[dazmond]

also its amazing how much more work you can get out of your existing customer base.i have loads of maintenance window cleaning that have their conny roofs cleaned,soffits and fascias and now solar panels cleaned annually.charge well and that will get your hourly rate up a bit as well.

i reckon you should be looking at doubling your hourly rate to £40 an hour over the next few years esp in the area you live.

have your list of add ons on your business cards,tickets and van.


regards


dazmond

[jimiwindows]

put them up

[lee_dewing]

Darren,  Good points and if I was honest I do chat abit at times, maybe its a bit daft of me think its good customer relations.
Not terrible though.

But I suppose you shouldn't chat to anyone longer than you can hold your breath
And organizing my day with work closer together (been doing that better)

Also made a few tweaks in/on the van today, even if it just saves a few minutes, will make things flow better.
I think mrs will get another job not a good one at present, as you say Darren it is time to pick up the pace, ideally I would like mrs local part time job she enjoys and does all school runs.


Blue frog: Great biz card and your right about filling in the gaps work in roads already have.
I do except new work if in road i'm in already and if not but decent I will.

Regarding the tank in van issue, would love to but RO setup at parents no off street parking so barrels wheeled out on sack trolley 2 at a time
Not ideal I know but can't guarantee parking outside parents house.


Daz: I agree with all said, I not the most confident guy business savy wise.

And agree not enjoying much luxuries, last two bad winters we had really hurt me financially and took me a while to dust myself off.

I will do as you've all said sketch out a plan and come out fighting march april.

Also want to aim for £10 min for work.
I do a bit of texting to unlock gates and getting away from this now, fed up of spending my time studying weather forecasts, (working out how many custies to text) i'm happy to work in drizzle but that's it.
Probably get shot down for this but just not happy working in rain.

In the near future i want to eliminate texting custy's. (just want to go out armed with list and do as much as i can)
I think for me notifying people in advance is a bug bear and can make my day stressfull fitting it all in, or to be rained off and reorganize all this.
Just seems a way of making a simple job difficult

Instead tell custy if their not in to unlock gate, I can climb over, if they don't want me climbing over it's £10 front minimuim.

Or should I insist if gates locked I climb over and if custy won't let me climb over, if not in, tell em i'l still charge full price (Is that a bit strong?)

Maybe my mrs being out of work is the kick in the arse I needed.

Thanks very much everyone for your thoughts and suggestions.

Lee

[wpclean]

Ask your wife to work with you,  would be able to increase your workload by canvassing more customers, putting up prices, and because you are both working together makes caring for the family a lot easier.

My wife works with me, and the customers love her as she often chats, and has excellent people skills ( means I don't have to talk and can crack on ).

Just a note to say that we get on really well together, so this is a must if you work together.

If you want to talk or need any advice just email 

[A & J Owen Window Cleaning]

Agree with Samson entirely. It does work very well as long as you get on well together!
You can split tasks up between you as well which really lightens the load.

[Victoria Hutchinso]

Have you ever thought about working with another cleaner or to get somebody to help you? This way you will be able to cover a bigger parameter as well as to increase the number of your clients. I don't think that raising the price with 2 will be a problem for most of your clients. And about the letters, it is not a bad idea, but you can use and other alternative ways such as to send them an email or something. It's you choice after all. Good luck.

[dazmond]

oh and work in the rain,sleet,snow,wind if its not relentless all day which it rarely is!!after a few years customers get used to you turning up in all weathers and pay up without a grumble!

toughen up and invest in some decent wet weather gear(goretex boots,jacket and waterproof trousers).

its your whole attitude that needs changing lee.

i think you have problems with self motivation esp when the weather gets bad and also in relation to price rises and canvassing.you procrastinate and before you know it 3 years have passed and nothings changed.

in the last 3 years my round has changed drastically for the better and yours(by the sounds of it)has not changed at all.

BUT ive really got motivated and put loads of prices up,canvassed better priced work and been a lot more professional in the way i run my business.

i now have a full days work to do today then 10 days off!!i need a break from window cleaning and im going to ruddy well enjoy myself!off to london next week to stay at a 5 star hotel with new girlfriend and see my brother.

im bang up to date with work and as its a 5 week month(im calendar monthly for most work)and off to london next week,ill start back 3 days behind a week on monday.

take some action now lee!!!


very best wishes


dazmond

[mark dew]

Lee you are spending too much time on each property. Are you running out of water and having to change barrels halfway through?
It might be a ball ache until you've worked everything out, but most windows don't need rinsing. You can either go back later and check the windows yourself (what i did), or emphasize your rain guarantee, say nothing and stop rinsing.

