Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: james peters on March 30, 2020, 12:51:21 pm
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as above
Has this pandemic prompted you to look at your business, and made you want to make any changes, or add new ideas to make thing run better, or increase your revenue?
I have not worked since last Monday, but the 2 weeks working before I finished I was looking at my customers , and trying to see how many I may loose as things start to get worse.
I was quite pleased, that I Realised that for the most part, my customers are retired or financially stable and unlikely to be affected by 6 months off work.
I do expect to have a few jobs put on hold … restaurant, cricket club, rugby club etc.
so when I start back I want to do a good leafletting stint in search for more of the retired type of customers. not only are these types financially stable , but they always pay promptly.
The other thing I am going to do is upsell more gutter and fascia jobs, to try and compensate for any losses I may have had. this will help as I rebuild my customer base.
worrying times for everyone , so lets hear what positives you guys are hoping to get out of a bad situation ?
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I’ll be canvassing like crazy, my round is already small and will most likely be even smaller in a few months. My plan is to basically grow my customer base.
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I will be posting updates on my Facebook page during the lockdown, and intend to text message all my customers who aren't followers but whose numbers I hold, to keep them informed.
I closed shop on Friday and have since had numerous calls from customers asking me to call when I can. Most of these are not 'regulars' per se, but they are on a list of calls to make along with the regulars. My customers are without exception extremely loyal, so I am confident that I won't be short of work when I resume trading.
John.
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Getting all the phone numbers of my customers would be a good start. :o :-[
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Getting all the phone numbers of my customers would be a good start. :o :-[
E-mail addresses or adds on faceache is even better too.
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i put 3/4 of my customers prices up last month so this week is the first week of the new higher priced work.....i stopped evening collecting (after 26 years!) a few months before xmas and i started printing new slips on cleaner planner with my bank details on for BACS payments stipulating that online payment was my preferred method of payment...this has worked a treat...i reckon ive managed to get another 120 jobs to pay this way since then......i also started getting more contact numbers.....
now i dont take on any new work if they dont provide me their mobile number from the off.now i reckon my payments look like this.....
60% BACS
20% cash on the day
15% contactless card payments/chip and PIN
2% standing order
2% card payments over the phone
1% cheque
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Rebuild the round first, I'm sure quite a few will cancel any never come back.
Then I'll get back on with my plans to franchise, I spoke to Vin at length the other week about it all and was just about to hand over £1500 to Ian Lancaster for his package. A few days later this thing really kicked off and all plans abandoned.
Planned price increases will probably happen next April now.
I fancy a new van at some point in the near future as well, but I will buy it with cash not finance. I have a loan at the minute and wish I didn't with the current situation.
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So glad I didn’t sign up for a lease van! I will definitely pay in full for any large purchases in the future!
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So glad I didn’t sign up for a lease van! I will definitely pay in full for any large purchases in the future!
I think your right shrek.
That’s one thing that I’ve learned.
Although, to be fair my van was a good purchase.
It’s paid off in 12 months, and is only going to be 4 years old with 30,000 miles on the clock at that time, but still.
Events like this make You realise even more so than always that cash is king. ;D
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Im thinking about Franchising, and also i may fulfill my lifelong dream of setting up a lead generation service for window cleaners and have Gomo as my partner in crime! 8) 8) 8)
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I’ll be canvassing like crazy, my round is already small and will most likely be even smaller in a few months. My plan is to basically grow my customer base.
James,
How long have you been window cleaning for?
Andy :)
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So glad I didn’t sign up for a lease van! I will definitely pay in full for any large purchases in the future!
Why will you pay in full it’s better to keep any money you have at hand in case you may need it.
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Getting all the phone numbers of my customers would be a good start. :o :-[
Same!!!
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I’m not sure about this lead generation thing they’ve only got to honour the leads they give you in numbers,you may have paid for 50 leads it’s potluck whether you’ll get any decent work from it.
If I wanted work I’d like to be able to target what kind of work I wanted- needed.
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I’ll be canvassing like crazy, my round is already small and will most likely be even smaller in a few months. My plan is to basically grow my customer base.
