Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Dave Turley on December 29, 2012, 09:40:50 pm
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Hi everyone.
I'm just sorting out some work to sell, having already sold two lots earlier this year.
I would be interested in the opinions of experienced window cleaners on the difference in value of 4, 8 and 12 weekly work.
My work is VERY well priced. As a rule, I load my price for 8 weekly work by +25% and load my price for 12 weekly work by +50%.
eg. the average 3 bed detatched would be £20/4 weekly, £25/8 weekly or £30/12 weekly.
The last two lots of work I sold went at 3x for 4 weekly, 2.5x for 8 weekly and 2x for 12 weekly.
My questions are as follows?
Am i underselling the 8 and 12 weekly work at 2.5x and 2x?
Would you think that the 8 and 12 weekly work is worth 3x per clean due to the excellent prices?
On a 12 weekly clean, if the buyer spends £90 on a £30 clean, he won't see any profit until his 4th clean, 48 weeks later!
On the other hand, he's only had to clean the property 3 times until the next clean is in profit, which is the same deal as a 4 weekly clean, and the price per clean is fantastic!
Hopefully you can see my quandry.
This is not a pitch to try to sell this work. At the moment I have 2 buyers lined up, both wanting some each. One is a returning buyer.
Your thoughts please?
Thanks
Dave
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Do you need the quick burst of cash? If not, why not rent out the round? Dont know how to find it but there was a long thread on this recently. It was a thread about some "overpriced" work and Dave St Ives and Perfect Widnows did the maths. It made 3x 4-weekly price look VERY cheap, so you might do better to rent.
Sorry I cant find it but someone might be able to for you.
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i thought 6/7 times the value was nearer the norm
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Wow i really am under pricing myself £20 for a 3 bed detached! I've been pondering about putting mine up from £10 to £12 lol
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I got to put my prices up, £20 for a 3 bed in Wolverhampton!!! Surely that is stretching it a bit.
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I got to put my prices up, £20 for a 3 bed in Wolverhampton!!! Surely that is stretching it a bit.
Some nice houses in Wolverhampton, it not all like Heath Town.
Art
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Hi everyone.
I'm just sorting out some work to sell, having already sold two lots earlier this year.
I would be interested in the opinions of experienced window cleaners on the difference in value of 4, 8 and 12 weekly work.
My work is VERY well priced. As a rule, I load my price for 8 weekly work by +25% and load my price for 12 weekly work by +50%.
eg. the average 3 bed detatched would be £20/4 weekly, £25/8 weekly or £30/12 weekly.
The last two lots of work I sold went at 3x for 4 weekly, 2.5x for 8 weekly and 2x for 12 weekly.
My questions are as follows?
Am i underselling the 8 and 12 weekly work at 2.5x and 2x?
Would you think that the 8 and 12 weekly work is worth 3x per clean due to the excellent prices?
On a 12 weekly clean, if the buyer spends £90 on a £30 clean, he won't see any profit until his 4th clean, 48 weeks later!
On the other hand, he's only had to clean the property 3 times until the next clean is in profit, which is the same deal as a 4 weekly clean, and the price per clean is fantastic!
Hopefully you can see my quandry.
This is not a pitch to try to sell this work. At the moment I have 2 buyers lined up, both wanting some each. One is a returning buyer.
Your thoughts please?
Thanks
Dave
I would look for 8 times the monthly on 4 weekly well priced work with history.
You can by crap off canvassing companies for 2 or even 3 times the monthly, not knowing if they will be any good.
The 8 weekly needs a bit more thought because 8 weekly work can be more stable but its only going to achieve what someone will pay.
I would start as high as you dare and stop worrying about how long it takes them to make a profit.
You can always come down for the right person.
Art
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Do you need the quick burst of cash? If not, why not rent out the round? Dont know how to find it but there was a long thread on this recently. It was a thread about some "overpriced" work and Dave St Ives and Perfect Widnows did the maths. It made 3x 4-weekly price look VERY cheap, so you might do better to rent.
Sorry I cant find it but someone might be able to for you.
Hi Dave
I don't NEED the quick burst of cash but it would be nice!
