wanted to be a shiner its that its 1 of the few jobs for unskilled workers to earn a half decent income out of.
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its not that i wanted to be a shiner its that its 1 of the few jobs for unskilled workers to earn a half decent income out of.
what are the other jobs
Footballer in Scotland.....oh, and Burnley too.
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its not that i wanted to be a shiner its that its 1 of the few jobs for unskilled workers to earn a half decent income out of.
what are the other jobs
Footballer in Scotland.....oh, and Burnley too.
;D ;D
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its not that i wanted to be a shiner its that its 1 of the few jobs for unskilled workers to earn a half decent income out of.
what are the other jobs
the only other job i have found to beat window cleaning earnings for unskilled is commision only sales but out of the 2 id rather shining as its repeat work month after month a guarenteed wage.
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at 13 years old I asked my dad for pocket money, and he laughed and on a saturday morning he handed me a list of houses, about ten and said do them every fortnight, then gave me a wooden double and all the kit, done it off and on till I joined the army then I left the army and borrowed a ladder from my brother and started all over again
was it the same ladder ;D
;D no I had upgraded to a ramsey 1983 ladder by then but it was 2007 ;D still on my van now ;) hope my brother doesn't want it back
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first job packed in after seeing to may mates in body bags, so buy buy regiment.
then engineering
after that sat on back side for a while started computer business and got fed up with total and utter idiots so wrapped it up.
started a repair business and through that and repairing the damage caused by Windy's (your not all bad just the idiots) I started windows as a second line.
and to be honest I actually relay well and truly enjoy it and take pride in it.
Windy's do get looked down upon, I find it amusing when a cousty or someone talks to me as if I was not a full shilling, little do they know my past and what I have done or are capable of!
as they say never judge a book by its cover..
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I was made redundant from a very well paid managers role for big international company.
While thinking about what to do I heard my girlfriends dad talking about never being able to find a window cleaner these days. For the rest of the day I couldnt stop thinking about it. The very next day I went and bought all the trad gear, roof rack, ladder and off I went with leaflets I made on my computer.
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more and likely the same bucket as well
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i come out of jail and setup driveway cleaning at around age 25 being quite yound done ok for first year but didnt really push it anyway gave it up and got into fittin upvc fascias where i came across wfp equipment put it too back of my mind for a while then began gettin fed up with work drying up in fascia game and having a new born son i didnt wana be up working off ladders etc anymore quite dangerous so looked into window cleaning as it gave me regular repeat custom,
i think im doin quite well after 2 or 3 years now rounds been whittled down to about 350 cream customers all changed to 6 weekly, think im going to just plod on this year and let the business evolve steadily no huge pushes and just try and pick up decent customers and work and lots of ad hoc weekend job fascia,conservatory and driveway cleans
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i come out of jail and setup driveway cleaning at around age 25 being quite yound done ok for first year but didnt really push it anyway gave it up and got into fittin upvc fascias where i came across wfp equipment put it too back of my mind for a while then began gettin fed up with work drying up in fascia game and having a new born son i didnt wana be up working off ladders etc anymore quite dangerous so looked into window cleaning as it gave me regular repeat custom,
i think im doin quite well after 2 or 3 years now rounds been whittled down to about 350 cream customers all changed to 6 weekly, think im going to just plod on this year and let the business evolve steadily no huge pushes and just try and pick up decent customers and work and lots of ad hoc weekend job fascia,conservatory and driveway cleans
Well done that man.
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cheers guys doesnt bother me what people think im open and tell people i went to jail im not ashamed of it it was only for a number of driving offences etc i used jail to my advantage, jail shouldnt be looked upon as just a place for bad criminals the amount of help etc available to people in there to turn lives around you wouldnt believe.its up to the individuals whether they want that help.
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at the time i started, i thought it was a good idea ???
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I responed to an Ionics advert (or someone like them) when i was on 'B' wing. I thought, yeah i can go straight !!! ;D
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The BFG bullied me into it, enough said. ;D
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fair play to ya richy. Good on ya ;D
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cheers guys doesnt bother me what people think im open and tell people i went to jail im not ashamed of it it was only for a number of driving offences etc i used jail to my advantage, jail shouldnt be looked upon as just a place for bad criminals the amount of help etc available to people in there to turn lives around you wouldnt believe.its up to the individuals whether they want that help.
Well if I'd been caught more often, I would have gone there too. No problem from this end Richy. I think the point is that neither of us do the things now that we did back then.
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I started window cleaning after chatting with a friend who had done it before and wanted to leave his night job to set up.... We canvassed and bought a small round together but after about a year he gave up and i bought his half with a bank loan, also had a full time job in sales at the time so once the windows built up enough i left it and bought/canvassed more work
Them were the days living at home with nearly 2 full time wages !!
I have never enjoyed window cleaning day in and day out, its ok at best for me, but the money is good, and now i have a family and high outgoings there is nothing else i could do to earn similar money in the flexible hours i work, as i left college to start earning as i was impatient, which i regret at times, although i probably would never of worked for anybody as i am far to self willed to listen to an employer, i quit most jobs i ever had because i didn't like the way i was spoken too by so called "superiors" and at the time i couldn't face another 3 years in college and a few more in uni!! as the course i was on was aimed at degree level ...
So in summary :) i am happy with the life style window cleaning gives me, the money is good, and the flexibility and freedom is great! But there are down sides, however there are disadvantages to every job so you just have to accept that and stay positive!
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Following suit after me grandad, me dad, now me...i dont think my daughters too happy about me saying shell be doing it to