[Matthew Bateman]

But also his way of thought, he almost thinks  a jobs his before getting it, which is a very positive way to be, especially in his field of large high end clients.

I have developed this manner of working this last year or so. Talking to the client prior to pricing I think they like a confident individual who comes across as if he knows what he is talking about and is comfortable/competent and knowledgeable about his job. It's more important than price so long as you're not being silly.

[♠Winp®oClean♠]

Some good poins here guys

Me personally my business was floundering bad. I had loans, office lady 2 days  week, lease agreements & the list goes on. We looked a good, i have everything a med business requires other than ISO Accreditation.

But the profit was low & some weeks actually losing money. I had stopped on the tools to expand business.

Decision 1 employye had to go, straight away this save £1500 aprox,  i tidied a few things & continued into a busy spell. Then i resat down & went through every bill paid of a loan, 2 lease came to an end, the office lady finished & i saved another £1000pm

In total i saved £2500pm, it was over 6 months to implement it, but i looked strong i was on van full time plus office & happy.

But, we do a lot of schools, prior to starting schools we lost more work, and it went quite, i continued with the work force rather than lay offs knowing we were going to be busy, that was a massive mistake that cost me big about2.5 to 3k which i couldnt affod to happen.

Now its the weather, but, i do constantly monior the business

Beware you never know where your hick up is hiding if you dont look

Gary

Thanks for a great post Gary.

Very honest with some reality, quite rare sometimes around here!

[Ian Rochester]

It's always good to sit down at the end of the year, look at what you've done over the past 12 months and try and plan what you want to do in the coming 12 months............its called a "Business Plan" and everyone should be doing one and reviewing it regularly, most of us don't.

A lot of people are quite happy just doing what they do, without really thinking where they want to be at the end of it.  Yes it's nice to earn a decent income every week, but what if..........?

What if you were to injure yourself and couldn't work for weeks?

What if it snowed for 3 weeks and you couldn't get out to clean windows?

What if someone came onto your area and started undercutting your business?

What happens to your business when you retire?  Is it saleable?

What other markets are out there that you could be targeting?

What are others doing better than you?

This year we've added a third window cleaning van and bought and moved into a 3200 sq ft unit to store everything we need, I've also moved one of the RO systems out of the van and turned it into a 2000 ltr static system.  Market wise we have grown the business by about 10%, but more importantly we've touched into a new target market that  I think can be quite lucrative if done properly.

[♠Winp®oClean♠]

Good post, but you’re assuming a lot on here have a business.
Some are still in the stage of building, even without any kind of documented plan, others (really) believe they have a business so don’t need a plan. Many more don’t know how to plan, they can window clean perfectly but can’t operate, run, or build a window cleaning “Business”

Aspiration in this context means ambition, goal. That requires thinking which is hard work, window cleaning is relatively easy, and that’s why you get all sorts of clowns working in the trade, there not making any money though.

Take pleasure in that.

Says the car park attendant!

[G Griffin]

Good post, but you’re assuming a lot on here have a business.
Some are still in the stage of building, even without any kind of documented plan, others (really) believe they have a business so don’t need a plan. Many more don’t know how to plan, they can window clean perfectly but can’t operate, run, or build a window cleaning “Business”

Aspiration in this context means ambition, goal. That requires thinking which is hard work, window cleaning is relatively easy, and that’s why you get all sorts of clowns working in the trade, there not making any money though.

Take pleasure in that.

Clowns?!
If I could meet you in person, I`d shove a custard pie in your face  .
Honk honk.

[Ian101]

oh yeah hw did u find him i paid quite a large amount in march n hes been pretty unreliable considering im returning customer no urgency with him seems to be like he'll fit u in if hes dry with work

did what I asked him to do so no complaints so far but dont sound too good when ur a returning customer

[bobby p]

ive only been doing this 2years, i have  whats termed a "slogger round" no cream here and all on the ladders. it will mushroom this spring and force me to change tack. but i wish to keep on the council estates so maybe will take on a lad

 this weather has led me into doing  other stuff,selling real tat on ebay. i started it as a joke but have been suprised what will sell,with no reserve . i might do that more and will be looking to find a courier who can deliver BIG TAT for me