[Tadgh O Shea]

Tadgh - only from what I've read on the contracts board the guys seem hard pressed to charge anything over £12 p/h I also know a few domestic cleaners and the highest they seem to get is £15 p/h great as a solo operator to make a living not enough if your employing.

Vin - granted you seem to run your franchise in a very fair and honest way, and the clarification on what you charge alters the perspective, certainly on what you offer, but I suspect that yours is different from the norm, we use a mobile dog groomer who is franchised it cost him £20k to buy an area, plus supply a van no older than 3 yrs old - all parts, supplies must be brought from the franchise owner and they take 25% of the gross income.
Just like employers there are good and bad.

As I posted the view on franchising is mine, based on people who do it ( other sectors ) and generally reading about them, most like above seem to demand a nice wedge before you start, so fair play on working this a better way

Darran

Hi Darran, it does not matter if a sole operator or an employee carries out this work, its there to be done and plenty of it and its wide open for anyone to tap into,the figures i've quoted are already being earned as this work is priced by the job so every one that goes ahead will bring in 50 quid or more per hour, anyway i'm off tomorrow for a week so won't be thinking about deep cleans for awhile.

[CasaDeCabra]

The thing I always find interesting is the assumption that any franchisee must be a complete retard and have no idea what they're doing.

There are countless reasons why someone will choose this route instead of setting up on their own. For myself I was earning up to £30k a year as a manager in a 3 mobile phone shop with all the added benefits of sick/holiday pay etc etc.

I never had any ambition to be self employed, if I had don't you think I would have done it already considering I'm 45? I had good jobs and worked hard to improve myself by learning new skills which is fine until the company you work for goes bust.

I worked 5 days out of 7 and thanks to a dickhead of an area manager had to work in Poole which considering I live in Southampton was a pain in the arse. My wife works Mon - Fri and I was working every weekend. There's a saying that's quite apt here I think "Life's to short" If at this time I had said to my wife I was leaving  this job to become self employed she would have kittens and It was not something that would have happened.

So am I better off having 80% of my turnover or working in Poole? I know which I'd choose.

Jake
Perfect Windows  franchisee no1

[Rayleigh Window Cleaning Services]

Good for you. Well done and good luck.

[Clever Forum Name]

Looking at the figures quoted. Are people saying to employ someone doing £200-£250 a day ain't worth it ?

[8weekly]

Looking at the figures quoted. Are people saying to employ someone doing £200-£250 a day ain't worth it ?

I think what's being said is that labour should be about 1/3 of daily turnover. I think the overhead may vary because you may or mat not have a site overhead, but if you intend to grow you will one day & you should always include that. I know of a wc around here that pays his young helper £40 a day. That doesn't mean that £120 a day would be good though.

From the looks of things Smudger buys older vans. That is what I intend to do - buy them cash. I therefore won't have a new van finance to include. I think everyone will be slightly different.

[Clever Forum Name]

Looking at the figures quoted. Are people saying to employ someone doing £200-£250 a day ain't worth it ?

I think what's being said is that labour should be about 1/3 of daily turnover. I think the overhead may vary because you may or mat not have a site overhead, but if you intend to grow you will one day & you should always include that. I know of a wc around here that pays his young helper £40 a day. That doesn't mean that £120 a day would be good though.

From the looks of things Smudger buys older vans. That is what I intend to do - buy them cash. I therefore won't have a new van finance to include. I think everyone will be slightly different.

I know what you are saying but he has just brought a 61 plate van lol

[Dave Willis]

Vin, do you charge double for a first clean?

[ChumBucket]

Right, anyone in Southampton go find those three bed semi's out, or just spend a day following a "perfect windows" van & post a few leaflets!!

[SeanK]

If you could get £27 for a three bed semi in my area I would need to hire bodyguard to stop a rival trying to put me out of
business.
Four days a week and I would be on £100k. the local canal would be filled with murdered shiners.

[Perfect Windows]

Vin, do you charge double for a first clean?

Noooooo.  That would be silly.

Vin

[KS Cleaning]

If a franchisor was to set up in my area and could achieve £27 for a 3 bed semi I would gladly pay the franchise fee and royalties

[Perfect Windows]

If you could get £27 for a three bed semi in my area I would need to hire bodyguard to stop a rival trying to put me out of
business.
Four days a week and I would be on £100k. the local canal would be filled with murdered shiners.

Sean,

Even without knowing where you live I can tell you that there are people there who would pay £27 for a 12-weekly window clean.  You're looking for someone who's been repeatedly let down by useless tosspot cleaners and just wants someone reliable to clean their windows well. 

I took a £3.50 clean from a local guy.  She phoned me and said she'd sacked him; he was useless.  Our list price for her house was £24 (This was pre price rise).  Her sister in law had recommended us.

