Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: David Slater on June 20, 2008, 10:41:31 am
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Just had this put through my door :o
Quick phone call to check - Yep, £3 for ANY house.
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Window cleaners like this are no threat and are no competition in the long term.
I just cant imagine how he/they think they are going to make money.
What do you reckon Ewan, Here today and gone tomorrow?
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What a joke cowboys looking for beer money ,,,theres no way they can make good money out of that.
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I wonder if they would go back to the house if the custy was not happy??...there goes a flying pig..
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Where was this?
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like the flyer says, front, back and side windows £3, thats 3 windows ;D
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chefing hek is the full No avlibul thay can com and do mine ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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If the bloke is used to earning minimum wage and he can get up some speed he probably reckons he would rather do that.
Outlay: couple of scrims, bucket and ladder.
Not everyone is trying to make a fortune from window cleaning.
My mother in law gets her fronts done for £3.
On one of the roads I do where I charge £18 for semi's there are a couple of blokes who charge £9 for the same style house.
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Where was this?
South Manchester
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He can come do mine for that price saves me a job, you should get him round to do yours and leave your van on drive how funny would that be.
Chris
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some polish guys willing to do the job half price in our area >:(
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my mums house 4 bedroom is 3.50 and they are regular all the time the guys.
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Sub your work out to him.
Tidy profit, f all to do.
Admitedly, you probably won't have any work left after the 1st week. Thats the only flaw.
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Its a wind up, that aint a mobile number! too short.
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well spotted mick where's the rest of the number ::)
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if you look closely the number has been wiped out somehow
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looks like David has blanked out some of the number
otherwise we d all be ring him ;D
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looks like David has blanked out some of the number
otherwise we d all be ring him ;D
Indeed.
I ran it through Picture editing to blank the last few numbers. You can see where the grey colour is slightly different (using colour selector to 'drop' colour onto the last numbers).
I wouldnt want my work number (or personal mobile) posted up without my permission....would you?
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sounds more like an haircut ;D ;D
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;D ;D ;D
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I bet he won't be declaring his earnings to the taxman.
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Why isn't he a threat? ???
If someone came to my house offering it for £3 and all the others were 7 or 8 quid, then I know who I'd choose.
If he did a crap job, then I'd sack him, but I'd certainly try them first.
If he does a decent job then I'm going to stick with him.
I'm sure that's how most customers would react too.
You can't just assume he's useless.
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Let’s assume then he’s the world’s fastest window cleaner and always does a perfect job!
If he stuck to those prices how big he is going to get? I bet he would hate doing large house or even medium size!
Fact is though if your business is threatened by this type of competition your business is weak; there is better run window cleaning businesses in every town. These should be the ones to keep an eye on.
Doesn't matter how well run they are, that just impresses people on Clean-it-up.
The customer would rather pay less. Fact.
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If some window cleaner is targeting your customers at £3 a house, it doesn't matter how well you run a reputable w/c round you would/will be affected by these cheaper window cleaners. Some of your customers may/will try this new, cheaper window cleaner to see if he's any good. If he/she isn't any good, your ex-customers would be wanting to come back asap.
If I lose/lost a fishing customer to someone cheaper and they wished to come back, I would only allow it at a much higher mark up because the 'loyalty factor' has disappeared and what's to stop them doing it again. If I was/am too busy to take them back on again then I would refuse point blank as I would prefer reliable work.
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am sure d&p is a member on this forum,
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i started eight years ago and cleaned all sizes and shapes any house for £3.50
I do contract cleaning and window cleaning.....eight years, thirty staff
NEVER LAST ?????
Bigger and better than most and desoite what you all say guess what???????
I AM STILL HERE
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not just a low paid job but some of us were at the top of the corporate ladder for Britains largest department store
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I can understand why some new w/c's charge £3 a house when they first start up (needs must), but to continue is pointless. No one wants to become the busy fool running around flat out for peanuts.
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.......I can understand why some new w/c's charge £3 a house when they first start up (needs must), but to continue is pointless. No one wants to become the busy fool running around flat out for peanuts.....................
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I can't understand it all, 15 years ago all the w/cleaners around me,including me, were charging £4 for a small house and £5 up to £7 for a normal type 4 or 5 bed house and everything in the shops was at least half the price.
