Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: supernova77 on December 03, 2013, 12:37:14 am
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Is it me or has anyone else noticed more and more window cleaners selling up recently?
There are more and more WFP vans for sale on eBay, and more rounds for sale.
Seems to be people who setup 18 months to 2 years ago mostly.
Cold weather? The realisation that it takes a while to build a solid business? Or other reasons?
Andy
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It happens every year - well it does around here.
Some bloke a few weeks backs approached me as I was working asking if I wanted to buy all his gear. He had a van fitted with Ionics Zero stuff. He couldn't get enough work and the work he did get kept cancelling on him after a few cleans.
The stuff looked really good especially when compared to my home made equipment that does exactly what I want but he wanted £4 000 excluding the 14 month old van which to be honest was a good price considering what was included.
I politely told him......... bye bye.
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It happens every year - well it does around here.
Some bloke a few weeks backs approached me as I was working asking if I wanted to buy all his gear. He had a van fitted with Ionics Zero stuff. He couldn't get enough work and the work he did get kept cancelling on him after a few cleans.
The stuff looked really good especially when compared to my home made equipment that does exactly what I want but he wanted £4 000 excluding the 14 month old van which to be honest was a good price considering what was included.
I politely told him......... bye bye.
It obviously doesn't work if his customers cancel after a few cleans. ;D
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They've probably moved on to residual income and don't need the van anymore.
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They've probably moved on to residual income and don't need the van anymore.
pmsl ;D
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Is it me or has anyone else noticed more and more window cleaners selling up recently?
There are more and more WFP vans for sale on eBay, and more rounds for sale.
Seems to be people who setup 18 months to 2 years ago mostly.
Cold weather? The realisation that it takes a while to build a solid business? Or other reasons?
Andy
In my area its quite hard to build up work. Gone are the days of people walking up and saying "oooooooooooh a window cleaner"
A couple of people have started up round my way.
I feel for them as its gonna be a long road.
Couple of people who i have met in the last 3 years as well gave it all the "im gonna be big, im gonna have two three vans on the road"
One person was only complaining last week hes just about got 190 customers in three years! And nothing compact. Yet 2 years ago he told me how to run my business and he will over take me ::)roll
IF you put in the hard work and do a good job its not rocket science. We are luckily and get alot of recomendations, and we are JUST starting to take other window cleaners work now. IE not happy with service! They come to us, we dont poach ;)
One chap who posts on here did my friends house, it was shockingly bad (wfp) Then moans to me he loses work. Wonder why lol
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lot of folk who took it up who were previously in the building trade have gone back to building now its picked up bigtime.
i am now forever hearing of new housing in Suffolk/essex thats kicking off ,the govt has encouraged it and itl be the booming thing in 2014
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I love a nice cold winter, cuts back the competition.
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They may have made so much money they dont need to work any more......
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lot of folk who took it up who were previously in the building trade have gone back to building now its picked up bigtime.
i am now forever hearing of new housing in Suffolk/essex thats kicking off ,the govt has encouraged it and itl be the booming thing in 2014
Not me though, would never go back to building.
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They've probably moved on to residual income and don't need the van anymore.
LOL - made me laugh -
you need to have read other threads to know what this comment is all about....
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I worked my butt off to get 300 customers in a year and a half. I have given up my senior IT engineering career, (which I was loosing interest in anyway) to do this.
It needs a lot of hard work and marketing for the first 5 years to get somewhere but once you have it, its starts getting easier.
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I think a lot of people start up not realising how hard a job it actually is and not everyone is cut out dealing with people/customers. That and the weather puts a lot of people off.
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I worked my butt off to get 300 customers in a year and a half. I have given up my senior IT engineering career, (which I was loosing interest in anyway) to do this.
It needs a lot of hard work and marketing for the first 5 years to get somewhere but once you have it, its starts getting easier.
well done mate its not easy building a round up, you gotta be very determined.
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I wouldn't start afresh now.
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I wouldn't start afresh now.
