Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: laddermonkee on February 20, 2008, 12:15:57 am
-
from some of the posts i have read and some of earnings claimed, am wondering where i am going wrong
-
from some of the posts i have read and some of earnings claimed, am wondering where i am going wrong
What do you qualify as a decent living?
Andy
-
You need to take things on a forum you see with a pinch of salt.
Not all window cleaners do well as in a post last week a guy packed in.
Some really struggle , some do ok and then do really well.
You get out what you put in.
Paul
-
I make a decent living thats about the most truthful way I can put it. I pay my bills, I'm not in debt, the kids have shoes on their feet and we manage a holiday every year.
Its hard work but its better money than driving a bus for example and better paid than most jobs you see advertised.
As for what some people say they earn, well...........
-
You can have some cracking days, but can that be sustained through the winter, through gale force winds and rain sickness etc - highly unlikely, but you should be able to earn more than a shop worker. I earn far more than a security officer for example, much more than a supermarket employee BUT my overheads are way higher - van, poles, fuel insurances, sevice costs, wear and tear, filters and of course start up costs. No holiday pay no sickness benefits. So over the course of a year i'm not on a brilliant wage at all........yet.
-
It is the same as any other business.
Not all plumbers earn £15.00 per hour but most do, there will be a few that don't and then there will be those that excel and make many times more than the rest.
Where do you want to go with it?
There is no limit on what you want to or can achieve and how much you want to earn but if you want to earn big then that will cost you in other areas of your life.
When you get to the point that you wanted to get to when you first started and then you go past that point you have to set new targets or you can become complacent.
Regularly earning £20.00 per hour becomes the norm and you look at increasing prices as costs to provide the service go up.
Water charges have just gone up or are going up by 10%
£30.00 becomes the norm but to earn £30.00 you may need to employ 1 person so you have a salary and tax & NI to deduct and insurance for your employee
£40.00 becomes the norm per hour and you may need another van and another person.
I have had a cracking living from window cleaning and when I look back to when I started I have surpassed many many goals and prices per hour. I have sold a domestic round whilst retaining 2/3rds of our commercial work, giving me a real pot of working capital.
Treat your business professionally and look after your customers, work hard and keep moving forward and your business will look after you for year after year. You will be able to reward yourself with real prices per hour to you and any employees and have some of the nicer things.
And from another point of view our business is all year and yes we do earn good money throughout the winter, wemay lose the odd day but that is made up for on the good days.
Would I go back to £6.00 per hour in a factory - not a chance!!!!
Rob ;D
-
Don't forget Rob is probably nearer the "other"end of the business scale to the majority of us on here and i'm guessing with a name like laddermonkey you are a traditional cleaner? The big money would appear to come from commercial work on this forum unless you are very lucky to have a very compact round every day.
-
DJW
I have been very fortunate, I don't believe in luck and I am very determined to make my life better - not wealthy but easier.
I have grown a business quite quickly by some standards and have been able to capitalise on opportunity - I have also taken the risks and had to stand the cost for months on paying out and not getting paid on time from invoices.
It has been the sharpest learning curve and at times it has been absolutely awful and I have shed tears - for me it has turned out well and I have come through the other side.
I am no brighter than anyone on here and I had no more when I first started, i've been at every stage that the normal cleaner has been at and I can relate to everyone of you when you come up against the brick walls.
I needed to make a difference because I was very nearly repossessed and had the bailiffs knocking - when married to my second wife.
Being skint is a good incentive to get off your arse and sort it out in my book.
Where I am at and the tears are not for everyone and you need to find a point that you are happy with, I don't want you all chasing the same work we go for - it will make it more difficult.
I love the industry because it enabled me to turn my life around but it wasn't just the industry - I played a large part in it as well.
I wish you all success - wherever you are at
Rob ;D
-
Well said Rob, i'm not knocking you at all, just illustrating the differences between successful cleaners and less successful (like myself) cleaners who have been in the trade for a short time. I conclude that good money is not an overnight thing and has to be built up over years.
-
I know window cleaners who are still working off of ladders and regularly earn between £100-200 a day. Those earning £200 are very hard working though.
I think that classes as a decent wage, especially as their overheads are very low.
Using WFP then you should see £100 (10x £10 houses) as a minimum daily wage. Realistically you need to see about £140 (10x £14 houses) per day to allow for operating expenses. There are commercial and very well established window cleaners who earn a lot more, but this is usually down to years of experience and getting the right work.