There is no need to be so cheap. I would have thought £6 or £7 would have have been low enough myself.
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and then it is pathetically low. Why not build a business properly at proper prices.
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Hi Ewan
thank you for your response
It is at present 30 staff and my biggest house is £470.00 we only do it twice a year but have had it for the last four years and the gutters once per year at £350.00
Biggest job was the new concert hall that we got £12500.00
so no we don't t do £3.50 per house now ,in fact i don't get out at all as i am office based now
but what i meant was don't mock the £3.50 brigade as they may just be the next national outfit
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Ive still got the odd house for £2.50, quite a few at £3 and id say that my average price is £4. I pick up work all the time and i keep my customers. I earn a grand a week for a 25 hour week all above board with the taxman. These £3 houses are doing me alright. As has been said a million times before the area you work in dictates the price you charge. Over the years(10) i have increased prices and have some great roundsand some great custys. :)
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Ive still got the odd house for £2.50, quite a few at £3 and id say that my average price is £4. I pick up work all the time and i keep my customers. I earn a grand a week for a 25 hour week all above board with the taxman. These £3 houses are doing me alright. As has been said a million times before the area you work in dictates the price you charge. Over the years(10) i have increased prices and have some great roundsand some great custys
Thats a lot of houses how many a week,thats about 40 to 50 houses a day ,,25 hours aweek ,,, i dont belive that i been a window cleaner for 12 years and i use wfp and that is not poss ,,,sorry
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Ewan you flatter me
size really isn't everything and as for the amount of learning i have done via trial and error i would not put myself forward as any kind of expert or authority
That said my advice would be to seek opinions from others who have experience consider what they suggest then listen to people you respect and trust whether they know window cleaning or not and then the most important point is DO WHAT YOU THINK.
If you take others advice and you don't get to where you want to be it is so easy to excuse your lack of success as their fault.
Look at the people who give you advice, consider where they are with their business and if you judge them successful fine follow their advice, but if you really want to get there trust in the same drive enthusiasm and belief that you have in yourself, that allowed you to take that big step to becoming a window cleaner and make your own mistakes and make your own success.
Nobody ever became famous or successful by following, you become successful by being YOU.
You will win customers by doing a decent job for a fair price and turning up regularly every four months. There is no shortcut, any of us on here that have being doing this for a while know what it takes. Ask Karldaze how hard it was making his mark in Spain, he may make light of it but i know he put in the hard hard graft and thats what we all need to do.
It is not easy, you will lose customers,you will have days when you want to pack it in and this is when YOU and what drives you comes to the fore. Successful people work work and work again even now while i dont do much window cleaning i still start first and finish last at my desk, at the bank the accountant etc etc.I also re-invest the money this week we paid £5k for our radio jingle, this has taken many many meetings over four weeks to get just right, will it work? who knows we will have to wait and see but if it doesn't it is my money spent and i spent it i made the decision . If it works all our staff will benefit if it doesn't it is me who loses out.
That is "success" believing in what you think is right and stepping up and making decisions based on your vision.
Scarey? yes. Lonely? yes. Hard? yes. Would i have it any other way never.
Good Luck to all
Thank you Ewan for giving me an excuse to mount my soapbox
Gordon
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why gordon? that in this post.. then the other... the other diddnt come across like that.
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Hi Kris
see my reply to missy
but you are not getting a hug
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please ;D
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Clean and Shine I agree unless he is cleaning shoe boxes. Min price for a house is at least £10 by me and they don't get done in five minutes.
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Gordonswindows you have made a very interesting input. Thanks, Paul
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Ive still got the odd house for £2.50, quite a few at £3 and id say that my average price is £4. I pick up work all the time and i keep my customers. I earn a grand a week for a 25 hour week all above board with the taxman. These £3 houses are doing me alright. As has been said a million times before the area you work in dictates the price you charge. Over the years(10) i have increased prices and have some great roundsand some great custys. :)
This is what irritates me about this forum, if we didn't talk about finances as much we probably wouldn't have as many cowboys on the streets!!!
As far as your averages go- the weekly takings don't add up!!!
