[lee_dewing]

Hi  Guys.

My wife has just been made redundant, she walked away with 6 months money, so we will be alright for a while :

Looking to generate more income myself, I have been unhappy for a while with how much I earn, have to do a lot of school runs, but at present this is now being taken care of by my mrs.

I average about £120-130 a day and live west essex most of my round is in quite affluent areas.

For example I have 1 road in particular where I clean six  4 bed detached houses and I charge £15 I have debated over the last 2 years about putting them up to £20.
Would probably lose some or all, they are all fifty somethings, semi or retired (not poor.)

On top of this I'l add it takes me nearly 37-40 days to get round to each customer according to George systems.

Was thinking of putting up nearly everyone by £2 (except the 4 beds mentioned to extra £5).

I have 215 customers and hoping to generate another £400 ish a month.

I have too much work to get round in a month, I am wfp small van, 1 man setup, run trolley as van mount.

Either I am too slow (not that much i think.)

Have work too spaced out (not that much really.)

I think there is a bit of truth in those two things but basically thinking of putting everyone up.

I am a coward and am planning to do by letter.

Do you think this is dangerous and I should put sections of my round up over a few months to combat possible fallout?

Cheapest jobs are £5 fronts of mid terraced properties.

Sorry for large posts.
Thanks for reading and your thoughts please.
Lee

[Tom White]

I've made increases of £2 to domestic customers before, without a problem, but only to those who I felt was underpriced.

I did mine in sections; not all at once; and I do it by letter also.  I think it gives customers time to reflect; they don't have to make a snap decision like they do face-to-face.  I also find it easier just to drive to an area and walk about putting the letters through their letterbox rather than trying to catch them in and remember who you have told and who you have not told.

[bobplum]

Im going to jump in  the shower now so not really took all this in but it seems more about yourself and your business approach.
Sit down and have good look at what your doing and how to change things and speak to others around your area pick there brains and redefine your business.....more to follow

[Neil Gornall]

4 words which can makes a huge difference to your working day and your income.
WORK SMARTER NOT HARDER.

Just by making small changes in different areas of your working day can have a large impact.
A few months ago I altered what time of day my lads fill their water tanks. ie morning or evening. This seemingly small change increased turnover by a good amount as it reduced down time.

If I were you I would sit down and look at the whole picture. Prices, when you start and finish, breaks, how you work, how you get paid, how you load your van and so on.
make some small changes and you will be amazed at the increases that can be made.

[Granny]

Hi Lee
You still considering getting the missus to work with you on the windows?
G.

[Paddy Woods]

4 words which can makes a huge difference to your working day and your income.
WORK SMARTER NOT HARDER.

Just by making small changes in different areas of your working day can have a large impact.
A few months ago I altered what time of day my lads fill their water tanks. ie morning or evening. This seemingly small change increased turnover by a good amount as it reduced down time.

If I were you I would sit down and look at the whole picture. Prices, when you start and finish, breaks, how you work, how you get paid, how you load your van and so on.
make some small changes and you will be amazed at the increases that can be made.

Excellent business advice!!

My 2p worth of advice is not always go after customers pockets to cure YOUR PROBLEM! yes it may be part of the problem but be careful you don't hurt the pipeline to your business,it sounds like you have a v good base but few area where you need to make just small adjustment & not always on prices but with your prices you should be on £150+ ....

[Alistair@AWC]

Lee,

My advice is to do nothing!

You mention that your day is broken up by having to do the school runs, its taking you 37-40 to get around your customers, your taking 120-130 per day & you charge £15 for a 4 bed detached!


Now your not doing school runs and taking days off with sick children there is no reason why you cant get around all your customers within 28 days and if those 4 bed detached are just standard size I don't see a great deal wrong with your pricing!

There is no reason why you can't achieve around the £200 mark every day and with that you'll probably find you need some extra customers rather than culling them with a price increase!

Al

[Joseph Michael]

Adding £5 to a £15 job is a 33% rise, most people would be very surprised and possibly annoyed at such a hike. The very most I would be looking at raising them prices would be by £2 the most and then the other smaller ones by £1, if at all. And if you do decide to increase, it may be better to wait until after Christmas, possibly February. Then you wouldn't lose them before Christmas and if you did lose them in the new year you just start looking for new customers - with your new prices. Just my opinion.!