I'll have a look for that thread, but my gut feeling feeling doesn't fancy renting out work.
Maybe I'll feel differently after reading it!
Thanks
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i thought 6/7 times the value was nearer the norm
Hi Bob
I haven't been keeping up to date with cleanitup so maybe things have changed in the last few years and the value has risen due to the economic climate?
I'll bear this in mind.
Thanks, Dave
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Wow i really am under pricing myself £20 for a 3 bed detached! I've been pondering about putting mine up from £10 to £12 lol
Hi Sham
Since the economy screwed up I have only increased a couple of prices.
I have, instead, continued to advertise, quote higher than my existing work, time how long a job takes and refined my round by selling work based on:
1. Pence per minute earned.
2. Easiness of job.
3. Geographical location.
4. Speed of payment.
5. How much I like the customer.
I believe this has increased my turnover more than regular price increases would have, without risking losing work due to increases during recession.
Years ago when my average job price was, say £10 per house I would happily increase them and not care much if I lost some. Nowadays, with an average job price of around £30 per house I don't really want to risk giving them an excuse to cancel.
Good luck if you decide to go for your increase.
Thanks, Dave
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I got to put my prices up, £20 for a 3 bed in Wolverhampton!!! Surely that is stretching it a bit.
Hi James
It is stretching it a bit but I'm still taking work on at those prices.
It would be say, £15 for a three bed semi in a four weekly basis, but I'm not really interested in taking these on to be honest.
I prefer to work in areas where you don't get semi's nowadays. ;D
Cheers, Dave
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[/quote]
I would look for 8 times the monthly on 4 weekly well priced work with history.
You can by crap off canvassing companies for 2 or even 3 times the monthly, not knowing if they will be any good.
The 8 weekly needs a bit more thought because 8 weekly work can be more stable but its only going to achieve what someone will pay.
I would start as high as you dare and stop worrying about how long it takes them to make a profit.
You can always come down for the right person.
Art
[/quote]
Hi Lee, it's really interesting that you're the second person to say this.
I might have to totally rethink my strategy on this.
Thanks, Dave
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Well, I looked through my work this morning and I struggled to come up with any work that I would like to sell. ???
I can't manage it all by myself so maybe I should be thinking about employing.
I've been putting it off for years cos i don't really want the hassle but will have a rethink.
When you've skimmed all the cream off, it's difficult to sort out from the creamy cream from the regular cream lol.
It has taken 8 years to get to this point, sorry if it sounds like I'm blowing my own trumpet.
If you keep taking little steps forward, after a while it adds up to big strides!
Thanks, Dave
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Why don`t you take offers and take it from there as to what the best offer will be. Like selling a house. Say no offer under X 4 will be considered.
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Why don`t you take offers and take it from there as to what the best offer will be. Like selling a house. Say no offer under X 4 will be considered.
Hi Smithie
I like the idea, I can't see how people would know what they're bidding on though.
I'm wondering if I might be best trying to manage the workload for a while, maybe even lowering the standard of work just a little bit (from excellent to very good lol) to speed me along a bit.
Decisions, decisions....
Cheers, Dave
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If you have an average price of £30 per job then you should not even consider selling. It's a fantastic amount of cash for a very simple job and you should count yourslef in a very fortunate position :)
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£20 for a 3 bed semi every 4 weeks? so you are earning £50 - £60 an hour? thats a minimum of £350 a day. thats insane! you can work two days a week at that rate and earn the average household income?! how the hell do customers accept £20 for £20 minutes work?
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If you have an average price of £30 per job then you should not even consider selling. It's a fantastic amount of cash for a very simple job and you should count yourslef in a very fortunate position :)
Hi Tom
I am in a very fortunate position and it has taken a long time to get here.
But at the moment there is only one of me and I'm not sure that I want to employ.
If I keep taking work on and don't sell any it means that my 4 weeklies become 6-7 weeklies, my 8 weeklies become 12-14 weeklies and my 12 weeklies tend to get done every other time so remain largely unaffected.
This means that the houses are proper dirty every time and take longer to clean, thus defeating the object as I make less money.