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i clean some propertye the prices are between £8 and £12 a guy come on doing them for £5 in 4 months iv lost 4 houses, that shows price isnty evrything but squeaky has always been over opinionated ;D
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Too true Ronnie, people want reliability more than anything else.
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This thread started out slating window cleaners who charge £3 for a house. I am one these so called cowboy window cleaners. I was stating that my business pays me well and is made up of a mixture of priced houses( from £2.50 to £12). I work approx 25 hours a week and after i have paid my lad i am left with around a grand. I havnt sat down and calculated the average price of my houses it was just a rough guess, i find most of the day i am asking for £4. I have rounds where i can earn £300 in a day and rounds where i can £200. So mjh calculate again and dont get so irritated. Paulscotney your min price is a tenner, fantabulous for you i am not worthy :)
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don't u mean caravans. Any house is worth £10. Look at the price of diesel for your van.
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This thread started out slating window cleaners who charge £3 for a house. I am one these so called cowboy window cleaners. I was stating that my business pays me well and is made up of a mixture of priced houses( from £2.50 to £12). I work approx 25 hours a week and after i have paid my lad i am left with around a grand. I havnt sat down and calculated the average price of my houses it was just a rough guess, i find most of the day i am asking for £4. I have rounds where i can earn £300 in a day and rounds where i can £200. So mjh calculate again and dont get so irritated. Paulscotney your min price is a tenner, fantabulous for you i am not worthy :)
Thanks Birdymiller too, fair play to you, your eanings are impressive i am not directly irritated by you but if people read these posts that have been in the game for a short time
then no wonder they think they can earn a fast buck!!
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Shoe boxes, caravans whats next ???
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This thread started out slating window cleaners who charge £3 for a house. I am one these so called cowboy window cleaners. I was stating that my business pays me well and is made up of a mixture of priced houses( from £2.50 to £12). I work approx 25 hours a week and after i have paid my lad i am left with around a grand. I havnt sat down and calculated the average price of my houses it was just a rough guess, i find most of the day i am asking for £4. I have rounds where i can earn £300 in a day and rounds where i can £200. So mjh calculate again and dont get so irritated. Paulscotney your min price is a tenner, fantabulous for you i am not worthy :)
NEVER EVER QUOTE YOUR EARNINGS ON HERE ! ;D
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I post comments that i beleive in, not ones that are made to entice more cowboys. Lets face it, if the money wasnt so good would we all choose to be window cleaners. Why not sjm i was making a point about £3 hou sorry caravans
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why not a lot of people choose to be packers in factorys for minimum wage..
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Ewan you flatter me
size really isn't everything and as for the amount of learning i have done via trial and error i would not put myself forward as any kind of expert or authority
That said my advice would be to seek opinions from others who have experience consider what they suggest then listen to people you respect and trust whether they know window cleaning or not and then the most important point is DO WHAT YOU THINK.
If you take others advice and you don't get to where you want to be it is so easy to excuse your lack of success as their fault.
Look at the people who give you advice, consider where they are with their business and if you judge them successful fine follow their advice, but if you really want to get there trust in the same drive enthusiasm and belief that you have in yourself, that allowed you to take that big step to becoming a window cleaner and make your own mistakes and make your own success.
Nobody ever became famous or successful by following, you become successful by being YOU.
You will win customers by doing a decent job for a fair price and turning up regularly every four months. There is no shortcut, any of us on here that have being doing this for a while know what it takes. Ask Karldaze how hard it was making his mark in Spain, he may make light of it but i know he put in the hard hard graft and thats what we all need to do.
It is not easy, you will lose customers,you will have days when you want to pack it in and this is when YOU and what drives you comes to the fore. Successful people work work and work again even now while i dont do much window cleaning i still start first and finish last at my desk, at the bank the accountant etc etc.I also re-invest the money this week we paid £5k for our radio jingle, this has taken many many meetings over four weeks to get just right, will it work? who knows we will have to wait and see but if it doesn't it is my money spent and i spent it i made the decision . If it works all our staff will benefit if it doesn't it is me who loses out.
That is "success" believing in what you think is right and stepping up and making decisions based on your vision.
Scarey? yes. Lonely? yes. Hard? yes. Would i have it any other way never.
Good Luck to all
Thank you Ewan for giving me an excuse to mount my soapbox
Gordon
Gordon, Top post of the day imo, I could not have put that any better.
