Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: danny mckim on March 30, 2014, 10:07:05 pm
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I have now read a few topics about English based window cleaners and their 6/8 week customers. I realise that the cost of these are around 2-3 times higher than what i would charge in Paisley. However, most of my customers are every 2 weeks some monthly at most. If most of my customers were 6/8 I'd probably not have lasted this long (30 years). Obviously when I go to a customers house after 2 weeks windows are not too bad, but after a month with the wet weather you can barely see out them How do you find them after 6/8 weeks?
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WFP just south of Bristol. 5 week round and I get regularly told they are not too dirty, can you leave it.. And to tell the truth 9 times out of 10 they are still fairly clean.. My mum is in South Ayrshire and hers are bogging after a month..
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I have now read a few topics about English based window cleaners and their 6/8 week customers. I realise that the cost of these are around 2-3 times higher than what i would charge in Paisley. However, most of my customers are every 2 weeks some monthly at most. If most of my customers were 6/8 I'd probably not have lasted this long (30 years). Obviously when I go to a customers house after 2 weeks windows are not too bad, but after a month with the wet weather you can barely see out them How do you find them after 6/8 weeks?
Are you trad only?
I'm not too far from you, but I'm WFP and majority of my work is 4 weekly. The windows aremt bad at all after4 weeks, unless it's been windy stormy weather.
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Yes trad only, I know a window cleaner close by who changed everything to monthly.... If I done that I'd half my earnings
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In Surrey I have to fight tooth and nail for 2 monthly if I let them they would pick 3x a year windows look always clean
That said up north I found em dirty at 4 weeks I think wind is the key?
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In Surrey I have to fight tooth and nail for 2 monthly if I let them they would pick 3x a year windows look always clean
That said up north I found em dirty at 4 weeks I think wind is the key?
Yeah, it's the dust from the Sahara which is on the England Scotland border. And the coal mines. And the mills. And the lack of wind down south.
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In Surrey I have to fight tooth and nail for 2 monthly if I let them they would pick 3x a year windows look always clean
That said up north I found em dirty at 4 weeks I think wind is the key?
Yeah, it's the dust from the Sahara which is on the England Scotland border. And the coal mines. And the mills. And the lack of wind down south.
Dust from the Sahara?
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Dust from the Sahara?
A dust cloud has found it's way here in the last few days.
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Yes trad only, I know a window cleaner close by who changed everything to monthly.... If I done that I'd half my earnings
Not if you doubled your price. ;D
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WFP just south of Bristol. 5 week round and I get regularly told they are not too dirty, can you leave it.. And to tell the truth 9 times out of 10 they are still fairly clean.. My mum is in South Ayrshire and hers are bogging after a month..
Yes, but we're there to keep them clean. If they only want 'em cleaned when they're minging, then they pay more or find another windy. By the way, all my Brit customers are on 6 weekly. Take it or leave it.
It's easier for you guys, you've got millions of potential customers, I've got a few thousand, and they'll all be gone in about 5 years.
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i gave up cleaning any customers 2 weekly over 10 years ago now.it was just too often.i had too many customers anyway so i put them all on a monthly frequency.i then increased their prices a bit.
over the last 10 years or so ive never had a customer ask for 2 weekly.they are either monthly,2 monthly or 6 weekly.
windows dont get as dirty cleaning WFP due to no detergent and frame cleaning.
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definately a northern thing unheard of round here.
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Right getting away from the Sahara. If in your area 2 weekly cleans were common what price could you expect to pay for a round of say 100 houses at x amount per clean and cleaned on a two weekly cycle, would you pay say 3 times the clean value or 3 times the accumulative monthly value.
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I think your going to have to work on monthly as thats a denomination we all understand. as your prices although adding up to a reasonable horly rate seem under priced, so perhaps you should accept/expect a bit less than more appropriately priced work. so...
Convert your round to a monthly value and if 5x is the going rate for well priced monthly work perhaps you should be asking 3 to 3.5x for the work? I dont know its entirely up to you and any potential buyer what its worth to you and what its worth to them thats my two pence done the best i can for you im done ;D
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Spoke to a fellow window cleaner earlier today.... He worked for a guy for over 20 years. Eventually bought the business for 1 years takings. He bought this 5 years ago and it's paid off.... He's now making a decent wage , although he has lost some big local job to national companies
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Spoke to a fellow window cleaner earlier today.... He worked for a guy for over 20 years. Eventually bought the business for 1 years takings. He bought this 5 years ago and it's paid off.... He's now making a decent wage , although he has lost some big local job to national companies
A years turnover?! :o :o :o
What's that, 18 months, 2 years before he can even take a wage?
Madness!
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Yip, but if he's now making around double what a normal 8-5 wage would be would you not agree it worth it
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Spoke to a fellow window cleaner earlier today.... He worked for a guy for over 20 years. Eventually bought the business for 1 years takings. He bought this 5 years ago and it's paid off.... He's now making a decent wage , although he has lost some big local job to national companies
A years turnover?! :o :o :o
What's that, 18 months, 2 years before he can even take a wage?
Madness!
he must be mental working for someone for 20 years and then handing over 12 months he'll be in for a shock when he looks to sell. I know it's the 1st of April but 12 times :o Are you by any chance the chap that's offering the fortnightly work to me ;)
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Yip, but if he's now making around double what a normal 8-5 wage would be would you not agree it worth i
He's making that by cleaning windows not by forking that money out. Any money made is worked for. You're paying for the opportunity to earn double a normal wage, that's all.
I'm not against buying rounds-you can be earning straight away- but that seems steep and you still have to do the graft.
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No Alan It's not me
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So are you suggesting that a round for example takes in £3000 per month would only be worth around £6000
If I was lucky enough to be offered this id jump at the chance
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Why are we talking per month on fortnightly work? £3000 a month is £1500 worth of work.
I'd pay to the value of the work not what it can take monthly or yearly.
It can be dressed up as 3 grand a month but you're doing the whole round twice. You've got to balance out takings against the work involved.
Again, you're paying for the chance to earn; you're not guaranteed anything. If you get a job, you're usually guaranteed a wage?
Buying a £500 pole or brand new double A-frame doesn't make you any money. There's a lot more to it.
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When I had a fortnightly round I found the dept level would get out of hand very quickly. If you did not collect it straight away it was nearly time to clean them again so if your £5 clean was not in or the usual I have no money not been to the bank it would soon mount up
Imagine going to a council house where they are on benefits and asking for £20 or £30 quid for a few weeks money you'll get chibed
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When I had a fortnightly round I found the dept level would get out of hand very quickly. If you did not collect it straight away it was nearly time to clean them again so if your £5 clean was not in or the usual I have no money not been to the bank it would soon mount up
Imagine going to a council house where they are on benefits and asking for £20 or £30 quid for a few weeks money you'll get chibed
Very true I have folks in a 3 weekly area that can end up owing three cleans and when you eventually get them in it's "oh I thought you had stopped coming months ago" yes that's right because you wouldn't answer the bloody door!