[bazooka]

ive been cleaning window 17 yrs and wfp 3 and i can not see the how it can be justified that wfp it is any more profit making than trad cleaning i can possible make 20 pound  more a day with a wfp  so with all the other cost involved water sewage electric extra weight in van it does seem 2 be not worth the extra hassle other than the safety aspect  i can see the benifits of cleaning the the second floor building but other than that it seems 2 just a lazy way to get in to cleaning windows

[Paul Coleman]

ive been cleaning window 17 yrs and wfp 3 and i can not see the how it can be justified that wfp it is any more profit making than trad cleaning i can possible make 20 pound  more a day with a wfp  so with all the other cost involved water sewage electric extra weight in van it does seem 2 be not worth the extra hassle other than the safety aspect  i can see the benifits of cleaning the the second floor building but other than that it seems 2 just a lazy way to get in to cleaning windows

Some days my extra turnover isn't so great either.  However there are other days when I vcan halve the time on certain jobs compared to how long I took with ladders.  I am building to have more of the latter type of day.  I reckon that over a 3 year period it will be possible to double my turnover - or close to it.

[Ian W]

If you are building rounds that are suitable only for your wfp equipment, what happens to the windows that are best suited to trad work? Do you have other window cleaners working those?
It sounds like there would be great opportunities for trad and wfp businesses to share out the work between them and everyone is happy.

[Paul Coleman]

If you are building rounds that are suitable only for your wfp equipment, what happens to the windows that are best suited to trad work? Do you have other window cleaners working those?
It sounds like there would be great opportunities for trad and wfp businesses to share out the work between them and everyone is happy.

I would go further than that.
Like a lot of window cleaners I do have some low priced work which seems to have stuck to me over the years.  Maybe W/Cers should get together to swap their poorer paid work.  A customer will often be prepared to pay a new W/Cer more money but not pay their existing one a decent rate of increase.

[Helen]

it shoudn't be that you are either a "trad" wc or a "wfp" wc. Any business needs to diversify and offer alternatives and be flexible. So for example you have 5  x £25.00 properties in one area that can be wfp and there are 3 more £25.00 properties in that same area that warrant trad methods......let someone else have them, just because you don't trad? : and vise versa......Think not. Again trad, wfp whatever, are just tools of your trade.

[Ian W]

I agree with Helen up to a point. But I am sure there are many trad window cleaners that are happy doing it that way, and wfp cleaners that don't wish to do trad.
Cost will also be a major factor for some. Trad can be set up at minimal cost, but even the most basic set up for wfp is going to cost some.
In these situations, why not form an alliance with another cleaner and share out the jobs?

[NWH]

Anyone who says WFP is no quicker than trad is using it on the wrong type of jobs end of story,i can easily earn what 2 blokes earn off ladders on my own.

[ronaldo]

Anyone who says WFP is no quicker than trad is using it on the wrong type of jobs end of story,i can easily earn what 2 blokes earn off ladders on my own.

Here here, when i changed to wfp i knocked a day a week off my round and got rid of a muppet that worked for me, so if you cant clean quicker with your pole go home and practice because you obviously ARENT DOING IT PROPERLEY !!!!!!!!!!!!

[LWC]

ill also agree there

i used to work with some muppet off ladders, then we went wfp me doing ups and him trailing doing downs

i got rid of him, and now i earn double what both of us used to do off ladders and wfp ups

as said, sorry but your wrong

[Paul Coleman]

The work that used to take me 6 weeks I now do in 4.  Naturally there is a higher outlay too though but overall I reckon my profit per hour is rather higher.

[NWH]

The thing is what mug wants to go up ladders all the time these days when theres no need to,i know the job has always been done off ladders but things are moving on fast.If you can see the band wagon that normally means you`ve missed it.

[Adam Boss]

yawn yawn, here we go again !. wonder who will be working if drought orders come in this summer, ( legally that is ).
I trad more than wfp and enjoy ladder work, no hose to drag just pick up your ladder and move on.
Pick jobs that your happy with and there are to many variables with wfp as has been stated on this forum. If it wernt for all the problems regarding wfp this forum would have been shut down long ago.
If you have the SKILL to trad then you will have no problems and some say if you can't get to grips with trad them get a brush.
Oh and NWH, ladder guys are no mugs mate, and wfp might be faster on some jobs but it's not all about quantity it's about quality.
Regards

[macmac]

BORING, YAWN, BORING , YAWN, YAWN YAWN.
i'm 100 times quicker wfp than trad, when i was trad i was earning 20 quid a day 12 hours too, knackered, nearly dead at end of each day. But now i'm wfp i'm earning 6 grand a day!!!! & i start at 9am & finnish at 10am. yes, thats right, 6 grand per hour, wfp really is that good, i couldn't possibly use a ladder anymore, daddy would kill me

 

me thinks there's more truth in bazookas initial post.

tony

[Paul Coleman]

Anyone who says WFP is no quicker than trad is using it on the wrong type of jobs end of story,i can easily earn what 2 blokes earn off ladders on my own.

It could be said that I'm using it on some of the wrong sort of jobs I suppose but these changes have to be transitional.  If I had ditched all my inappropriate work as soon as I started WFP, it would have left me very short of work.  Better to do it in stages I find.

[Adam Boss]

macman, 6 grand an hour ? wouldnt get out of bed for that mate, you are doin it all wrong. Get a sponge and you will never look back. ( IT'S THE FUTURE )

[Londoner]

You all seem to have missed the real point, WHO CARES? I don't clean windows for a living, I collect money door to door for a living. All that stuff with the windows is a sort of decoy to soften the customers up and make them feel good about giving me the dough.

[Rob.Hall]

I know a trad and he consistently turns in £1000 a week. Has been doing it for years.
Has looked at wfp and does not like the inconsistency of results. So he is staying up the ladder!

I like the idea of wfp. Good for those,cant get to places.

Good for commercial.

I am looking to get a small system as i can see the benifits.

My view ..... keep an open mind. Tec in our line of work  is changing quickly however what % of wfp boys and girls only can turn in £1000 consistently a week. Be honest.

[simon knight]

The thing that I don't understand about selling the concept of wfp to customers is the line: " It will take 2 or 3 visits before your windows will look good."

If I take a pair of trousers to the dry cleaners I expect the curry I spilt down them to be gone when I collect them, not be told: "Well it'll take a few more goes before it's all out."

And this is where trad scores above wfp, unless you're a crap w/c the customer gets good results on clean 1.

[Paul Coleman]

The thing that I don't understand about selling the concept of wfp to customers is the line: " It will take 2 or 3 visits before your windows will look good."

If I take a pair of trousers to the dry cleaners I expect the curry I spilt down them to be gone when I collect them, not be told: "Well it'll take a few more goes before it's all out."

And this is where trad scores above wfp, unless you're a crap w/c the customer gets good results on clean 1.

The "2 or 3 cleans" bit isn't strictly true though.  It CAN happen that way. If the first clean is done thoroughly with loads of rinsing and going around twice, then the results will often be acceptable at the first attempt.

[simon knight]

If it works on first attempt then fair enough the job you've been paid to do has been completed to an acceptable standard. But do wfp guys still charge full price if it's obviously going to be a 2-3 clean before it's good?