Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: harleyman on June 17, 2020, 06:16:46 am
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I'm just wondering if they will be a increase in New start ups with all the reported job cuts and if it will affect the prices... because a lot may not have a clue what to charge hence could have a knock on effect on some cleaners by quoting Cheap prices so it will be interesting time. ???
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I think it will be minimal.
Someone forced from their job (and not planning to leave anyway) is going to save every penny they can to pay mortgage/rent/bills and not be able to invest in window cleaning. They will face an uphill struggle canvassing as new customers will be thin on the ground and our existing older customers will prefer a familiar face on their property.
I wonder if they will first try to get a job in a warehouse or supermarket or even go fruit picking for a steady income and then winter will be upon us (happy thought). ;D
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Hop over to one of the Facebook forums and see for yourself.
There’s hundreds and hundreds of new start ups, loads more than usual even at this time of the year. Most seem to be young lads in their early 20’s, probably influenced by the numpties on there telling everyone who will listen that earning £300+ a day is easily done.
I wouldn’t want to be a new starter these days that’s for sure.
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The Facebook groups and forums will be responsible for the over saturation of cleaners.
If it wasn't for the Internet I wouldn't have dreamed of being a window cleaner.
It only takes someone to start up and tell his mates who start up and tell their mates etc.
On the other side I was just thinking yesterday whilst watching the news this would be a great time to be hiring new employees you will have loads of candidates to choose from. Genuine ones actually looking for work rather than those looking to apply for their weekly quota to claim jsa.
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Hop over to one of the Facebook forums and see for yourself.
There’s hundreds and hundreds of new start ups, loads more than usual even at this time of the year. Most seem to be young lads in their early 20’s, probably influenced by the numpties on there telling everyone who will listen that earning £300+ a day is easily done.
I wouldn’t want to be a new starter these days that’s for sure.
They are in for a huge shock then......they'll earn nowhere near £300 a day as a newbie......😁
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I started on about £6 per hour when I first started, sometimes less !
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I started on about £6 per hour when I first started, sometimes less !
But you had someone good to come home to, so it wasn't all bad. ;D
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Can you imagine trying to start a window cleaning business that would make you a decent living these days unless you wanted to clean all the stuff no other cleaners wanted,you may see a few try but fail miserably when they realise there’s more to it than a bucket and leather these days people’s expectations are higher.
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Doesn't bother me being a sole trader on my own, I've always got too much work :)
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Main thing to do on here is to not help any newbies. Don’t give them ideas , don’t talk about pay. Let’s turn into a secret organisation again !
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Yesterday one of my newish custies said that another cleaner asked if she had a wc, yes she said, bet he doesn't do the conny roof as well, he does she said, I'll do it half price he said, no I'll stick with my current one who does a great value for money job.
Loyalty eh!!
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I priced one yesterday 4 Velux kitchen windows the ones above that on the oast cowl and a few others he’s never done being trad,it’s the other way round nowadays they are losing work coz they can only do half of the windows.
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Main thing to do on here is to not help any newbies. Don’t give them ideas , don’t talk about pay. Let’s turn into a secret organisation again !
I agree
Theres not much help in the pressure washing section so windows should be the same :D
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Main thing to do on here is to not help any newbies. Don’t give them ideas , don’t talk about pay. Let’s turn into a secret organisation again !
Good job people didn't think like that when you started or if you ask for advice.
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Main thing to do on here is to not help any newbies. Don’t give them ideas , don’t talk about pay. Let’s turn into a secret organisation again !
Good job people didn't think like that when you started or if you ask for advice.
That’s correct! However it wasn’t a problem when I started that new shiners were flooding the place. Now it is a problem
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Not a problem in my area and it won’t be if people all of a sudden start springing up people would steer clear.
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(http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/1592418219_A7213B2A-4427-4136-9262-777234A1BC09.gif)
We need to manage the influx of new cleaners , I’m just glad NK has gone. What a thicko he was giving out all the tricks of the trade willy nilly ffs ::)roll
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(http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/1592418219_A7213B2A-4427-4136-9262-777234A1BC09.gif)
We need to manage the influx of new cleaners , I’m just glad NK has gone. What a thicko he was giving out all the tricks of the trade willy nilly ffs ::)roll
;D ;D
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I started on about £6 per hour when I first started, sometimes less !
But you had someone good to come home to, so it wasn't all bad. ;D
I wouldn't get out of bed for that either.
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I set up fairly recently. Wasn’t that hard.