-
You've hit the nail on the head there - it takes years to make your round compact, house after house after house and years to develop commercial - small, medium and large but it is only when you look back you can see how much you've grown.
Good money - big money has a bigger cost to your life than just time.
It will put a strain on every part of your relationship and can easily over stretch you and this goes against most peoples reasoning of coming into window cleaning - for the no hassle, worry free, answer to no one life of a one man operation.
It also has the rewards if you can put up with the aggravation and if you get a taste for the bigger money it can be highly rewarding.
I don't see us as having achieved it all there are those on here earning a lot more than I am - much much more. We are middle of the road but you do need to see all ends of the structure on these posts. To you and most it may seem alien to have a large business - that is only because you haven't got there yet, either through time served or personal & financial reasons.
We all need examples in life and mine is a guy who came on here and got fed up of the bickering and nonsence - he operated 10 vehicles in the North East - Frazers Venters, met him at the very beginnings of the APWC, no nonsence, worked hard, superb ethic and had a real desire to make the industry a safer and better place.
When he went off this forum we lost a valuable contribution to it
Rob ;D
-
Midas , enjoy reading your posts, if not for the fact that the "bully boys" cant push you off the topic with a slur on your level of experience.
Excellent quality statement on your website, something ( for those that care) to aspire to.
Mark
-
currently earn 22.5k in my normal job and possibly in the future i will leave this to WC. as long as i can earn this or more i be happy. ihave very good benefits in my work including final salry pension, paid sick leave, holiday entitlement and goto college studying H&S. for me if i DO change jobs it wil be for change of lifestyle for me
-
Might i just add that i find this to be a very interesting thread, not only to learn what others are acheiving, but to hear the wise words of those that have excelled, but kept it in balance.
I've just turned 21 and i've been cleaning windows since leaving school pretty much, i took a year out to try and acheive, what some might call 'greater things'. But the way i now view it is this...
I'm 21, i could just be leaving uni with 20k of debt and a 2 day a week job paying me £80 a week at best...but i'm not, i'm 21, yes i have debt through the reclessness of youth, some of that being business loans however, but i can earn far more than anyone else my age within reason. I'm also a keen musician, one of my band mates has just been promoted to Asociate of a large surveying firm, he's on a good wage, now nearing 40k, but i know that he's had to spend 20 years to get there, i don't earn 40k a year, but 30k would be possible if i put the work in. I've built my round up over the passed 2 years, and i can honestly say that i can go out and earn a good living.
I personally struggle with getting out in the mornings, hence the post on here at near 10am, but i have no responsibilities and therefor don't really appreciate what i have got i guess. I do however enjoy window cleaning, it allows me to pursue other, more important goals in life, and to have a good amount of money at the end of the month, it is relatively hassle free, but as we all know, you have to put the work in to reap the rewards, this is something that i am learning rather quickly!
As Midas said...being skint is a pretty good reason for getting out there and doing work!!! I've taken this on board over the passed month and bought another round, which has doubled the size of my round...so being skint led to take action, now i have the responsibilty of pleasing new customers in order to make that a success.
May i also add that this is all domestic work i am talking about...commercial is my next goal, but i don't want it to upset the balance i have struck in my life!
For anyone who is interested, i would reccommend 'The Richest Man In Babylon' as a good read/listen, it has helped me to get my business into a position where i can honestly say i earn a good living.
Just my thoughts.
Jamie
-
from some of the posts i have read and some of earnings claimed, am wondering where i am going wrong
1) Don't always believe what you read!
2) High claims of earning is not the be all and end all of life.
3) How long have you been trading? A higher level of income doesn't happen over night, it takes a lot of hard graft and effort and discipline to get it right or as near as you can.
Remember the saying......." slowly, slowly catchee monkee ;D ;D ;D
Sorry couldn't resist that one ;D ;D
Just keep putting effort in and decide yourself what you are doing wrong, that is if you are ;)
-
Very good posts from everybody, not just Midas. An excellent thread that restores faith in the forum. When I read the topic i thought, here we go.....
-
Very good posts from everybody, not just Midas. An excellent thread that restores faith in the forum. When I read the topic i thought, here we go.....
Thankyou kind sir ;D ;D ;D
I still have the feeling it could go the way you thought it would though ::)
-
Mr S - Ta for that
Davo - thanks again
Helen - are you Neil Williams wife or relative as you both have the holiday website on your entries ( sorry to take it off topic - noticed this the other day)
-
I think it is possible to make a good living from window cleaning, there are many out there who do but that does not mean that all who try succeed.
