Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Window Washers on March 23, 2012, 10:34:35 pm
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Just seen a post on this site which made me cringe and got me thinking what
most (edited to say many ) *my mistake* people lack in this business that we are in.
what are your thoughts, what do you think many window cleaners lack ?
Generally interested in what others think (this is not a knocking post)
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A brain
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tact diplomacy skills in customer service
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A life outside window cleaning - going to work, the coming home and taking about it on the world wide web.
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business acumen
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ladders if they are professionals :-X
edit: just noticed my avatar ;D
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A brain ;D, come on just tell me what you just read that made you cringe so I don't have to search to find it, it is friday night and I can't be bothered
hey it might even be me that said it ;D
I will not take offence if it is
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A brain ;D, come on just tell me what you just read that made you cringe so I don't have to search to find it, it is friday night and I can't be bothered
hey it might even be me that said it ;D
I will not take offence if it is
lol its not you Stu,
it is just some things that do and thats that.
some good points so far :)
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Just seen a post on this site which made me cringe and got me thinking what most people lack in this business that we are in.
what are your thoughts, what do you think most window cleaners lack ?
Was it one of your own posts that made you cringe by any chance?Do you fall into the 'most window cleaners' category or do you see yourself as a superior mr know it all?
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Money.
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Just seen a post on this site which made me cringe and got me thinking what many people lack in this business that we are in.
what are your thoughts, what do you think most window cleaners lack ?
Was it one of your own posts that made you cringe by any chance?Do you fall into the 'many window cleaners' category or do you see yourself as a superior mr know it all?
I don't see myself as anything more than anyone else, and no It was not one of my own posts that made me cringe or I would delete it.
Just asking a question :-*
I do know quite a bit to be fair just not superior, I would help anyone and do.
I just reread post and edited it as should have said many, my mistake ;)
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An ability to know what there worth or in simple terms how to price a house for as much as possible
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The one I spoke to tonight lacked class....
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Belief.
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Belief is a good one, so many people I have met over the years could achieve great things but are held back by the belief that its "only window cleaning"....
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Belief is a good one, so many people I have met over the years could achieve great things but are held back by the belief that its "only window cleaning"....
+1
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I saw the other post about a 50k investment, I would love for someone to offer me 50k as could achieve so much with that kind of money but most came back with negative comments, would rather stay as they are. So maybe ambition is the most lacking?
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nope just a brain would help most or a banjo ;D
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nope just a brain would help most or a banjo ;D
or a banjo ;D
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Most I have met are top blokes to be fair....
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Just seen a post on this site which made me cringe and got me thinking what most (edited to say many ) *my mistake* people lack in this business that we are in.
what are your thoughts, what do you think many window cleaners lack ?
Generally interested in what others think (this is not a knocking post)
What do you think it is?
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Just seen a post on this site which made me cringe and got me thinking what most (edited to say many ) *my mistake* people lack in this business that we are in.
what are your thoughts, what do you think many window cleaners lack ?
Generally interested in what others think (this is not a knocking post)
What do you think it is?
knowledge is one of them imo, what about you ?
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That kinda goes with the terrority though. Not many 'educated' people would turn round and become a window cleaner. How many uni grads on this forum for example?
I would say the biggest thing i see, is there is no long term view. Lack of vision.
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That kinda goes with the terrority though. Not many 'educated' people would turn round and become a window cleaner. How many uni grads on this forum for example?
I would say the biggest thing i see, is there is no long term view. Lack of vision.
there is a doctor on here that does window cleaning, lack of vision maybe right, anyone else ?
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Window cleaning will become the next big industry like plumbing, a few years ago there were loads of stories in the press about ex city boys becoming plumbers to make a good living. Window cleaning will do the same over the next few years....
Industry knowledge has nothing to do with education....
A lot of people on here are scared of growth because the have no experience, or they think that franchising is the only route to growth....
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That kinda goes with the terrority though. Not many 'educated' people would turn round and become a window cleaner. How many uni grads on this forum for example?
I am and I have seen others on here say they are who I have no reason to doubt. It suits me and it is outrageously well paid for a relatively unskilled job.
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common sense ;)
just ask trippy ;D
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They lack the understanding they all work in the same industry, which make it im
possible to improve there lot and hone us into a industry.
What they do have is a opinion and do not think for a minute what one needs is an informed opinion.
Opinions are a worthless human right.
What we don't have is respect for ourselves or each other.This is the reason why me do not receive respect and recognition.
We do not understand union of per direction
we are not open to leadership.