[dazmond]

i have a price review every january and earmark ones im going to put up and tell em in person in feb/march that the new price will come into effect from april.most go up a pound or two but i did put some up a fiver and one by £8 last year and didnt lose them!!

on average ive lost 3 or 4 customers every year when putting up say 100 accounts.so its been a win win situation over the last few years for me.

with the new better priced work ive picked up as well as prices rises im earning £10,000-£12,000 more a year then 3 years ago! FOR LESS WORK!!

i have 340 accounts mostly monthly and i can easily get them done in 3 and half days/four days a week.sometimes finishing at 2pm!starting 9am-10am usually finishing around 4pm.

im very organized though with no kids and use the best poles i can afford(CLX,SLX,SUPERMAX).i have 30 mins for lunch and take a packed lunch and flask every day.use a van mount with 100m of microbore and virtually WFP everything these days using 300-400L a day.

i have lots of compact work as well and most work is within a 6-7 mile area.

if your not doing the school runs any more lee i reckon youll get round a bit sooner and make more money.your prices seem ok to me but im in manchester where the cost of living is not as high as yours!

very best wishes


dazmond

[robertphil]

if you really need another 400 quid you gotta go find extra jobs

[lee_dewing]

Thanks Everyone for your replies, and happy to receive more,

Tosh, I will do the price increase as you have (letters)

From what you've said on here maybe I'm being a bit hasty and should maybe wait til the new yr.
My wife has only been out of work two weeks and if i'm entirely honest having been getting out as early as I could now not doing school runs

Neil, I appreciate the smarter not harder slogan, which is why I want to put prices up a bit.

If I can get another £2 off someone then why not, I may have to tread carefully at present as not the best time of year to pick up new work and if you do it can be one time charlies wanting windows done for xmas as inlaws over for xmas turkey and don't want em seeing minging windows

I appreciate the little changes note Neil and I have been thinking of some tweaking inside the van freeing up space and making the on-off with equipment easier.

Granny, I've gone off the idea of working with the mrs, time I show her what to do how to do it; I may as well have done it myself and know it's right.
Don't think my ford escort van would work for 2 man setup.
Just my opinion; if it works for u, great, I know Tosh works with his other half.

Mrs Brown: thanks and noted.

Alistair: Thanks and as said I'l think I will sit tight a little longer and see what you say comes true just can't see me ever hitting £200 a day and maybe that's the problem.
Bit like the 4 minute mile was impossible then roger b, did it and shortly after so did everyone else

Joesph: I apprieciate the 33% note, and would probably lose em, but these 4 bed detached houses have all got an extension where I have to use ladder to get on flat roof to access a large window.
That's the problem wfp all then run back get ladder to do one window, thats what adds time.
I have £20 jobs I do 10 minutes quicker  


Dazmond thanks alot for that info and funny I have been reading "winning at window cleaning" book by the guy who makes the ariel brushes.

And what you've done is great Daz, and that is what this book stresses.
Not bogging yourself done with too much work.
Having enough well priced work you can get round in 4 days per week, (as you lose time/days to rain) so extra day in week and saturday if needed to keep on schedule.
Also earning ave employee wage in 3 days.

And regularly review prices so your hourly rate increases, only taking new work at higher prices to keep on the up and up.

I will see how the next month goes starting that bit earleir don't want to get to custies earlier than 9am

I will put up a handful of custies that desperately need it.

New custie confirmed they wanted me by text today 4/5 bed house, previous windy wfp, not allowed dripping time from upstairs window with ivy so window underneath spotty

He was charging £15 and I priced £20 they want me a.s.a.p  

Thanks everyone for your comments.
Thanks again Daz for a detailed and honest post.

[lee_dewing]

if you really need another 400 quid you gotta go find extra jobs

Hi  Robert, sorry I don't see it that way, I'm full up and not earning enough, so putting up prices makes sense for me.

If i find I have extra time in my day not doing school runs then i will take on new work as you say,. but for me I don't want to put in longer hours.

Smarter and not harder as been said.
thanks lee.

[G Griffin]

Lee, what about bumping up the ones you're unhappy with- if not all- and going 6 weekly or even bi-monthly. You get more per job and they are paying less, so it should be ok  .
It could also give you more time to generate more work.

Or, employ a part-timer to trad ground floor windows. It shouldn't take them long to get up to speed and won't affect your present wfp system.

[AJ]

I've gone off the idea of working with the mrs, time I show her what to do how to do it; I may as well have done it myself and know it's right.
Don't think my ford escort van would work for 2 man setup.
Just my opinion; if it works for u, great, I know Tosh works with his other half.