Set targets and persevere........then repeat.....then repeat
Business is the same regardless of the product or service, most of all it is about attitude. imho
-
I think its pure motivation for the first few years. Getting out and canvassing and quoting, working in the afternoon when it rained in the morning.
One thing I have noticed, when you start to do alright and have a good round (I've been going five years) it gets easier to keep going. You can relax if you are happy with the size you are (I am) but it becomes self sustaining - you pick up more customers than you need, so growing is a choice not hard work. So, will I take this new customer on or will I say I'm full?
Mind you that's after a few years of hard work, but suddenly the pressure goes!
However, if you want more than a good living, I think that takes motivation permanently and sitting back and relaxing will take a few more years longer to come.
-
What a great thread. I cant think of any semi skilled work that comes close to offering the potential that window cleaning can offer.
-
Another part of it is about seeing oportunity.
This isn't about great revelations or even astounding insights.
Opportunities come along and you will do a couple of things with them, you may miss the opportnity by not seing it for what it is, you may see the opportunity but not do anything about it - financial restraints, being over committed, other reasons and then you may see the opportunity and take action on it.
Here's what I have done today - bear in mind I also have got to price up 15 nursing homes and then a further 49.
Been researching the statistics on line about facts on chewing gum removal for our new website.
Now it turns out back in 2003 a organisation using taxpayers money - that is local to me had spent £3500.00 on a chewing gum removal system. I have lived in this area for over 10 years and I have never seen any evidence of this investment. I came across this nugget purely by accident - or was it!!!!!!
So I get onto them and ask where the machine is and what it has been doing for the last 4 years. I am told that it comes out once per year for a spring clean but they found it to be hard work, expensive and little reward for the investment, with the problem being compounded by resoiling virtually straight away and that the machine has parts that has been broken off it.
I have to present a portfolio to them and it seems that this would be a service they would be very interested in. The rest is up to me
Rob ;D
-
Not much more to say - just make sure you price right.
Peter
-
from some of the posts i have read and some of earnings claimed, am wondering where i am going wrong
i have been a window cleaner 12 years working for others thinking i cant be bothered with all the collecting and other hassles that go with it, but 10 months ago i took the plunge and it was tough walking all day canvassing and leafleting, but now i can honestly say i am loving it with 230 domestic 4 weekly averageing £10 per house,im not looking back , just invested in a wfp system and i now have to go canvassing again.so in my opinion you can make a very good living.
SOME BUILD A BUSINESS OTHERS BUILD EMPIRES.
-
I like that - we say that all the time.
There's another phrase in the film - Field of Dreams - about the baseball diamond that they build in the corn field, he's having doubts about whether it will be succesful.
'If you build it they will come'
Rob ;D
-
I make a decent living from window-cleaning.
My standard of living is decent, my work conditions are decent, my disposable income is decent, I have at least 2 foreign scuba diving holidays a year (thats decent), I love doing the job I do (thats decent), Im my own boss (also decent), we have 2 cars on the drive (decent enough?), I pay my taxes (I think thats pretty decent of me ;D ) and I work by comparison to many others few hours.
So, my answer to the question is, yes !!
-
Some great posts, just want to say that i think u guys on this forum are great and that your posts and advice have helped me a great deal. Before i started window cleaning i was in and out of dead end jobs on the road to nowere.
-
You need to take things on a forum you see with a pinch of salt.
Not all window cleaners do well as in a post last week a guy packed in.
Some really struggle , some do ok and then do really well.
You get out what you put in.
Paul
You get out what you put in.
that is so true
-
What do you guys call a decent income?
-
Very good posts from everybody, not just Midas. An excellent thread that restores faith in the forum. When I read the topic i thought, here we go.....
thats because i missed this post :P
-
Very good posts from everybody, not just Midas. An excellent thread that restores faith in the forum. When I read the topic i thought, here we go.....
thats because i missed this post :P
Many a true word spoken in jest!!
Mark
-
D Woods
I will tell you what I consider a good income but you will have to give me a call and it will be in confidence, not for the eyes or ears of others
Rob ;D
-
Hi Midas (Rob)
I can understand why you would not want to post it on a forum. It will only cause arguments.
-
We are working more and more on day rates now and moving into the other areas they all have higher rates with the top line on shot blasting.
