Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: windows_chepstow on December 29, 2006, 05:11:54 pm
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Mine wasn't too bad; I definately only got out what effort I put in through leafletting and canvassing; mostly.
I've taken on many accounts in an affluent area; nice big well paying properties with nice customers.
But I've only taken on around 200 quids worth of monthly commercial work, but it's all good quality, and it's this area I'd like to focus on increasing next year.
I've also been able to get rid of all of my 'pain in the ass' accounts (with access issues).
So all in all, given that we've only been at this job for four years, I'm pleased with my year.
How was your year from a business point of view?
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Mine wasn't too bad; I definately only got out what effort I put in through leafletting and canvassing; mostly.
I've taken on many accounts in an affluent area; nice big well paying properties with nice customers.
But I've only taken on around 200 quids worth of monthly commercial work, but it's all good quality, and it's this area I'd like to focus on increasing next year.
I've also been able to get rid of all of my 'pain in the ass' accounts (with access issues).
So all in all, given that we've only been at this job for four years, I'm pleased with my year.
How was your year from a business point of view?
I've not moved on a great deal financially in the way I wanted to. I have reaped the rewards in time off I suppose. I'm OK with that because a good friend of mine has been very ill and the time I've spent with him could never be replaced. I'm glad I chose to do it that way because he died a couple of weeks ago. Now that he's gone, I can focus a bit more on getting more work in I suppose. I learned to work faster to give me more time off. Any work that came up was well priced and nearly all the work that was lost (not always my choice) was poorer paying work or jobs where I got messed around too much. To earn the same in 60% of the time is pretty good going - especially as I used much of that time well. Yes it is only money but we all need it to survive the way we do.
I prefer to take things slower than some and lay solid foundations (not saying that the speed merchants don't :) ). I now have a solid foundation to make my business grow well in 2007. I thought that after 14 years of window cleaning (trad) there was little to learn. 15 months later, thanks to this and other forums, I realise how little I knew. 2007 and probably 2008 will be the years when I maximise my potential as a sole trader. From there I don't know where though yet.
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I certainly need to be a bit more carefull with the houses I take on as there's a few where I've probably bitten off a bit more than I can chew and I dread it when they're due. Another thing I really need to do is tighten up my round and drop the out-of-the-way ones. And there's a few customers who are starting to irritate me so I might quietly drop them also. And there's more than a few that are paying completely the wrong price so a bit of haggling needs to be done.
But all in all not too bad a year...a bit like my school reports "Simon could do better".
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mine has been ok, a few more days off than i should have, but hey, you only live life once
ive lost 2 pubs, 1 was taken over by another chain, the other phoned me up a few days before christmas with a story about " head office cutbacks" i belive her, as she would just have come out and said " we have found some1 else", she did say when they say they can spend some more money they will be in touch, we will see
on the domestic front, ive filled in a few of the gaps in streets where i do houses, now my round contains mostly whole streets, park the car and stay in the street all day, i like it like that
december has been poor for me, hurt my shoulder, gearbox going on the work car, hurt my toe, ive not worked much, and we have noticed it at the end of the month
of course im caught in what to do, my daughter starts school in sept, so i should be planning for that ( taking on more work) but in reality, ive enough work, as we dont often work 6 weeks without any rain / days off
2007 will be a year where i earn more than this year, that im sure of, how much more depends on my desire in earning money, currently im enjoying life as it it
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Hi Shiner
Had a bloody good year have doubled my business,
move from my office to home ,
moved home and went ltd in july .
just got to keep the ball rolling now the next hurdle is the dreaded vat,
but if it keeps on going like that i will be in the office more and the lads will be earning even more may even have to bring in a bonus system for them
Andy ;)
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This year has been fantastic....I have started window cleaning
I have not exactly got a full round but I can see in which directions I wish to go and am learning about customers and their little ways ;)
My girlfreind has worked with me to start this business and at the start of February she cuts the apron strings and lets me go out on my own, she goes back to work...so I am my own boss again. ;D ;D ;D :'( :'( ;D ;D ;D
The main aim is too triple my current income and have 4.5 days a week worth of work for each of my 4 'rounds' at the same job average that I currently have.