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The trouble with this forum as well is theres to many so called members lurking in the back ground who never post or contribute anything but pinch all the ideas off people that do post.
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I know they are called sneaky F******S you mean the ones that people call lovely blokes 🤣🤣🤣,he would do anything for you that bloke including stabbing you in the back.
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I wouldn’t worry about influx of window cleaners.
It’s easier to become a courier delivering parcels.
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I wouldn’t worry when they realise how much work they need to make a decent living they’ll soon forget it,it won’t be coming into the ideal time for anyone to start window cleaning.
The chances are it’ll be late Autumn 🍂 before people start looking for another job,can’t see people thinking it’s the ideal job when it gets a bit chilly in the mornings lol,also they’ll need a few quid to invest unless they want to climb to the moon and back every week it still makes me smile to myself when I see someone with a blade and ladder these days.
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The trouble with this forum as well is theres to many so called members lurking in the back ground who never post or contribute anything but pinch all the ideas off people that do post.
This is why I never share my website, I don’t want you lot knicking my ideas, seeing what I clean, knowing what commercial work I’ve got etc,
You never know who’s spying the forum from the areas you you work.
I never want to give competitors good ideas or info on my round. Sure they can google and find all the local window cleaners, but I’d rather not help them out. ;D
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Oooooog wait till you have a bad winter soon sorts the wanna bs.
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The trouble with this forum as well is theres to many so called members lurking in the back ground who never post or contribute anything but pinch all the ideas off people that do post.
This is why I never share my website, I don’t want you lot knicking my ideas, seeing what I clean, knowing what commercial work I’ve got etc,
You never know who’s spying the forum from the areas you you work.
I never want to give competitors good ideas or info on my round. Sure they can google and find all the local window cleaners, but I’d rather not help them out. ;D
I block as many local window cleaners as I can on Facebook.
Search for them and block them.
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When times are hard people who need work always turn to the easiest cheapest options (window cleaning) plus you dont need any qualifications as such.
What they will find hard is getting enough quality work (in most areas anyway) plus pulling out a bucket and squeegy doesnt really cut it these days, its not cheap to get going with a pole system and van either. Most will give it up after a few weeks/months, when they realise that its hard work, if you have a decent customer base you dont need to worry, losing an odd customer wouldn't make any difference to me. 8)
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When times are hard people who need work always turn to the easiest cheapest options (window cleaning) plus you dont need any qualifications as such.
What they will find hard is getting enough quality work (in most areas anyway) plus pulling out a bucket and squeegy doesnt really cut it these days, its not cheap to get going with a pole system and van either. Most will give it up after a few weeks/months, when they realise that its hard work, if you have a decent customer base you dont need to worry, losing an odd customer wouldn't make any difference to me. 8)
Drug dealing is much easier for a lot of people....
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Look after your customers & your customers will look after you.
I'm not worried about the influx of new window cleaners. I have plenty of work and am picking up new customers all the time.
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People will always find work window cleaning but it will be work no one else wants in most cases,you need a relationship to some extent with your customers I’m a great believer in that.
They are not just paying for clean windows and that’s it they like to know who’s coming round the house when they aren’t in etc,people who think this is rubbish are cleaning what I call normal houses upper end domestics take it all into account when employing anyone to work on there property.
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It’s almost impossible to build a business of 5-10 vans with what I call quality work domestic mainly,at that level you’d need to take on everything going and you couldn’t possibly build this kind of relationship with customers.
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When times are hard people who need work always turn to the easiest cheapest options (window cleaning) plus you dont need any qualifications as such.
What they will find hard is getting enough quality work (in most areas anyway) plus pulling out a bucket and squeegy doesnt really cut it these days, its not cheap to get going with a pole system and van either. Most will give it up after a few weeks/months, when they realise that its hard work, if you have a decent customer base you dont need to worry, losing an odd customer wouldn't make any difference to me. 8)
Drug dealing is much easier for a lot of people....
Not in lockdown.
I know a few dealers that have rounds to launder their dirty money and even they are on the glass.
I'm ringing them up asking them to save me a few grams and they're talking about brushes >:(.
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Main thing to do on here is to not help any newbies. Don’t give them ideas , don’t talk about pay. Let’s turn into a secret organisation again !
Good job people didn't think like that when you started or if you ask for advice.
That’s correct! However it wasn’t a problem when I started that new shiners were flooding the place. Now it is a problem
Everyone deserves help in my opinion! Surely that’s why forums exist isn’t it?
