Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Richard Avis on January 11, 2012, 12:32:42 pm
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If i.....which i am considering doing..... set up my own cleaning services company to break off from my full time job i would like to get some advice on
A) Price fairly as to not appear as the normal newbie undercutting everyone and alienating myself from the other cleaners
B) How best to market myself heavily and successfully in the first few months
C) Realistic £££ target for working alone on Domestic, small commercial (Pubs, Restaurants, Shops) (£250 Per day? more?)
D) Other considerations which some newbies maybe miss out?
I intend to have the usual traditional tools etc, Small Van (connect or similar), Small WFP System, poles to 35ft should cover all the bases. Pressure washer for patio's, driveways etc.
Any advice much appreciated.
Thanks
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juist stick to window cleaning, its easier and ok money
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Was kind of hoping to be able to pick up some extra one off Jobs to bump up the income as when needed.
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dont bother, in your spare time, go knocking and get regular money, dont hope for one offs, as you only get them when you dont need them
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juist stick to window cleaning, its easier and ok money
I would agree to a certain extent especially if you are a 'new start-up' Concentrate and focus on window cleaning first and when you are comfortable and earning decent money, then add another string to your bow.
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I would also agree with that, canvassing is the best and fastest way to gain work.
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When you say canvassing, you mean leaflet then door knock or just the door knock?
Also how does leaflet and door knocking work for small commercial or are these jobs better to call and arrange a site visit?
Thanks for this help guys. Maybe focus on one thing is the key for now.
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£250 a day :o
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£250 a day sounds good, I expect plenty of variables but I am prepared to work as many hours as i can (light permitting) and spend the rest of the time canvassing etc.
What is the average time taken to build a good solid months work of £150 per day? any ideas, decent advice?
Also any answer to canvassing small commercial, leaflets or phone calls?
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Anyone else any solid advice on canvassing methods for small commercial with success?
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You have no chance of earning 250 a day.i think you will do well to earn 100 a day in your first couple of years plus I doubt you get loads per house in Liverpool.meaning you need to clean more houses.
Plus rainy days you can't earn
Good luck
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imo 150 a day is quite normal tho people will have different opinions on this . for 150 a day you need to be looking at a min of £25 per hour . To reach £250 per day your work would have to be exeptionaly good although its not unrealistic to achive. How fast you get this depends on the effort put into canvassing. I did a leaflet drop over 2 days and secured £200 of new work but then on another day leafleting i got nothing. its a numbers game.
i currently have a full time round plus a worker 2days a week and i`ve never really put the effort into canvassing. i will always wonder how big i could be if i`d made that effort.
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I think its strange that one person has said 250 per day is "no chance" when some people on here see this as achievable but
I'm optimistic about £25 per hour from 4/5 houses once the ball is rolling. Its all a matter of canvassing to get them houses.
My initial aim is an average £130 per day consistently in the first 3 months, (i do plan to canvass for 4 weeks before i start to clean a window) I plan to canvass each day for a few hours until the cleaning fills my time.
Any real good words of wisdom from anyone else??
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Walk before you run.
It's not easy there's lots at it.
You said you haven't cleaned a window yet. :o
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thiers nothing consistant with this job. one day you might earn the 130 your aiming for another day it might be 200 but some days due to weather or van trouble you might earn nothing
Some days when canvasiing you might not get any jobs but dont feel down about it because the next street you could get many. keep going and good things will happen
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Richard what part of liverpool do you live and have you even cleaned any windows?
Danny
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Ok maybe your right, but i feel that £100 a day is very low that would be the equivalent of around 15-20 houses per day, that is not alot to get at all and £5 a house is also low for a standard 3/4 bed semi which most houses in my area seem to be??
is £8ish around the mark others charge for the average house?
Bay window ground floor front
Front door
Bay window upstairs front
bedroom window front
2/3 a couple of back windows
back door
or should i ask more of this size of job - monthly??
I actually about 20 miles from liverpool and i know a few window cleaners who i have done odd bits of shining for, trad and pole work hence the interest in starting myself.....so i dont think i would suffer from the liverpool abundance in w/c
from asking around a lot of neighbours, parents at school, local businesses etc etc there are huge amounts of people without a w/c and hardly see one.