Alternatively, your water flow isn't very high and whacking it up would speed you up no end.
That is where a van mount comes into its own. You should really get a tank, you could either fill it from the barrels, or get a long hose and fill direct from your parents.

I got jeff brimble like with minimal water usage when i worked with a trolley. It allowed me to do more with the water i carried.
But when i went back to van mount i did the same work with a much higher flow rate in around 1 hour less time.

[lee_dewing]

oh and work in the rain,sleet,snow,wind if its not relentless all day which it rarely is!!after a few years customers get used to you turning up in all weathers and pay up without a grumble!

toughen up and invest in some decent wet weather gear(goretex boots,jacket and waterproof trousers).

its your whole attitude that needs changing lee.

Hi  Daz, how do you go about this?
I understand the doing a bit.

But my customers will be a bit shocked, obviously I tell em the wfp in rain bit and rain guarantee.

What if customer flatley refuses to have windoes cleaned?
what do you do Daz, you must have come across this maybe not now but when you decided to go out in most weathers.

Did you lose any customers because of this?

I understand the attitude comment, but at the same time don't want to ruin my business by upsetting the people that pay my wages.

Not finding fault in what you do Daz
thanks Lee

[Ian101]

oh and work in the rain,sleet,snow,wind if its not relentless all day which it rarely is!!after a few years customers get used to you turning up in all weathers and pay up without a grumble!

toughen up and invest in some decent wet weather gear(goretex boots,jacket and waterproof trousers).

its your whole attitude that needs changing lee.

Hi  Daz, how do you go about this?
I understand the doing a bit.

But my customers will be a bit shocked, obviously I tell em the wfp in rain bit and rain guarantee.

What if customer flatley refuses to have windoes cleaned?
what do you do Daz, you must have come across this maybe not now but when you decided to go out in most weathers.

Did you lose any customers because of this?

I understand the attitude comment, but at the same time don't want to ruin my business by upsetting the people that pay my wages.

Not finding fault in what you do Daz
thanks Lee

You just get out there and do it ... you have to be sensible about it though and what I mean by that is if its really hammering it down then no I wont work in it neither or if its rain and wind then same again ... light to medium rain is fine by me though.

Dont bother with rain gurantee's.

I have a rule that any not today's normally result in a removal from my round however if its raining and I get not today I will explain how rain dont effect the end result with wfp (not had to do this for a long time though as all my customers are used to seeing me in rain now) but if I still get or got no leave it this time cos of rain then just say ok no problem see you next month and off I go onto next job ... if they say can you come back tomorrow as going to be a nice day just say sorry not in this area again till next month.

If you have 20 jobs lined up and 3 say no then you still got 17 done and hopefully had a decent days wage.

[robbo333]

Hi Lee
I've only been going about 3 months but I seem to be getting a pretty good response from my leaflets (aimed at slightly better customers). I'm happy to email you a copy and you can help yourself, if that's any help.

[lee_dewing]

Hi  Robbo,  here's my email:  l.dewing@btinternet.com
That would be great, many thanks.

Ian  thanks for that.

[pncleaning]

Hi Robbo

Could you please send me a copy of your leaflet too.

My email address is info@pncarpetcleaning.co.uk


Cheers m8

Paul

[robbo333]

Lee, Paul, emails sent.

[Dave Garrett]

Hi robbo would appreciate a good leaflet if you could be so kind dgarrett@ntlworld.com

[lee_dewing]

Robbo,
Thanks very much for sending the leaflet, that's the best one I've seen. 

Clear uncluttered, straight to the point, good wording.

See you did your own website, who with?

Thanks again,  Lee

[Steve_c]

Put your prices up mate, never be shy about your price. Put up your existing customers and price higher on new jobs. Introduce a minimum charge £10.00 and £12.00 Start a 4 bed deatched around £25.00 as a bench mark. If you are doing fronts only on mid terrace's start at £10.00 if its got a porch its £12.00 to £15.00. Good luck.

[pncleaning]

Robbo

thanks for sending me your leaflet thats very kind of you.

Must say it looks really good

Thanks again

Paul

[Granny]

Wouldn't mind a look at that leaflet I need all the help I can get!

[TomSE]

Robbo if possible could you send me a copy of the leaflet as well quirketom91@gmail.com