James,
How long have you been window cleaning for?
Andy :)
10 months mate, got a lot of rubbish in my round that needs replacing and also want to get a lot more (good) customers
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Im thinking about Franchising, and also i may fulfill my lifelong dream of setting up a lead generation service for window cleaners and have Gomo as my partner in crime! 8) 8) 8)
Dont forget who gave you the advice when you are a millionaire. ;)
Ive not done any lead gen for a while, I kind of started it and then neglected it. If we get locked down properly it's definitely something I would like to pursue further... Not just window cleaning either, digital marketing in general. What the virus has shown is that having fingers in more than one pie is a very good idea.
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What the virus has shown is that having fingers in more than one pie is a very good idea.
I was growing quite a nice little photography business. I did all the photography for two running event companies, was about to start with a third, and had some individual races to photograph for a couple of others; two of them quite big running companies.
That's all been kicked into the long grass for the moment.
You can't get more diversity than window cleaning and running race photography. ;D
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I’m not sure about this lead generation thing they’ve only got to honour the leads they give you in numbers,you may have paid for 50 leads it’s potluck whether you’ll get any decent work from it.
If I wanted work I’d like to be able to target what kind of work I wanted- needed.
Here's the thing, when you pay someone to put out say 10k leaflets that might cost you £500 all in. With a guarantee of 0 leads. You are guaranteed nothing. Now in my experience you'll be lucky to get 2/3 calls per thousand. So 20 or 30 leads... Again, if you are lucky.. You might get more, you might get less but when you pay £500 for 50 leads you get 50 leads, ironed on without gamble.
If course you won't convert all the leads, nor would you convert all leaflet leads.
A canvasser might charge you £500 for £170 of work. Half will cancel in the fist 6 months.. Let's say £100 of it is any good.
Digital marketing pees all over any other form of paid marketing in terms of R. O. I
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So glad I didn’t sign up for a lease van! I will definitely pay in full for any large purchases in the future!
why?its only a problem if you cant afford the monthly payments........
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new leaflet being designed at the moment, should be ready in time for when we are free! new website is being finished off to work with the new leaflet
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Putting work aside, I think there will be world celebration when it's all over
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So glad I didn’t sign up for a lease van! I will definitely pay in full for any large purchases in the future!
Why will you pay in full it’s better to keep any money you have at hand in case you may need it.
Because if there ever is another pandemic, I won’t have to work just to pay my lease :)
If you take now into consideration- no one wants cash , so cash isn’t king at this moment in time
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So glad I didn’t sign up for a lease van! I will definitely pay in full for any large purchases in the future!
why?its only a problem if you cant afford the monthly payments........
Well put it this way daz , I’m certainly not worried about not working. My business bills running in the background are about £100 a month. I would be crapping myself if I had 2 vehicles on lease though with 1k going out before I can feed myself!
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So glad I didn’t sign up for a lease van! I will definitely pay in full for any large purchases in the future!
Why will you pay in full it’s better to keep any money you have at hand in case you may need it.
Because if there ever is another pandemic, I won’t have to work just to pay my lease :)
If you take now into consideration- no one wants cash , so cash isn’t king at this moment in time
Cash or money in the bank is always King at the moment especially read this forum watch the news it’s all about what people going to do because of money,all self employed people worried about what the chancellor had to say.
If you’ve got enough in the bank or wherever to see you through you have far less to worry about at this time,if you’ve got say 20k and you lump it all out on a van in 1 go and you did it a month ago,what’s better 300 a month going out or having a massive dent gone into your cash.
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Replacing the two idiots that work for me.
Getting rid of the bad customers/jobs and replacing with some advertising.
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The bad customers will get rid of thereselves.
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Currently, just doing a bit of SEO work on the websites, but we're sitting on first page for most of our keywords. We've stopped any work that's not in an empty property, for the time being.
But we're looking everywhere just at the moment ::)roll ::)roll Reason being, some people won't make it through to the other end (business wise). That's for the small and medium, self-employed and little LTDs. I have a feeling, there are going to be some amazing bargains for those with cash in the bank in the coming months.
