Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Clive McDonald on November 04, 2009, 09:44:14 pm
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After a two week holiday i fought hard to catch up, then six weeks later hardly any work as the corresponding weeks came round again. Even had a few days off.
Printed off work for next week and it's huge and barely doable. I've just got wcpro and hoping to manage things a little better.Anyone got any tips.
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Bring some of next weeks work forward?
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Don't go on holiday?
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I'm a bit stuffed now but in the future yes. With this wcpro i have seperated the work into four area rounds and this gives me more flexibility. Window cleaning and holidays is a probem that rumbles on.
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its pointless trying to do extra and catchup,thing to do is come back off holiday and call it day one do normal weeks work and after 4 weeks you are stright and work is balanced again
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Some of my work has been washed out this week, so come the next cycle I'll be short. However I rarely manage to keep on top of it all, so in the end that empty week usually fills up again.
Doesn't your man keep working when you go gallavanting?
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start at the begining at get to the end . get to the end and restart at the begining have a break inbetween thats my tip . start at the begining and work to the end its a sure fire winer .
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Ideally you need two types of work! Work that is done monthly and then some done less often,then when that happens with holidays and rain in that short week you can pull in the work that is done less often(3 to 4 monthly)With that sort of work a week earlier isnt too bad.
I am lucky in that i do lots of landlord work 4 monthly and i just do it spread out after my other work so if i have a light week i do that.But it can be a problem.
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windowcleaner dont av holidays or is it just me!!!!!! maybe i need help!!! 8)
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Round constipation is always preferable to any other shape I would have thought.
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Just keep to your normal schedule and when the customers ask why you are late just tell them about your holiday,surely that wouldn't begrudged you a break.
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windowcleaner dont av holidays or is it just me!!!!!! maybe i need help!!! 8)
4 weeks holiday a year ,plus days off for rain ;D ;D
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its doenst need to be complicated
pick a start point of your round, let says " st georges ave "
the work your way though the round, allways keep the same order and your all done
thats it, no need to split your round up into zones etc etc
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Some pretty honest replies.I hadn't seen it the way that most of you do.I E. balanced. The thing is i come back and print a george list for the two weeks i've been gone and the commencing week.It's always over 3k and i just want to attack it.
I don't even attack it very well, i pick off the plum jobs first and the priority is maximising every days wages- it's true that i also prioritise new work so i am also working my way through the answer phone which does slow me down a little.My foot print is about ten miles square and none of my work is compact, and even houses that are close together i very rarely do on the same day.There is an element of running around like a headless chicken.
Where wcpro seems to help is that i now can print off seperate lists for areas, whereas before i had to felt pen mark jobs that were natural partners.Anyone who has read my posts before will know that one theme is always about how smart i am, but i am not any near as smart as a computer and dedicated software.
The man who works for me doesn't have a driving licence.I told him i would pay for his licence and lessons, but he never gets around to doing anything about it.
So the idea of just putting everything back two weeks doesn't appeal because i am too greedy.
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Wow! You need to simplify things Clive and be more disciplined.
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i am much the same as you slump i had a holiday last month and rushed round got caught up and now very little due next week, and yes i am guilty of prioritising the plush jobs and new work. but although i got caught up it wasnt to much of a struggle so i should be able to keep it up so next week i am going canvassing
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Some pretty honest replies.I hadn't seen it the way that most of you do.I E. balanced. The thing is i come back and print a george list for the two weeks i've been gone and the commencing week.It's always over 3k and i just want to attack it.
I don't even attack it very well, i pick off the plum jobs first and the priority is maximising every days wages- it's true that i also prioritise new work so i am also working my way through the answer phone which does slow me down a little.My foot print is about ten miles square and none of my work is compact, and even houses that are close together i very rarely do on the same day.There is an element of running around like a headless chicken.
Where wcpro seems to help is that i now can print off seperate lists for areas, whereas before i had to felt pen mark jobs that were natural partners.Anyone who has read my posts before will know that one theme is always about how smart i am, but i am not any near as smart as a computer and dedicated software.
The man who works for me doesn't have a driving licence.I told him i would pay for his licence and lessons, but he never gets around to doing anything about it.
So the idea of just putting everything back two weeks doesn't appeal because i am too greedy.
IMO, your problem is the software dude!!! It can't depict bad weather, holidays, sickness etc. It can only work on a rigid timescale, no flexibility like a human brain. I don't know why you rely on this kind of crap to be honest clive. Running a w/c round, even a huge one is, frankly a piece of p for anyone with an ounce of the common matter.
