[Fin Clearview]

I've only been here for a while but although their are many very helpful threads regarding equipment etc etc I think discussing earnings, i.e I do x number of jobs for x number of hours has the potential to threaten our incomes as anyone thinking of starting up and reading will no doubt be seriously intrested. Personally I do not discuss my earnings down my local or anywhere in public for this simple reason. If fictitious posts discussing earnings are being made by suppliers to increase sales I personally think this also has the potential to damage their incomes as more people will turn to supplying, whilst also driving profit margins down due to more competition.

Personally I think financial discussions should be banned from here for all our futures.

Agree or disagree?

[Dean Taberner]

Its all hot air,

There's no money in window cleaning, especially if you employ more than one employee these days. Anybody who is sane knows that.

Dean.

[Dave Willis]

I think prices are ok to talk about but earnings - just poor etiquette.

[Dave Mills]

That assumes that anyone new will compete only on price.

One of the most common comments on here is "do not underprice"

If people are coming on here to get information, then hopefully they might not be just working on the lowest price being the one that gets work.

[robertphil]

Throw in the odd post with a daft price to muddy the waters is my tip.  "do not overprice your jobs "is another tip that helps to confuse the market

[bobplum]

talking about prices can be a good way for newbies not to under price and therefore destroy the market

[home6442]

I newbie stopped me last week and asked what did I charge for
the house I was cleaning.
I had no problem telling him.
The same guy will ask the custys anyway and I have faith in my price and quality.

[tompoole]

Agreed its all chest puffing. People spout about £25-£60
Per hour , but it's your turnover not wage it's the ones
That boast in summer tend to be the skint ones in winter.
It's no different to any business I would expect any to turn over
A minimum of those hourly figures. If your a one man band you
Can do well but it's no different to running a printers , plumbers
Or shoe shop.

[dazmond]

anyone read "how to earn £30,000 a year window cleaning on your own"

its an e book on amazon for kindle.

loads of info out there for guys to read!!about a fiver to download!!


everyones at it!!!

[James archell]

I dont for one minute think it'll influence how many window cleaners there are out there; and never have despite the bleatings of some on here about it. Its a big population, why worry if it does? If it did and lets say 100 new shiners decided to take up window-cleaning as a trade after reading earnings threads on here the figures would go something like this:

100 new shiners multiplied by 300 houses on their books which equals 30,000 houses. That's forgetting all the other stuff about what they could do, such as shops, offices, retail outlets bla bla bla. There's about 25 million properties in the UK. That means that the 30,000 properties the 100 new cleaners were to take would mean there were only 24,970,000 left for the rest of us.

Or put another way they would have one house in every 833, which is about one house for every 3 window cleaning rounds.

Never worried that the discussion of earnings on here is likely to affect the business as a whole. its a forum with a few members, we're not that important nor are we particularly well attended by any one thing that is likely to influence our working practises.

[andyM]

Well maybe some of those newbies with pound signs in their eyes will look for other opportunities.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CVco2G6pys 

[dazmond]

i think some of you are paranoid that your gonna lose the work you ve got because of your claims that their are "window cleaners everywhere"

COURSE THERE ARE WINDOW CLEANERS EVERYWHERE!there is a lot of glass out there that needs cleaning!!

also you notice more when your a window cleaner yourself!!

running and maintaining a window cleaning business and making a decent living year in/year out is just not that easy.if it was everyone would be doing it.

it takes hard work,persistence and lots of self motivation plus you need to get the work in the first place.people just dont trust you just like that.it takes years to establish yourself properly.

as for talking about money.why not?is that not the main reason we are window cleaning in the first place?dont tell me if you won say 15 million pounds you d window clean as a hobby??

[Tom White]

What we upto now?  £700 a day?  I remember the good ole days when everyone was doing £200 a day, and then it started creeping upwards.  Must be about £700 a day now?

[roundbuilder]

i think some of you are paranoid that your gonna lose the work you ve got because of your claims that their are "window cleaners everywhere"

COURSE THERE ARE WINDOW CLEANERS EVERYWHERE!there is a lot of glass out there that needs cleaning!!

also you notice more when your a window cleaner yourself!!

running and maintaining a window cleaning business and making a decent living year in/year out is just not that easy.if it was everyone would be doing it.

it takes hard work,persistence and lots of self motivation plus you need to get the work in the first place.people just dont trust you just like that.it takes years to establish yourself properly.

as for talking about money.why not?is that not the main reason we are window cleaning in the first place?dont tell me if you won say 15 million pounds you d window clean as a hobby??

But it is easy daz. How hard is it to get up in the morning, clean 20 houses Then go home. Repeat that monday to friday and you have an easy life/easy living. All repeated work. It doesnt take years at all to establish yourself properly like you said, 6 months to a year of canvassing does the trick. Window cleaning is the easiest 1 man operation business going hence why so many people do it. it only gets complicated when you employ.

[home6442]

I know that if I starting from scratch now I wouldnt stand a chance.
Far too many guys cleaning and it would take years to build up a round
that pays.
All depends where your working.

[dazmond]

and when the bad weather hits mick!

sorting out tax,insurances,emergency funds built up

and it just isnt easy to get good solid work in a lot of cases,compact so your not running about all over the place.and customers that dont mess you about!

van/equipment problems,no holiday/sick pay etc.

and the work can get tedious and boring!


having said all that i love it..................ehhh.........most of the time!!!

[richard jagger]

What we really need is a thread at the top of the page the truth of the many hard days we have in the snowy winter month with little or no income. Telling the newbies about windies falling of ladders and injuries and death. About the tax you need to pay and how that works in the start of business. About the public liability insurance and van insurance costs..ETC  Etc.

[pncleaning]

talking about prices can be a good way for newbies not to under price and therefore destroy the market

I totally agree with this Mr Plum    Why worry about healthy competition? every industry has its fair share of competition and to make YOU standout offer a better service. I  had a window cleaner not so long back he was a fooking joke!!!!! he use to squirt the windows with water from his little bottle from up the ladder and his mate did the same downstairs he was at the property less than 5 minutes. I soon got rid a typical dole cheat I would imagine so I suppose you get what you pay for?? People so obcessed about prices. 

[TomCrowther]

I wouldn't get out of bed for £700, got to be a round £1k for me to put my boots on. Even then I am home for 3pm.

[tompoole]

You gonna need at least £1k a day to run a landy :-)