Ian
p.s Ewan my comment was nothing to do with a post you made, just on the post I just read of Gordon's
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Does he work in Croydon he can come and do my house :)
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And Mine!
Its the law of supply and demand. He cleans window at his price, you clean windows at yours.
I could have a set price of £100 a house, wouldn't get many customers but over time I might pick up one or two. Or I could have a set price of £3 and pick up loads and loads.
There was a bloke on the radio yesterday who started Glasses Direct. They sell proper spectacles for £15, same specs in high street optician would be £150. How does he do it? Volume and low overheads.
There is always someone willing to work for less.
Most of you who know me know I am, or was, a London taxi driver. There used to be a lot of good account and contract work in London but it has all been undercut and undercut to the point where you would say its not possible to do it for that price but somebody does it.
Once price cutting starts to get a hold it spreads like wildfire. I know taxi drivers who were doing contract jobs for Harrow Council on a fixed price who got phoned up and told that the price for the job was being cut significantly in mid contract and the choice was take it or leave it.
Market forces dictate price.
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Ive still got the odd house for £2.50, quite a few at £3 and id say that my average price is £4. I pick up work all the time and i keep my customers. I earn a grand a week for a 25 hour week all above board with the taxman. These £3 houses are doing me alright. As has been said a million times before the area you work in dictates the price you charge. Over the years(10) i have increased prices and have some great roundsand some great custys. :)
got to agree birdylad,as we are both from sheffield we know if we started charging some of the prices we see bandied about on here we would loose our bread and butter fortnightly customers,ive got loads of houses a i charge 3 quid for but like you my average is 4-4.50.ok since i went wfp last year ive gradually built up a new batch of custies doing jobs trad workers can't do and they are the ones i'm charging 10's n 15 quids but i'll never let my regulars down or start uping their prices ;)
everyone to their own and if your making a living wheres the problem :)
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birdy what you sayto me doesnt add up, are you ltd?? because you say your clearing a grand a week plus you pay a wage and your over heads and tax and ins..........all for 25 hours.......and doing £3 houses.mmmmmmmmmmmm :-\
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birdy what you sayto me doesnt add up, are you ltd?? because you say your clearing a grand a week plus you pay a wage and your over heads and tax and ins..........all for 25 hours.......and doing £3 houses.mmmmmmmmmmmm :-\
i think you'll find he said "some" of his houses are 3 quid and he didn't say it was "after" tax ;)
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think youll find he said he cleared!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! which means after tax!
yes not all £3 but by is comments its obvious its not just to houses @£3 and the rest @£12 kirk
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think youll find he said he cleared!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! which means after tax!
yes not all £3 but by is comments its obvious its not just to houses @£3 and the rest @£12 kirk
well that told me didn't it ron :D :D :D
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The guy might only be targetting certain smaller houses in certain roads.
It might actually be a very smart way of getting quite a lot of customers
quite quickly as a basis whilst he builds up a bit of skill and capital.
It would be an absolutley terrific way of starting up a business part-time. Who
cares if the income isn't that great? It's getting valuable experience and getting
paid a little bit to do the learning.
Then, once he's got, say, one full week's work, he can send the same flyer
to a different area advertising £5.
Then do the same and choose another area and distribute the flyer with £7 on it etc.
It might take time, but he could build things up and up.
There might be more than meets the eye at first glance.
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Actually Wally thats a very shrewd insight.
Just been to quote on a larger 3 bed semi, asked what her previous WC was charging. She said £25, I said OK well I will do the same.
I was going to go in at £16!
There is no rhyme or reason to pricing.
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This thread started out slating window cleaners who charge £3 for a house. I am one these so called cowboy window cleaners. I was stating that my business pays me well and is made up of a mixture of priced houses( from £2.50 to £12). I work approx 25 hours a week and after i have paid my lad i am left with around a grand. I havnt sat down and calculated the average price of my houses it was just a rough guess, i find most of the day i am asking for £4. I have rounds where i can earn £300 in a day and rounds where i can £200. So mjh calculate again and dont get so irritated. Paulscotney your min price is a tenner, fantabulous for you i am not worthy :)
WHOAH there birdy!!
I AM the original poster and starter of this thread.