I am reducing the costs on the day rate and looking at proper profit margins.
Why not give us a little insight ito your story because there are some pretty impressive clients on your website and they weren't gained through a sloppy attitude to the trade
Rob ;D
-
I think 80k plus is good if you want a straight answer.Plenty of people such as doctors earn more. Life's upside down, i'm out in all weathers, and I work very hard. I do -by chance- my gp's house, now my house is okay, albeit on an estate, but his backs onto the golf course and has a two tennis courts in the back garden.
Where's the justice?
-
As others have said, what an excellent thread. Much useful and interesting input. I am probably slightly different from most on here in that I am a wc for approx 75% of my time. The rest is gardening and odd jobs on a farm. These don't pay nearly as well as the windows, but it helps me keep fresh and not get bored. I wouldn't advocate this for you, it's just that it suits me. I don't want a big business, employees etc and all the associated hassles. Again this is me. The one problem I have is the inability to say "no" :) I take on jobs that are not really worth the bother. Help me be more selective ;D
-
Of course it's possible to make a decent living, however the word "decent" can mean a lot of different things to different people.
Is it possible for one person to make £80 - 100K pa (profit) from window cleaning working for themselves, probably not, though I'm sure some will claim that it is!
You should however, be able to earn yourselves a mid range salary for your geographic area doing window cleaning........if you put in the effort, and that's what it boils down to, putting in the effort, building up your business and then managing your accounts effectively on a monthly basis.
I think I/we make a decent living from what I/we do.
-
I believe that the people making a decent living from window cleaning are the people who would/have made a decent living and worked thier way to a decent position in someone else's company.
It is all about the people who will and leaving the ones who won't by the wayside.
I myself have built a pretty good paying round in 3 years, I have too much work and am about to push for more to allow me to take an employee on without losing any from my level of personal income.
-
I think 80k is more than good Mr Sol, i'd say it was pretty fantastic for one bloke on his own jigging a brush on a stick! Do you honestly think you will be in that bracket anytime now?
-
That seems to be where most of us falter Scud.
-
Scud
When I bought my first wfp system I didn't go out and get more window cleaning customers to fund it I put a price increase onto every customer and they paid for my system.
If you want to employ put the increase in and there you have the money for your employee - work smart - not hard!!!!!
Rob ;D
-
Rob
Some prices will be rising soon, but with the economic climate as it is I think we need to be very careful at the moment.
I have just bought another round that is priced very well, it fits in with alot of my work extremely well and would lend itself to a 2 man operation with it being possible to do 8/10 houses without moving the van (100m hoses), but to set that up I need to invest in new hoses, pumps etc, at the moment I am going to put the hours in and clean the full round twice to fund the equipment and pick up new customers, then the time will be right for an employee and price rises.
-
I think 80k plus is good if you want a straight answer.Plenty of people such as doctors earn more. Life's upside down, i'm out in all weathers, and I work very hard. I do -by chance- my gp's house, now my house is okay, albeit on an estate, but his backs onto the golf course and has a two tennis courts in the back garden.
Where's the justice?
he spent years training, he also has a little more stress in his life, he makes decisions that can make or break lives :)
we can pick up a pole and get on with it
-
Put prices up at your peril, in the current economic climate all you need is a 0.5 or 1.0% rise in interest rates and you will get them calling to cancel their window cleaners or look for cheaper suppliers.
Remember, window cleaning, like a lot of other cleaning services, is a relative luxury not an essential, can people survive without having their windows cleaned?? I think so!
-
I put a retirement home up today by 5% just to keep up with inflation. If you don't put up your prices just because of the credit crunch and the state of the economy then you are not doing yourself any favours because basically you are taking a pay cut by not increasing your prices just to keep up with inflation. Be brave or lose out. Your choice.
-
Very good posts from everybody, not just Midas. An excellent thread that restores faith in the forum. When I read the topic i thought, here we go.....
thats because i missed this post :P
Many a true word spoken in jest!!
Mark
if you thought you had it bad with me , L.J has now found the post aswell :P :P :P
-
or flashing amber lights for my van
Already done, got one on my orange van!!!!! and 24hr callout on the side ( joke )
watch them now, the dawn of the 24 Hour callout window cleaner
£250 min call out charge
its the future, its orange and it flashes
-
Very good posts from everybody, not just Midas. An excellent thread that restores faith in the forum. When I read the topic i thought, here we go.....
thats because i missed this post :P
Many a true word spoken in jest!!