Maybe i am asking too many detailed questions and i need to get out there and test the water??
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Go and clean some windows then you will see it is not has easy as it looks
it is hard work and not everyone is upto it also you will be slow and if you can earn £100 per day you will be doing well.
Not trying to put you off just being realistic
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Guys, I never meant to disrespect anyone by suggesting this was easy! Sorry if i offended!
Just trying to get a real world view of what I need to expect....doing this myself.
Its going to be very hard for months I understand this, as I say i have a friend in the trade who has spoke to me at length about this but its good to get a range of opinions! I have cleaned windows with trad and pole so the manual work is not what phases me and my speed is average.
Its the building of the round, canvassing, frequency, usual events that happen which is good to ask a range of people about.
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My advice would be to canvass and then clean the next day, dont leave it a month as you will lose some of those jobs you have worked hard to get in the first place...
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Ok so canvass, clean the next day and canvass the rest of that day?
As soon as i get a job clean next day and then arrange for 2 weeks or a month after?
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Yes, I would try and stick to 4 weekly as much as you can....
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Ok Thanks.
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Ok maybe your right, but i feel that £100 a day is very low that would be the equivalent of around 15-20 houses per day, that is not alot to get at all and £5 a house is also low for a standard 3/4 bed semi which most houses in my area seem to be??
is £8ish around the mark others charge for the average house?
Bay window ground floor front
Front door
Bay window upstairs front
bedroom window front
2/3 a couple of back windows
back door
or should i ask more of this size of job - monthly??
I actually about 20 miles from liverpool and i know a few window cleaners who i have done odd bits of shining for, trad and pole work hence the interest in starting myself.....so i dont think i would suffer from the liverpool abundance in w/c
from asking around a lot of neighbours, parents at school, local businesses etc etc there are huge amounts of people without a w/c and hardly see one.
Maybe i am asking too many detailed questions and i need to get out there and test the water??
20 miles which way and which part of liverpool as you'll be lucky to get well priced work in certain area's. Other areas you will get it but you'll find other wc's there and this will create the other issue, there is no hope in hell of you cleaning that house mentioned above in less than an hour when you first start out. Then when you do get your speed up, usually a few months, you will need to have it very compact to hit your targets if your traditional. Then even if your wfp the only time you will hit your targets is if A. You have very compact work B your pricing is high.
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Hi Richard
wow , you got loads of question which to be honest only you can answer?
I think you need to decide what type of cleaning you want to offer(trad v pole) and then invest in the best you can afford
Get some flyers made up(printing.com will do 5000- full colour/double sided for about £100.00)there are lots of flyers shown elsewhere on this site -put all your services and a landline number too.You might want to get a couple of nice logo'd t-shirts done as well
Then GO FOR IT- lots and lots and lots of canvassing.If your serious ,this wont phase you one bit and it will also give you handle on whats out there and what your competitors are charging.And whats the worse someones gonna say on the doorstep,no?You wont know till you ask the question!
If you get customers on 4 weekly to start,you will soon get a round going quickly and then it will have a snowball effect-people will see you working and just stop you in the street.If you go for a pole system and its not the norm where you live, people will fall over themselves to use you.Be bold and confident in your kit and your services and you will be up and running in no time
Good Luck ,I hope this helps
regards
Roy Cauldery
www.phoenixecs.co.uk
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If your earning 100 a day average by next year I will be very suprised
I have heard people saying Fiver a house in Liverpool is good.
First of all you won't need a 35 ft pole.
Get a 18 footer and a 30 footer.
Get your kit and clean your own windows as its not easy as it may look plus you need to purify your water everyday.
Say your average is 8 quid a day.31 houses to do 250 quid a day everyday.
X that by 5 by 4.
620 custys every 4 weeks.I predict a early grave.
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I get the feeling Doc windows is a negative chap....or maybe i'm over optimistic,
Roy Cauldrey sounds more like my type of guy!! nice and positive.
just to clarify Doc Windows,
I understand WFP and trad and have done it for a friend in the trade on more than a few occasions,
I have used WFP systems, understand a great deal about purifying the water, consumables, spare pumps etc
I am not in Liverpool!
I don't intend on working myself to an early grave
Domestic is not my only target
I'm no competition to my friend as we live about 2 hours from each other now so he has been very helpful to me in advice.
