Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Stoots on May 17, 2017, 08:03:34 am
-
Does anyone else find it a never ending battle to keep their round in the right order?
I try to group all the houses closest to each other on one day. I work across a 5 mile or so radius so it's roughly 1 village a day.
But no matter what I do it always gets messed up. If go non holiday or rain delays or most commonly take on add on work then push the round back.
Look at my work due and there 1 house here, 2 over there etc. Find myself racing round in all directions.
Put it back in order and it will get messed up again!
How do you lot organise your work? And ensure it doesn't get messed up?
-
cleaner planner
-
I use spreadsheets with all work organised into a days work hitting the target figure for the day I want to earn. (£5.60) ;D
Then I'm just disciplined. All work is grouped together in areas in the most efficient way possible. If I go out and start a run, I never finish half way as that would do my nut in.
Add on jobs I always book them in for the following month, (no time on the day) and then schedule around it. Usually means i do say one add on job on a Saturday afternoon. Or if I'm taking an easier day or day off completely during the week, I'll do a couple of the add on jobs that I need to get through.
Window cleaning is the bread and butter work for me. I don't let add on work like Conny roofs and facias get in the way off it. I just schedule them to suit myself.
-
Does anyone else find it a never ending battle to keep their round in the right order?
I try to group all the houses closest to each other on one day. I work across a 5 mile or so radius so it's roughly 1 village a day.
But no matter what I do it always gets messed up. If go non holiday or rain delays or most commonly take on add on work then push the round back.
Look at my work due and there 1 house here, 2 over there etc. Find myself racing round in all directions.
Put it back in order and it will get messed up again!
How do you lot organise your work? And ensure it doesn't get messed up?
i use cleaner planner too and no i dont have a problem organising my work.
i clean my work from A-Z in roughly the same order all year round.
i very rarely get behind with work due to weather and when i go on holiday i move all my work forward a week or two
-
my round is mainly within a 5 mile radius too(350+ accounts)
-
Cheers
Nothing to do with cleaner planner
I use george but it does the same thing.
Its mainly taking on new work, maybe some need to be on a certain day or rain delays, holidays, maybe a van based a down or if say rain stops me completing a days work then I take on an extra job and end up doing the missed work the following week. Then that work is out of sync. Iver the course of a month it all adds up and results on compact days being split etc.
Cheers jonny87 maybe discipline is the way forward. I am guilty of finishING early sometimes and thinking I'll do that tomorrow then it rains. Then another job delays me
-
i clean my work from A-Z in roughly the same order all year round.
Must be a nightmare! Does Mrs Adams stay next door to Mrs Bailey??
;D
-
Does anyone else find it a never ending battle to keep their round in the right order?
I try to group all the houses closest to each other on one day. I work across a 5 mile or so radius so it's roughly 1 village a day.
But no matter what I do it always gets messed up. If go non holiday or rain delays or most commonly take on add on work then push the round back.
Look at my work due and there 1 house here, 2 over there etc. Find myself racing round in all directions.
Put it back in order and it will get messed up again!
How do you lot organise your work? And ensure it doesn't get messed up?
I'm totally the same mate no matter what software I use.
For me commercials are fine as they pretty much always get done. Residentials of whole streets are mostly ok.
It's the dotted around houses I find hard to keep in order, especially if it falls on a day we've done commercial and are passing those houses. We need the dotted around ones though as they make up a fair amount of the round.
I've found making the every other time houses (12 weekly) wait until we're next in the road for 6 weeklys helps. The 6 weeklys are my priority. They are my bread and butter. The 12 weeklys are fine with that and if not they can get somebody else.
Worse thing I ever did, and I know not everyone will agree, was text customers for access the night before. If they forgot I don't go back but rarely charge full price for fronts though they are warned they may be, just in the hope it'll help them remember. We no longer offer text service for average size residentials. It's too restricting.
I think it's always going to be a balance of being flexible but keeping your round in order to suit you.
I've tried Cleaner Planner & I'm currently trying out Aworka having been a George user for 10 years. Constantly shifting residential jobs forward at the moment on the Aworka planner due to the constant rain the last few days in the South West. We got something like £1700 due tomorrow which we're obviously not gonna get anywhere near through. They'll get shifted again and again. It's a constant battle and I don't know what the answer is unless you work in the rain and we don't. We do sometimes put off fascia & guttering jobs until it's raining, but even with waterproofs, it's thoroughly miserable & more difficult with wages to pay.
