[barryargent]

i own a window cleaning business,started over 4 yrs ago and all is well but decided to take a loan and expand,have used traditional cleaning til now but have experience using pole wash (just for tops) and carpet cleaning.were still in the early stages but would appreciate some advice - how much water will i use, will i be able to get this from home if not where could i get it,if you use pole wash what info / advice helped you start and would you recommend,and the biggest question is would you recommend this move???thanks

[SPEEDLINER]

Hi mate,

similar position to me, i am being asked about the cleaning side of things but dont know which way forward.

If you need any advice on poles and water, you can give me a ring and i will try and help you out, 07788 503775   

[barryargent]

do you mean carpet cleaning or going along the lines of office cleaning?i dont do commercial / office cleaning myself,but had good feed back from some of my curtomers for carpet cleaning.ive had this round for many years and so my customershave a lot of trust for me,dont know if this is the same for you.ive also suggested about moving to pole wash cleaning and the majority are happy with this also.of course youll get some who wont be happy,but the most can see that as things stand its just a bog risk up the ladder.i spoke to my old boss about the pole wash cleaning and he has gone this way,and said hell never look back and soon every window cleaner will have to go this way due to the height restrictions so i dont want to be left behind.plus its easier on your knees!

[aztec]

my advice if you are going into wfp, ASK YOUR DOMESTIC CUSTOMERS IF THEY ARE WILLING TO CHANGE FIRST! i have lost so much work trying to convert them and most of the time i have stuck to ladders to keep jobs, wfp in my opinion is for commercial work only!!!

[aztec]

dont say it !

here we go again !!

[barryargent]

sorry aztec what does that mean,im new on here.yes ive spoke to a lot of my customers and to be honest havent had any bad feedback as yet.well be sticking to traditional cleaning on the bottoms and just explained that if the law comes in for height restrictions then every1 will be doing this.

[Helen]

if the law comes in for height restrictions then every1 will be doing this.

Had to check the date of this thread....the directive for working at height was introduced in 2005.

[s.hughes]

if the law comes in for height restrictions then every1 will be doing this.

Had to check the date of this thread....the directive for working at height was introduced in 2005.

Yes but people misuse that directive and will say that ladders are banned when they are not. I worked today up a ladder 2 storeys up and I was fine, why? because I had someone foot it for me if I was on my own then yes according to the directive I would'nt have been able to do it.
Just to let you know I do use wfp as well as ladders.

[Rob_Mac]

Barry

With reference to getting a loan for the development of your business.  Go and book an appointment with your local business link and chat through what you have said on here.

I have never used it but I was told about it in the 90's.

You may be able to get funding or a grant for business development. I know that our local council do this sort of stuff and basically if you put in £2000.00 they will match it to a limit of £2000.00.

The good thing about it is that the £2000.00 you put in doesn't necessarily have to be capital it can be time spent developing, equipment, promotion etc

Good luck

Rob

[Rob_Mac]

Aztec

Do you believe in the system - have you seen the system working day in & day out on numerous different windows.

If you can say yes to this then there is no reason why your customers wont believe in it - if you do.

If you cannot say yes to this then I would suggest that there is something wrong with your set up and or the way that you are cleaning windows with WFP.

I am not saying that the system is perfect but 99% of the time it offers a very high quality clean and there is little to complain about.

I moved 450 customers over to WFP - 3.5 years ago - and for the first six months I felt that I had bought a white elephant and could not see how we were ever going to move forward with it.

I had little confidence in it being able to produce mass results, month in , month out.

When I started believing in the system that confidence became infectious and we grew rapidly.  It is not the be all and end all but its many advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.

Speed, safety, height able to work at, most of the time it will clean to a very high standard, clean windows previously un reachable or dangerous.

I think there is a confidence thing going on here and a bit of negativity has caused you to go back to the ladders.

For as long as you keep both feet in both areas it is easy to say to a customer - Oh if you don't like it done wfp then I will do it traditional but you invested in WFP because you thought it had benefits.

I cannot make you believe that the system is a professional business choice that is suitable for both domestic & commercial work - but I have enough of both to know that it works equally as well on both.

I am not anti ladders and I know there are many on here who still use them safely - that's fantastic and good luck but I know I would not be where I am know if I had taken the decisions that you have.

I wish you luck

Rob

[poleman]

if the law comes in for height restrictions then every1 will be doing this.

Had to check the date of this thread....the directive for working at height was introduced in 2005.

Yes but people misuse that directive and will say that ladders are banned when they are not. I worked today up a ladder 2 storeys up and I was fine, why? because I had someone foot it for me if I was on my own then yes according to the directive I would'nt have been able to do it.
Just to let you know I do use wfp as well as ladders.

Wrong (in my opinion) WHY! footing a ladder is classed as unsafe! because if the ladder was to move, there is a point of no return, where it cant be stop, (see link for one case) a stabilizer is much safer!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gek2uXCYdmw

Andy

[s.hughes]

if the law comes in for height restrictions then every1 will be doing this.

Had to check the date of this thread....the directive for working at height was introduced in 2005.

Yes but people misuse that directive and will say that ladders are banned when they are not. I worked today up a ladder 2 storeys up and I was fine, why? because I had someone foot it for me if I was on my own then yes according to the directive I would'nt have been able to do it.
Just to let you know I do use wfp as well as ladders.

Wrong (in my opinion) WHY! footing a ladder is classed as unsafe! because if the ladder was to move, there is a point of no return, where it cant be stop, (see link for one case) a stabilizer is much safer!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gek2uXCYdmw

Andy

I know that you can still work at a height with someone footing it (obviously only to a certain height) which was fine for me today. I have a ladders stopper and use it a lot but although its h& s approved I'm not sure where it stands as far as the directive is concerned.

Steve

[barryargent]

just to confirm that i am footed when using a ladder and i was aware of the directive in 2005,however i was meaning that eventually there is likely to be a law which says ladders can not be used as they are unsafe full stop.i have used pole wash when working for some1 else,not in my business.i have confidence that this is goin to move our business forward just asking for helpful advice before i invest.havent got the loan but have been applying to loan companies.wanted to know if there was any info that any1 found helpful when they moved from traditional / ladders to pole wash.

[steven ainger]

best advise i could give is to, while still doing trad, clean all the tops of frames and dont use fairy on the glass and do as much research on the w/c forums so you have some idea before you start,

[barryargent]

what do u mean by dont use fairy on glass - do u mean when doin traditional?whats the alternative?

[steven ainger]

use something like gg3/4 when doing trad before you change over, apparently its harder to change over if you used to use fairy, so i was told, i used gg4 and have had no probs, also take your time and do all your houses properly, it will be slower  to start with, but the more you do them the quicker you will be. hope this helps

[pjulk]

I use squeegie off as you get good slip and suds you can get it in B&Q marked up as there own brand but its exactly the same.

GG3 and 4 is good but takes a bit of getting used to as there is not a lot of suds and you need to put in more than the suggested ammount.

Paul