It will either be people going under, and liquidating, or other deciding to go full time PAYE somewhere else. I think it won't be long before some people need to liquidate their kit, or sell the business, as they won't be able to carry on without doing so.
A bit morbid maybe, but it's the reality. I can see a big drop in the number of self-employed coming in the next year as well. I may be wrong, but either way, I'll ever have a bigger business on the other side, or my cash will still be in the bank, and we can use it elsewhere :)
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So glad I didn’t sign up for a lease van! I will definitely pay in full for any large purchases in the future!
Why will you pay in full it’s better to keep any money you have at hand in case you may need it.
Because if there ever is another pandemic, I won’t have to work just to pay my lease :)
If you take now into consideration- no one wants cash , so cash isn’t king at this moment in time
Cash or money in the bank is always King at the moment especially read this forum watch the news it’s all about what people going to do because of money,all self employed people worried about what the chancellor had to say.
If you’ve got enough in the bank or wherever to see you through you have far less to worry about at this time,if you’ve got say 20k and you lump it all out on a van in 1 go and you did it a month ago,what’s better 300 a month going out or having a massive dent gone into your cash.
I would never spend 20k on a van , I spent 3k on my van 3 years ago :)
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The bad customers will get rid of thereselves.
Suicide?
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I think it’s going to go the other way just like at the start of the last recession. Thousands upon thousands of new start up companies determined to be masters of their own destiny.
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So glad I didn’t sign up for a lease van! I will definitely pay in full for any large purchases in the future!
each to their own but my rental is £215(inclu VAT) a month which is 1 average days earnings for me...easily affordable......id rather keep my hard earned savings in the bank than blow a big chunk on a van all in one go.....
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as above
Has this pandemic prompted you to look at your business, and made you want to make any changes, or add new ideas to make thing run better, or increase your revenue?
I have not worked since last Monday, but the 2 weeks working before I finished I was looking at my customers , and trying to see how many I may loose as things start to get worse.
I was quite pleased, that I Realised that for the most part, my customers are retired or financially stable and unlikely to be affected by 6 months off work.
I do expect to have a few jobs put on hold … restaurant, cricket club, rugby club etc.
so when I start back I want to do a good leafletting stint in search for more of the retired type of customers. not only are these types financially stable , but they always pay promptly.
The other thing I am going to do is upsell more gutter and fascia jobs, to try and compensate for any losses I may have had. this will help as I rebuild my customer base.
worrying times for everyone , so lets hear what positives you guys are hoping to get out of a bad situation
Exactly this 👍
I’ve still been working,
In the last two weeks I’ve had 1 cancelled, maybe resuming later this year.
Another skip this month but said contact next month to reevaluate.
So 2 lost customers 🤔
But 1 new customer to do Monday
Looks like regular monthly
Same again was a walk up
On Wednesday not in the bag but intuition tells me should get
Another one, old timer wants me but won’t go until June or July as family have told him to stay in
I worry obviously how many customers I will lose and how fast.
So as said by OP can up sell upvc fascia gutter cleans
Connie roofs
Never been excited by these add ons
But beggars can’t be choosers
already have the setup to do it,
And if it plugs financial holes in my round so be it.
Still considering sky vac Atom
So would cover window cleaning, gutter fascia cleaning and gutter clearing
Also thinking of pushing the 2 monthly service more
Aim to get 30 - 50 % an hour more £
And just the little things
Make sure plenty of spares
Make equipment, working day, organised work schedule more efficient
I’m good with this but I know I could be better
I’ve got lazy following up enquiries,
I think that can happen being self employed
Will see what the future holds
Lot of things out of our control, to feel scared, uneasy about
But being self employed we have the
Choices to make our own decisions for or businesses anyway
Unlike a lot of the employed, who’s main objective is to make the boss richer
That was always my experience of being employed
And a couple of redundancies 👍
Stay safe and well all 🦠🤺
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So glad I didn’t sign up for a lease van! I will definitely pay in full for any large purchases in the future!
each to their own but my rental is £215(inclu VAT) a month which is 1 average days earnings for me...easily affordable......id rather keep my hard earned savings in the bank than blow a big chunk on a van all in one go.....
