[matt]

Good balanced reply, saw this somewhere.

"There is only one success- to be able to spend your life in your own way." - Christopher Morely

Oi

[Jeff Brimble]

What ! where ?   :  oh thats where I saw it, nice one Matt.  Got any more ? (sorry its off topic)

[alansavvi]

Can someone help, I had 201 new customers contact me today, with my 17 vans and 42 staff I cannot cope. Please give me directions to Dover, need to recruit more staff, or is it easier to go to Calais with a transit?

[matt]

What ! where ?   :  oh thats where I saw it, nice one Matt.  Got any more ? (sorry its off topic)

credit where is it due

and it must lay with Dennis for it

http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=21715.0

its very apt though

[matt]

Can someone help, I had 201 new customers contact me today, with my 17 vans and 42 staff I cannot cope. Please give me directions to Dover, need to recruit more staff, or is it easier to go to Calais with a transit?

i only had 1, though i only worked till 11 and it rained

it was a fairly sized house though, 1 to have as a bit of extra, you know, you can take it or leave it, so put in a BIG price

im going around on wednesday to price it up

[neil100]

Change may be on its way, but it will not come the way that as been described on this topic.

It will come from the customer who in 10 years time can pop into Wilkinsons and buy a pole and a cannister of resin to clean his windows for £15.00. £15.00 for a years w cleaning with no risk of falling off a ladder and he will only be to happy to clean his neighbours windows for £2.00 to help recover the cost.

Made in china by the millions.

Make money while you can cos when the domestic work starts drying up we will be undercutting each other for commercial work.

Death of the corner shop,Death of the w/cleaner.

So instead of 200 new customers a week he will be loseing 199.

Nel looking into my crstyal ball.

[windows_chepstow]

It will come from the customer who in 10 years time can pop into Wilkinsons and buy a pole and a cannister of resin to clean his windows for £15.00. £15.00 for a years w cleaning with no risk of falling off a ladder and he will only be to happy to clean his neighbours windows for £2.00 to help recover the cost.

Made in china by the millions.

Nel looking into my crstyal ball.

Nah,

Many people wouldn't be bothered to clean their own windows even if this were available now.

Some of my customers won't even go to the local shop without taking their cars.

People in general are getting lazier and more overweight; we're turning American; obesity is on the increase and will soon be the No 1 UKs biggest killer.

There'll always be a market for residential window cleaners.

[Trevor Knight]

Well there has got to be some supermen on here.  2000 customers a month are they all in the same street because there is no way on this earth those figures can be acheived.

Winter start at 8am finish at 4pm latest thats 3 vans between 2000 customers is 33 units a day 5 days a week non stop per month over 4 units per hour how can this be done without a day off and without breaks,lunches.

I cannot see how these targets or figures can be met.Even with wfp to do a good job stop and collect payment thats about 20 minutes so that makes 3 units per hour.What about travelling or do you have 2000 units right next to each other.,

Its great to see all these figures and sums etc but realistically theya cant be reached unless a bad job is being done,under the minimum wage is being paid.

beats me?

You are so wrong its unbelievable, any day you wish to come to our office and go out with one of the crews you are more than welcome.

2 guys per Van
5 houses per hour
40 houses per day
4.5 days per week = 180
180 x 4 = 720
x 3 vans = 2160 customers



This is achieved week in week out, when the bad weather sets in we use the 5 week months to catch up.

Why in the world would I say something that I cannot back up!!! Like that makes sense.

I am sick of people knocking others who want to get the most out of this industry.

And just for the record, I lose aprox 3% of customers a year of which 90% are because they are moving home, so yes we do give a good service and clean the windows propeorly and to a high standard.

As for the wages, all my guy's earn £10 per hour, so if thats your idea of minimum wage then yes, thats correct!!

Please, instead of knocking people take a step back and look at why I am doing this and what I want from it, then look at why you are doing this and what you want from it. We may have a different outlook but there is no need for unjust critisism.

The only reason I posted against this was as I said before, a company that commands 200 new customers a week, in my eyes, running a good size business myself, well it just sounded a bit hard to believe. I wasn't on here trying to big up my company!!!!!

Rant over now!

Trev

[Extremeclean]

Well, just as I predicted a lot of opinion on this.