I'd put money on there being people like her in every town.  The trick is finding them.

Vin

[Perfect Windows]

And, by the way, I travelled and gained seven customers in just under two hours yesterday at those prices, and not in my home town.  So it's not just here that proper prices are accepted.

As I mentioned earlier, two of our franchisees pointed out that we get work at a higher price after 20% royalty than they felt they would have been able to charge.

And remember also that all of the franchisees started with around £10K of work, so no standing start required.

Vin

[Clever Forum Name]

If you could get £27 for a three bed semi in my area I would need to hire bodyguard to stop a rival trying to put me out of
business.
Four days a week and I would be on £100k. the local canal would be filled with murdered shiners.

Haha. Supply and demand

[SeanK]

If you could get £27 for a three bed semi in my area I would need to hire bodyguard to stop a rival trying to put me out of
business.
Four days a week and I would be on £100k. the local canal would be filled with murdered shiners.

Sean,

Even without knowing where you live I can tell you that there are people there who would pay £27 for a 12-weekly window clean.  You're looking for someone who's been repeatedly let down by useless tosspot cleaners and just wants someone reliable to clean their windows well. 

I took a £3.50 clean from a local guy.  She phoned me and said she'd sacked him; he was useless.  Our list price for her house was £24 (This was pre price rise).  Her sister in law had recommended us.

I'd put money on there being people like her in every town.  The trick is finding them.

Vin

The trick would be finding enough of them, I don't doubt that there wouldn't be somebody prepared to pay that amount
but to get enough that are close enough together would be impossible certainly for me.
Three properties at a £9 a pop that can be done in an hour would be no different than one at £27 where you
have to do a lot more driving so you still only end up with the same hourly rate.

[Rich Wilts]

If you could get £27 for a three bed semi in my area I would need to hire bodyguard to stop a rival trying to put me out of
business.
Four days a week and I would be on £100k. the local canal would be filled with murdered shiners.

Sean,

Even without knowing where you live I can tell you that there are people there who would pay £27 for a 12-weekly window clean.  You're looking for someone who's been repeatedly let down by useless tosspot cleaners and just wants someone reliable to clean their windows well. 

I took a £3.50 clean from a local guy.  She phoned me and said she'd sacked him; he was useless.  Our list price for her house was £24 (This was pre price rise).  Her sister in law had recommended us.

I'd put money on there being people like her in every town.  The trick is finding them.

Vin

I'm sure there's plenty out there who're willing to pay £27.00 for a three bed semi. Funny how they all live in Southampton. Anyway, charging those rates you're leaving yourself wide open to being undercut.  Sure some won't jump ship but a good percentage will.

[Rich Wilts]

Then you'll spend your working life trying to replace them, when they're like rocking horse $h1t.

[sunshine windows]

Sean, you're delusional at times. To think that you wouldn't find another customer willing to pay £27 for a 12 weekly clean (£117 per year) within let's say a forty minute drive, assuming the house takes 20 minutes to clean is ridiculous.

My average customer pays over £200 annually for window cleaning. That's not a boast, I'm merely  stating what people are prepared to pay for a certain level of service.

This thread seems to have been hijacked somewhat anyway.  In response to the original question, you need a grafter, that's prepared to work in all weathers (within reason) that can sustain a good quality clean in volume, all day every day.  Chances are he's going to know you're house prices, which is going to get his little brain ticking over, working out how much money he is earning you each day.  So unless you pay him well, he'll walk or cheat or try to set up while working for you.  Just my opinion   

[Perfect Windows]

I'm sure there's plenty out there who're willing to pay £27.00 for a three bed semi. Funny how they all live in Southampton. Anyway, charging those rates you're leaving yourself wide open to being undercut.  Sure some won't jump ship but a good percentage will.

But you're missing the point of my post.  These are all people who have had enough of cleaners who were cheaper.  They don't want the hassle of replacing their cleaner because he's given up over the winter/ got a job in a warehouse / gone inside / got bored / decided he'll only come if the pub's shut and there isn't an "R" in the month.

Your statement that a "good percentage" will jump ship flies in the face of our experience over the past five years.  It's only 12-weekly customers who are charged that much and we lose a staggeringly small number of them.  Six-weekly, yes we lose some, but very few 12-weekly.

It's easy to convince yourself that price matters but it's not always so.

Ask yourself, do you drive the cheapest car it's possible to buy?  Why not?

Vin

[Perfect Windows]

The trick would be finding enough of them, I don't doubt that there wouldn't be somebody prepared to pay that amount
but to get enough that are close enough together would be impossible certainly for me.
Three properties at a £9 a pop that can be done in an hour would be no different than one at £27 where you
have to do a lot more driving so you still only end up with the same hourly rate.

My van tracker has me driving for about a total of an hour and ten minutes on a typical day so those numbers don't hold up.

Vin