If you're using George I found the bulk update for round order often messed up the permanent round order. I know with Aworka you can print a worksheet but edit the job order before you print that particular sheet. And I think it's temporary for that sheet, and won't affect your whole round order if you don't want it to. I hope so anyway! I'm still getting to grips with it myself though.
-
You're obviously poorly disciplined.
-
You're obviously poorly disciplined.
Honestly that's a good answer. I am poorly disciplined. Never manage to stick to diets or go to the gym.
-
Does anyone else find it a never ending battle to keep their round in the right order?
I try to group all the houses closest to each other on one day. I work across a 5 mile or so radius so it's roughly 1 village a day.
But no matter what I do it always gets messed up. If go non holiday or rain delays or most commonly take on add on work then push the round back.
Look at my work due and there 1 house here, 2 over there etc. Find myself racing round in all directions.
Put it back in order and it will get messed up again!
How do you lot organise your work? And ensure it doesn't get messed up?
I'm totally the same mate no matter what software I use.
For me commercials are fine as they pretty much always get done. Residentials of whole streets are mostly ok.
It's the dotted around houses I find hard to keep in order, especially if it falls on a day we've done commercial and are passing those houses. We need the dotted around ones though as they make up a fair amount of the round.
I've found making the every other time houses (12 weekly) wait until we're next in the road for 6 weeklys helps. The 6 weeklys are my priority. They are my bread and butter. The 12 weeklys are fine with that and if not they can get somebody else.
Worse thing I ever did, and I know not everyone will agree, was text customers for access the night before. If they forgot I don't go back but rarely charge full price for fronts though they are warned they may be, just in the hope it'll help them remember. We no longer offer text service for average size residentials. It's too restricting.
I think it's always going to be a balance of being flexible but keeping your round in order to suit you.
I've tried Cleaner Planner & I'm currently trying out Aworka having been a George user for 10 years. Constantly shifting residential jobs forward at the moment on the Aworka planner due to the constant rain the last few days in the South West. We got something like £1700 due tomorrow which we're obviously not gonna get anywhere near through. They'll get shifted again and again. It's a constant battle and I don't know what the answer is unless you work in the rain and we don't. We do sometimes put off fascia & guttering jobs until it's raining, but even with waterproofs, it's thoroughly miserable & more difficult with wages to pay.
If you're using George I found the bulk update for round order often messed up the permanent round order. I know with Aworka you can print a worksheet but edit the job order before you print that particular sheet. And I think it's temporary for that sheet, and won't affect your whole round order if you don't want it to. I hope so anyway! I'm still getting to grips with it myself though.
That's a big problem for me is text the night before. I only do it for those that have access issues or some that I've just got into the routine of texting from the off when there no need.
But it is frustrating especially when I might have an easier day them look at my sheet and can't do that, or that or that locked gates.
-
Self discipline can be a problem when working for yourself but the temptation to take on more work than you can
handle can also play a part, it becomes a constant battle to keep up.
-
Lol, im old school! !
All my work is pretty much compact, so for that im very fortunate. My whole round comprises of 6 parts and i set it each wk
Wk 1 --- round 1
Wk 2 --- round 2 n 3
Wk 3 --- round 4
Wk 4 --- round 5 n 6
Since going wfp the elements rarely interupt the routine, just depends on morale. Like todays its raining for me, it frustrates me a little rain getting into the van, water proofs etc etc. Yet im pleased im still earning and working but i wont get as much work done as i would in a dry week. But it just means i dont get the day off by end of the week.
My rounds are wrote out in a book, which i write out begining of a tax year in line when i do my accounts etc. I know i will probably take new work on and so i only write on one side of the page (if this makes sense). So any new work is done when im near that particular area.
Then once a year i put it all onto a spreadsheet ready to do my accounts. A little time consuming but it has done me good for all these years. If it aint broken dont fix it!
-
Does anyone else find it a never ending battle to keep their round in the right order?
I try to group all the houses closest to each other on one day. I work across a 5 mile or so radius so it's roughly 1 village a day.