Canvassing doesn't phase me at all as i have done this for a job about 6 years ago for utility companies!
I have considered the snowball effect...which is an unreliable bonus to the job.
Thanks Roy for your positivity and honesty.
Anyone else who wants to be helpful and remotely positive as well as honest is more than welcome to chip in!
As i said before, i'm not suggesting this will be easy but surely a positive attitude and a willingness to work hard and canvass hard will give me a good chance to hit £150 a day in around 6 months??
I came here for good advice and some honest help.
I do really think £100 is achievable a day - £8 average per house - 13 houses per day in 7 hours - 2 houses an hour!
This is realistic in the small but comprehensive experience and help i have had so far.
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I got to over 100 a day in 8 weeks from a standing start, everyone is different though. I have done alot of canvassing so if you ever need advice get in touch. Just go for it and you will achieve what you deserve...
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Thanks GD, I got your mail address from your profile, thanks for the help.
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I live in Liverpool. I think if I'm honest I'm the only cleaner around. I get on average 10 new houses a day at an average of £40 a clean takes me 10 minutes to do an they all pay on the day. Access is perfect. Don't have to purify the water as the water is already pure from the mersey. Local run scheme even gave me 10k to start my business up. I now make in excess of 80k a year an life is great.
There you go. That's the reply it sounds like your after. Go out there an clean as you seem to only want to hear the positives anyway. Won't get no more replies of me on this thread so good luck
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Ste M, your an idiot,
£5 a house you say
remember this post you made "i just ask what they currently pay, i they say £10 then i say ill do all their frames and cills as well as windows and also facias once a year foc for £5"
No wonder you charge a fiver a house, you undercut every other cleaner as you are happy making nothing.
What a terrible philosophy!
Why not work smart, price fairly, do a good honest job and surely your customers will stick with you. £5 a house is rubbish i know that from working here and there as favours for friends.
Thanks for not posting on this thread any more...
Sensible, realistic, honest posters are still welcome
I do detect a hint of trying to scare newbies off........??
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Ste is right you just want people to say yes its easy you can earn £250 in half a hour!
Its very hard,there are many other windies about!
You price houses at a tenner and if others are charging £5,see how many new custys you get!
Its not easy,maybe you are a know it all,in that case why come here asking a milion and one questions????
If you have done it before and know how it all works why are you asking here?
Why not just ask the bloke you worked with?
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Doc windows....
if i asked the my friend i only get one real world, honest opinion..
I came in search of some more like minded people with good advice to offer...
So far there's been you and Ste moaning.....you'll be telling your mates how well paid your job is later!
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Doc windows....
if i asked the my friend i only get one real world, honest opinion..
I came in search of some more like minded people with good advice to offer...
So far there's been you and Ste moaning.....you'll be telling your mates how well paid your job is later!
It isn't bad pay but you have to put a lot of hard work into it,it doesn't fall on your lap.
Its not something that will make you rich overnight aswell.
You must canvass,buy good quality leaflets,get uniform,get your van sign written,nice website,get yourself on the top page of google for your area.
Keep canvassing and leaflet delivering,never take your foot of the gas.
It also is a very boring and mundane job and somedays you can lose the will to live.Somedays you canvass and get loads of work another day you go out and noboddys in or people look at you like you have 2 heads.
You will always get messers and these are better to replace that try and hope they will become good customers.
Canvassing is easy but after a hard days work you might not be bothered to go canvassing.But is very worthwhile,maybe your best to get people working for you canvassing or find a canvassing company that you can trust.
Im not having a go at you but showing you it is not a easy job and is not always fun and definately will not make you rich,maybe a few exceptions but very few!
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i think ste m is a very honest lad
knowing him extremly well
he talks a lot of sense and knows
what he's talking about
1 as he cleans around these areas
and 2 he's a scouser
also i know ste dont charge anywhere near a fiver
a house
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Doc windows that was such a better, down to earth post.
Thanks for clear honesty
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Doc windows that was such a better, down to earth post.
Thanks for clear honesty
No probs and pressure washing is good money as a odd weekend job here and there but concentrate on the window cleaning as its regular work.