Mark
if you thought you had it bad with me , L.J has now found the post aswell :P :P :P
actually i have left it alone a bit lately,i even posted a polite and helpful reply (tho off topic) on the motorised reel post....however .....oh i really cant see the point in stirring up an argument with someone who thinks that the fact that his gp has a nicer house than him is an injustice (i am sure he will be on to tell us it was ironic and he missed the ;D ;D ;D ;D off the end by mistake...at least i hope so)
-
it all depends on what you term a good wage - £1500/month? £2000/month? £2500/month??
I feel I make good money, its taken a lot of work to get here but you get out what you put in.
i know guys making £5000/month from it (they have guys working for them)
-
does what you earn pay all the bills? yes/no
you see a little something in a shop, you can just buy it there and then? yes/no
the important one!
you sleep well at night and your family know how you are? yes/no
if you can answer yes to all these then that's a decent living
;) ;) ;)
Niall
-
The question I would like to ask is this.
What do you think you would be doing now if you weren't cleaning windows? Suppose that you hadn't taken the path in life that you did. Or for some reason you had to give up.
Then ask yourself, which is better. What are the alternatives? How much would you earn then?
So far this thread has concentrated in income to decide what is a decent living. Im not disagreeing with that, but there is more to it than just money.
I would say look at the bigger picture, put all the factors, not just your income into the mix.
On that basis I think window cleaning gives me a pretty good living.
-
for me it's about lifestyle if i go down the wC route. I have worked in companies and saw backstabbing, sackings, redundancies etc. I have a god job with good prospects. sometimes in life this isn't everything. I had an awakending last year and feel my life has changed. Mu outlook is now different altogether.
i used to frown at people who came away with this crap, oh i have had an awakening. trust me it has happened to me and i am forever grateful for the help i received from the person involved. I now credit them for changing my life and way of thinking
-
Funny you should say that, but it does happen particularly if it's a health scare - it turns your priorities right around - the materialistic life just flies out of the window.
-
Helen - are you Neil Williams wife or relative as you both have the holiday website on your entries ( sorry to take it off topic - noticed this the other day)
I'm the secret one..........shhhhhhh don't tell his wife ;D ;D ;D
our secret meeting place can be found on that holiday website :o ;D ;D ;D
-
The one problem I have is the inability to say "no" :) I take on jobs that are not really worth the bother. Help me be more selective ;D
If you have trouble saying "no". we've all done it...brain screaming "no way" and mouth going "of course we will!!!!"
Jobs that your feel are really not worth the bother price them higher than normal. The custie may not accept the price - problem solved. If they accept at a hgh price then they won't be classed as "not worth the bother" ;D
-
it,s about life style change for me too example mon 6-5 tue 6-4 wed cleaning and trying to build my round today 11-9 fri 11-9 sat 6-5 sun oh have to do stock take 2-10.......plus as jsmc said the back stabbing ,bullying that goes on in these places i must say that i hate every minute of it. thats why i am working every spare minute to build a round.
-
from some of the posts i have read and some of earnings claimed, am wondering where i am going wrong
What do you qualify as a decent living?
Andy
Sorry for the late reply, i would say about £150 per day bearing in mind i live in the south. Good brickies would earn around that in london and the south, then when you take into consideration insurance, tax, N.I. ect. i don't think £150 per day would be unreasonable.
-
from some of the posts i have read and some of earnings claimed, am wondering where i am going wrong
What do you qualify as a decent living?
Andy
Sorry for the late reply, i would say about £150 per day bearing in mind i live in the south. Good brickies would earn around that in london and the south, then when you take into consideration insurance, tax, N.I. ect. i don't think £150 per day would be unreasonable.
so if you think you are going wrong somewhere, what is your average day at the moment. £150.00 per day is achievable on your own, but again don't compare window cleaning with other trades :)
-
can u really earn £150 a day cleaning windows
-
can u really earn £150 a day cleaning windows
Your new to this window cleaning lark arn`t you.
-
no ive been cleaning windows now for 30) years
-
Geoff, you know you can on a good day, not enough of them though, especially on our patch. Dai
-
Geoffreyspecht
Are you trad and where are you based and what sort of work do you have
Rob ;D
-
im from llandudno midas,most of my work is houses
-
We put up all our prices this jan and not one has cancelled.
If youy do a good job they will keep you.
People want quality,trust and reliability .
Keep them happy and you will keep them for years.