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Yes but you get the fly by nights get what info they need then go canvass go and charge stupid cheap prices earn what the can then move on leaving all the guys who have done this job most of there working lives having to deal with the aftermath of Cheap prices you see it all to offten..rant over.
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Yes but you get the fly by nights get what info they need then go canvass go and charge stupid cheap prices earn what the can then move on leaving all the guys who have done this job most of there working lives having to deal with the aftermath of Cheap prices you see it all to offten..rant over.
I agree with you as well. But this happens in all walks of life. There will always be someone who wants to do it on the cheap, or knows where you can get it or do it cheaper. We recently had someone who told us they could get the same sealer for half the price we were selling it for and he told me where where they had seen it. The price was less than my Trade buying in price . So I thought about it, spoke to the manufacturer who categorically stated it was impossible to get it at that price. Then I decided if the supplier was telling the truth it either had to be counterfeit or stolen. I thought Sod it, and I sent for a bottle .
1. It arrived 10 Days later.
2. The bottle looked genuine.
3. I contacted the manufacturer and from the batch number they identified it had been made in 2013, and consequently was 5 years past it sell by date and useless. They went through their books for that period of sale of that batch.
4. From this they then found out it was part of bankrupt stock lot from a tile shop that had been flogged by some auction house 2 years previously.
So over 80 people had bought useless bottles of sealer albeit 1/2 normal retail but they might as well have bought pop.
It ‘s the same with traders, if you get someone in just because they are cheap and you don’t check them out and don’t ask to see there portfolio or at least check on them, then you deserve to have your fingers burnt in my opinion. If it looks cheap or too good to be true then it usually is! But sadly Greed takes over common sense with most people ;D
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This is why you need sensible customers who can see through it,if you charge 15 quid and someone comes along and says they’ll do it for 8 quid if they’ve half a brain they’ll see what’s happening. Like I said it’ll work on some houses but not on others,worst type of customer is 1 that’ always looking for a bargain or a cheap deal.
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(http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/1592418219_A7213B2A-4427-4136-9262-777234A1BC09.gif)
We need to manage the influx of new cleaners , I’m just glad NK has gone. What a thicko he was giving out all the tricks of the trade willy nilly ffs ::)roll
Seriously ? if anything telling people its possible to clean 30 detached properties with conservatories a day using a brick brush and 200ltrs of water is bound to set them up to fail.
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They were tiny houses though most of the ones I saw him cleaning,I would think the time taken guiding the hose round obstacles took longer than cleaning the windows.
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Same goes for our braggers, its a lot easier to succeed and last in this game when your wage expectations are low than it is when expecting the opposite, especially when the truth tends to be somewhere in between, long may they continue.
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Yes but you get the fly by nights get what info they need then go canvass go and charge stupid cheap prices earn what the can then move on leaving all the guys who have done this job most of there working lives having to deal with the aftermath of Cheap prices you see it all to offten..rant over.
I agree with you as well. But this happens in all walks of life. There will always be someone who wants to do it on the cheap, or knows where you can get it or do it cheaper. We recently had someone who told us they could get the same sealer for half the price we were selling it for and he told me where where they had seen it. The price was less than my Trade buying in price . So I thought about it, spoke to the manufacturer who categorically stated it was impossible to get it at that price. Then I decided if the supplier was telling the truth it either had to be counterfeit or stolen. I thought Sod it, and I sent for a bottle .
1. It arrived 10 Days later.
2. The bottle looked genuine.
3. I contacted the manufacturer and from the batch number they identified it had been made in 2013, and consequently was 5 years past it sell by date and useless. They went through their books for that period of sale of that batch.
4. From this they then found out it was part of bankrupt stock lot from a tile shop that had been flogged by some auction house 2 years previously.
So over 80 people had bought useless bottles of sealer albeit 1/2 normal retail but they might as well have bought pop.
It ‘s the same with traders, if you get someone in just because they are cheap and you don’t check them out and don’t ask to see there portfolio or at least check on them, then you deserve to have your fingers burnt in my opinion. If it looks cheap or too good to be true then it usually is! But sadly Greed takes over common sense with most people ;D
Agree with all but the last line, I don't think its greedy to want to save money especially if you don't have an endless supply of it.
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Same goes for our braggers, its a lot easier to succeed and last in this game when your wage expectations are low than it is when expecting the opposite, especially when the truth tends to be somewhere in between, long may they continue.
Yeah I hate braggers as well I don’t clean a house under £25 but I’ve only got about 5-6 of them,is that bragging.