AS well as all the very valid points above. :-[ :-[
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That kinda goes with the terrority though. Not many 'educated' people would turn round and become a window cleaner. How many uni grads on this forum for example?
I would say the biggest thing i see, is there is no long term view. Lack of vision.
there is a doctor on here that does window cleaning, lack of vision maybe right, anyone else ?
Seriously? I would pretty much put money on that being the only one in the UK!
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That kinda goes with the terrority though. Not many 'educated' people would turn round and become a window cleaner. How many uni grads on this forum for example?
I am and I have seen others on here say they are who I have no reason to doubt. It suits me and it is outrageously well paid for a relatively unskilled job.
Ok, so there is one. Maybe a few more, but considering how many window cleaners are on this forum (1000 or so???) I guess it's less than 1%.
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The thing that window cleaners lack the most is hassle, dickhead managers and difficult meetings. Its virtually a cast iron safe job. I don't understand why people want to ruin it with marketing babble. Out cleaning windows yesterday in the sun, not a care in the world. If you want to be the next Alan Sugar why pick window cleaning as the place to start?.
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nope just a brain would help most or a banjo ;D
leave it! ;D
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Window cleaning will become the next big industry like plumbing, a few years ago there were loads of stories in the press about ex city boys becoming plumbers to make a good living. Window cleaning will do the same over the next few years....
Industry knowledge has nothing to do with education....
A lot of people on here are scared of growth because the have no experience, or they think that franchising is the only route to growth....
A person I know was made redundant recently and did a plumbing course. Most of the people on his course were only doing it to get their points up to emigrate to Australia. Stories of people doing plumbing courses does not necessarily mean there are good jobs at the end of the course.
I have several ex-City types among my customers. Retraining as teachers seems to be favourite
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I will pick holes in myself the Business skills i lack can be fixed with time ;D ;D
list of faults are :
Telephone manner talking over the customers on the phone.
Need to do a few courses H&S, marketing & wfp skills ect.
Spelling and gramar needs improving
as my business grows so will I ;D ;D ;D ;D
Regards Paul
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Belief is a good one, so many people I have met over the years could achieve great things but are held back by the belief that its "only window cleaning"....
It is a very good answer. Probably the best one I've seen in this thread,
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from my experience a lot of window cleaners lack
TEETH!
THE ABILITY TO STAY OFF THE DRINK!
UNDERPRICE JOBS BECAUSE THEY DONT THINK THEY CAN CHARGE MORE!
SEEM TO FORGET THAT WINDOWS HAVE FRAMES AS WELL SO DONT CLEAN THEM! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
luckily for me i found a good dentist,sought help to get sober,clean frames,doors and sills as a standard clean so charge more than i used to and i just attract work based on my new attitude and professional approach to my work!! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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The thing that window cleaners lack the most is hassle, dickhead managers and difficult meetings. Its virtually a cast iron safe job. I don't understand why people want to ruin it with marketing babble. Out cleaning windows yesterday in the sun, not a care in the world. If you want to be the next Alan Sugar why pick window cleaning as the place to start?.
Because grass cutting has already been done. Jim Penman, Australian entrepreneur has a world wide, umpteen thousand member organisation based on regular mowing of lawns.
There's an enormous gap for the first window cleaner to follow in his footsteps.
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from my experience a lot of window cleaners lack
TEETH!
THE ABILITY TO STAY OFF THE DRINK!
UNDERPRICE JOBS BECAUSE THEY DONT THINK THEY CAN CHARGE MORE!
SEEM TO FORGET THAT WINDOWS HAVE FRAMES AS WELL SO DONT CLEAN THEM! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
luckily for me i found a good dentist,sought help to get sober,clean frames,doors and sills as a standard clean so charge more than i used to and i just attract work based on my new attitude and professional approach to my work!! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Oi you just described me >:(
;D ;D
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Vision.
Most windys I know are self-employed but have an 'employed' mentality, namely they get some money for cleaning some windows. Running it as a business requires vision. Running it as a business doesn't necessarily mean growing it, just running it to make as much money for as little effort as possible. So, running it as a business might just make you richer or it might just give you more time with your kids, both worthwhile goals.
But most of the windys I meet don't have that vision and never will.
Vin
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not knocking you perfect, but remember not everyone shares the same vision
just aswell really because there isnt room for everyone to be alan sugar :)
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not knocking you perfect, but remember not everyone shares the same vision
just aswell really because there isnt room for everyone to be alan sugar :)
That's why I was very clear (read my post again if you want to check) to point out that a perfectly valid reason for trying to run WC as a business rather than just a way to make money is so that you can spend more time with the kids.