Had a woman last week where one of my employees had priced her house (very High).
When we cleaned it I told her he had charged her wrong and that it would be £10 cheaper than quoted.
I will keep that house for a long time to come.
We charge high but give a great service and could not earn what we earn in any other industry.
Some people pull this industry down (it,s only window cleaning)
It,s a skilled and dangerous job and you need to be an all round businessman/woman to survive and grow.
Been in the industry just over 4 years, have 2 employees and for those thinking you cannot earn good money in this industry think again as there are some crafty beggers on here that turn over 100k no problem.
It,s what you do when you get to that point that matters.
We are now branching into pigeon spiking , draincare services,drive cleaning etc ect.
When you have a large customer base you have got to use them to your advantage and provide as many quality services as you can as your captive audience is huge and they trust you already.
We do a great job/service to both the commercial/private sector and the next time you pass someone while you are cleaning speak to them as they are your next prospective(victim) I mean client.
Good luck to you all
Robbie
The world is full of windows ---- and opportunities
-
i bet your turnover is over £100000 robbie
-
So far i make enough to pay the bills and fuel the car, but i'm thinking of starting up myself as i'm working with a friend at the min and would like to have my own round as well as share a day or 2's work. He's shown me the ropes and also given me the experiance to go out and find work, but more importantly, shown me that the work and money is out there to whoever wants to go and find it!
Personally speaking, i think the job can be a very good earner, but only after the graft has been put into building the business through canvassing and building up a a steady and reliable round.
I still have to cope with the round building but have door knocked to some degree, and been sucessful
-
Goeff - When I first started it was all about the money.
I came out of a job paying me £24k to start my own business.
I was salaried and working 60 hours per week with lots of stress and finding life difficult to live,pay bills ect.
Now 4 years in it,s about picking up quality work and adding quality to what we already have.
I noticed you said you only do residential - Why.
Cleaning commercial is only like doing houses but on a larger scale with H&S , more liability built in.
I could not have got to where I am without good staff and have been very lucky.
I love selling myself and my company to any prospective clients with the promise of a well run company delivering a quality service first time , every time.
There are a lot of window cleaners that sell themselves short and do not push themselves to move their businesses on to the next level whether it being they are scared to fail ,embarassed to approach people or do not have the knowledge.
All the above are barriers that have to be crossed for them to be able to move forward and grow.
6 months ago I new nothing about Draincare services but it was an area I thought there was a market for.
I went on two courses , spoke to loads of people in the industry to gain more info and knowlege.
We will be starting on 1st April
Thanks Robbie
Clearshine Ltd
-
Geoffrey
I am surprised that you are surprised that £150.00 per day can be earned.
Do you not get anywhere near this figure or were you joking.
I would have thought that this should be the average that a busy window cleaner can earn for a days work.
Can you describe your work, small houses, big houses, cheaply priced, well priced, do you work a full week
Rob ;D
-
The one problem I have is the inability to say "no" :) I take on jobs that are not really worth the bother. Help me be more selective ;D
If you have trouble saying "no". we've all done it...brain screaming "no way" and mouth going "of course we will!!!!"
Jobs that your feel are really not worth the bother price them higher than normal. The custie may not accept the price - problem solved. If they accept at a hgh price then they won't be classed as "not worth the bother" ;D
Sounds simple. Must try to put it into practice ;D
Seriously, I,ve found myself underpricing new jobs because I'm embarassed how quickly I can do them wfp.
-
Feen- At the end of the day you have invested in your company by going wfp so deserve to reap the benefits and being wfp does cost more.
Just because you can clean quicker than trad you can still put the same price in.
We actually charge extra for cleaning trad now as it does take longer.
You should not feel guilty at all.
At the end of the day if you are regular,trustworthy and do a good job you can charge what you want going forward as you will have less and less time in your week to fit everything in so unfortunatly the poor paying jobs have to go to create more space for better paying work.
It is a business afterall and your company needs to grow like the likes of tesco,barclays ect ect.
We still have some cheap jobs but only because we are happy to keep them (relatives , friends ect)
Be ruthless mate especially if you are busy anyway and do not need there custom you can add extra and if you get it so be it.
I cannot understand how some people do not put theer prices up in years as it does not make sense (inflation ,price of equipment ,fuel costs ect)
As each year passes they are getting less and less for that job.
Thanks Robbie
-
/Sounds simple. Must try to put it into practice ;D
Seriously, I,ve found myself underpricing new jobs because I'm embarassed how quickly I can do them wfp.