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Some pretty honest replies.I hadn't seen it the way that most of you do.I E. balanced. The thing is i come back and print a george list for the two weeks i've been gone and the commencing week.It's always over 3k and i just want to attack it.
I don't even attack it very well, i pick off the plum jobs first and the priority is maximising every days wages- it's true that i also prioritise new work so i am also working my way through the answer phone which does slow me down a little.My foot print is about ten miles square and none of my work is compact, and even houses that are close together i very rarely do on the same day.There is an element of running around like a headless chicken.
Where wcpro seems to help is that i now can print off seperate lists for areas, whereas before i had to felt pen mark jobs that were natural partners.Anyone who has read my posts before will know that one theme is always about how smart i am, but i am not any near as smart as a computer and dedicated software.
The man who works for me doesn't have a driving licence.I told him i would pay for his licence and lessons, but he never gets around to doing anything about it.
So the idea of just putting everything back two weeks doesn't appeal because i am too greedy.
where its nice to earn max everyday, it doesnt help your situation
pick a starting point and work though your job list, it will become your round and you will not even need to look at your printout to know where you are going next, you will know that house A is followed by house B etc etc
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I don't even attack it very well, i pick off the plum jobs first and the priority is maximising every days wages- it's true that i also prioritise new work so i am also working my way through the answer phone which does slow me down a little.My foot print is about ten miles square and none of my work is compact, and even houses that are close together i very rarely do on the same day.There is an element of running around like a headless chicken.
Sounds exactly like what I do. I'm not nearly strict enough with myself. If I wake up not feeling like going to a certain area, I just look at my list and go to the best paying job that's due. I have to be stricter with myself!
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I've just printed off three lists for tomorrow using window cleaner pro.These are my home area,12 jobs £130, area one 10 jobs £237, and area two 13 jobs £257.
I'm a bit different to the rest of you in that in the morning i have to go and set up a market stall.I get back home about 8am and jump into the window cleaning van, this is still a bit early to start so a twenty minute drive to an area is a good use of 'dead' time.
I always run out of water by 2pm and have to refill.I have to finish my last job at about 3.40pm and jump into the market van to go and reload the stall.So you can see i don't have much time and if i run out of water when i am far away that's another problem.To refill with water takes about twenty minutes and i begrudge this and is the reason that i want another new transit so that i can carry 1000l.The good thing about refilling is that we have a cup of tea and my helper gets to eat loads of sausage rolls and pasties that we buy at asda on offer with the premise that if we look after him with grubb he won't want paying much ( this does seem to work).
So the pattern of my day would be to shoot off in the morning, work, and come back to refill and do some local jobs before hopping into the other vehicle to go back to the market.Working till five is not an option for me.
So what is the difference between my three lists and just printing a big list with the same info? Well instead of me baffleing for twenty minutes with a felt pen highlighting jobs in the same area the overview is already done for me, and i can concentrate on working instead of puzzleing.
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I don't even attack it very well, i pick off the plum jobs first and the priority is maximising every days wages- it's true that i also prioritise new work so i am also working my way through the answer phone which does slow me down a little.My foot print is about ten miles square and none of my work is compact, and even houses that are close together i very rarely do on the same day.There is an element of running around like a headless chicken.
why not re arrange your work and have a number of good properties for each week .
i pay my bills with 1 good day a week usually a monday , rain ,wind or shine , tuesday to friday then is a bonus . with a bit of tinkering with your round you can make it work were you get a good income each week , once your work is complete restart .
Sounds exactly like what I do. I'm not nearly strict enough with myself. If I wake up not feeling like going to a certain area, I just look at my list and go to the best paying job that's due. I have to be stricter with myself!
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I wont complete all of that work tomorrow and i wasn't trying to imply that i would, but a good chunk of it will get done.The other thing about wcpro is that it allows you to put timings on the jobs and how many men are needed, so in addition to saying how many jobs and how much, it also says how long.To me these seem pretty good tools.
Dave shaw, your mondays sound good, but i want five mondays a week, and if i ever get two vans on the road ten mondays a week. I know what you are saying is sensible and what i am saying is less so, but that's how it is.
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Clive i am amazed you are so disorganised. You need to group work by area. Working through your list will become like a production line. Failing that, start furthest away and chip away at jobs on your own turf on your return to refill.
Avoiding duplicating the same area was the 1st major saving i made with my expenses.
As you are only 1 vehicle, i can't see any advantage of having 3 separate lists. That just complicates things in my opinion. 1 list per vehicle has got to be better. .
I like your posts clive cos you pioneer and pave the way for the likes of me to come along, once things become too efficient to ignore.
And this is no different.