Might be wise to get a gutter vac!
cheapleaflets.net do very good leaflets 5000 a6 double sided on 250g card at £53 ive just ordered some!
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£53 is good for 5000 i think!
out of interest, do you drop a leaflet then knock a day later or so, or do you knock and drop a leaflet if no one answers
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£53 is good for 5000 i think!
out of interest, do you drop a leaflet then knock a day later or so, or do you knock and drop a leaflet if no one answers
I have done drops in the past but not always get great results.
I will be knocking with a team and on the back i have a bit where i quote for windows so when they are not in i will fill the quote box for each house!
The quality of them are perfect.Very easy to post as they are like card!
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The quote section sounds really helpful!
I plan to knock and leave a leaflet and if no one is in leave a leaflet anyway, just dropping leaflets left, right and centre without knocking and hoping for the best i think is a little bit of a waste.
I was planning on investing in a pressure washer just to pick some one off's for Saturdays as and when i can for some extra as i am building.
Gutter vac is something i can get once i have some spare cash and decent regular round work.
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The quote section sounds really helpful!
I plan to knock and leave a leaflet and if no one is in leave a leaflet anyway, just dropping leaflets left, right and centre without knocking and hoping for the best i think is a little bit of a waste.
I was planning on investing in a pressure washer just to pick some one off's for Saturdays as and when i can for some extra as i am building.
Gutter vac is something i can get once i have some spare cash and decent regular round work.
Leaflet drops can be good if you are aiming at a area and then knock a few days later,always find sunday is best day for leaflets as there is no post that day and people are more likely to read it!
Gutter vacs are good and can be set up for not much money!
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Good point about sunday's, great idea.
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just dont knock on a sunday they hate it lol
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Ste M, your an idiot,
£5 a house you say
remember this post you made "i just ask what they currently pay, i they say £10 then i say ill do all their frames and cills as well as windows and also facias once a year foc for £5"
No wonder you charge a fiver a house, you undercut every other cleaner as you are happy making nothing.
What a terrible philosophy!
Why not work smart, price fairly, do a good honest job and surely your customers will stick with you. £5 a house is rubbish i know that from working here and there as favours for friends.
Thanks for not posting on this thread any more...
Sensible, realistic, honest posters are still welcome
I do detect a hint of trying to scare newbies off........??
Who the fook you calling an idiot ? I tried to give you honest advice and you didn't like it. You just want to hear big bucks and easy work, well. It ain't like that you fool. It's harder than you think. I've never made that statement and no way do I ever ask how much they pay nor do I have £5 houses so go crawl back to your mate and ask him your questions you fool
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dude don't be too quick to knock other people's opinion if it isn't what u want to hear, there's some good advice I've just read here. even if some is tongue in cheek!
if I were to generalize, I'd say the average window cleaner (if there is such a thing!)makes between 120 and 200 a day on average domestic work by himself. but don't think it's easy money, the higher earners have priced well, work hard, and refined their work over many years.
if you haven't done any/much you can't really knock anyone, or really know what to expect. don't have too high expectations is all, you will only be disappointed.
window cleaning can provide a good living with low hassle.but it's not for everyone. and there are still challenges. the better prepared you are for it, the better you will succeed.
oh, and good luck with it!
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And I thought ste m wasn't posting
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But seriously....
I think it's sensible for me to speak to as many people as I can who are experienced and get as much help as I can and expect and aim to get £100 per day at the end of say 6 months and prepare my self for a rocky road.
The idiot comment was tongue in cheek as we're other comments but Ste m I will stay off your patch incase you beat me!
I think I should lower my expectations slightly and increase my level of expectancy for a tough first year and work for £100 per day monthly round at the end of 6/8 months??
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Have you got a backup plan for when it rains and when the winters are harsh? Cos you certainly won't be earning £100 a day then and the lost income could put a serious dent in your earnings.
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Well, from what I can see, wind, rain and severe cold is what stops the majority, right?
I don't have anything solid as a back up for each and every down day, off the top of my head i was thinking of canvassing, put a dent in my savings! , sell the clothes off my back etc etc
What is people's usual downtime solutions?
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Some of us put money by each month to see us through the bad spells.
What capital if any do you have to start with? As you will need to buy equipment and of course a van.