But no matter what I do it always gets messed up. If go non holiday or rain delays or most commonly take on add on work then push the round back.
Look at my work due and there 1 house here, 2 over there etc. Find myself racing round in all directions.
Put it back in order and it will get messed up again!
How do you lot organise your work? And ensure it doesn't get messed up?
From what I gather you are still trying to build your round? Try to even out the workload evenly over a 4 week period, don't be working 5 days one week then 2 and a half days the next, because rest assured the add ons/ new work/ rainy days will happen on your 5 day week. If you spread the work evenly it leaves you time to take on extra work and allows for rainy days.
-
if you work 25-30 hours a week you ll hardly ever get behind schedule cos of weather.this is what i do.i work in all but the worst weather too.
holidays/time off is easy.just move your whole workload forward a week or two.
inevitably i have to reschedule some work sometimes(8 weeklys,6 weeklys,etc)but i can slot these jobs in here and there.
add ons are booked in for next window clean and i make time(which again is easier if your working week is usually 25-30 hours a week).
all clusters of 8 weekly work thats mixed in with 4 weekly always get cleaned "every other time" when im down that road/estate.
various stand alone accounts can be added on to a short day here and there.
text night before customers are very low(less than 10% of my current workload)
-
Does anyone else find it a never ending battle to keep their round in the right order?
I try to group all the houses closest to each other on one day. I work across a 5 mile or so radius so it's roughly 1 village a day.
But no matter what I do it always gets messed up. If go non holiday or rain delays or most commonly take on add on work then push the round back.
Look at my work due and there 1 house here, 2 over there etc. Find myself racing round in all directions.
Put it back in order and it will get messed up again!
How do you lot organise your work? And ensure it doesn't get messed up?
From what I gather you are still trying to build your round? Try to even out the workload evenly over a 4 week period, don't be working 5 days one week then 2 and a half days the next, because rest assured the add ons/ new work/ rainy days will happen on your 5 day week. If you spread the work evenly it leaves you time to take on extra work and allows for rainy days.
Yes still building.
I think that's part of the problem. Because Im not full I will take on as much ax on work as possible. But I think what happens is I take on everything them the round ends up suffering. Them the add on work will slow down (like this week because it's raining) and I will look at my round and be like oh look at the mess its in
Hopefully once I have enough work the add ons will be kept to a bare minimum which will allow me to focus solely on the round.
-
if you work 25-30 hours a week you ll hardly ever get behind schedule cos of weather.this is what i do.i work in all but the worst weather too.
holidays/time off is easy.just move your whole workload forward a week or two.
inevitably i have to reschedule some work sometimes(8 weeklys,6 weeklys,etc)but i can slot these jobs in here and there.
add ons are booked in for next window clean and i make time(which again is easier if your working week is usually 25-30 hours a week).
all clusters of 8 weekly work thats mixed in with 4 weekly always get cleaned "every other time" when im down that road/estate.
various stand alone accounts can be added on to a short day here and there.
text night before customers are very low(less than 10% of my current workload)
Cheers daz. I think a good sort out is in order.
Lots of my add on work is not from regulars it's from Website enquirys so might be out of the way jobs.
Once I have more work I think I will.limit the add ons to existing customers so they can be booked in for next time like you say.
I have around 240 customers, I think I want about 300-350
-
On the basis that the add on jobs are nust that and from what youve just said about web enquiries. Would it not be best to schedule these say, on fridays. Allowing you to concentrate on your window rounds mon - thur.
-
On the basis that the add on jobs are nust that and from what youve just said about web enquiries. Would it not be best to schedule these say, on fridays. Allowing you to concentrate on your window rounds mon - thur.
+1 , or just keep Saturday mornings for add ons . That way , there's more chance of being noticed and possibly gaining a few extra customers
-
On the basis that the add on jobs are nust that and from what youve just said about web enquiries. Would it not be best to schedule these say, on fridays. Allowing you to concentrate on your window rounds mon - thur.
In theory yes, but sometimes these people want these things doing yesterday so sometimes its grab the cash whilst its on offer.
Shrek - weekends are not possible for me, saturdays i have my kids over, sundays no chance im not that desperate!