Wfp for me is the way forward....I enjoy my life but since I arrived here in Holland I have not dived (scuba) and window cleaning will soon allow me to have the time and money to get back in the water...so yes I do love window cleaning but I do look forward to the summer.. ;D
Thanks to all those here that have helped me out on this forum ....I could not have done what I am doing without your help and support...When I had a few bad days...many of you stepped up and given me a shoulder to cry on...thanks.
Special thanks to Andrew at Pure Freedom (Freedom trolley is a fantastic piece of kit) and Mike and Justin at Cleantech (Great service).
And thanks must go to the Chepstow 3 for all the laughs during the year...
Cheers
Dave.
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This year has not been to bad for me.
Made more mony than last year so can't be bad.
Got rid of over 50 customers for various reasons, ie - access problems, bad payers, out of the way, and some small jobs where it was not worth me doing.
but took on hell of a lot more all pretty good money aswell.
Next year will be even better as i have a shed load of new work starting from next week.
This give me a good excuse to fine tune my business even more.
Worst thing i did in 2006 was to take on a lot of work from a property developer.
Lesson learn't there
Paul
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This year has not been to bad for me.
Made more mony than last year so can't be bad.
Got rid of over 50 customers for various reasons, ie - access problems, bad payers, out of the way, and some small jobs where it was not worth me doing.
but took on hell of a lot more all pretty good money aswell.
Next year will be even better as i have a shed load of new work starting from next week.
This give me a good excuse to fine tune my business even more.
Worst thing i did in 2006 was to take on a lot of work from a property developer.
Lesson learn't there
Paul
That's interesting what you've said about property developers. I've got a chance to do some work for a guy who does up houses and sells them on or lets them. But there's something about him I don't quite trust. What's your experience of them?
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For me 2006 has been great, looking into 2007 i have a new company name, everything i earn is all mine and hopefully if everything goes to schedule this time next year i should be earning a massive amount of money! we all have dreams/ambitions and i'm hoping as long as i stick to my schedule it should be very good and i can't wait ;D ;D ;D
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I have had a very good year, I set a target figure for the year and achieved it. My turnover will increase dramatically next year, this is subject to getting my business plan right for 2007.
This may mean buying another new van and letting my son help out more.
Roy
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Well the biggest plus for me was joining this forum last year and having seen all the posts on WFP and how people were benefiting decided to take the plunge. One major factor was David St Ives posts when he was anti WFP, then
he suddenly changed overnight ;D
I thought if WFP can change someones opinion then I am going to have some of that. So looked into buying, then had a look at Matt's DIY site and then decided to build it myself. Did some research on this site to see which was best trolley or tank and decided to build both.
So come Feb I was a fully fledged member of WFP, wow as most posts highlighted it was a huge learning curve. Also got dogged with problems from the system but with having built it myself soon found out how to iron out these problems.
Come August I was that busy so decided to take the plunge and take on someone else despite some of the negative comments about employing someone. They were right , so much red tape involved so was glad when the young lad I had taken on quit.
Overall this year has been a huge learning curve, overall my income has increased by 42%. This is no joke ;D ;D
My attitude has changed, I am no longer going to treat this as a job but as a business and intend to increase my income by anther 40% but not through working more hours.
The year ahead looks promising, going to raise my prices and do a DIY gutter cleaner. There is also the Scottish Licensed Window Cleaning Network which has a great team of guys who will certainly make an impact in the Scottish Window Cleaning Industry.
Next year will be another bumpy ride until I reach my goal in life, one of them is to pay my mortgage off in 5 yrs ;D ;D
So I would like to say a big thank you to Tosh, Ian Giles and David St Ives whose posts have been an encouragement.
My advise to any newbies is you can learn a lot from these guys, get yourself a WFP especially squeaky ;D ;D and enjoy window cleaning. Treat it like a business not a job and then you will be onto a winner.
Doug
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simon knight Said -
That's interesting what you've said about property developers. I've got a chance to do some work for a guy who does up houses and sells them on or lets them. But there's something about him I don't quite trust. What's your experience of them
The company i was doing work for started off allright i was getting paid within about 3 weeks then it went to about 5 weeks then every couple of months.
I was doing anywhere from £200 to £500 a week worth of work and it was great all the time they were paying ok.
Then as time went by payments were getting later and later.