A coworker with no driving license is terribly inefficient. You need to get your work bunched up and drop him off somewhere with a trailer and 200 metres of hose.
Your round won't seem so unwieldy then. ;D
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for a time while building a round full of amazing work, you will have some mediocre stuff but its filling time where you are still earning and not doing nothing and it needs doing, i work in a logical geographic order, when i do the good work its good, when i do the mediocre its till all good becuase its all about that figure at the end of the week / month which is still all good :)
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Some pretty honest replies.I hadn't seen it the way that most of you do.I E. balanced. The thing is i come back and print a george list for the two weeks i've been gone and the commencing week.It's always over 3k and i just want to attack it.
I don't even attack it very well, i pick off the plum jobs first and the priority is maximising every days wages- it's true that i also prioritise new work so i am also working my way through the answer phone which does slow me down a little.My foot print is about ten miles square and none of my work is compact, and even houses that are close together i very rarely do on the same day.There is an element of running around like a headless chicken.
Where wcpro seems to help is that i now can print off seperate lists for areas, whereas before i had to felt pen mark jobs that were natural partners.Anyone who has read my posts before will know that one theme is always about how smart i am, but i am not any near as smart as a computer and dedicated software.
The man who works for me doesn't have a driving licence.I told him i would pay for his licence and lessons, but he never gets around to doing anything about it.
So the idea of just putting everything back two weeks doesn't appeal because i am too greedy.
where its nice to earn max everyday, it doesnt help your situation
pick a starting point and work though your job list, it will become your round and you will not even need to look at your printout to know where you are going next, you will know that house A is followed by house B etc etc
That way works best for me too. I sometimes have slight alteration but nothing that takes me too far away from where I'm meant to be working. I spend several days in each area and when I'm done, move onto the next. It's the window cleaner that runs the round - not the software. The software is just a guide to refer to IMO.
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Some pretty honest replies.I hadn't seen it the way that most of you do.I E. balanced. The thing is i come back and print a george list for the two weeks i've been gone and the commencing week.It's always over 3k and i just want to attack it.
I don't even attack it very well, i pick off the plum jobs first and the priority is maximising every days wages- it's true that i also prioritise new work so i am also working my way through the answer phone which does slow me down a little.My foot print is about ten miles square and none of my work is compact, and even houses that are close together i very rarely do on the same day.There is an element of running around like a headless chicken.
Where wcpro seems to help is that i now can print off seperate lists for areas, whereas before i had to felt pen mark jobs that were natural partners.Anyone who has read my posts before will know that one theme is always about how smart i am, but i am not any near as smart as a computer and dedicated software.
The man who works for me doesn't have a driving licence.I told him i would pay for his licence and lessons, but he never gets around to doing anything about it.
So the idea of just putting everything back two weeks doesn't appeal because i am too greedy.
where its nice to earn max everyday, it doesnt help your situation
pick a starting point and work though your job list, it will become your round and you will not even need to look at your printout to know where you are going next, you will know that house A is followed by house B etc etc
That way works best for me too. I sometimes have slight alteration but nothing that takes me too far away from where I'm meant to be working. I spend several days in each area and when I'm done, move onto the next. It's the window cleaner that runs the round - not the software. The software is just a guide to refer to IMO.
whilst i can see some WC software would be nice ( for the taxman etc etc ), i cannot see the need
as i have said, start at house A then onto B followed by C
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I can see what you've done Slumpy, as you have picked up work you've cleaned it almost straight away because you were new and just starting up. You've fed it into your pc and religiously keep to the agreed frequency of clean. The problem then is how to regroup them into specific days and areas. How do you do this? Can't clean them early and can't skip the cleans because you'll be loseing money and customers?
I have similar problems but the only way my round has become more compact and into zones is by being forced to stop work in the bad weather then when I atart again I can pick and choose the jobs I want to clean in the right areas.
Come holiday time what you really need is a computer programme that jogs the whole round on two weeks, either that or you ignore the lost fortnight and gradually filter them back in in the right areas.
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Commercial gets done on the set day. Best areas are done 1st. Worst areas last. When I catch myself up I pull in long frequency cleans and have a break when everything completed. Back to the start again.
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Just build a scheduled round so you know every day what you are doing and leave fridays free for catch up...easy, peasy.
Cheers
Dave
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I'm finding this thread interesting, not because everyone should do it the way i do it, but because how we approach this is very important and it's quite a fresh topic.The people with more than one van for instance, what is their approach?This is all probably old hat to some of you but wcpro is opening my eyes to the possibilities.
Ewan, you've got yourself confused again.If you worked for me i would stuff you full of doughnuts and pay you hardly anything. In the mornings i would say"Good morning ewan, have you got any helpfull business suggestions today?"
