[AuRavelling79]

Paul J - in my little corner of Bristol (Between Avonmouth and The Downs) there are living the following that I know personally:-

Wfp Filton - 08 Shiny Scudo
Wfp/trad Filton - clapped out Pug 405 estate
In Sea Mills 3 wfp windies - 06 shiny Scudo/56 shiny doblo - me! /08 4x4 mitsubishi thingy
In Stoke Bishop 2 wfp windie with mitsubishi 4 x 4 and Escort 75 van respectively.
In Lawrence Weston 2 wfp windies (02 scudo/05 partner)
In Severn beach 1 wfp windy (05 doblo)
In Avonmouth 1 Husband and wife team (Big ducato/boxer thingy)
In Shirehampton 1 Father/son wfp - Vivaro 55 plate
In Southmead 1 trad windy
In Westbury on Trym 1 wfp/trad - mondeo estate
In Brentry 2 wfp - 1 in a van. 1 car and trailer
Plus a couple of old boy tradders in their motors.

Besides these there is a  franchiser and I see their vans going around (4 I think but they also go into the centre of town)

So thats 15/20 windies! And yes my custies tell me that loads of canvassing is going on but I've not lost one to another windy.

However I do feel that there are enough w/c's in the area and that it isn't as easy as it was to get new biz. And Avonmouth commercials are cutting back - and that is a filthy environment.

So I wouldn't give up - maybe you're losing to wfp because unlike OOP NORTH, in N.W. Bristol wfp is now the norm and custies "know" they can get their awkward windows and frames cleaned and won't have health and safety issues if a guy falls on their property.

If you are really giving up I will give you good rates for any decent work my side of the River round to the A38. e - mail me on mgwc1@hotmail.com

[Tom White]

I go to Bristol most weekends; and there's a ruddy lot of glass in that large city.

[♠Winp®oClean♠]

Another thing you could try -

If you're feeling a bit low put ITV3 on at 1.30pm, a double Jeremy Kyle! After that you should feel quite normal & quite happy at being just that!

[stagcleaning]

After 6 years as a trad window cleaner I've reluctantly called it a day!

I've found over the last few years the amount of window cleaners in the area has majorly increased, trad and WFP. I've gradually been losing customers to the WFP guys which encouraged me to invest in my business and take the plunge and get myself a system. However before I bought the system I thought I'd do a little market research and find out just how much compition there is.

What can I say, I was stunned to see so many WFP window cleaners in my area.....12! And that was in a 3 mile radius of where I live! God knows how many there are in the whole city (Bristol)?!

So that's pretty much it for me, far to much compition out there to warrant investing £££ and and losing to many customers to continue on as a trad.

Another one bites the dust

Sorry to hear that, I have them days too, there is a lot of competition everywhere and with things as tough as they are it's no wonder people are calling it a day!

[paul rulton]

Another thing you could try -

If you're feeling a bit low put ITV3 on at 1.30pm, a double Jeremy Kyle! After that you should feel quite normal & quite happy at being just that!

HAHA  good 1 m8 

[Frankybadboy]

Paul J - in my little corner of Bristol (Between Avonmouth and The Downs) there are living the following that I know personally:-

Wfp Filton - 08 Shiny Scudo
Wfp/trad Filton - clapped out Pug 405 estate
In Sea Mills 3 wfp windies - 06 shiny Scudo/56 shiny doblo - me! /08 4x4 mitsubishi thingy
In Stoke Bishop 2 wfp windie with mitsubishi 4 x 4 and Escort 75 van respectively.
In Lawrence Weston 2 wfp windies (02 scudo/05 partner)
In Severn beach 1 wfp windy (05 doblo)
In Avonmouth 1 Husband and wife team (Big ducato/boxer thingy)
In Shirehampton 1 Father/son wfp - Vivaro 55 plate
In Southmead 1 trad windy
In Westbury on Trym 1 wfp/trad - mondeo estate
In Brentry 2 wfp - 1 in a van. 1 car and trailer
Plus a couple of old boy tradders in their motors.

Besides these there is a  franchiser and I see their vans going around (4 I think but they also go into the centre of town)

So thats 15/20 windies! And yes my custies tell me that loads of canvassing is going on but I've not lost one to another windy.

However I do feel that there are enough w/c's in the area and that it isn't as easy as it was to get new biz. And Avonmouth commercials are cutting back - and that is a filthy environment.

So I wouldn't give up - maybe you're losing to wfp because unlike OOP NORTH, in N.W. Bristol wfp is now the norm and custies "know" they can get their awkward windows and frames cleaned and won't have health and safety issues if a guy falls on their property.

If you are really giving up I will give you good rates for any decent work my side of the River round to the A38. e - mail me on mgwc1@hotmail.com

and if it in the posh side of bristol ie keynsham/brislington then email me @ rich-frank@hotmail.co.uk

[mci services]

i used to drive through keysham its not posh : well maybe for bristol it is

[matt]

we are all seeing new starters, a few of my customers have told me they have had a few leafelts etc etc

as you start off, you are desperate for work, thus you will do it cheaper, it will in the long run drive down prices, but then again most of us have been earning a very nice wage doing window cleaning, i have said it for a while, the bubble was allways going to burst

[♠Winp®oClean♠]

we are all seeing new starters, a few of my customers have told me they have had a few leafelts etc etc

as you start off, you are desperate for work, thus you will do it cheaper, it will in the long run drive down prices, but then again most of us have been earning a very nice wage doing window cleaning, i have said it for a while, the bubble was allways going to burst

Might end up being centre parks this year then matt?

