Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: geefree on September 10, 2006, 07:41:10 pm
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Hello Again,
I read many many post on here regarding hourly rate, and cost of cleaning windows in the south is obviously higher than in the north,
but although many will not answer this post as its a private thing,
the people who say thy are on £25-30 per hour,.. are you working 40 hours per week or 20 or less,....
My querie is: most people say that they can start at 10am, finish at 3pm... and have fantastic incomes..... this must surely be down south.
I know commercial work pumps it up but. but can anyone be bold enough to say, after they have built a decent round, with little room for new customers,
how much in weekly wages can be taken home.
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Do you work for the Tax Man!? :o ::) :P
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of course not ,, god i never thought of that... no just wanted a true opinion of potential earnings .. for me lol.
trev delete this post please ha
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LoL You gotta watch your back here mate! ;D
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.. are you working 40 hours per week or 20 or less,....
how much in weekly wages can be taken home.
Gazza,
I doubt many window cleaners work 40 hours per week; that's eight hours per day. Okay some may leave the house at 9.00 am and return at 5.00 pm (8 hours), but working solid for eight hours, each and every day would be difficult; if you work at a decent pace.
I have worked these hours though; but only when I reverse into cars and have to pay for the repairs; need to replace washing machines; have to cough up £300 for an MOT failure; Wor Little Uns birthday; tax-man spanking me etc (I'm sure you get the idea).
I would say I average 30 to 35 hours a week, but will work longer if the need arises.
However, if I took the four or five hours collecting each week into consideration, and the hour or two administrating my work; then yes; I probably work close to 40 hours a week.
I can't say how much I earn, because that's not 'good manners' on a forum, but if you price your work fairly well and work at a good speed (this may take a couple of years to develop), are disciplined and use some common sense; you'll make a good 'wadge'.
It won't happen overnight though.
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PS. There are some window cleaners who're 'raking the cash in'.
I know a couple of Shiners in my local area who can have days where they earn in one day; what takes me three to earn.
So what? Good on them!
They've been window cleaning for years; and obviously they've been bright enough to price their accounts well and keep them too.
Don't get disheartened because you're not earning 'X' amount a day.
It'll come, if you work hard and have the patience.
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£40/hr - 65hrs a week
£2600 a week - I never stop for a break.
Honestly! :P
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seriously its 01.11am and I'm only in from an 'inside' job, well knackered.
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well, i used to work for somone, two of us did each with a van using wfp exclusively, on average both 40 hour weeks. we got £7.50 per hour and average takings were 25- £30 per hour, needless to say I work for myself now ;D
but I dont do anything like as many hours but earn the same weekly wage, thats all I wanted from self employment, time to live, not live to work ;)
Simon
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Thanks guys,
As you know i have recently set up w/c.. and have nothing yet. weel i say nothing... 4-5 weeks ago, i had not one customer,
now i have around £200 per month... not a lot at all... but building steadily...
and i keep thinking 4-5 weeks ago i had £0.00 per month
just wanted ideas of wages lads thats all
cheers
Gary.
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Good on yer...keep going Gary...who was it that said "this time next year were be millionairs"....?
Dave.
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hi dave, you seem to be happy and up and running , keep it up , we may get there yet,.
tell you what - got 70 quid today , and im knackered lol...
dont think i will ever get up to 3 houses per hour !
Gary.
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Should I put down what I earn?
Would it inspire you or will it deflate you?
Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
I dont do 40 hours a week, I dont have to now,When I work alone, I average £30 an hour min and I work just over 8 hours a day. If I have someone helping me which is most of the time I earn even more.
I am 48 yrs old but as Fit as the Proverbial Flea. I can mantain a high work rate all day every day. But I am into sport in a big way so I find w/c a doddle.
Just keep on canvassing. I have been out to night for an hour to get more work, I have so much more time since wfp. I got three new customers Two at £11.00 and one at £16.00. That should take me an hour after the intial clean.
Also price up other work if you can, I got a Facia cleaning job today for £50. a cladding job to do for £40 and I have an inside job on a big house to do this week for another £100. You have to look for work and go get it. In late October see if you can pick up some Gutter cleaning jobs if your competent up a ladder. I have about £200 lined up allready in gutter work, but i wait untill the leaves are down.
Nel.
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Oh I forgot to add I live in the North of England, Shame if I was down the South East I could earn even more.
Nel.
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tell you what - got 70 quid today , and im knackered lol...
Gary.
Gary,
I earnt £48 on my first day window cleaning and I felt like I'd had a good kicking at the end of the day.
You've started well.
Guys like Nel give good advice, but they're in a different league when you first start up.
But if you read his post, CANVASSING, is the key.
When I first started I was far too shy to canvass; I felt like I was a 'gypsie'; asking for work.
To be honest, I just didn't have the 'balls'.
I'll now canvass; quite often at the end of a day when I've had too much window cleaning, but don't want to go home (and end up with other jobs from Wor Lass).
Canvassing is fun; I honestly enjoy it. Not one person answering the door to me has ever been nasty or rude; even the tasty looking woman, dripping wet from the shower and wrapped in a short towel was very polite to me; even though she already had a window cleaner.
Canvassing is the key to starting up quickly and doing well.