Would the Mrs be willing to canvas instead of cleaning?

If she could canvas (at better prices) you could raise your regular prices quicker and be able to afford a few drops. If she does well you can get shot of the ones that refuse an increase. In the end you will end up with more, better priced work.
Dinner might not be on the table when you get home and your shirts might be a bit creased, but it could turn into the turning point of your business.

[andrew hamshare]

Make a note of customers with solar panels.  In a few weks start letting them know as it's the perfect time to sell this service imho.  Grubby and with daylight getting hours shorter they (customers) need them clean to get maximum benefit.

It may well see you through til you find a longer term solution.  I'm charging £3 per panel (if access is good, which it usually is.

Got a plan to sell 'Caravan Valet Spring Cleans' to all my road-blockers next year.  Hopefully get a few repeat customers year on year?

Good luck btw.

[mark dew]

Looking to generate more income myself, I have been unhappy for a while with how much I earn, have to do a lot of school runs, but at present this is now being taken care of by my mrs.

I average about £120-130 a day and live west essex most of my round is in quite affluent areas.

How do you work? Are you wfp?
You should be earning that by lunch time even in less affluent areas.
How much work do you do in 1 hour? If you are unhappy with any work then better to increase to a price you will be happy to clean for the next 3 years.
You should be getting through much more work than that if you are wfp, though.

[lee_dewing]

Hi Mark yes wfp, trolley used as van mount 10x 25 ltr barrels and 100 metre micro bore hose, use 22 clx.

£20 hr is average.

Have hit £150 couple times this week now not doing school runs. 9 am til 4pm.

[Smudger]

Hi Lee,

you certainly have a good base to start and expand - if you want to

what are the chances of the Mrs getting another job ? - if slim then i think you need to take up the mantle
and run your biz full tilt.

i cant comment on your pricing as location/number of windows etc.. can determine how much you charge
but even with a school run (mornings and afternoons) £200 should be very achievable

you need to increase productivity or prices - does your day consist of lot's of tea and chat with customers?
is your route planned out the best it can be ? do set a high tempo or just muddle along ??

if no to the above then prices would seem to be the problem - when did you last put them up ?
it's better to work 3 good price houses than 4 cheapo ones
if you can hold on then i'd price rise in March/April

best regards
Darran

[Blue Frog Systems]

Lee, i know what its like working work around the school run. Yes its about working smarter and making sure your not traveling out of your way to jobs when there are others round the corner. Planning is the key there !

I also think you need to look at getting a tank. Again, smarter working from a tank than keep changing the barrels ... filling up must take a while too.

Now you have said about your full up with work and dont need any more. I dissagree with this. More work is good if it is where you already work. If you can get more work in streets where you already work, you will up your hourly earnings.

I have had the card below done (few mistakes before anyone points it out). I have put about 50 of these cards out and got 7 new jobs in streets i already work in. I hand write the numbers you already clean on the card and found it works well as people know you work there already and can as your customer if your any good etc.

250 from vista print for £3.05 on a 21 day delivery but came in 5 days

[dazmond]

i think lee after following your posts over the last few years is that you dont seem to have the right attitude and confidence in your ability to charge higher prices for your work.

once you ve took tax,insurances,fuel and overhead costs,no holiday pay,sick pay etc,etc AND living in essex where the cost of living is considerably more than where i live i bet your just about getting by with no money for luxuries like decent holidays and not much money for re investing in new equipment/van etc.

i think you should put loads of customers prices up in april next year giving them a month or 2 months notice.put most up a quid or two and the ones you think should go up a fiver give them an ultimatum eg "i will have to put your cleaning price up as this account is very underpriced or stop cleaning for you"youll be surprised if your attitude is right.if you do a good job and are regular and reliable you wont lose too many.

also you need to canvass better priced work.leaflet and canvass 3 days later is the best way.choose higher end accounts.

find better ways of working more efficiently.for example a tank would be better than having to change barrels in the van which is wasting time mate.

i wouldnt mess about with a letter and tell customers face to face about price rise.

i get a feeling ill be hearing the same thing from you in a few years unless you have a drastic change in attitude.dont take this the wrong way lee but i think you need to grow some balls and do what ive suggested!

this is your livelyhood and business here mate and providing for you and your family and you deserve more!!


very best wishes


dazmond