And this is a huge multimillion pound company so there should be no excuses.
At the moment im still waiting for payments from september.
I will get it and they have promised me it by next week.
But i can't wait that long for payment in the future and have told them this but they just blame the accounts department and you ring the accounts department and they say they have not recieved the invoice yet from the site office.
I have done work for other property developers in the past and they were slow also i would bill them the end of the month and they would pay out the end of the following month. So any work i did in the beginning of the month it would be a couple of months before i seen any money.
Just before xmas i had another cleaning company on the phone asking me to do builders cleans for them i said no thanks i have had enough of slow payments.
paul
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come on Niel think
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how many companies can a man have before they all reach a threshold of some kind or another ;)
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In a word.................................
REVOLUTIONARY!!!!!!
WFP and the change of attitude it has brought to me has changed me from Dave the window cleaner/fireman/whatever!! to D.Salkeld Ltd Window Cleaning Business!
Financialy, I have replaced the Firewages with the increase in Window Cleaning, so not yet much better off. But this Christmas has been the best, financialy for a long time!!
I can REALY see Tracy and I's dreams for the future being a reality!!!!
David Salkeld
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My year is April to March but I've done about the same this year as last so far. But last year was about 25% up on the previous and when I went wfp.
I would have done more except for three things.
In May - Oct I started switching from trolley to tank, adding microbore and backpack.
Throughout summer my car started "playing up" first the distributor needed replacing, then it's MoT, then some other electrical problem - I lost a day or two a month between June and September and had bills to pay on it too.
Then a French lorry driver wrote it off and I limped along with tape for a back window and a bumper held on with self-tappers, while I sorted out ordering and fitting out my new van in November.
December has been a poor weather month and (unheard of for me) I had a week off sick.
I'm very pleased to have kept the figures up and all things being equal look forward to a good last three months.
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Did a bit more I suppose...
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I converted to WFP this year and to be honest it was the best thing I ever did. But what I really want to acknowledge is the support and confidence this forum gave me to make the change.
It doesn't seem much now looking back but at the time it was a big deal.
Like a lot of other people who have made changes for the better the inspiration has come from talking to forum members who are in the same position and learning from them. Thank you Cleanitup
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Paul
. . At the moment im still waiting for payments from september.
I will get it and they have promised me it by next week.
But i can't wait that long for payment in the future and have told them this but they just blame the accounts department and you ring the accounts department and they say they have not recieved the invoice yet from the site office.
Thats standard practice for large organisations. Slow the payments to small suppliers, slow them more and then find reasons not to pay. This may sound doom and gloom but its fact. Never ever let a customer go more than 2 payments down on an agreed supply and payment situation. As it gets closer to their end of year figures disclosure the payments will go further out to boost the bottom line ie profits announcement.
Do your best to get payment and then consider dropping them. There is no point in doing good and valuable work for which you may not be paid. It may be hard to consider and hard to do, but put the position you are in to your line of contact with the company, explain you cannot keep doing work for which you are not being paid - because you are not being paid, and try to agree a regular payment procedure to suit both parties.
Trust the payment situation is resolved for you quickly.
Have a very good New Year
JohnL
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simon knight Said -
That's interesting what you've said about property developers. I've got a chance to do some work for a guy who does up houses and sells them on or lets them. But there's something about him I don't quite trust. What's your experience of them
The company i was doing work for started off allright i was getting paid within about 3 weeks then it went to about 5 weeks then every couple of months.
I was doing anywhere from £200 to £500 a week worth of work and it was great all the time they were paying ok.
Then as time went by payments were getting later and later.
And this is a huge multimillion pound company so there should be no excuses.
At the moment im still waiting for payments from september.
I will get it and they have promised me it by next week.
But i can't wait that long for payment in the future and have told them this but they just blame the accounts department and you ring the accounts department and they say they have not recieved the invoice yet from the site office.
I have done work for other property developers in the past and they were slow also i would bill them the end of the month and they would pay out the end of the following month. So any work i did in the beginning of the month it would be a couple of months before i seen any money.
Just before xmas i had another cleaning company on the phone asking me to do builders cleans for them i said no thanks i have had enough of slow payments.
paul
Cheers Paul, From what you've said I think I'll duck the guy as not happy about waiting 2 months for my money...and with this guy I've a feeling he's the type who might start finding excuses not to pay at all. As my old man used to say: "When in doubt do nowt".