I'm planning to do a whole day of it this week; and I know I'll enjoy the day more than if I was cleaning windows.
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Thanks Nel and tosh for them two lots of advice,
I do take it on board and i canvass a lot but they a bloody peep behind the door lot around here,... too many loans sharks i reckon :D... ask petski,
i am pretty good and smiley and polite on the door, as i have canvassed lots of times over the years, also i aint a pushy salesman,( i hate them guys)... but i definitly think leaflets are working for me around here,.
Got my first customer through yell.com the other day, and have my free line in thomson local in november.
things are moving , i had two new ones whilst up the ladder today, and my phone rang twice up the ladder.. so i awiait replies on those two quotes,
oh and one person saw me hammering a dirty frame and sill, ( ha, i sweat my arse off on those first cleans)....
and she said oh do you do the frames too?.. i said always.. she said well you should get lots of work around here then!!! ???
basically thing are moving ,, but judjing by your post nel, which as always is very helpful,... in 4-5 weeks is £200 per month fairly poor then ?
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Gaz at the rate you are going you'll be able to stop canvasing in 5 months and you'll still be picking up work, 0-£14.400 per year isnt bad is it ? given that you have only just started I think you'll be growing at about the right rate
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GazzaSP8 what sort of response are you getting from leaflets....i.e numbers out compared to responses?
Cheers
Dave.
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Gazza,
Your doing allright my son.
I have given my own son advice on setting up a round. keep aiming to pick up £50 a week of new work. Come next spring you will be doing fine.
Do not be tempted to reduce your prices just to get work. You will shoot yourself in the foot and end up with a rubbish paying round. Price up correctly, its the most important aspect of the job.
I know of another young lad round here who is building up a wfp round. I helped him out last month by working with him on his round and his prices are fantastic. He gets about £40 an hour, though he works at a very high tempo. Hes got about £800 of work a month.
Dont just go for quantity. Get the quality right in your priceing, then when you get the quantity you will be very pleased with the money you will be making. It will take you years to get a quality high paying round. But thats part of the challenge of being selfemployed. Keep setting targets and hitting them.
This is my 27th year of w/c. I still set myself targets. For instance I set myself a six month target to earn a certain amount. I thought I'll never do it, I cant earn that much. I have three weeks left to hit the target, I will make it if I work 5 full days in three weeks. Yeahhhhhhhh.
Nel.
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Very inspiring, but I don't think it is wise to boast of high earnings for the whole world to see! :-\
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Gazza at the moment your wage is very similar to mine.
But best thing we can get a rise every month if we keep up the good work.
;) ;)
Dave
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yes you are all right,....
but i am going to up the pace dramatically now, things aint going quick enough, going to work my arse off now and get all and sundry involved.
gary.
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Gazza i was told by a few cleaners, That you may drum up more business in the winter months.
Dave
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Hi Dave,
Yes i heard that too,
Hopefully the 2.50 merchants will crawl back where they came from.
I Dont intend packing this in, never been a quitter Dave,..
I am talking to family and friends now to leaflet drop for me whilst i canvass,
but they will be given the areas by me!...
Up to now they have been less than supportive , i feel like i am always looking for their approval, without saying it...
I say i got this many customers today,..... no responce!
I say i have dropped 300 leaflets today. no Answer.
I say i could do with some help and back up... answer-
what do you want to eat!!!
>:(
I aint having a gripe but i will make this work.. if it kills me ;)
And not just to prove it to myself. !
Gary.
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I too feel like you, But family have been great support.
I have done a few trades and find this one suits me great.
I also will make it work but maybe a bit slower than yourself.
Good thing is i feel i am a very good window cleaner and also my customers support me.
But where is their recomendations?
Dave
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Gazza/David...keep going and remember when you look back in xx months/years...You can say I made this with a sense of pride...! :)
I am setting targets for myself and these are good for me in that each week I have something to work towards and the bigger picture will come in time.
At the end of each week I now run a income forcast (in george) for the months until the end of this year....just to make me feel good.
Called my 6x1st cleans that I had today...each one is happy de pappy with the work...I am not happy until these calls have been made and each customer is smiling..
Above all, having the likes of you on this forum keeps me sane and focused...Do you find that when you get home you check this forum just incase the new holy grail of w/c cleaning has been discovered?
Dave.
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Hope all is going well Gazza and Dave.
If you want to Succeed at w/c you have to canvass. Dont avoid it, if you are Serious about building a quality round use the best round builder their is boys. CANVASSING.
Took my lad out to night, Had a go at him not to tag along with me but to get stuck in Himself, We will see twice as many people that way. You should of seen the grin on his face when He came and found me to tell me he had just got his First customer all by himself.
We where out for an hour, We just canvassed one street, We picked up Four new customers worth £42.50. I gave him the three New customers I got last night, which where on the same street, so he has 7 customers worth £79.50 to clean on Friday. On repeat cleans he will clean them in just over 2 hours.
On the positive side another customer as said he wants them cleaning, but not for another two months, and another 2 prospective customers are waiting for the boss to get home before they will say weather they want them cleaning.
So for 2 hours canvassing my son has £79.50 of work to do with the prospect of more customers to come. I have told him come spring time he will have close to £150 of work on that one street.
Hope that Encourages you boys.
Nel.