Never be embarrased by doing a good job. That is what you advertise and that is what the custie gets. We price new custies as we would price for trad work, whether they are WFP or not. For most custies, not all, they just want the job done right and don't mind paying a bit more than the norm for it :)
-
Don't sell yourself short. Have some confidence in yourself and most importantly price right.
If you get all your new quotes then you are too cheap.
If you don't get any then you are quoting to high in your area.
It's about finding a happy medium that suits that you're able to get in your area. If you don't try, you'll never get it and end up working all the hours under the sun for peanuts.
-
Laddermonkee
Have you worked out if you are doing anything wrong from the posts to your topic or is it that there are some people further down the road than you because they started before you.
Rob ;D
-
I would also be interested to know what others picked up from this thread and how they will go about implicating this into their service/s
Rob ;D
-
Laddermonkee
Have you worked out if you are doing anything wrong from the posts to your topic or is it that there are some people further down the road than you because they started before you.
Rob ;D
Hi midas,i think basically i'm not charging enough i would average about £100 per day bearing in mind this is london i think i could do better, i haven't been window cleaning to long and my pricing is a bit hit and miss. I have tried asking other window cleaners but some are a bit cagey about giving advice on how to price work. Thanks for your advice anyway i have found it very helpful.
-
I think that if you are going to increase then you have to justify the increase and set it at £1.00 rise per clean every January, February etc and stick to that. If you believe that you are too cheap then you know what you need to do.
If you put a £1.00 increase on tomorrows work and you clean 20 houses you've made £120.00 for the same work, 20 quid you would not have had.
They will not tell you to put the prices up but start as you mean to go on.
We had a plumber in last week doing our ensuite, cracking lad and did a very high quality job for us but charged us next to nothing for the weeks work. He charged average plumbers rates.
I told him he was too cheap.
The next day he came in and said he had done a quote the night before and added 10% as an increase - worked out at £300.00 on the job that he would not have had. He got the job!!!
He will always put that 10% on now because he knows they will pay it.
Put your prices up and when you are getting the money you want you can take us all out for a drink
Rob - Mines a double rum & coke ;D
-
laddermonkee u should be able to earn at least £2oo a day even working of ladders.take a look at this site.the english cleaning company
-
from some of the posts i have read and some of earnings claimed, am wondering where i am going wrong
What do you qualify as a decent living?
Andy
Sorry for the late reply, i would say about £150 per day bearing in mind i live in the south. Good brickies would earn around that in london and the south, then when you take into consideration insurance, tax, N.I. ect. i don't think £150 per day would be unreasonable.
so if you think you are going wrong somewhere, what is your average day at the moment. £150.00 per day is achievable on your own, but again don't compare window cleaning with other trades :)
I think window cleaning can be compared to other trades, after all a tradesman is only a labourer who is skilled at one aspect of labouring so in that respect window cleaning is entitled to be classified as a trade others may disagree of course.
-
I think that if you are going to increase then you have to justify the increase and set it at £1.00 rise per clean every January, February etc and stick to that. If you believe that you are too cheap then you know what you need to do.
If you put a £1.00 increase on tomorrows work and you clean 20 houses you've made £120.00 for the same work, 20 quid you would not have had.
They will not tell you to put the prices up but start as you mean to go on.
We had a plumber in last week doing our ensuite, cracking lad and did a very high quality job for us but charged us next to nothing for the weeks work. He charged average plumbers rates.
I told him he was too cheap.
The next day he came in and said he had done a quote the night before and added 10% as an increase - worked out at £300.00 on the job that he would not have had. He got the job!!!
He will always put that 10% on now because he knows they will pay it.
Put your prices up and when you are getting the money you want you can take us all out for a drink
Rob - Mines a double rum & coke ;D
The advice youv'e given is worth more than rum and coke rob,your to cheap man ;D ;D I'm in wetherspoons acton high st every sunday morning if i see you there i will get you a treble rum and coke thanks again to you and everyone else for the advice it has been really helpful.
-
Trade? Give me a break.
Anyway I was called for 'interview' by HM Customs late last year and asked to explain why my declared earnings had gone up so much on the previous four years.
They didn't believe when I said what was earnable, but when I told them about the w/c forums on the www they had a look and on a second interrogation ;D they then said that they would be taking a much closer look at w/c income, especially what they earn/declare (two different things ;) ). Well, that was September, and two weeks ago they opened a formal investigation into me and said that they anticpated doing more of these.