Even Mr Knight has someone who does not believe him I see.

The response is just as I thought it would be though.

Can't you people understand that there are others out there with enormous energy, ambition and business acumen who will make us all change our ways or go by the wayside?

To clarify I am not the person who I described to you all. I am just a dyed in the wool window cleaner with a decent sized business built up over many years who is seeing the writing on the wall and I want to protect what I have.

A lot of you have said that there will always be a place for the good old local window cleaner. I agree to an extent. There will be a place but I think it will shrink a lot over the next few years.

A lot of your replies have been made from a viewpoint of one man at the helm doing almost everything. If that were the case then yes I would agree that it's impossible to achieve the numbers given. This guy is smart. He delegates everything he can and seems to have a knack of concentrating on the right things at the right times. I admire him but he Bl88dy frightens me and I am seeing more like him coming into this business.

And to just let you all know I may be from Kent now but I am a dragged up in a terraced house Northerner who sometimes says Eee Baaa  Gum.  I wanted out of the dead end factory jobs that we all seemed to do in my younger days and had a vision. I went for it and did it. Why then cant the guys like him do what they have similar feelings about?

I am enjoying the replies so far.  I judge no-one. We all want different things out of life. Some just want more than others materially. It's these B++ggers we have to prepare ourselves for. They ARE coming to a street near us. Probably our own streets as well.

[ronaldo]

Its good to here your busy Trev, i,m happy with my 40 a week let alone a day, and theyre all priced correctly and  my working week is a doddle if your happy with your lot thats all that matters and there is no need to worry about what anybody else is doing onwards and upwards 

[windows_chepstow]

Can't you people understand that there are others out there with enormous energy, ambition and business acumen who will make us all change our ways or go by the wayside?

Extremeclean,

I hear what you're saying, but I think window cleaning is a business that differs from many other businesses.

We do live in a 'shop around' age; where customers can pick and choose stuff such as mobile phones/broadband/home phones/fuel/supermarkets/credit cards/loans/bank accounts and probably lots of other stuff where consumers go for the best value at the cheapest prices.

But window cleaning is inherrently different.  The residential customer knows they are limited by choice, cannot get a guarantee that their 'new' window cleaner will be as good, or as honest, as their last, more expensive one and will often stay with their current window cleaner no matter what.

And not only that, it's far more personal.  Changing your window cleaner is not like changing your electricity supplier.  Even if they do change, they know they've still got to see you working in their street each month, or while shopping in the local supermarket.

I also realise that guys hungry for success will get it.  I often wish I had a bit more 'go' than I have.  It's easy to fall into the monthly-routine syndrome; but I have no fear of some 'go getter' targetting any of my business.

[Jeff Brimble]

you dont believe about asylumseekers??. LikeI said I used to kleen 44 three story houses on a brand new estate just outside london, charging £20.00 a house with wfp. After doing them twice nearly all said they wanted to cancel, when asked why the answer was " the bosnians are doing it for a tenner". How would YOU answer that

Tosh are you sure ? How do we know that Extremes friend isnt capitalising on the market forces.

[windows_chepstow]

you dont believe about asylumseekers??. LikeI said I used to kleen 44 three story houses on a brand new estate just outside london, charging £20.00 a house with wfp. After doing them twice nearly all said they wanted to cancel, when asked why the answer was " the bosnians are doing it for a tenner". How would YOU answer that

Tosh are you sure ? How do we know that Extremes friend isnt capitalising on the market forces.

I'm 90% sure, but only time will tell, to be honest!

[neil100]

I take my hat off to guys like Trev.

He wants to make a good living and have a secure future. Fair dincum. He puts in the time and gets the rewards.

But for all of us its about choice of how hard we want to work and what we want out of it. For me its not just about money, granted I own my own home lock stock and barrell, I have a good income, I reguerly earn 1k a week now without breaking a sweat.

I could canvass take people on and earn 4k a week. But I chose not to. I like being a one man band,I love w/c because their is no stress involved. Get an awkard customer kick them into touch. I love working outdoors it feels real, the sky the clouds are my celing not some papered wallpaper. The birds the trees are sounds I love to here at work.

People are head of big busnisses the world over. Good for them, are they happy, are they content. Is the man happy who earns a million £ or will he only be happy with a billion£.