It hard starting up in any game especially in what is a recession
Although lads may be migrating back to work in the building trade rates are still not that great they are less than what people earnt 5 years ago and with the cost of living always on the up I think youll see a influx of part time windies and gardeners topping up the wages over the weekend undercutting / doing them on the cheap
The recession is still hurting people
Iwas talking to a cafe owner yesterday his been hit hard where lads used to come in everyday now a lot only come in on friday the money just aint out there
For thoes who who do start a fresh it takes time to build up
As that great man del boy says
Who who dares wins
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Who who dares wins
Famous quote their from the owl SaS. ;D
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I don't think anything has changed the difference now is with wfp you end up
with equipment that is more likely to be put up for sale.
The majority of new window cleaners don't last and it has always been this way.
Why do you think customers are reluctant to dump a window cleaner they have had for years
even though they do a rubbish job.
Answer. Because they see that many window cleaners come and go, its better to have a crappy
cleaner than to take a chance and end up with none.
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I don't think anything has changed the difference now is with wfp you end up
with equipment that is more likely to be put up for sale.
The majority of new window cleaners don't last and it has always been this way.
Why do you think customers are reluctant to dump a window cleaner they have had for years
even though they do a rubbish job.
Answer. Because they see that many window cleaners come and go, its better to have a crappy
cleaner than to take a chance and end up with none.
Frame this post!
Mind you the "owl SAS" was funny...
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Not so easy starting nowadays. The trade is also over supplied with widow cleaners. The winter makes this a very tough industry to be in as customers cancel and water freezes up.Tough to stay motivated working on your own.
Windows clean themselves in winter as the customers think, as well as rain will clean glass.
So often on here all you hear how easy cleaning is. And it is, find the business not easy, Dealing with cash flow. Customer not paying or paying late.Glass scratched. Staff a pain, van costing to fix. etc.These are the mountains in this industry. Anyone can clean glass.
This forum will teach you how to clean glass but will fail hopelessly at the business side of it. And I am not trying to be rude but when a question arises on window cleaning you will get a clear reply with 10% B.S. ANSWERS.
But ask a business question and you will get a mixed bag at 360 degree opinions with no foundation of fact, which will leave you no better off than going with your own thoughts because we all do a great job at guessing. I don`t mean to offend, but just the truth, as I see it. ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Not so easy starting nowadays. The trade is also over supplied with widow cleaners. The winter makes this a very tough industry to be in as customers cancel and water freezes up.Tough to stay motivated working on your own.
Windows clean themselves in winter as the customers think, as well as rain will clean glass.
So often on here all you hear how easy cleaning is. And it is, find the business not easy, Dealing with cash flow. Customer not paying or paying late.Glass scratched. Staff a pain, van costing to fix. etc.These are the mountains in this industry. Anyone can clean glass.
This forum will teach you how to clean glass but will fail hopelessly at the business side of it. And I am not trying to be rude but when a question arises on window cleaning you will get a clear reply with 10% B.S. ANSWERS.
But ask a business question and you will get a mixed bag at 360 degree opinions with no foundation of fact, which will leave you no better off than going with your own thoughts because we all do a great job at guessing. I don`t mean to offend, but just the truth, as I see it. ;D ;D ;D ;D
What he said :)
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Not so easy starting nowadays. The trade is also over supplied with widow cleaners. The winter makes this a very tough industry to be in as customers cancel and water freezes up.Tough to stay motivated working on your own.
Windows clean themselves in winter as the customers think, as well as rain will clean glass.
So often on here all you hear how easy cleaning is. And it is, find the business not easy, Dealing with cash flow. Customer not paying or paying late.Glass scratched. Staff a pain, van costing to fix. etc.These are the mountains in this industry. Anyone can clean glass.
This forum will teach you how to clean glass but will fail hopelessly at the business side of it. And I am not trying to be rude but when a question arises on window cleaning you will get a clear reply with 10% B.S. ANSWERS.
But ask a business question and you will get a mixed bag at 360 degree opinions with no foundation of fact, which will leave you no better off than going with your own thoughts because we all do a great job at guessing. I don`t mean to offend, but just the truth, as I see it. ;D ;D ;D ;D
Good points made there.
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Not so easy starting nowadays. The trade is also over supplied with widow cleaners. The winter makes this a very tough industry to be in as customers cancel and water freezes up.Tough to stay motivated working on your own.
Windows clean themselves in winter as the customers think, as well as rain will clean glass.
So often on here all you hear how easy cleaning is. And it is, find the business not easy, Dealing with cash flow. Customer not paying or paying late.Glass scratched. Staff a pain, van costing to fix. etc.These are the mountains in this industry. Anyone can clean glass.
