[dazmond]

Just to throw my hat into the ring, I agree that 80k must be possible as there are guys out there doing it already.

I also disagree that nobody can do this job full time without being young, fit or without a life. I will be 56 in a couple of months, work 40-50 hours a week trad and am reasonably fit although my knees aren't what they were when I started on this game 21 years ago!

I don't earn big money because I'm a plodder, not money driven but content with what I have, but I will say that if anyone sets themselves whatever target, they can achieve it by whatever means necessary if they really want to.

Marc, go for it mate and don't let anyone discourage you.

John

wow i couldnt work all them hours now at 46(or all that ladder work).well done....

[Walter Mitty]

its called "reverse psychology".im trying to motivate the lad!

in all seriousness i forgot marc works around the london area so yeah 80k or even 100k are probably possible with a good work ethic and determination.in other parts of the country?id say not a chance.......

Yes, he works in a very wealthy part of the commuter belt - assuming some of his customers actually need to go to work in the first place.
In a pricing thread a while ago, a job I would do for anything between £14 and £18 (depending on obstacles), he was saying £28.  If that is typical, £80k turnover should be fine for him.
Please note: This is not a dig at Marc's pricing structure.  As he lives in a wealthy area, his living costs are undoubtedly higher than most window cleaners', so he must charge accordingly.

[dazmond]

my brother was paying £1800 a month rent for a house in wimbledon a few years ago.im only paying £300 a month for my little flat here in the north west!so it was costing him £18,000 more a year in rent.he was there for around 5 years which is £90,000!(his wife was paying half so an extra £45,000 over 5 years)crazy money so i can understand how you have to charge double (at least )what you would charge up here.....

[NWH]

In the right area 50-40 houses a week is what you’ll need in like I say the right area you will be charging a lot more to clean 1 property so over  the course of the week you won’t ever be cleaning 50 jobs,this job is 100% about what work you are cleaning and your rock bottom price you’ll clean a house for. My philosophy is don’t ever just take a job on for the sake of it if it’s not worth it financially you will always end up crippling your average price with each 1 taken on. Some areas you will earn the equivalent of what other WCs will clean in 2-2 1/2 days as people will pay it in very affluent areas as it’s not about the money necessarily to them,they are never thinking how long you are there for what they are paying they just want a trusted person on there property and are willing to pay more for that alone.

[NWH]

All that said it’s not the sort of thing I would say you’ll do in anywhere near a year lol,it takes years to get to below the amount your looking to achieve.

[֍Winp®oClean֍]

The good thing is..... we'll all find out soon enough if Marc keeps with the updates.👍

[Marc Stock]

Its true guys. I do live in a ridiculously expensive area. And yes my average prices are £28-38 for your standard sort of 3 bed semi. I have some rounds where i am charging 80 and 90 quid per house for the bigger places and upwards of £175 to £250 for really big places where im spending at least 3 hours on each house.

Dazmond, I thank you for your insight. 

I will keep you all posted. I have to say its been going nuts recently here and i havent actually done any canvassing of any major consequence yet.

[Mick Kent]

Its true guys. I do live in a ridiculously expensive area. And yes my average prices are £28-38 for your standard sort of 3 bed semi. I have some rounds where i am charging 80 and 90 quid per house for the bigger places and upwards of £175 to £250 for really big places where im spending at least 3 hours on each house.

Dazmond, I thank you for your insight. 

I will keep you all posted. I have to say its been going nuts recently here and i havent actually done any canvassing of any major consequence yet.

How long have you been going then? With averages like that you should be well smashed above £80k a year already surely?

[Marc Stock]

I had been really quite unwell over the last 8 years suffering from quite bad mental illness. i have been window cleaning for 15 years, built up a very successful business and lost it all, my house, my (ex) missus left me, and had a tax investigation all at the same time and i think i had a breakdown as i was about to take my life and let the business go to pot, i sold some of it off too.

Post 2008 i met my now 2nd wife and  i built up the business again from scratch  to try to pay back my debts but eventually succumbed to bankruptcy in 2014. Still working as much as i could i was able to keep working but battled with my mental health quite badly, i nearly ended it again. Just wasn't motivated enough, was often starting work at 11am and finsihing at 3pm becouse i was so depressed with the job, me, i felt like a looser, a failure, a turd of a bloke who cleans windows for a couple of hours a day and makes 170 quid or so, enough to just about live.

But i have pushed on, the medications helped me, my wife Debra has been amazing she never gave up on me and i slowly re learned how to be who i was again i came off.my citrolopram in April 2017 and have been feeling much more focused on what i want to achieve.