The quality of your life is more important then the x amount of £s you earn. Does the guy who puts all the effort in building up a business empire put the same effort into having a good realationship with his wife and kids. How many real freinds will he have?

Life is about choice but most people are driven by commercialism and trying to earn an ever expanding wage they miss out on whats important. Wc will survive cos the true gems will allways be cherished by the vast majority of their  customers.

Nel.

[Extremeclean]

Well there has got to be some supermen on here.  2000 customers a month are they all in the same street because there is no way on this earth those figures can be acheived.

Winter start at 8am finish at 4pm latest thats 3 vans between 2000 customers is 33 units a day 5 days a week non stop per month over 4 units per hour how can this be done without a day off and without breaks,lunches.

I cannot see how these targets or figures can be met.Even with wfp to do a good job stop and collect payment thats about 20 minutes so that makes 3 units per hour.What about travelling or do you have 2000 units right next to each other.,

Its great to see all these figures and sums etc but realistically theya cant be reached unless a bad job is being done,under the minimum wage is being paid.

beats me?

You are so wrong its unbelievable, any day you wish to come to our office and go out with one of the crews you are more than welcome.

2 guys per Van
5 houses per hour
40 houses per day
4.5 days per week = 180
180 x 4 = 720
x 3 vans = 2160 customers



This is achieved week in week out, when the bad weather sets in we use the 5 week months to catch up.

Why in the world would I say something that I cannot back up!!! Like that makes sense.

I am sick of people knocking others who want to get the most out of this industry.

And just for the record, I lose aprox 3% of customers a year of which 90% are because they are moving home, so yes we do give a good service and clean the windows propeorly and to a high standard.

As for the wages, all my guy's earn £10 per hour, so if thats your idea of minimum wage then yes, thats correct!!

Please, instead of knocking people take a step back and look at why I am doing this and what I want from it, then look at why you are doing this and what you want from it. We may have a different outlook but there is no need for unjust critisism.

The only reason I posted against this was as I said before, a company that commands 200 new customers a week, in my eyes, running a good size business myself, well it just sounded a bit hard to believe. I wasn't on here trying to big up my company!!!!!

Rant over now!

Trev

One of the best rants I have seen or heard in a long time.

When I left my safe,secure, boring as H=ll, dead end factory job many years ago to become a mere window cleaner my family and mates laughed at me and though I was mad.  The factory closed years ago and most of the guys that worked there are on state benefits and say they can't get work. Yes they can. Go out and be a window cleaner for instance.

Trevor has his own reasons for getting on in life and good luck to him I say.

I have mine and won't sit back and ignore what's happening. Some may have not seen it yet but I have. That's why I am going to grow the domestic side of my business and like Trevor if I ruffle a few feathers along the way then so be it. It won't be intentional like Trevor says but thats business.

As to this person being my friend all along I've said he is an aquaintance. There is an old but very true saying. I think it goes like this. " Keep your friends close to you but keep your enemies even closer"    It's amazing what you can learn by doing this.

[paul mather]

I could canvass take people on and earn 4k a week. But I chose not to. I like being a one man band,I love w/c because their is no stress involved. Get an awkard customer kick them into touch. I love working outdoors it feels real, the sky the clouds are my celing not some papered wallpaper. The birds the trees are sounds I love to here at work.


That's quite poetic Neil, brought a tear to my eye.

[Paul Coleman]

Good balanced reply, saw this somewhere.

"There is only one success- to be able to spend your life in your own way." - Christopher Morely

That's the one.  The greatest asset of all is time.  Money can come and go as do contracts.  But time continues regardless - irreplaceable.
I'm gonna live forever.  So far, so good   

[Moderator David@stives]

The end is nigh !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Doom and gloom , dont worry there will always be more glass than window cleaners, seems mr Prescott is going to build another 5 million houses and half of my customers are having conservatories built.

My customers all adore me and my wife, i dont think it will be the same with some faceless corporate company cleaning there windows.

In other words a load of old tosh

Dave

[D woods]

Hi Extremeclean
Is this the company www.ezy-clean.co.uk

[*Chris Browne]

Great video!! loved the chap speaking...was it chumly warner?.....


Chris