[matt]

we are all seeing new starters, a few of my customers have told me they have had a few leafelts etc etc

as you start off, you are desperate for work, thus you will do it cheaper, it will in the long run drive down prices, but then again most of us have been earning a very nice wage doing window cleaning, i have said it for a while, the bubble was allways going to burst

Might end up being centre parks this year then matt?

 

[williamx]

After 6 years as a trad window cleaner I've reluctantly called it a day!

I've found over the last few years the amount of window cleaners in the area has majorly increased, trad and WFP. I've gradually been losing customers to the WFP guys which encouraged me to invest in my business and take the plunge and get myself a system. However before I bought the system I thought I'd do a little market research and find out just how much compition there is.

What can I say, I was stunned to see so many WFP window cleaners in my area.....12! And that was in a 3 mile radius of where I live! God knows how many there are in the whole city (Bristol)?!

So that's pretty much it for me, far to much compition out there to warrant investing £££ and and losing to many customers to continue on as a trad.

Another one bites the dust

A whole 12??

In my area (Sittingbourne) within the 3 mile radius there are about 10-15 window cleaners, without the 7 of us! (and soon to be 8 - looking for 7th franchisee now)

There will always be competition, if you can't compete you aren't cut out for self employment.  After 6 years I would have thought your business was worth fighting for.  Every time you lose a customer, get out there and get two more.  Two is not that hard to find, and instead of your business fading away it will go from strength to strength.  All you need is a bit of motivation, the market may be well serviced, but it's almost unlimited.

When I first started I had no competition, I could walk down any street and get every third house or more.  Now it's totally different, but the work is still there, you just have to put in a bit more effort.  All these new starts will be in a worse position than you, they need to build enough work from scratch to make a living, and with no previous experience most of them will get disheartened and give up.

You have the advantage of a solid established customer base.  Why throw it away? Build on it and grow.

Ian

I have been thinking about how to move forward my company, and franchising is one of the ways I am looking at.

Can you give me some details on the best way to do this.

Cheers william

[NWH]

You need to sell yourself aswell as what you do,get customers to like you aswell as you just being the window cleaner.Trust is the no1 thing in this game and 99.9% will pay a little bit more for that.

[Ian Lancaster]

After 6 years as a trad window cleaner I've reluctantly called it a day!

I've found over the last few years the amount of window cleaners in the area has majorly increased, trad and WFP. I've gradually been losing customers to the WFP guys which encouraged me to invest in my business and take the plunge and get myself a system. However before I bought the system I thought I'd do a little market research and find out just how much compition there is.

What can I say, I was stunned to see so many WFP window cleaners in my area.....12! And that was in a 3 mile radius of where I live! God knows how many there are in the whole city (Bristol)?!

So that's pretty much it for me, far to much compition out there to warrant investing £££ and and losing to many customers to continue on as a trad.

Another one bites the dust

A whole 12??

In my area (Sittingbourne) within the 3 mile radius there are about 10-15 window cleaners, without the 7 of us! (and soon to be 8 - looking for 7th franchisee now)

There will always be competition, if you can't compete you aren't cut out for self employment.  After 6 years I would have thought your business was worth fighting for.  Every time you lose a customer, get out there and get two more.  Two is not that hard to find, and instead of your business fading away it will go from strength to strength.  All you need is a bit of motivation, the market may be well serviced, but it's almost unlimited.

When I first started I had no competition, I could walk down any street and get every third house or more.  Now it's totally different, but the work is still there, you just have to put in a bit more effort.  All these new starts will be in a worse position than you, they need to build enough work from scratch to make a living, and with no previous experience most of them will get disheartened and give up.

You have the advantage of a solid established customer base.  Why throw it away? Build on it and grow.

Ian

I have been thinking about how to move forward my company, and franchising is one of the ways I am looking at.

Can you give me some details on the best way to do this.

Cheers william

Sure.  e-mail me:   ianlancaster@blueyonder.co.uk

Had loads of people ask me this, but only one followed up, so far

[williamx]

Email sent

[tacky]

after 6 yrs u must have a good  round .since i went 90% wfp i have lost a few regulers only because they dont like the water left on windows ( even though it drys off clean .) but i have taken more on than i lost due to word n mouth .yes we have all noticed a increase of new windies this yr .but keep going it cant b as bad as unemployment .unless u have something else lined up .whatever u couse best of luck mate .

[bluez]

Paul
Just to take a slightly differnt tack to some of the other posters, there are lots of new start ups out there, lots of them give up after only a very short time, they dont like the weather or the hard work.

If you shop around you can get set up cheaply with 2nd hand gear, wfp will speed up your work so you will have extra time to work on some marketing. The investment levels dont need to be big to give the impression of flashy.

Stick at it, what are your alternatives. Different if you have an option of another career choice waiting then it might make sense.