Happy new year
Simon
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Terrible
Lost over 50 grands worth of work, all commercial :'(
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I converted to WFP this year and to be honest it was the best thing I ever did. But what I really want to acknowledge is the support and confidence this forum gave me to make the change.
It doesn't seem much now looking back but at the time it was a big deal.
Like a lot of other people who have made changes for the better the inspiration has come from talking to forum members who are in the same position and learning from them. Thank you Cleanitup
I'd like to second that too. It has been a steep learning curve and it was tough at times even with this forum to come to. Without it, I wouldn't have even started with WFP, never mind continued. To find out how normal it was to feel like throwing it all in during those first two or three months of WFP was quite a relief. Without knowing that, I might well have gone back to traditional window cleaning.
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I am so bloody envious that I can't use wfp :-[
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When i first changed over to wfp for many weeks i thought what the hell have i done, its been a real learning curve but with plenty of help from this forum i am getting much faster at it now and in a year only had a couple of complaints.
Financially its been a better year with wfp it allows me to work less hours for more money having said that wether it be trad or wfp window cleaning is hard work.
I predict next year will be a much better year, it seems to be a matter of getting the right equipment for the job and picking your work and getting rid of the rubbish. I used to take everything on every job anywhere but now i just select the best i have sold on a lot of low priced work this year and made a good profit and bought better work.
In 2007 i want to get some of my prices up a bit and sort issues out with customers like payment and back gates etc and taking no nonsense from customers. There are so many new sites round here i can see me being very busy for the next 2 yrs or so
Happy new year
Brett
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hi all
mine has been fantastic. after 5 years of trad i moved over to a trolley system from freedom. mainly domestic i have increased my round by over £500 per 4 weekly cycle since may without much effort! the system has given me back my enthusiasm as i work the same amount of time as i did before. there is plenty more for me to do like dropping the bad payers and those who have poor access but for now im just plain greedy!
fantastic site want to wish you all well for the new year.
tony
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Terrible
Lost over 50 grands worth of work, all commercial :'(
Strike a light Telboy - how did that happen?
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Subbed from 3 cleaning contractors
One lost a contract cost us £4.500 a year
Two other contractors worked for a management company
We had been cleaning the windows for 12 years
New facilities manager arrives brings in people he had used before
had there own window cleaners so we were out £45.000.00
gone
Thats about it Malc still onwards and upwards ;)
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When quoting for any sort of commercial work always make the point that as a small sole trader you can't wait months for the money. Tell them your terms are "cash on invoice". they can do it if they want to. I do Everest Double Glazing's local office suite (the factory's local too, but I don't do that!!). I do it the 9th of every month, the manager gives me a cheque in return for my invoice.
If a company as large as Everest can make a special arrangement, any company can. Just depends if they want your service or not.
Cheers,
Ian
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Getting paid at the end of the following month is called 30 days net and is a pain in the rear but in larger businesses is the norm, however there are always companies that take a lend and waiting 3 months or having to threaten then with court action isn't unknown.
The hardest part of this is the amount of extra work it involves keeping track of what is owed and chasing it up when you should be out working. I used to turn down every job that couldn't issue a cheque or pay cash as soon as we had finished but we still got caught with some companies saying yes no problem and then when the work was done getting fobbed off to send an invoice to head office.
I used to put all these in a big file and chase them when we were quiet ( not the way to do it ) and at the end of the year decided to threaten then all with court action, wrote out all the letters and counted up the total........35k invoiced value...ouch
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Hi, mine wasnt ideal, but lessons have been learned,
I started the year, with a big and ever growing round and with a full time helper just about to start, he lasted a few weeks, so I struggled on until the end of may, when I had an accident, and damaged my ankle ligaments, which is still a problem for me, by autumn I was very stressed because i could no longer manage my work load, I bit the bullet and gave up 100 jobs,
which was the a brave decision, but it was the right decision, it took the pressure out of the job, and I still earn the same if not a bit more,
I ended the year in the need of a break, as I hadnt had a week of for a year,
next year I plan to again cut back my work load and a price increase,
but who knows i didnt expect last year to go quite how it did.
i wish you all a great new year