I never called anybody a cowboy or useless.
I started this topic as a point for discussion, not as a dig or a slight at this man. It was merely something that came to my attention (it was posted through MY door? I phoned and checked and the fella confirmed any house, any size for £3.00
I questioned whether he could actually make money doing this. Nothing more and nothing less.
I was looking for input and thoughts. I DID NOT intend to create some sort of 'war' on the forum as to who is right and who is wrong.
Birdy, please dont take this as a slight on you - May I humbly suggest that 'some' of you guys calm down and work together. You are all window cleaners. Why must everything degenerate into who is 'right' and who is 'wrong'?
You do your profession no favours with this type of carry on.
Now I will sit back and wait for everybody to turn on me ::)
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The leaflet doesn,t say what they do to your windows for £3.
Clean them, remove them, pay up or we'll break them?
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The leaflet doesn,t say what they do to your windows for £3.
Clean them, remove them, pay up or we'll break them?
Sorry dd,
This is what I'm talking about (as I think birdy also feels)
Why because they work for less, should that automatically mean they are no good?
Come on dd, I'm just starting out as well!
Is this what I should expect?
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Be honest and professional and you can command a higher price.
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Ronnie ive checked and double checked as you seemed pretty sure that i put cleared a grand a week, but i cant find it. I stated that after i paid my lad i am left with a grand. So get it right mate before you have a go ;). Im not ltd, happy being sole trader. I dont care whether you cant add up, im the one who needs to be able to do that.
Davey boy in the 4th post someone states that only cow boys do it for £3 and then some more chip in with the jibes at low prices. I was only demonstrating the fact that i have houses at £3 and am not a cowboy, but a reliable quality window cleaner who makes a good living. David i didnt realise you were only starting out, its a good crack that pays well and is very flexible. It keeps me fit and i enjoy providing a good service to my custys. Just started with the wfp and its not what i had anticipated. Much prefer trad but then again to some im a cowboy who can only clean shoe boxes. Dont worry about causing war on here im sure were all big enough to take it.
dd Im as honest as the day was long on friday and pro but ive found in 10 years the area dictates the price not the shiner.
Cheers for the backup kirky ;)
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.........ive found in 10 years the area dictates the price not the shiner.
That's true.
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i started out charging £3 per house and built up a good income over a short period of time , after a few months i then started putting up the prices on these houses after the customers had seen i was reliable, trustworthy, and did a good job it was a good way for me to start by being cheap . if i was to start allover again i would do it the same way again :)
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i started out charging £3 per house and built up a good income over a short period of time , after a few months i then started putting up the prices on these houses after the customers had seen i was reliable, trustworthy, and did a good job it was a good way for me to start by being cheap . if i was to start allover again i would do it the same way again :)
You wouldnt change a thing Dave ? :o
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Dave shaw £3 houses must be a south yorkshire thing. ;D
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Cheers martin any more areas that have £3 houses. I aint bothered how i get paid silver or notes, whether they are council or millionaires, £3 or £10. Im only bothered that at the end of the day ive made a bucketful of money and my mobile is not ringing with complaints.
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o i think i can add up quite well actually and i add up that you talk cr@p, you work 25 hours a week supposedly doing what i would class as lower level prices you and your employee(who im guessing you have the right insurance for) are the fastest window cleaners or you exagerate thr truth.
I run a clever and proffsional business i clean windows in council and private areas commercial and residential and i dictate the price not the area.
Im the business owner and i know what my time is worth better than anyone, trust me i can add up but truly can you??
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calm down calm down your not doing yourself any good getting so wound up about my rounds. You think its rubbish that 2 people cant trad clean £50 an hour, then your business cant be run so cleverly and proffsional as you put it. Still no need for you to start making things up about what i have said in posts about clearing a grand after tax overheads etc ;D
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thats the way it looked like it was ment!!
im not wound up cause i know what i have and i know my business is clever ;)
£50 a hour trad is very possible at your prices more still possible missing the windows here the backs there ;)
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ronnie you seem to know quite a few ways of cutting corners, employing without insurance and missing windows maybe your the cowboy mate :)
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i never called any one a cowboy maybe that your consciuos speaking, my business is there yo see my website is below with all my company details yours are were???
im usually a good judge and well ill would be alot of money that you dont have employee ins prove me wrong!!cause i can prove you wrong ::)
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you said it mate your well ill :(
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Birdymiller my prices are similar to yours ive been doing the same run for 20 years mostly council estates done every fortnight.I average about 45 terraced houses a day myself so i no were you are coming from with your earnings.I from just outside Glasgow and just about all the window cleaners in my area charge the same prices.
