Clean It Up

UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: paule on March 06, 2006, 09:49:06 pm

Title: priceing up new houses
Post by: paule on March 06, 2006, 09:49:06 pm
i am starting canvassing in bradford on new houses private not council they r 2 and 3 bed det what sort of price would u charge.i have been window cleaning for 2 years now working for a firm and want to give it a go myself,will be useing ladders any help in priceing would be great cheers
Title: Re: priceing up new houses
Post by: brett walker on March 06, 2006, 11:09:40 pm
hi paule

3 storey wfp 10 - 12 quid



brett
Title: Re: priceing up new houses
Post by: Biscute on March 07, 2006, 05:01:32 pm
Me prsonaly would i would charge between 4 and 6 £, depending on location and acsess.
Title: Re: priceing up new houses
Post by: *strawman69 on March 07, 2006, 05:24:05 pm
ide charge £1 every time you climb your ladder and 25-50p for every downstairs window having said that i use wfp and it takes half the time that it used to when i used ladders therefore an investment in a wfp system means you can earn far more money
Title: Re: priceing up new houses
Post by: paule on March 08, 2006, 09:08:25 pm
cheers lads for that i was thinking on £4-£6 and im already saving for a reach and wash but will be a while yet thanks
Title: Re: priceing up new houses
Post by: mark dew on March 08, 2006, 09:27:27 pm
hi paule

3 storey wfp 10 - 12 quid

brett


Yes the same around here.

Me prsonaly would i would charge between 4 and 6 £, depending on location and acsess.

Whereabouts are you based at those prices and how many can you do in an hour?


mark
Title: Re: priceing up new houses
Post by: rosskesava on March 08, 2006, 10:03:04 pm
Quote
£4-£6

Hi Paule

Don't under price yourself. That price is far too cheap.

Personally I won't go under £15 for any job other than something that fits in with other work and is quick, simple and easy.

As posted above, £10 minimum otherwise it'll end up being work for small return.

Cheers

Title: Re: priceing up new houses
Post by: 24-7 S C Services on March 08, 2006, 10:10:23 pm
Hi Everyone,

Paule,

I would not get out of bed for those prices. Ross is like me, a minimum charge is set at £15, that's even if you only have one window.

Seriously everyone, you really need to look at all your prices. Why are you working for pennies when it should be pounds. Ok, you may not get as many houses at £15 a shot, but what is better, 10 houses that pay £150 or 30 houses that pay £150???? I know which i prefer and do.

Plus, if your saving for a wfp set up, you will be saving for a very long time at those prices.

Many Thanks

Andrew
Title: Re: priceing up new houses
Post by: geoffreyspecht on March 08, 2006, 10:19:17 pm
where i live i would charge £8 for2 bedroom and £10 for a three bedroom house
Title: Re: priceing up new houses
Post by: steve k on March 08, 2006, 10:23:11 pm
if we all stick to a minimum £10 charge, we`ll all get somewhere...!!
Title: Re: priceing up new houses
Post by: geoffreyspecht on March 08, 2006, 10:29:39 pm
it really depends where u live down south u can charge a lot more then again wages r a lot higher
Title: Re: priceing up new houses
Post by: 24-7 S C Services on March 08, 2006, 10:35:07 pm
Hi Geoff

Yes and no. I am originally from the north east.

Although wages are less the furster north you go, the actual cost of leaving decreases. So it does even itself out.

Many Thanks

Andrew
Title: Re: priceing up new houses
Post by: geoffreyspecht on March 08, 2006, 11:17:02 pm
your wrong there andrew the cost living up here is the same as down south exept for the price of houses
Title: Re: priceing up new houses
Post by: rosskesava on March 08, 2006, 11:42:46 pm
I live in Brighton and the cost of living here is the highest outside of London.

Regardless of that, people will pay the money anywhere in the UK. You just have to find them.

The last Kelly's directory of wealth distribution placed more 'wealthy' people (over £40 000 income) in the Midlands than anywhere else because it is cheaper to live there.

Andy's point to clean less houses for more rather then more for less took us 4 years to learn as a lesson. Towards the end of last year we tripled our charges for all over cleaning of conservatories (thanks Andy for that) and much to my amazement, roughly 75% of people pay/paid it without any hassle.

I think it's having the confidence to not only ask the price but also acceptance that some won't to pay it but in the long run, you earn more for less work by asking for more money which leaves time to get new work at similar prices.

I'd go for £15 a house minimum if it was me but when at the beginning of starting out as a w/c, it takes time to have the confidence to just do that and have the faith that customers will pay it.

Our first job was £3.50 for a 2 bedroom council semi. That seems so impossible now that we asked that price. The same job now in the same street 5 years later - £22.50 and we do 18 of them and that £3.50 job is now long gone.
Title: Re: priceing up new houses
Post by: Morph on March 08, 2006, 11:50:43 pm
Is there a north/south divide on the cost of life?