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dude don't be too quick to knock other people's opinion if it isn't what u want to hear, there's some good advice I've just read here. even if some is tongue in cheek!
if I were to generalize, I'd say the average window cleaner (if there is such a thing!)makes between 12 and 200 a day on average domestic work by himself. but don't think it's easy money, the higher earners have priced well, work hard, and refined their work over many years.
if you haven't done any/much you can't really knock anyone, or really know what to expect. don't have too high expectations is all, you will only be disappointed.
window cleaning can provide a good living with low hassle.but it's not for everyone. and there are still challenges. the better prepared you are for it, the better you will succeed.
oh, and good luck with it!
respect, good post.
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I have a van already and enough capital to buy an 500 ish litre system according to some quotes / browsing I have done. Also apparently I should be buying Gardner poles? Right??
I think I will have to rely on my savings as a back up and still my income from my job (part time now due to slump, hence the w/c idea)
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I live in Liverpool. I think if I'm honest I'm the only cleaner around. I get on average 10 new houses a day at an average of £40 a clean takes me 10 minutes to do an they all pay on the day. Access is perfect. Don't have to purify the water as the water is already pure from the mersey. Local run scheme even gave me 10k to start my business up. I now make in excess of 80k a year an life is great.
There you go. That's the reply it sounds like your after. Go out there an clean as you seem to only want to hear the positives anyway. Won't get no more replies of me on this thread so good luck
;D
Sorry Richard, but you do come across as someone who has selective hearing/reading
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Fair play Helen, maybe it's my rose tinted glasses.
Too optimistic?
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Richard
You seem like a fair minded guy, and you have had lots of decent opinions.At the end of the day,its always gonna be your call...how you canvss,what system you buy,how much you charge etc....
You have to respect the other guys out there already doing it,day in/out
Only you know if you want to commit and from what i've read already,it seems you have some sensible precautions in mind but hey what the heck,unless you dive in who knows how cold the water is!!
As for me,its the best thing I ever done, I love it every day... staff,winter problems,difficult customers,,,bring it all on I say.Only you are in charge of what you do :)
Regards
Roy Cauldery
www.phoenixecs.co.uk
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What a guy Roy is!
I kinda do want to just jump in with 2 feet, and face the negatives and positives.
Thanks for everyones honest opinion. Shook my ideas up - I think some rethinking will be done then I'll come back tomorrow with more questions for you all!!
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ok rich,
you need to walk before you can run m8t
£250 a day is something that will come in time...
just to give you an idea of the dedication you will need to make £250 a day
in a short period like you are wanting
you will need to canvass about 60 hours a week if you cant you will need to hire someone's services the canvassing guys on this forum might be able to help you ,you will need £5k a month worth of work (put a side thousands for this if you have savings)
depends on areas hit and miss but you or a single canvasser doing it for you could take about 6 months to establish a solid round of that value. im talking after the drop outs.
you will need van system sorted best to get a carbon fibre pole too etc etc.unifirm,leaflets,etc
then you might be there with a bit of luck
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What is the general opinion from customers of cleaning Saturday and Sunday?
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Fair play Helen, maybe it's my rose tinted glasses.
Too optimistic?
Would never knock anyone for being optimistic, better than negative, but realistic is better.
Rose tinted glasses never did anyone any good, cos once they come off reality sets in :)
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dream land one man starting up it takes a long time
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Fair play Helen, maybe it's my rose tinted glasses.
Too optimistic?
Would never knock anyone for being optimistic, better than negative, but realistic is better.
Rose tinted glasses never did anyone any good, cos once they come off reality sets in :)
I agree! Many of the guys on here (myself included) have stated that maybe you are being over optimistic, so there's probably some truth in what we say.
My advice is do some careful planning before you 'Dive in' Mistakes in this game can be very expensive!
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What is the general opinion from customers of cleaning Saturday and Sunday?
first cleans yes they will have you at midnight maintenance cleans no
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You guys have done this, I ain't.
I'll maybe try and build this 1or2 days a week to begin with and go from there.
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You guys have done this, I ain't.
I'll maybe try and build this 1or2 days a week to begin with and go from there.
go out canvass one week and clean the next aim for a good say 400. thats realistc per week slowly build up
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Thanks for the advice