£21500 over 5 years is on average £4300 a year ( regardless of how you divide it up with your deposit). Over 5 years daz that’s what you’ll pay and then you still don’t own it. I bought my van for 3k 3 years ago
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I will own it after 5 yrs mate....I'm gonna sell it to my missus then buy it back....itll have 15k on the clock by then with many more years of life left in it..👍
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I will own it after 5 yrs mate....I'm gonna sell it to my missus then buy it back....itll have 15k on the clock by then with many more years of life left in it..👍
I understand it’s a new van but it doesn’t cost you £215 a month mate
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£215 a month does sound really cheap.
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I will own it after 5 yrs mate....I'm gonna sell it to my missus then buy it back....itll have 15k on the clock by then with many more years of life left in it..👍
I understand it’s a new van but it doesn’t cost you £215 a month mate
yes it does!why would i make it up?its a 5 year business finance lease.....at the end of the contract i sell it to my girlfriend for £7k and pay the balloon then buy it back off my girlfriend then i own it...yes it will have cost me over £20k overall but it will do me for at least another 5 years...
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£215 a month does sound really cheap.
Does it?
For a van on lease, I was thinking the opposite!
I’ve got a custom limited 155bhp (16plate, Euro 5) on HP for £315 p/m.
Had it from new.
Factor in I’m paying £100 per month extra over 5 years, that means I’ll of paid an extra £6k of monthly payments.
Daz reckons his balloon will be 7k, so by the end of the 5 year period he’ll have actually paid £1k more for a smaller van , with less payload and probably less power.
Doesn’t see that cheap anymore eh?
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I will own it after 5 yrs mate....I'm gonna sell it to my missus then buy it back....itll have 15k on the clock by then with many more years of life left in it..👍
I understand it’s a new van but it doesn’t cost you £215 a month mate
yes it does!why would i make it up?its a 5 year business finance lease.....at the end of the contract i sell it to my girlfriend for £7k and pay the balloon then buy it back off my girlfriend then i own it...yes it will have cost me over £20k overall but it will do me for at least another 5 years...
Actually it won't. You'll of saved tax payments by leasing it, so its cost you nothing in that way. Pay tax or buy/lease a new van with it ? Its a no brainer what you done, smart move.
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As this is morphing into a van discussion I'll tell you about mine.
For £15,800 I bought a brand new Hyundai van in March 2012. I was going to take out a two year bank loan but the manager said why don't you just have an annual overdraft (cheaper, even including the new arrangement fee of £300 every year for old rope) and pay it off over two years. It came with a 5 year warranty. I paid it off after one year and didn't have to pay for another year's arrangement fee.
It is now just over 8 years old and is on 48,500 miles. I know things can go south really quickly with vehicles but my current intention is for this van to see me out as I will go increasingly part time over the next five years.
At some point - assuming I survive in reasonable health I might employ someone to take over the round and on the basis that they cost 2K a month gross it should leave me with 1,500 a month to oversee it and be off the tools. If I then add my state pension I'll get 2.3K a month plus another small income stream and anything Mrs Gold gets providing she doesn't kick me out, leave me or die.
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I will own it after 5 yrs mate....I'm gonna sell it to my missus then buy it back....itll have 15k on the clock by then with many more years of life left in it..👍
I understand it’s a new van but it doesn’t cost you £215 a month mate
yes it does!why would i make it up?its a 5 year business finance lease.....at the end of the contract i sell it to my girlfriend for £7k and pay the balloon then buy it back off my girlfriend then i own it...yes it will have cost me over £20k overall but it will do me for at least another 5 years...
Like I say divide it up how you want (no deposit, 5k deposit, 10k deposit or whatever you choose) , 21500 over 5 years is £4300 a year.... ballon payment is the same as taking a chunk out your savings at the beginning and buying it outright