This forum will teach you how to clean glass but will fail hopelessly at the business side of it. And I am not trying to be rude but when a question arises on window cleaning you will get a clear reply with 10% B.S. ANSWERS.
But ask a business question and you will get a mixed bag at 360 degree opinions with no foundation of fact, which will leave you no better off than going with your own thoughts because we all do a great job at guessing. I don`t mean to offend, but just the truth, as I see it. ;D ;D ;D ;D
Well said, but given a choice to return printing, I wouldn't pack in my business. The biggest window cleaning company in Andover has gone bust, another sold up last year, lots of that work has returned to the market so most window cleaners picked up some of it. Quite a few new starts up this year in Andover and a few have disappeared.
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Not so easy starting nowadays. The trade is also over supplied with widow cleaners. The winter makes this a very tough industry to be in as customers cancel and water freezes up.Tough to stay motivated working on your own.
Windows clean themselves in winter as the customers think, as well as rain will clean glass.
So often on here all you hear how easy cleaning is. And it is, find the business not easy, Dealing with cash flow. Customer not paying or paying late.Glass scratched. Staff a pain, van costing to fix. etc.These are the mountains in this industry. Anyone can clean glass.
This forum will teach you how to clean glass but will fail hopelessly at the business side of it. And I am not trying to be rude but when a question arises on window cleaning you will get a clear reply with 10% B.S. ANSWERS.
But ask a business question and you will get a mixed bag at 360 degree opinions with no foundation of fact, which will leave you no better off than going with your own thoughts because we all do a great job at guessing. I don`t mean to offend, but just the truth, as I see it. ;D ;D ;D ;D
clucking hell James can i borrow the rope after you've done with it :o
however the BS I agree with
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Not so easy starting nowadays. The trade is also over supplied with widow cleaners. The winter makes this a very tough industry to be in as customers cancel and water freezes up.Tough to stay motivated working on your own.
Windows clean themselves in winter as the customers think, as well as rain will clean glass.
So often on here all you hear how easy cleaning is. And it is, find the business not easy, Dealing with cash flow. Customer not paying or paying late.Glass scratched. Staff a pain, van costing to fix. etc.These are the mountains in this industry. Anyone can clean glass.
This forum will teach you how to clean glass but will fail hopelessly at the business side of it. And I am not trying to be rude but when a question arises on window cleaning you will get a clear reply with 10% B.S. ANSWERS.
But ask a business question and you will get a mixed bag at 360 degree opinions with no foundation of fact, which will leave you no better off than going with your own thoughts because we all do a great job at guessing. I don`t mean to offend, but just the truth, as I see it. ;D ;D ;D ;D
Yes, some good points made there James. But if you think about it, cleaning glass (quickly and efficiently) is an acquired skill which most people given half a brain and some good practice will master. There's a right way of doing it and a wrong (whether trad or wfp).
Business acumen, however, is something you either got or haven't... I'm not saying you have to be Lord Bl00dy Sugar to do well - there are some basic steps to follow in business after all. But that said, there are many ways to skin a cat when it comes to business and business ideas, which is why you will always get a range of different opinions on the matter. IMO anyway :)
Which is why this type of forum is so useful not just for guys starting up and learning the ropes but also for the 'old dogs' who can always learn a new trick or two!
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Also a good post and good points. For example, I'd been in this game a long time when I came to this forum, and thought I'd seen it all and knew it all. Even a bighead like me has learned a few tricks and good ideas from others on here who've been in the game a lot less time than me.
So although I think I have a good business brain, I've seen others on here with better knowledge than I have had.
I never listen to Matt Bateman though. He goes cottaging at the weekend, and wears womens clothes when working. ;D
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CIU has given me the confidence to say no to customers.
To charge double on first cleans
And the walk away from 'that sort' of customer
And it's given me a few giggles.
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I think newbiew get so far to about £1000 then cant get any bigger for a few reasons, such as no time to canvass (£1000 for an experianced guy not a problem to get thru) ... not enough work to go around ... get lazy and think it will start coming to them so their missus then tells em to go back to a proper job as £1000 month not enough hence why you see a lot of smaller rounds for sale plus they get everyones dumps / cullls.