[CJcamCJ]

i live in west midlands

[lee09]

where abouts in the west mids

[richard jagger]

I would just nspend some time on here and learn from all that goes on also read past posting for a few months youy will then have a fair idea of what goes on.All the questions youy might want to ask will have been addressed already.

[clearlyclean]

im think that £10 a house will be my minimum, also how do you guys collect payment? do you just knock on the door and say "gimme some money!"?   or do you guys do it some otherway?.
thanks

I use a sawn off and say give the money!
most pay on the day,ones that are out leave a note to post check,bank transfer or call back, the last is time consuming but you get the cash in your hand.

[CJcamCJ]

yeah, thanks Wizkid thats what i was thinking to and lee i live near stoke, thanks  

[Blue Frog Systems]

Where abouts near stoke ? im from Castle originally and my brother is a w/c up Longton way

My advice ....

Work out the price of the following individually

Backpack setup
trolley set up
van mount

then price up vans

then price up the following

poles
ro
di
basic trad kit
water storage (ibc or water butt)
work wear
leaflets

once you have done all that, then you can see what you can get for your budget.

I reckon £600 would get you the backpack set up then add the van ontop of that

[ant french]

try ebay mate theres a few backpacks on trollys for about 200-400 quid which are ideal for starting off. i think its pointless spending lots of money at the start when you never know how it will turn out. they claim 75% of new businesses never work out within a year and fail.
go to vistaprint and get some free business cards aswell, its always nice to have some in ya van or back pocket to dish out to anyone you get chatting to aswell i find.

[CJcamCJ]

thanks Blue Frog, i live very close to longton =D, about 2 miles away

[CJcamCJ]

cheers ant. i have alot of time planning this and getting abit of knowledge and money for a van/insurance, thats gonna kill me the most

[ant french]

insurance isnt that bad, i passed my test in october and bought a mazda eunos ( mx5 ) the ins was 1600 fully comp and then i thought bout selling and going window cleaning and got the berlingo and now i pay just under 600 a yr fully comp 

[Jackal]

i live in fenton (stoke) so not far from you,my round is in the local area,what area you thinking of trying?id say if starting from scratch go straight to wfp but learn trad aswell,you will do well to get £10 minimum for basic houses round here mate but good luck if you can get away with it

[Blue Frog Systems]

My brother says its £4 a house (3 bed semi).... £6 with a conny (trad 2 weekly)

Priced my brothers house up at my prices i charge in worcestershire and it came out at £12.... though i'd do it for £10 seen as though he's my brother.

[CJcamCJ]

thanks ant, that looks like a nice little van. and £600 a yr? you kidding me or somthing? if thats ture its amazing, however im sure it would be higher for me as it would be my first vehicle.

hi jackal, how much do you charge around here? im not sure if ill stick with local or travel some yet im realy still at the basics . thanks m8

[Jackal]

depends if its in the nice estates il charge more even if they got the same amount of windows,

i charge normally 0.75p per window with new work now and £3 or 4 with conny iv tried the £1 window thing but you cant pick work up as fast round here,as alot of the windys still charge less than a fiver a house,

for example 2 people in my street get charged £2.50 2 bed semi and a fronts only £1.20 its laughable 

[cozy]

All you need to know about getting started is on this site mate.

http://www.windowcleaningcoach.com/default.html

The guy who owns the site knows what he's talking about.

[leights]

rgi lol


no windows before the baccs

im alright 

[CJcamCJ]

yeah, ive read that site, its good. Thats the site that brought me here infact 

[JoeMax]

There might be TONS of competition.

The number of people out of work in Britain rose by 35,000 in the three months to October, pushing the unemployment total up to 2,502,000. This raised the UK's unemployment rate to 7.9%, from 7.8% in the previous quarter, the highest rate in six months.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/dec/15/unemployment-rises-unexpectedly

A lot of public sector positions going over Xmas as well - a friend of mine is losing his at the job center after working 5 years there - he is even considering this profession 

[CJcamCJ]

yeah Joe, i understand and thats why infact if i start this up sooner the better really, im at collage doing an electrical instalation course (hate it ) but when i finish i wont have to go into that trade ill have this to fall on =D and who knows if im succsesful enough with this then i could start a electrial bizz up =D ( well maybe thats dreaming but you never know )

[careless.david@gmail.com]

Go WFP - a Pure freedom 25ltr trolley is a good start & earner - you should be able to set yourself up for around 2k. Don't underprice your work - plenty inc me get tempted to pay to work.
Best of luck.