So watch your back with what you claim you earn and what you tell HM Customs.
Obviously I can't say any more at the moment but I don't think its going to be easy ride over the next few months.
Oh and the more you talk about wc being a 'trade', (titter!) the more it looks like you CAN earn big bucks, but you try hiding that from them.
-
Well, that all depends on what you were declaring previously.
-
Well, that all depends on what you were declaring previously.
It goes to show that w/c are earning more, much more, than they were pre-wfp. Customs know it, they read it, some w/c declare it (me!) and it's one of those jobs where you can hide what you get in cash, they know this and I reckon they are on the scent. That's besides the point... yes, you can earn a good living from w/c, we know it, but so do a whole bunch of other people.
-
Ian- The only tax we don,t pay is on tips for the lads at christmas as they share them. (i know you are supposed to pay tax but it is normally peanuts.)
We only accept cheques or clients ring and pay over the phone so everything goes through the books.
As for taxman saying how you have earnt alot more last year to the previous four is simple.
We have picked up 2 large contracts this year which will add over £20k to turnover.
But 2 years ago did a large contract that the following year we lost so it is swings and roundabouts really.
Thanks Robbie
-
Robbie that's fair enough...
I'm talking about the times when w/c do a job for the first time and pocket the cash and ONLY hten enter the details on there work datebase when they get home - waiting until the next month to 'declare' the new job. Or what about when you do a bit extra (a skylight maybe) and keep the cash if you are paid in cash.
Tricks like that.
-
Only a muppet would post their earnings on a public forum. Perhaps they should rename this forum: 'the Clean it Up muppet' forum???
-
Start the music.............
Muppets have been talking bo11ocks on this forum regarding earnings for as long as i have been on here.
-
Trade? Give me a break.
Anyway I was called for 'interview' by HM Customs late last year and asked to explain why my declared earnings had gone up so much on the previous four years.
They didn't believe when I said what was earnable, but when I told them about the w/c forums on the www they had a look and on a second interrogation ;D they then said that they would be taking a much closer look at w/c income, especially what they earn/declare (two different things ;) ). Well, that was September, and two weeks ago they opened a formal investigation into me and said that they anticpated doing more of these.
So watch your back with what you claim you earn and what you tell HM Customs.
Obviously I can't say any more at the moment but I don't think its going to be easy ride over the next few months.
Oh and the more you talk about wc being a 'trade', (titter!) the more it looks like you CAN earn big bucks, but you try hiding that from them.
That seems pretty odd. I could understand them wanting to have a look if your turnover had gone down or had remained static for several consecutive years but I'm surprised to hear that they wanted to have a look at it going up sharply. Since my first year of WFP when my turnover was slightly below my last year of trad, my turnover has started to climb quite sharply too. WFP doesn't wear me out like ladder climbing did so I have more energy to spare to do more work or to seek more work. The realisation of where I can now take my business generally makes me feel more positive and that reflects in my workload. I've nothing to hide from HM Customs as I run a straight business which would withstand an investigation. Obviously it's better not to have one though as it's just a load of hassle and potentially quite time consuming. Although there is only an obligation to have 7 years of records (6 years + the current year), I've actually got all mine for the past 17 years. The first 10 are all on paper though. God help anyone who wants to decipher it.
I have every individual customer transaction logged since October 1991 LOL. Perhaps it's time to feed the paper from the 20th century records to the recycle bin. At least it would save me having to buy some new box files.
If every day was like the top 5% of my work, I would be a very high earner. But it's not so I suppose I'm just middle-of-the-road for a W/C sole trader.
-
Trade? Give me a break.
Oh and the more you talk about wc being a 'trade', (titter!) the more it looks like you CAN earn big bucks, but you try hiding that from them.
I'm not sure what you're talking about.
'Trade' means a voluntary exchange of goods or services.
-
For every person who climbs the ladder of success.
There are a dozen more waiting for an elevator
Robbie
-
Here today GONE tomorrow.
FACE IT.
5.44*43J8>907444/3
-
Ian
most on here take the earning posts with a large pinch of salt
its like blokes down the pub bragging that they have a sports car that does 0 - 60 in 3 secs OR the mrs is 18 and can suck a golf ball through a hose pipe
Calm down dear! It's not real its just a forum
-
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
-
the mrs is 18 and can suck a golf ball through a hose pipe
:o :o
-
;D ;D