-
240 customers sounds a good size round. Do you clean 4wkly or longer?
If its grab the cash whilst you can attitude you will always be chasing your tail mate. Learn to say "NO" lol just not so bluntly. If they cant wait to be fitted into your schedule, is it really worth sacrificing the bread n butter for??
Build your round on quality and reliability and more work will come. The add on jobs can be scheduled to fit in with your time frame and if not, let it go. They are one off's, but you being regular will build your reputation and your window round.
-
240 customers sounds a good size round. Do you clean 4wkly or longer?
If its grab the cash whilst you can attitude you will always be chasing your tail mate. Learn to say "NO" lol just not so bluntly. If they cant wait to be fitted into your schedule, is it really worth sacrificing the bread n butter for??
Build your round on quality and reliability and more work will come. The add on jobs can be scheduled to fit in with your time frame and if not, let it go. They are one off's, but you being regular will build your reputation and your window round.
Its getting there but as Im still building I'm still weeding out messers and non payers etc so the amount of customers fluctuates a bit at the moment pick a few up lose a few. There's probably 10 that will need to be dropped at the moment as I've a few non payers. That's why I'm tending to grab the cash so to speak. I work 4 and 8 weekly about 80% or more is 4 weekly.
-
I think it may help sitting down, going through your whole round and say dividing it up equally over 20 days , 12 window jobs a morning and then you've got room for an add on every afternoon if you like
-
my round has been honed and refined over 24 years so its now just one big mega round! ;D
350+ customers.lots of 4 weekly,some 6 weekly,8 weekly.very compact estate work,larger domestic stand alones,commercial jobs,millionaires houses and everything in between.
the refining is never ending.lose a few ,gain a few although i have a solid core of work that hardly ever wavers from month to month.
-
Well its bouncing down today so day off for a sort out.
Ive decided to put all my work into Mon- Wed that allows thurs n friday for any add on IF im done with the windows, if its a bad week weather wise then ive got slipping room, important thing is all the weeks windows are done as a priority, that should stop it getting messed up again. but we shall see
If i start a bit earlier and work a bit later it should be no problem.
Does anyone use the "rounds" function on george? all my work is on "main round" but ive noticed you can create rounds and assign jobs to each round.
So week 1 round 1 week 4 round 4 etc
-
Well its bouncing down today so day off for a sort out.
Ive decided to put all my work into Mon- Wed that allows thurs n friday for any add on IF im done with the windows, if its a bad week weather wise then ive got slipping room, important thing is all the weeks windows are done as a priority, that should stop it getting messed up again. but we shall see
If i start a bit earlier and work a bit later it should be no problem.
Does anyone use the "rounds" function on george? all my work is on "main round" but ive noticed you can create rounds and assign jobs to each round.
So week 1 round 1 week 4 round 4 etc
Thats exactly how i organise my work, but in a good old fashion paper note pad. Keeps my hand writing in check and no silly miss keying as i do on the qwerty keypad on phone
-
Does anyone use the "rounds" function on george? all my work is on "main round" but ive noticed you can create rounds and assign jobs to each round.
So week 1 round 1 week 4 round 4 etc
Hi
I don't recommend creating separate Rounds for different days or weeks. If it rains or whatever and some of Week 1's jobs don't get done they end up on the wrong round. so you have to print off weeks 1 and 2 - if you remember.
Multiple Rounds are really intended for different geographical areas, like villages or whatever, where all the jobs are in one place.
It's also useful if you have other people working for you - they can have a Round each, and Debt List too if you want.
Paul Sanders
GeorgeSystems
-
ive decided to have a week off next week(not had one since xmas!)so ive just moved my whole schedule forward 7 days.easy peasy to!literally 20 seconds on cleaner planner. ;)
-
I divide my work the following way.
For monthly window cleans, these get done on the 1st Friday of the month.
Bi monthly window cleans are the majority of my work. All organised by geographical location. Mondays Tuesdays and Thursdaya
Quarterly Window cleans are done on the 2nd 3rd &4th Fridays of the month.
My calander is a 4 week month. On any odd days where there is a fith week, that's where one off cleans are booked, or extra jobs go.
I take Wednesdays off. To do what I want.
Happy days.