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Lots of new lads trying to start up round my way.Saw a car this week with no roof rack so he’d obviously put all his seats down and had his ladder inside the actual car.Was sticking out of the passenger window by a good 18” 😆
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They don’t worry me I take work off of them up the price to what it should be and keep em,sensible people can spot a chancer a mile away.
You should be questioning your customers not the chancer knocking the doors,they go away when they keep coming up against brick walls.
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Il tell you where there’s serious cash to be made , a lot easier too that I know of.
1. Car boot sales , selling hardware (buying wholesale) - nuts , bolts , screws etc . My mate sells loads every day , does easily £500 cash each day he works.
2. Dog sitting (baby sitting dogs) , my mate has around 10 kennels set up in his back garden (fills Between 6-10 each day). Charges £6 an hour and each dog usually stays for around 8 hrs a day x 5 days a week all year round. Does at least £288 cash a day , plays with each dog for 20 mins, takes a picture of the dog having fun for the owner. Then sits on his arse for the rest of the day.
There’s a lot more options to make easy money these days other than window cleaning and very little outlay.
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Im not worried personally,
window cleaning has changed since I started 29 years ago. back then it was the norm for customers to be every 4 weeks.
the majority of my 4 weekly, have been with me for 10/ 15 /20 plus years.
when I build on my customer base these days from flyers / website/ walk ups..... I recommend every 8 or 12 weeks, but charge more...it just makes sense to get as much as you can each clean.
and the customer seems happier with these intervals, as its still cheaper than 4 weekly for them.
for a start up, it just takes too long in most cases to build an 8 or 12 weekly round.
A lot of start ups need the work rapidly, and may not understand the importance of that first clean charge. IMO a first clean charge is a must.
I often see a new cleaner cleaning a customer I have binned for being messers, skippers or bad payers, and I feel sorry for them.
but good luck to those new start ups. some will do well, but most will struggle, when they realise its harder than they thought
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Yep spot on this is what I used to say to Nathan 4 weekly stuff most of the time not all of the time can be a waste of time,I have monthly stuff 200 + but they are few and far between.
If you stretch out the cleans to 6 -12 weekly you can do 35 jobs for 55 and they don’t mind because you aren’t turning up what seems like every other week to them.
If a window cleaner tells me he’s every month on all his jobs it’s not hard to figure out what kind of work he’s got when you’ve been doing this job long enough.
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Same goes for our braggers, its a lot easier to succeed and last in this game when your wage expectations are low than it is when expecting the opposite, especially when the truth tends to be somewhere in between, long may they continue.
Yeah I hate braggers as well I don’t clean a house under £25 but I’ve only got about 5-6 of them,is that bragging.
Yes.
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Is that bragging is it oh right so Nigel here’s the question have you got a lot of small houses,No I have a few but I don’t charge less than £25 for them is that ok I better keep my voice down because it could be perceived as bragging 🤣.
If I wanted to brag I could say I’ve got a fleet of vans never get a minute to myself I’m rushed off my feet turning over in excess of a million notes, end up with about 100k in my pocket after vat and tax got no money but the potential to borrow a fortune 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣💩.
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All my work is 4weekley all my Custys are happy with it as far as iam aware no complants , suites me
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All my work is 4weekley all my Custys are happy with it as far as iam aware no complants , suites me
Well it's worked for you sofa......
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It’s not a case of them being happy I’m sure they are I’m saying it’s a fact you’ll earn more increasing the time between cleans,some want monthly that’s fair enough.
For example I have too much work so I wouldn’t join it in on a monthly cycle I haven’t got time,what do I do pass it on no I don’t I say I can only come every other month and instead of cleaning it for 25 I’d price it at 40 the balls in there court then,I get what I want for cleaning it and they get clean windows at a sensible interval.
I have some select monthly’s but they are houses that are all glass and having clean windows is almost essential to the property,huge self supporting glass and balconies of glass etc and more than worth doing.
A month comes round so so quickly in this job even the people that want it monthly often tell me that they started off with the other bloke coming every month but it was to often.
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If I go to look at a job these days when we talk about the time between cleans they almost never want it monthly,I would say 6 weeks is the new 4 weekly or monthly now times have changed and it’s been like it down south for quiet a few years now on larger properties,oh that might be bragging 🤣🤣🤣.
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At the end of the day what ever the length of time so long as every one is happy ....
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All domestic and commercial monthly apart from pubs shops fortnightly suppose it depends on workload works well for me