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A sense of humour.
And to have a forum thread without Alan Sugar getting mentioned.......whoever he is.
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A sense of humour.
And to have a forum thread without Alan Sugar getting mentioned.......whoever he is.
who is he anyway and why is he famous
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A sense of humour.
And to have a forum thread without Alan Sugar getting mentioned.......whoever he is.
who is he anyway and why is he famous
Is it the fat bloke that used to be in Emmerdale? He might still be in it but I don't watch it anymore; honest.
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....I'm going to guess at contrast, being the thing that window cleaners lack? It's early days for me, but so far I feel the job offers a rewarding low pressure lifestyle, rarely avalable in today's society.
For example; the customer base is fragmented with contracts being typically low in value (£10-20).....not like a kitchen fitter or plumber where the client is laying out 10-20k and can be v stressed....making you stressed if something goes wrong, if a client hacks you off, you can move on and it's unlikely to impact your reputation materially. In addition, you work when, and for how long you want, you have no deadlines, no meetings, no boss and probably limited commuting....you can even pop home for lunch. But without contrast, i.e. not having had these freedoms, you probably won't value them as a material advantadge to the job. ;D
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A sense of humour.
And to have a forum thread without Alan Sugar getting mentioned.......whoever he is.
who is he anyway and why is he famous
Is it the fat bloke that used to be in Emmerdale? He might still be in it but I don't watch it anymore; honest.
yeh the vet? i think his name is phil mitchell
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A sense of humour.
And to have a forum thread without Alan Sugar getting mentioned.......whoever he is.
who is he anyway and why is he famous
Is it the fat bloke that used to be in Emmerdale? He might still be in it but I don't watch it anymore; honest.
yeh the vet? i think his name is phil mitchell
don't be silly phil was in corry, it was sinbad that was the vet
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I'm with George on the franshise bit,why do it and earn 20%
With the same hassle you can earn 50% by not franshising
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A sense of humour.
And to have a forum thread without Alan Sugar getting mentioned.......whoever he is.
;D
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I'm with George on the franshise bit,why do it and earn 20%
With the same hassle you can earn 50% by not franshising
If you think it is the same hassle then you don't understand how it works. I have a franchisee and he is responsible for -
Pl insurance
Diesel
Van purchase
Van insurance
Van tax
Equipment wear and tear/breakages
Holidays/time off
Sick days
wet/windy/frozen days
Van maintenance
van wear and tear
water
Di resin
organising his own round - texting, ringing,, billing, chasing payments and so on
There is more, I just can't remember them right now.
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I know what you are saying,but I don't see them things on
On your list as much hassle for an extra 30%.me and my wife
Spend between us about 5-10 hours a week running one van
And one staff.
Saying that iam interested in the franshise route,what worries
Me,is he may screw up all the work he is given
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I know what you are saying,but I don't see them things on
On your list as much hassle for an extra 30%.me and my wife
Spend between us about 5-10 hours a week running one van
And one staff.
Saying that iam interested in the franshise route,what worries
Me,is he may screw up all the work he is given
It's all in picking the right person. Train him well and check his work for the first few weeks. I have it written into the contract that if more then 4 customers are lost in one monthy period, the contact is void.
You only have one van but how many hours would you need to spend if you had 5 vans. Ian Lancaster has 8 franshisees, how much time would you spend on admin if you had 8 vans on the road. How much would your insurance bill be, diesel and so on. You would have to buy those 8 vans too.
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I get your point.
So how does it work? You give him a list of say 300 custys,how
Do you keep a check on if he loses any? How would you know
If he did work you didn't know about?.
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I get your point.
So how does it work? You give him a list of say 300 custys,how
Do you keep a check on if he loses any? How would you know
If he did work you didn't know about?.
He gives me an update at the end of each week with a list of any new customers and a list of any cancellations. His george is saved into a drop box account that I have access to and I restore that every other day to see what is going on.
I won't know if he has the odd customer here and there but if he had many I would find out. My number in on his van, eventually I would get a call. Also, we work the same areas, there is a good chance I would pass him on the road while he is doing a foreigner.
I also know how much he should be doing every month. If I give him 3k and he is getting through it ok for a year but then can only manage 2.8 then 2.6 then 2.5 I would know he was building his own round and would set about finding out about it. He can't be in two places at the one time so can only do so much work. If he has his own work, he can't do as much of mine as he should.
I started him off in Feb with new work I had found from the middle of January. I had planned on giving him 100 of my customers but have only had to give him 20 because I found 2.1k of work since the middle of January. His round is now worth 2.3k and still building. I have 22 people to quote next week.