Cheers, Dave
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£20 for a 3 bed semi every 4 weeks? so you are earning £50 - £60 an hour? thats a minimum of £350 a day. thats insane! you can work two days a week at that rate and earn the average household income?! how the hell do customers accept £20 for £20 minutes work?
Hi G.Brookes
I did say £20 for a three bed detached (which would take 20-25 mins) and £15 for a 3 bed semi (which would take 15-20 mins).
I found that my confidence in pricing and therefore my earnings increased when I stopped worrying about what the customers thought about how long I was there.
Generally the customer is more interested in if you do a good job rather than how long you are there in my opinion.
As my round has developed over the years I do do a fair bit of driving in between jobs, that and our crappy weather keeps me from earning the figures you have quoted.
Cheers, Dave
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I like your thoughts on not worrying about what the customer thinks about how long you are there.
The rent thread I couldnt find was http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=161465.0;all
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hi Dave
I really dont understand why you keep selling your rounds why dont you just keep up with the customers you have and don't take on any more until you need to, you have a web site that enables you to do just that, to me your prices are a little expensive but then again you have been trying to just go for the upper market and the bread and butter people who want a really good clean every four weeks you seem to ignore.
You have given us some really good customers over the past few years for nothing just because you did not want them, so instead of selling some rounds why not give your customers our name again we will gladly take them on at your prices and still give them a really good service
happy new year
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Hi Dave
At the end of the day, only you can decide what your round is worth to you...(and potentially someone else).
If you can put figures down on paper, (round turnover per year, reliability of customers, turnover per hour) then you've got a good basis with which to sell it to someone else.
Rather than selling it, how about other options such as renting it out...building up a retirement fund...just a thought!
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Am i underselling the 8 and 12 weekly work at 2.5x and 2x?
Yes definately. I would sell really well priced work at least 5x, and I have seen some on sale for 9x
As for your prices, well done mate. At last another window cleaner who isnt afraid to charge a top quality rate!
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hi Dave
I really dont understand why you keep selling your rounds why dont you just keep up with the customers you have and don't take on any more until you need to, you have a web site that enables you to do just that, to me your prices are a little expensive but then again you have been trying to just go for the upper market and the bread and butter people who want a really good clean every four weeks you seem to ignore.
You have given us some really good customers over the past few years for nothing just because you did not want them, so instead of selling some rounds why not give your customers our name again we will gladly take them on at your prices and still give them a really good service
happy new year
Im sure you meant well by this and i dont know your relationship with the o.p. but you may want to re-read your post as it reads a tad sarcastic & ungreatfull.
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NOT UNGRATEFUL AT ALL
Dave is a local window cleaner in the same areas as us and he has given us work that he did not want, Dave is a nice bloke and obviously you took it wrong.
We always wave or stop for a chat when we see each other and I still don't get why you would sell a round.
??? ??? ???
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hi Dave
I really dont understand why you keep selling your rounds why dont you just keep up with the customers you have and don't take on any more until you need to, you have a web site that enables you to do just that, to me your prices are a little expensive but then again you have been trying to just go for the upper market and the bread and butter people who want a really good clean every four weeks you seem to ignore.
You have given us some really good customers over the past few years for nothing just because you did not want them, so instead of selling some rounds why not give your customers our name again we will gladly take them on at your prices and still give them a really good servicehappy new year
i just said you may want to re read it, as it appears the op has been very kind to you which you have confirmed. i was just pointing out that the highlighted bit sounds a bit sarcastic and genuinely wondered what you meant.
also... you dont understand why he keeps selling his work when he could give it to you? i take it that was a joke?
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Annual value for example would be
13 x 4 weekly
6.5 x 8 weekly
4.333 x 12 weekly
I don't think you're underselling it percentage wise by dropping the rate too low for 12 weekly work compared to 4 weekly, but I think your starting point should be a lot higher than 3x.
You've only dropped the rate by 1/6 for 8 weekly and again 1/6 of original price for 12 weekly.
Some are saying start off at 4weekly being 8x, which by your percentages would make 8 weekly 6.66x and 12 weekly 5.33x
Have a serious rethink about your values.
Sorry, a little Xmas cheer is still flowing in this household