And then I would turn the van radio on very loudly ;D.But it would probably be the happiest working experience of your life because you would be able to soak up the knowledge and go back to your own empire blazing like a light bulb with renewed energy,vigour, and ideas.
Matt, your work is compact, mine isn't.
Mark, disorganised yes, but only in a mad genius sort of way.
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I'm finding this thread interesting, not because everyone should do it the way i do it, but because how we approach this is very important and it's quite a fresh topic.The people with more than one van for instance, what is their approach?This is all probably old hat to some of you but wcpro is opening my eyes to the possibilities.
Ewan, you've got yourself confused again.If you worked for me i would stuff you full of doughnuts and pay you hardly anything. In the mornings i would say"Good morning ewan, have you got any helpfull business suggestions today?"
And then I would turn the van radio on very loudly ;D.But it would probably be the happiest working experience of your life because you would be able to soak up the knowledge and go back to your own empire blazing like a light bulb with renewed energy,vigour, and ideas.
;D
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Commercial gets done on the set day. Best areas are done 1st. Worst areas last. When I catch myself up I pull in long frequency cleans and have a break when everything completed. Back to the start again.
The best way to do it. Spoken like a true pro
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I'm finding this thread interesting, not because everyone should do it the way i do it, but because how we approach this is very important and it's quite a fresh topic.The people with more than one van for instance, what is their approach?This is all probably old hat to some of you but wcpro is opening my eyes to the possibilities.
Ewan, you've got yourself confused again.If you worked for me i would stuff you full of doughnuts and pay you hardly anything. In the mornings i would say"Good morning ewan, have you got any helpfull business suggestions today?"
And then I would turn the van radio on very loudly ;D.But it would probably be the happiest working experience of your life because you would be able to soak up the knowledge and go back to your own empire blazing like a light bulb with renewed energy,vigour, and ideas.
Matt, your work is compact, mine isn't.
Mark, disorganised yes, but only in a mad genius sort of way.
Yes and i'm sure you'll end up with the best solution. I'm not a pioneer like you. But your setup sounds very inefficient at the moment. And a tad complicated. ;D
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i just make mine up as i go along!
i look at what's due and pick the best houses, fill the day up with mediocre jobs (crap jobs have all gone now) and try to keep it all geographically sensible with the quotes i need to do for that day!
simples! but it would be interesting to know how many more miles per year i'm doing compared to if i just concentrated on geographical sensibility.
i'm pretty sure the increased turnover would outweigh the fuel/time saving though.
i've been suffering from round constipation for the last 3 weeks. but now i've caught up so well that i've only got about 3 days work per week for the next 2 weeks (not counting new jobs)!
ah well, the bills are paid and there's plenty of jobs around the house to keep me busy, i might even do a days canvassing!
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Never would I pick the best houses to do on my rounds, they are all done in order, I start at the start and finish at the finish, if ever it is not followed it will be because of 8 weekly cleans that are done the next working day and reverted back to the correct day for the next clean.
I work area to area.
Lets say I start in peterborough, then cover cambridge, then so on and so on.
If I picked my best houses out I would be driving everywhere to do these and by the end of the day they would not be the best jobs because of the driving time.
Ian
p.s all round sheets are in order before they are printed, it really is as simple as following from job one to job whatever is at the end of the sheet.
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A bit disapointed in Ewan and Marks spiteful comments.As regards knowing Matt's round better than i do my own he has said many times that he spends the whole day in one street, and may only move the van six times in totall.Other than that and the fact that ewan means plateau when he says pinnacle i've just been through todays stuff, of the the three rounds home was zero, area two 202, and area one,127.(two men).Both areas are fiveish miles opposite sides of me, and none of the jobs are close.
Thanks Ian.
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A bit disapointed in Ewan and Marks spiteful comments.As regards knowing Matt's round better than i do my own he has said many times that he spends the whole day in one street, and may only move the van six times in totall.Other than that and the fact that ewan means plateau when he says pinnacle i've just been through todays stuff, of the the three rounds home was zero, area two 202, and area one,127.(two men).Both areas are fiveish miles opposite sides of me, and none of the jobs are close.
Thanks Ian.
your welcome, I think Ewan is having a bad few days ::)
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A bit disapointed in Ewan and Marks spiteful comments.
Eh? Was i spiteful?
Yes and i'm sure you'll end up with the best solution. I'm not a pioneer like you. But your setup sounds very inefficient at the moment. And a tad complicated. ;D
No spite meant. I read your descriptions as having an inefficient round. £329 ain't bad for 2 men. But for how many hours?