-
ive decided to have a week off next week(not had one since xmas!)so ive just moved my whole schedule forward 7 days.easy peasy to!literally 20 seconds on cleaner planner. ;)
You can do that Dazmond in George, Aworka or Cleaner Plannner quickly and easily but there's no getting away from the fact that those jobs will then be overdue and you will have double the amount of work the week after. Residential customers and even some commercial customers won't mind I know.
But if you can do 2 weeks work in a week then you're not maximising your earning potential in the first place IMO.
I know it's a life/work balance & if people want to take a week off then that's up to them. I get that. It's a perk of being self employed. We all have days off and holidays but those jobs will not get done on schedule. You can only do a day's work in a day.
I like to be pretty much up to date to keep my round in order and to have that feeling of achievement that you've hit your target for the day. Otherwise I'm forever chasing my tail and I feel I'm not getting anywhere. It gets demoralising.
-
ive decided to have a week off next week(not had one since xmas!)so ive just moved my whole schedule forward 7 days.easy peasy to!literally 20 seconds on cleaner planner. ;)
You can do that Dazmond in George, Aworka or Cleaner Plannner quickly and easily but there's no getting away from the fact that those jobs will then be overdue and you will have double the amount of work the week after. Residential customers and even some commercial customers won't mind I know.
But if you can do 2 weeks work in a week then you're not maximising your earning potential in the first place IMO.
I know it's a life/work balance & if people want to take a week off then that's up to them. I get that. It's a perk of being self employed. We all have days off and holidays but those jobs will not get done on schedule. You can only do a day's work in a day.
I like to be pretty much up to date to keep my round in order and to have that feeling of achievement that you've hit your target for the day. Otherwise I'm forever chasing my tail and I feel I'm not getting anywhere. It gets demoralising.
sorry mate but what are you on about?
IVE MOVED MY WHOLE SCHEDULE FORWARD 7 DAYS(ALL 350+ JOBS)
so that means i wont have "double "the work to clean the week after.i simply start off where i would ve started the week before.
my whole round will be a week behind but my whole schedule wont show it because ive moved it forward.
-
That's what I do if taking a week off, just shift the lot. Sod trying to catch up
-
I go to work and clean whatever's due.
Sod moving work a week forward on your planner, sounds like hard work. Just imagine what you could’ve earn’t in the amount of time you took to do that. At least 85p.
-
I suppose the easiest way to go on holiday without it affecting your work is only work 20 days a month. Then go away at the end of the 5 week months
-
Easy to organise.....Best earners regular on the day expected, good earners within a day or two of date, ok earners..same week, poor work....fit in as and when you can....simple :)
-
ive decided to have a week off next week(not had one since xmas!)so ive just moved my whole schedule forward 7 days.easy peasy to!literally 20 seconds on cleaner planner. ;)
You can do that Dazmond in George, Aworka or Cleaner Plannner quickly and easily but there's no getting away from the fact that those jobs will then be overdue and you will have double the amount of work the week after. Residential customers and even some commercial customers won't mind I know.
But if you can do 2 weeks work in a week then you're not maximising your earning potential in the first place IMO.
I know it's a life/work balance & if people want to take a week off then that's up to them. I get that. It's a perk of being self employed. We all have days off and holidays but those jobs will not get done on schedule. You can only do a day's work in a day.
I like to be pretty much up to date to keep my round in order and to have that feeling of achievement that you've hit your target for the day. Otherwise I'm forever chasing my tail and I feel I'm not getting anywhere. It gets demoralising.
sorry mate but what are you on about?
IVE MOVED MY WHOLE SCHEDULE FORWARD 7 DAYS(ALL 350+ JOBS)
so that means i wont have "double "the work to clean the week after.i simply start off where i would ve started the week before.
my whole round will be a week behind but my whole schedule wont show it because ive moved it forward.
We'll have to agree to disagree Dazmond.
We just work my way through everything that's overdue like Slacky said. We will catchup eventually even if it takes weeks.
Personally I'd rather do that than shift everything (600 jobs). For instance it may have rained (we don't clean in the rain - I know you do) 6 weeks ago (our residentials are 6 weekly) so we'll have a day spare this time round. If I shift everthing I'll have to bring something forward again to fill that day. Also I have an employee to consider. In 25 years window cleaning I haven't found an ideal solution.
