[mickwc]

Hi all,

Since i've been set up for the second time as a window cleaner things have been going well, i've already added things like gutter cleaning, drive cleaning and so on, but i keep getting asked about other things, painting, fencing someone even asked me if i could point up the side of thier house!!! I was wondering if anyone one offered a handy man service and if so does it work?? i been looking around at a few setups, and have found dialahandyman.com, looks really good, not a franchise you just pay a monthly licence fee! could this work along side window cleaning??

Mick

[bobplum]

depends how much time you have? as regards the size of your round

[mickwc]

i'd cover as much as i could at first, then get a part time man and  little van and see how it goes. i'm still biulding my rounds at the moment so have some spare time

[Window Washers]

jusy had a look at that site, looks really good, cant see why this could not be an addition or a stand alone business when window cleaning gets going, this interests me a great deal.
 
And already have a nice sized customer base

[bobby p]

be careful you dont get out of your depth.  people will sue you if theres a bad consequence to you fixing something

[mickwc]

Hi Bobby,
My wife is a solicitor!! i don't get to take risks!! lol

[Slash]

I do offer my body as an add on but not alot of people take my sevices as I am quite expensive and only the wealthy can afford me

[mickwc]

only really looking at doing small handyman type jobs, like lawn mowing, fencing, cutting hedges then inside the house putting up shelves, painting, even changing a bulb!!i'd be insured after all! i'd offer my body but not sure i'd get many takers!!! lol

[dazmond]

you could offer it if you want to be "jack of all trades".me personally likes to stick to maintenance window cleaning and the cleaning "add ons" like conny roof/fascia/soffit cleaning with the equipment i already have.

id rather leave the faffing about to other trademen.i see guys all the time with their big dirty vans with upteen tools in the van getting stressed while im (in toshs words!) mincing about with a water fed pole!!

i got into this business for the low stress,flexibilty and to be able to take an afternoon off or day off here and there and to be out of the "rat race".

i prefer to do one job well (cleaning)and concentrate on that.

regards


dazmond

[bobby p]

Hi Bobby,
My wife is a solicitor!! i don't get to take risks!! lol

thats a stroke of luck,      having your own brief !

[Steve foster]

I do both. My window cleaning round is not big enough to give full time work.
I can do most jobs as have worked with skilled tradesmen helping from various trades.
The windows provide a good regular income and the handyman stops me getting bored 
with window licking.
You will need a hell of of a lot of gear though, depending on your skills. Also use the car 
for that side of the work and keep the van just for the windows.

[VSP Home Care]

Go for it, just approach it professionally and don't undersell whatever service your doing for the customer.  I doubt you'll earn more per hour than you should be on the window work alone though.  But its handy if you don't have a decent sized round to keep you busy.

Also it's sometimes nice to do something different.  Double and treble check your insurances as you'll find all sorts in there that's not covered.  We're kind of the other way round I guess, small window and busy doing other jobs.

Personally I'd advise you to try and work your current customers into having you look after their lawns and windows together, offer them a slight saving on the single prices.

Good luck.

[mickwc]

Nice one Steve!!

i'm still building my rounds so would have time to do this, but was thinking long term, this could turn into another business running along side the window cleaning.

i was thinking it might be good when the weather is as bad as it has been the last few weeks, you could just go out and do any jobs you have booked in.

[Window Washers]

be careful you dont get out of your depth.  people will sue you if theres a bad consequence to you fixing something

thats what we have insurance for

[mickwc]

correct!!!

[Londoner]

My mate does it. He gets loads of work but its a lot of faffing about. You don't need to join a scheme you really don't at all.

[Granny]

Hi
I started out this way in December and have just finished my 4th painting job plus gardening, fixing gates, gutters even cut the panels out of cabinet doors so they could put college project stained glass in -  all kinds of stuff.
It is great for inside work when it is chucking it down but the windows are building up and to be honest windows are a damm sight easier and far less complicated.
All that faffing about washing brushes and sheeting up paint pots, loading the tools up taking everything 'cos you don't want to have to come back for something etc....
Plus I did a £200 paint job and on the last coat it all started blistering and reacting. I managed to rescue it and got paid but I could have easily lost the whole job whereas that amount on windows would have been made up of several different jobs - unlikely I would K****k them all up

[dazmond]

exactly granny!!once you have a good solid customer base you wont want to be faffing around doing other jobs!trust me!!years ago i used to do a bit of gardening and painting jobs as well as window cleaning then my round just grew and grew!!

[red star]

 i run a window cleaning and gardening business side by side also still keep my hand in project managing some construction work when the moneys right theres only me plus 1 and to be honest im struggling to keep up and  are looking at selling the garden business on and by building comitments finish in a few weeks giving me the opprtunity to concentrate on one thing
there isnt enough days in the week sorting out servicing  quoting juggling jobs due to weather invoicing etc etc
think hard before expanding
the rewards are good but then do you want the extra hours that go with it

[supernova77]

If you build a good solid window cleaning business then you will (should) be earning more than being a handy man, mowing lawns, putting up fences etc...

Look at it long term... If you are spending time on handy man type work then it's less time being able to build up a window cleaning business which will (should) earn you more money.

Also... If you are offering lots of different types of services then you need lots of other equipment which means you have to spread your money buying different tools for different jobs, whereas if you concentrate on window cleaning you have the money to buy good quality equipment specific to the job.

I only offer window cleaning and conservatory roof cleaning now... If someone asks me about gutter cleaning or pressure washing etc.. I pass the work on to someone else.

I would rather spend my time servicing my regular window cleaning round and picking up more regular window cleaning work as its REPEAT work.

Andy