[Smurf]

Anyone look at it the other way around, there are to many windows and not enough shiners to take care of them all, some people see the glass half full others see it half empty.

Indeed 

[Mike #1]

My niece and nephew (in their thirties) were in fulltime jw voluntary work in the London branch office. They decided they'd done enough up there and moved out and had to start with no accommodation, no job, no trade skills.

They bunked up with my brother in Somerset in May 2014 and he and I gave them some guidance (good with tekkie practical skills) and helped them build a home installed system in an old Peugeot partner van.

My nephew rented some crappy work paying him about £400 a month after the rental and he and my niece went canvassing. (jw's are usually good at canvassing  )

By January 2015 they were earning enough to move out and rent a small house and are now independent. They have no kids and are very frugal with their expenses but it shows what can be done.

My brother says they didn't even break a sweat (as in push themselves) - they work part time and jog along quite happily and I guess but don't know for sure that their round is probably turning over about £2K a month and the original rental stuff has been returned.

If they were "go-getters" I reckon they'd be doubling that turnover, but they seem very happy jogging along being away from a very regimented life.

Sounds like they they are doing well and have the right work and home life balance which is an important thing in life , As my physio guy said the other day would rather work flat out till retirement sacrificing time at home to be at work and suffer ill health and not really enjoy life .

Or would rather have the right balance and make the most of your life spend time with your wife/family and maintain good health throughout your life and look back and say to yourself i have done what i wanted and had a great life .

[Smurf]

My niece and nephew (in their thirties) were in fulltime jw voluntary work in the London branch office. They decided they'd done enough up there and moved out and had to start with no accommodation, no job, no trade skills.

They bunked up with my brother in Somerset in May 2014 and he and I gave them some guidance (good with tekkie practical skills) and helped them build a home installed system in an old Peugeot partner van.

My nephew rented some crappy work paying him about £400 a month after the rental and he and my niece went canvassing. (jw's are usually good at canvassing  )

By January 2015 they were earning enough to move out and rent a small house and are now independent. They have no kids and are very frugal with their expenses but it shows what can be done.

My brother says they didn't even break a sweat (as in push themselves) - they work part time and jog along quite happily and I guess but don't know for sure that their round is probably turning over about £2K a month and the original rental stuff has been returned.

If they were "go-getters" I reckon they'd be doubling that turnover, but they seem very happy jogging along being away from a very regimented life.

Sounds like they they are doing well and have the right work and home life balance which is an important thing in life , As my physio guy said the other day would rather work flat out till retirement sacrificing time at home to be at work and suffer ill health and not really enjoy life .

Or would rather have the right balance and make the most of your life spend time with your wife/family and maintain good health throughout your life and look back and say to yourself i have done what i wanted and had a great life .

Could not agree more

[danny mckim]

Personally, I hate it when we do around 40 houses in an estate and another window cleaner arrives and does 2 or 3. I'm not into saying this or that is my patch as that saying is well gone. I respect other window cleaners . If I'm offered a job in an estate where i don't do and I know the window cleaner there, I always hand it over.  That way they do the same for you.

[Johnny B]

Personally, I hate it when we do around 40 houses in an estate and another window cleaner arrives and does 2 or 3. I'm not into saying this or that is my patch as that saying is well gone. I respect other window cleaners . If I'm offered a job in an estate where i don't do and I know the window cleaner there, I always hand it over.  That way they do the same for you.

I disagree. I cleaned around 8 houses on an estate where a competitor who supposedly cleans the whole estate recently tried not only to bully me off the estate, but even tried to intimidate his customers into staying with him by telling them that he was the local window cleaner and they had better stay with him! I kid you not. Since then he has lost 6 more to me in the same stretch of the estate!

I am more than happy to co-exist with other windys as we all need to earn a living, but his attitude makes me want to put him out of business. The thing is, I am failing. He is doing it to himself.

John

 

[Shane sharples]

Personally, I hate it when we do around 40 houses in an estate and another window cleaner arrives and does 2 or 3. I'm not into saying this or that is my patch as that saying is well gone. I respect other window cleaners . If I'm offered a job in an estate where i don't do and I know the window cleaner there, I always hand it over.  That way they do the same for you.

Yeah your right - that saying went about 10 years ago. But you sound like inside your head your still telling yourself ' this is my patch' .
if someone has advertised on the web or whatever and a custy from an estate decides to ring them, then why the hell should that window cleaner just hand it over to you?
If you've got 40 houses in one estate then I'd say your doing a good job anyway , so why worry about a few houses being done by someone else?
Remember, you don't own the houses or customers, it's upto them who they want to clean their windows.

[LT carpet cleaning]

Personally, I hate it when we do around 40 houses in an estate and another window cleaner arrives and does 2 or 3. I'm not into saying this or that is my patch as that saying is well gone. I respect other window cleaners . If I'm offered a job in an estate where i don't do and I know the window cleaner there, I always hand it over.  That way they do the same for you.

I disagree. I cleaned around 8 houses on an estate where a competitor who supposedly cleans the whole estate recently tried not only to bully me off the estate, but even tried to intimidate his customers into staying with him by telling them that he was the local window cleaner and they had better stay with him! I kid you not. Since then he has lost 6 more to me in the same stretch of the estate!

I am more than happy to co-exist with other windys as we all need to earn a living, but his attitude makes me want to put him out of business. The thing is, I am failing. He is doing it to himself.

John

I agree with you Jonny. If my window cleaner said that to me, I would immediately sack him and get somebody else...and he would have a sore nose too 

I hate attitudes like that.

[Smurf]

The most windys I've seen in one street at any one time is 6. There was a few daggered looks going on I can tell you 

[windowswashed]

There are plenty of newbies starting up charging ridiculous prices undercutting who disappear come winter as they've priced way too low. There's a cleaning company earning £8 an hour as employers who want to sell their business, joke!! no chance, might as well stay PAYE with holidays, sick pay, etc.