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I average about 45 terraced houses a day myself ...
:o
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6 terraced houses an hour no big deal.
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Front only I take it?
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6 terraced houses an hour no big deal.
9 hours a day. :o
;D
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Can you not count ya muppet.
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Can you not count ya muppet.
With lunch you would be out nearly 9 hours actually brainstrain.
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Start at 9.00am work to 4.45 in the summer dont do lunch,about 12.30 stop for 20mins can of ginger and a roll no big deal.If there is anybody in the Paisley area tomorow come along and you can watch me work.
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Don't forget we're talking fortnightly here - how much muck builds up in a fortnight? Very little. A light rub with a scrim on that south facing window will do. Could that bathroom window be missed this time? Possibly... ;)
So on my compact work, (south prices here) when I do four council-type semi's an hour at £8 average every month I could prolly do six an hour at £5 a fortnight.
The hourly rate's not hugely different.
Culture is though: - Monday washing day, fortnightly windows and polished front step is a more northern thing I think.
Oh and the area dictates the price thing:- on compact estates very possibly but the braver shiner gets the rewards ... IMO.
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Malc(G)old true mate dont do the bathroom every fortnight but the rest all get squeegeed also meant to say these houses are £4 per fortnight but have got about 50 £3 1bed flats"sheltered housing" that i clean to i WFP the tops and squeegee the bottoms.
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6 terraced houses an hour no big deal.
Dolls houses!
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6 terraced houses an hour no big deal.
thats easy to do ;D
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As i said before if anyone wants to see me clean six terraced houses in an hour your more than welcome to come and watch me.Tosh i think me and you have had this argument before i think you said you and your bird only do about 4 houses an hour between you poor show mate.
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Yeh, but Tosh and his missus working together are like a Benny Hill sketch - he chases her round the houses but as she's a faster, better runner than he is he can't catch her.
So very little work gets done.
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If a window cleaner came round my way thinking that he can charge what he thinks he is worth, he would get no custom. I charge some £3 because that is what they are prepared to pay, im pretty sure that if they didnt get them done at all they wouldnt be bothered. So £3 it is and you have to be bloody quick to make it pay. No time for chasing people round the house. I timed myself today to clean a standard window with 2 long oblong(i ant said that for a while) panes. Climb up ladder, mop, blade, wipe sill, back down ladder in 30 seconds. Most of the £3 houses have 3 maybe 4 windows upstairs. So barring birdmuck, customer not ready with money or any other time delay me and the lad can easy rattle one of in under 4 mins.
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Yeh, but Tosh and his missus working together are like a Benny Hill sketch - he chases her round the houses but as she's a faster, better runner than he is he can't catch her.
So very little work gets done.
I can hear the music now. ;D
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If a window cleaner came round my way thinking that he can charge what he thinks he is worth, he would get no custom. I charge some £3 because that is what they are prepared to pay, im pretty sure that if they didnt get them done at all they wouldnt be bothered. So £3 it is and you have to be bloody quick to make it pay. No time for chasing people round the house. I timed myself today to clean a standard window with 2 long oblong(i ant said that for a while) panes. Climb up ladder, mop, blade, wipe sill, back down ladder in 30 seconds. Most of the £3 houses have 3 maybe 4 windows upstairs. So barring birdmuck, customer not ready with money or any other time delay me and the lad can easy rattle one of in under 4 mins.
see that were we differ i dont just clean windows i run a business and yes i could go cleaning windows every were for £3/£4 a house work my b0llocks off but im worth more than that i have a full round and one employee and i will never have acustomer dictate to me.
i do windows in areas were there are other DODGEY miss a window here window cleaner doing houses for £5 i get up to £12 for the same houses,why.......cause im professional reliable honest i sell my service and the customer buy it..............and they get VALUE!
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What is the main purpose of your business then ronnie, is it by any chance clean windows.