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I woundnt mind speaking to you at some stage in the future
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Sure, 07999522999.
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Quote relatively unskilled job
How many think this ?
Because this is where you are going wrong if you do.
I have a list as long as my arm of tickets and window cleaning is just as demanding.
Learn to price
custy relations ;D
round management
staff managment
Tax and accounts
H&S
COSH
and im not realy thinking yet
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window cleaning is deffo an unskilled job.
round management takes ten mins every night, custy relations just requires you to work with a smile and establish a few simple rules, tax and accounts is no effort if you have an accountant, h and s again takes a bit of reading or a one day course.
Cosh and staff management are the only ones where it can be hard and you have to be able to deal with a bit of stress.
Yu rarely have to use your brain with window cleaning, the hardest problem solving you have to do is work out the best place to park your van. I cant think of any jobs where the gap between money earnt and skill required is so vast. You can earn more than teachers, policemen, electricians, engineers etc.
When i worked in a call centre for 6.50 and hour I needed more training then i do for running my own window cleaning business.
What you do need is confidence and belief in yourself, and drive. When I look at my friends who are mostly highly educated and highly skilled, the reason I earn more than most of them is because i can get out of my bed every day without the threat of a boss shouting at me, and i can trust in myself on a sunday night that by the end of the week i can earn the money needed to pay my bills relying solely on my self
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I took on another windy last August as a subby.
He thought after doing the job for a yr or so that he new what there was to know.
Since then to now he has learnt so much with me and has said countless time how do you work with such speed and good results .I can walk pass glass and see a smear that he has to look at ,at all angles to wipe out lol
Yes anyone can clean glass,any one can hold a hammer and hit a nail,but it dont make them a carpenter 8)
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It's an incredibly highly skilled job - sometimes I don't know if I should scrub sideways or up and down.
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a brain, a bath, an mot, decent ladder, proper cloths, clean water, decent attitude ;D
can't stand the ones with attitude, its a crappy job which pays well if done properly, end of. i do enjoy some of the great people i meet though
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more higher priced work.
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I know what you are saying,but I don't see them things on
On your list as much hassle for an extra 30%.me and my wife
Spend between us about 5-10 hours a week running one van
And one staff.
Saying that iam interested in the franshise route,what worries
Me,is he may screw up all the work he is given
It's all in picking the right person. Train him well and check his work for the first few weeks. I have it written into the contract that if more then 4 customers are lost in one monthy period, the contact is void.
You only have one van but how many hours would you need to spend if you had 5 vans. Ian Lancaster has 8 franshisees, how much time would you spend on admin if you had 8 vans on the road. How much would your insurance bill be, diesel and so on. You would have to buy those 8 vans too.
You can't do that, I regularly lose four customers in a month just through natural wastage.
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I know what you are saying,but I don't see them things on
On your list as much hassle for an extra 30%.me and my wife
Spend between us about 5-10 hours a week running one van
And one staff.
Saying that iam interested in the franshise route,what worries
Me,is he may screw up all the work he is given
It's all in picking the right person. Train him well and check his work for the first few weeks. I have it written into the contract that if more then 4 customers are lost in one monthy period, the contact is void.
You only have one van but how many hours would you need to spend if you had 5 vans. Ian Lancaster has 8 franshisees, how much time would you spend on admin if you had 8 vans on the road. How much would your insurance bill be, diesel and so on. You would have to buy those 8 vans too.
You can't do that, I regularly lose four customers in a month just through natural wastage.
if I only lost 4 customers a month I would be very happy not sacking them
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It's all in picking the right person. Train him well and check his work for the first few weeks. I have it written into the contract that if more then 4 customers are lost in one monthy period, the contact is void.
I take it you wrote your own contract David? If losing 4 customers a month means the contract is 'void' then that means your franchisee no longer has to adhere to it. In other words he would be perfectly entitled to walk off with your customers. If by 'void' you mean he has breached the terms of his contract and you are then entitled to terminate it you could be on very dodgy ground if it went to a court case. A judge could, and probably would deem the '4 losses and out' bit as unfair and would therefore declare the whole contract unfair and unenforceable in law. You also need fair and enforceable 'post termination obligations' to prevent him canvassing your customers after he leaves you.
I wrote my own contract in the fiirst place, but when I took it to a franchise lawyer I was horrified at how I was at risk of losing everything because my contract wasn't enforceable in law. She completely rewrote it and added loads of things I would never have thought of.