-
Easy to organise.....Best earners regular on the day expected, good earners within a day or two of date, ok earners..same week, poor work....fit in as and when you can....simple :)
Me too.
-
I clean 8 weekly and I use Aworka to organise my round. Thank you to Chris (who runs it) I think he is exceptionally good and very helpful. I am a one man band and it works well for me.
I try to clean 4 days per week and leave a day for rain. I do clean in light rain but not the heavy stuff (can't be bothered). Unfortunately I get a bit busy and put in a fifth day, or work Saturdays doing gutter/fascia jobs etc. I don't mind this because the alternative is shopping with Mrs Window Cleaner at Sainsburys. (A double negative in my book).
I plan my days so all the cleans are in one place (same street or never more than a street away). It's compact and it works for me. Unfortunately I also have some 4 weekly and 12 weekly work which I took on when I first started and now wish I had not. It's well paid (but only if you're in the area). I'm now finding anything other than 8 weeks to be a PIA.
In Aworka, I use the Monday-Friday section to organise my 8 weekly round.
Sunday (which is the first column: start of the week) I use to put in all my work that is not 8 weekly. So every week I have four days of planned and scheduled work (plus one day for rain). Plus the 'Sunday' column with all my work that is 4 or 12 weeks that I need to fit in somewhere during the week. The problem is I am busy during the week and can't always fit it in. So I end up on a Friday running around fitting in the extra work. I don't want to bin it, because it's well paid, but I don't want to keep it because its a PIA. (Any suggestions here would be good).
Daily: I text or phone every customer the day before I clean. Where I am, most custies have locked gates and I am 52 with (not very good bones, according to my dietician), so I don't really want to fall off...anything!
Now for me this texting and phoning actually works; after 8 weeks most want their windows cleaned. If they are in...great. 99% will leave their gate open and some money out, or pay online, if I leave them a slip. The ones that forget, or are on holiday (I clean the fronts only and charge half price, they all know that). I think that's fair and reasonable. I've never lost a customer doing this. Most are apologetic and it rarely happens again. If it happens more than twice they are history. To counteract any potential loss in revenue during the day I tend to over subscribe my work. So if I want £200 a day, I will contact £230 to allow for people on holidays etc.
However, I am still back to the 4 and 12 weekly work. I will either have to change them to 8 weekly, or get more work so I can bin them.
That's a shame ???
-
ive decided to have a week off next week(not had one since xmas!)so ive just moved my whole schedule forward 7 days.easy peasy to!literally 20 seconds on cleaner planner. ;)
You can do that Dazmond in George, Aworka or Cleaner Plannner quickly and easily but there's no getting away from the fact that those jobs will then be overdue and you will have double the amount of work the week after. Residential customers and even some commercial customers won't mind I know.
But if you can do 2 weeks work in a week then you're not maximising your earning potential in the first place IMO.
I know it's a life/work balance & if people want to take a week off then that's up to them. I get that. It's a perk of being self employed. We all have days off and holidays but those jobs will not get done on schedule. You can only do a day's work in a day.
I like to be pretty much up to date to keep my round in order and to have that feeling of achievement that you've hit your target for the day. Otherwise I'm forever chasing my tail and I feel I'm not getting anywhere. It gets demoralising.
sorry mate but what are you on about?
IVE MOVED MY WHOLE SCHEDULE FORWARD 7 DAYS(ALL 350+ JOBS)
so that means i wont have "double "the work to clean the week after.i simply start off where i would ve started the week before.
my whole round will be a week behind but my whole schedule wont show it because ive moved it forward.
We'll have to agree to disagree Dazmond.
We just work my way through everything that's overdue like Slacky said. We will catchup eventually even if it takes weeks.
Personally I'd rather do that than shift everything (600 jobs). For instance it may have rained (we don't clean in the rain - I know you do) 6 weeks ago (our residentials are 6 weekly) so we'll have a day spare this time round. If I shift everthing I'll have to bring something forward again to fill that day. Also I have an employee to consider. In 25 years window cleaning I haven't found an ideal solution.
Understandable if you employ.
As a sole trader though take a week off and just move the lot, no need to catch up. Just lose a weeks earnings.