Trust me if i hadn't of been through all that id be turning over 500k at least by now with 5 or 6 vans. But i am very focused now and i am feeling good and well again, its taken nearly 10 years though

[dazmond]

blimey....that sounds really rough that marc...ive had plenty of bad times too mate (many years ago )but the last 10 years have been great both business wise and in my personal life...

all the painful experiences will make you stronger marc.....

[Mick Kent]

I had been really quite unwell over the last 8 years suffering from quite bad mental illness. i have been window cleaning for 15 years, built up a very successful business and lost it all, my house, my (ex) missus left me, and had a tax investigation all at the same time and i think i had a breakdown as i was about to take my life and let the business go to pot, i sold some of it off too.

Post 2008 i met my now 2nd wife and  i built up the business again from scratch  to try to pay back my debts but eventually succumbed to bankruptcy in 2014. Still working as much as i could i was able to keep working but battled with my mental health quite badly, i nearly ended it again. Just wasn't motivated enough, was often starting work at 11am and finsihing at 3pm becouse i was so depressed with the job, me, i felt like a looser, a failure, a turd of a bloke who cleans windows for a couple of hours a day and makes 170 quid or so, enough to just about live.

But i have pushed on, the medications helped me, my wife Debra has been amazing she never gave up on me and i slowly re learned how to be who i was again i came off.my citrolopram in April 2017 and have been feeling much more focused on what i want to achieve.

Trust me if i hadn't of been through all that id be turning over 500k at least by now with 5 or 6 vans. But i am very focused now and i am feeling good and well again, its taken nearly 10 years though

Wow

I wish you all the luck to succeed Marc

[Marc Stock]

Well its all in the past now, and i am looking forward to the next 20 years of business growth.  But yes its been a rough decade.

[Walter Mitty]

<SNIP>

Trust me if i hadn't of been through all that id be turning over 500k at least by now with 5 or 6 vans. But i am very focused now and i am feeling good and well again, its taken nearly 10 years though

Yes, I remember some of the things you referred to.

I feared for you, I really did.

[paul alan]

I had been really quite unwell over the last 8 years suffering from quite bad mental illness. i have been window cleaning for 15 years, built up a very successful business and lost it all, my house, my (ex) missus left me, and had a tax investigation all at the same time and i think i had a breakdown as i was about to take my life and let the business go to pot, i sold some of it off too.

Post 2008 i met my now 2nd wife and  i built up the business again from scratch  to try to pay back my debts but eventually succumbed to bankruptcy in 2014. Still working as much as i could i was able to keep working but battled with my mental health quite badly, i nearly ended it again. Just wasn't motivated enough, was often starting work at 11am and finsihing at 3pm becouse i was so depressed with the job, me, i felt like a looser, a failure, a turd of a bloke who cleans windows for a couple of hours a day and makes 170 quid or so, enough to just about live.

But i have pushed on, the medications helped me, my wife Debra has been amazing she never gave up on me and i slowly re learned how to be who i was again i came off.my citrolopram in April 2017 and have been feeling much more focused on what i want to achieve.

Trust me if i hadn't of been through all that id be turning over 500k at least by now with 5 or 6 vans. But i am very focused now and i am feeling good and well again, its taken nearly 10 years though

Wow

I wish you all the luck to succeed Marc

Good on you mate, reading between the lines did your ex have anything to do with the tax investigation?

[robbo333]

Marc, anything I can do to help, just let me know. You’ve got my email.

[Michael Peterson]

and there my friend is the fire that will burn and carry you through to your goal!

[Marc Stock]

Good on you mate, reading between the lines did your ex have anything to do with the tax investigation?

Personally i don't think she'd have the mental ability; but you never know. In all honesty i don't think about it anymore, I used to of course which is why i think i had a breakdown.

[paul alan]

Hell have no fury.....like a woman scorned!

In my experience women can be much more cold blooded than a man.

Learning to let go is great for the sanity.

[Stoots]

My ex leaving me 4 years ago started me on the business journey.

Been there feeling suicidal on every anti depressant and sleeping pills known to man.

I've suffered with depression all of my adult life and know what it's like to fee like a piece of poope.

But my desire to succeed is much stronger now, I believe it's because I refuse to be beaten by life. I will succeed at all costs and that desire can only be found in the depths of despair.

Imo.

[dazmond]

the worst thing you can do is get married IMO....so many of my mates have got divorced over the years and the mess they end up in having to find another place to live and financial pressures etc,its not worth the hassle....even worse if theres kids involved...

ive found the best way forward is to keep your own flat/house no matter what and dont move in with your girlfriend.ive had 6 girlfriends since i moved into my flat back in 1999!all of them wanted me to either move in with them or them with me(one did live with me for around a year).so i would of had to move  a few times! .sod that...