How much is the cost of dying where you live?
Title: Re: priceing up new houses
Post by: AdamSouth on March 08, 2006, 11:50:51 pm
i live in down south and one wc round my way has been tell people he'll clean a 4bed house for 6quid. fu@ks me up cos i was going in at 10-12. can't see how he can live on that and theres no telling the customs that he ain't paying tax or got ne insurance because they don't care if they save a few bob.

still i'm sticking with my prices cos means less work for me.

2bed small 3bed - £8
big 3bed - £10                        plus £2 for a con
4bed - £12
 
and i do a quick wipe of the frame

i think i'm cheap but the customers don't
Title: Re: priceing up new houses
Post by: paule on March 09, 2006, 12:07:23 am
when u say £15 what do u do for that and im in bradford yorkshire
Title: Re: priceing up new houses
Post by: rosskesava on March 09, 2006, 12:36:07 am
When starting out on your own confidence is in 2 parts. One is that type of confidence that you have thinking about prices when away from the job. The other type is when you are face to face with the customer and you try to think what they will accept as your price.

The 2 prices are very different so just try to go a few quid above the price your comfort zone says that you feel happy with asking.

Whatever price we ask now or have done in the past, we've always done a thorough job regardless which is the glass, frames and doors. I may be a bit odd but I cannot work any other way. Sometimes I've done an immaculate job for little money.

I used to take ages to do a house as I was thorough but by being like that, bit by bit, the speed increased but not at the expense of quality. We did have someone work with us who was super quick but did a cr*ppy job and his theory was to improve the standard but not at the expense at speed. After a while I ended up doing a better job and quicker.

A few times every so often we get customers try a new window cleaner who has undercut us. It happens from time to time and my view is good luck to them. Sometimes I don't know how the w/c concerned can ever hope to make any money. Sometimes we end back with the same customer, sometimes we don't. That's business for you.

In the end it is all about posture. If you think you are worth that money then you will get that money. If you are prepared to drop your price to please the customer or keep the job, then that posture goes with you to the next job, and the next, and so on.

I don't think that whether you are from Bradford or anywhere else makes any difference in the end. If you are determined, then you will get there. Lots of successfull business men have made money in every part of the UK. It's when they've made their money that they move to a different area.

Cheers


ps Sorry if the above reads disjointed. It's been a long wet and cold day and I'm just having a 'relax' before bed. I'm knackered. ZZZzzzzzzz
Title: Re: priceing up new houses
Post by: geoffreyspecht on March 09, 2006, 12:46:58 am
hi ross   im going to brighton to work £22.50 for a 2 bed council house is good money i should be able to make £500 a day =£2500 a week.just wish it was true

Title: Re: priceing up new houses
Post by: rosskesava on March 09, 2006, 01:02:39 am
Quote
hi ross   im going to brighton to work £22.50 for a 2 bed council house is good money i should be able to make £500 a day =£2500 a week.just wish it was true

I think you need to learn some maths and mix that with what time and motion studies be real. Nearly 20 houses a day on your own. Sure. 5 days a week every week. I am not stupid.

20 odd houses. 7 hours work and non stop including taking the money and the odd chat. 3 an hour on your own. Dream on. What are you - superman.

So... move to Brighton then, build up a business, do the work and you are made.

I never said it was all done in a day. If you are going to quote me then quote what I actually write not what you think I wrote.

Sorry if that seems a bit provocative but gets your facts right before quoting guessed at sums of money possibly earnt.





Title: Re: priceing up new houses
Post by: steve k on March 09, 2006, 07:06:26 am
Ross,
he`s not far off is he...?

It is difficult NOT to fit in a relaxing 3 semis an hour...20 minutes each!!
So a 2 bed would take 15 minutes approx.
If you really took your time and spent 20 minutes at each 2 bedder then that is still £67.50 an hour...multiply that by a cushy 10am - 4pm day of 6 hours, then you are in the region of £400 a day.

I have an estate of semis and I do 3 and a half an hour (7 every 2 hours)
so 18 will take me about 5 hours and that is pretty comfortable.
I actually work to 20 a day...3 days work there.

You only have 18 of these houses at £22.50 but to most people that is a reasonable amount of work to do on their own in a day at an average price of £10.00
At your price, I would be happy to call it a day after 9 houses which is a nice £202.50 a day for 3 hours work.
I, like many others probably, am thinking..."if you can get £22.50 on a council estate, what can you get in the upmarket areas??"
By the way, good on ya and keep those prices coming in!!
Title: Re: priceing up new houses
Post by: geoffreyspecht on March 09, 2006, 12:35:52 pm
not being funny ross but u can do 20 two bedroom houses a day its dead easy and for that sort of money i would work from 8 in the morning to 6 at night that= 2 houses an hour
Title: Re: priceing up new houses
Post by: paule on March 09, 2006, 02:20:07 pm
cheers for all your help its been good reading ive learnt more on here than i ever knew, my boss know nowt cheers lads