Working your round and employee more efficiently will save you loads. And make you more money.
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Never would I pick the best houses to do on my rounds, they are all done in order, I start at the start and finish at the finish, if ever it is not followed it will be because of 8 weekly cleans that are done the next working day and reverted back to the correct day for the next clean.
I work area to area.
Lets say I start in peterborough, then cover cambridge, then so on and so on.
If I picked my best houses out I would be driving everywhere to do these and by the end of the day they would not be the best jobs because of the driving time.
Ian
p.s all round sheets are in order before they are printed, it really is as simple as following from job one to job whatever is at the end of the sheet.
slumpbuster, i didn't read mark's comment as spiteful. even complimentary possibly.
ww, don't get me wrong, i race around willy nilly from one top job to another. i just try to make the best day from everything that is due (within reason)
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A bit disapointed in Ewan and Marks spiteful comments.As regards knowing Matt's round better than i do my own he has said many times that he spends the whole day in one street, and may only move the van six times in totall.Other than that and the fact that ewan means plateau when he says pinnacle i've just been through todays stuff, of the the three rounds home was zero, area two 202, and area one,127.(two men).Both areas are fiveish miles opposite sides of me, and none of the jobs are close.
Thanks Ian.
your right, my days are just in the same street, most days my van stays put and doesnt get moved, my worse day for van moves is 4 or 5 moves, depends if i am being lazy
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A bit disapointed in Ewan and Marks spiteful comments.As regards knowing Matt's round better than i do my own he has said many times that he spends the whole day in one street, and may only move the van six times in totall.Other than that and the fact that ewan means plateau when he says pinnacle i've just been through todays stuff, of the the three rounds home was zero, area two 202, and area one,127.(two men).Both areas are fiveish miles opposite sides of me, and none of the jobs are close.
Thanks Ian.
your right, my days are just in the same street, most days my van stays put and doesnt get moved, my worse day for van moves is 4 or 5 moves, depends if i am being lazy
what he is forgetting to say is that hes on the dole, he cleans his neighbours windows, and may have to push the van as it does not start up, so pushes up the road a few times ::) ;D
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Something that I do practice regularly is having end of day "filler" jobs - preferably in the area that I'm working or possibly close to home. This is particularly so at this time of year when darkness arrives sooner.
What I mean is that I try to avoid starting a block of work if I feel that I would be unable to finish it. Instead, I will drive elsewhere (hopefully just a few streets over) and do a couple of standalones. That way, I can do a full block of work the next working day instead by starting it earlier in the day. Supplying a 6 weekly service (which is actually 6 - 8 weeks) allows me a bit of flexibility to work in this manner.
I think it's important to build a bit of flexibility into the round otherwise you can just become a slave to your own business.
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Good point that, the flexibility I mean. Many of us start out to be 'Mr Reliable' and clean on specific days. This is great for a while untill you want time off then you are stuffed like Slumpy chasing your workload and creating holes in the next cycle. The relaxed guys although less reliable don't have any problems catching up (in reality they never catch up) but lose money for the weeks they never worked.
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Some very good posts ftp and leaps. I agree with almost everything leaps has said here and previously, my only resevation is that he works from a spreadsheet. When i first started i tried (and pretty much failed it was just a list of names really) to knock a spreadsheet up in excel. I realise that leaps has done a pretty good job on this and is therefore a smart cookie. Even so i refuse to believe that even einstein himself could build a spreadsheet able to compete with the versatility of a dedicated programme.
Buying george was one of the best fifty quids i ever spent. It saved me hours and hours and hours of tedium sorting this out, probably in a similar way to leaps.Because of comments on this forum( when this forum is good it is very good) i forked out £200 for wcpro. I am only a novice at it but already feel that i can manipulate and manage my business data even better.Of course i know that what mark dew says is right, but it is far easier to implement a selective strategy (just over six hours by the way but this is not an earnings post) using a programme.
Ewan, digs aside, how do you organise your work?
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My mistakes
1. Not writing down custies name (Unfindable credit transfer payments)
2.Not getting phone nos. (can't easily chase the debt)
3.Not chasing debts and writing quite a few off
4.Not keeping good reconcilliation records of who has paid and who hasn't
Best decisions
1.Hot system
2.Electric re-wind red ash reels
3. Listening to the forum (ie. someone might have a better idea than me, or accepting i could be wrong)
4.Systems, not just wc pro, but investing in a large address stamp for envelopes as an example, and a smaller stamp with my account details for the back of cheques has proved a time saver. I would also probably include in this my visit cards.
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Thanks to all who posted, to think out loud on this forum and have feedback continues to help me.
Clive