[laddermonkee]

from some of the posts i have read and some of earnings claimed, am wondering where i am going wrong

[supernova77]

from some of the posts i have read and some of earnings claimed, am wondering where i am going wrong

What do you qualify as a decent living?

Andy

[pjulk]

You need to take things on a forum you see with a pinch of salt.

Not all window cleaners do well as in a post last week a guy packed in.

Some really struggle , some do ok and then do really well.

You get out what you put in.

Paul

[Londoner]

I make a decent living thats about the most truthful way I can put it. I pay my bills, I'm not in debt, the kids have shoes on their feet and we manage a holiday every year.

Its hard work but its better money than driving a bus for example and better paid than most jobs you see advertised.

As for what some people say they earn, well...........

[frames to panes]

You can have some cracking days, but can that be sustained through the winter, through gale force winds and rain sickness etc - highly unlikely, but you should be able to earn more than a shop worker. I earn far more than a security officer for example, much more than a supermarket employee BUT my overheads are way higher - van, poles, fuel insurances, sevice costs, wear and tear, filters and of course start up costs. No holiday pay no sickness benefits. So over the course of a year i'm not on a brilliant wage at all........yet.

[Rob_Mac]

It is the same as any other business.

Not all plumbers earn £15.00 per hour but most do, there will be a few that don't and then there will be those that excel and make many times more than the rest.

Where do you want to go with it?

There is no limit on what you want to or can achieve and how much you want to earn but if you want to earn big then that will cost you in other areas of your life.

When you get to the point that you wanted to get to when you first started and then you go past that point you have to set new targets or you can become complacent.

Regularly earning £20.00 per hour becomes the norm and you look at increasing prices as costs to provide the service go up.

Water charges have just gone up or are going up by 10%

£30.00 becomes the norm but to earn £30.00 you may need to employ 1 person so you have a salary and tax & NI to deduct and insurance for your employee

£40.00 becomes the norm per hour and you may need another van and another person.

I have had a cracking living from window cleaning and when I look back to when I started I have surpassed many many goals and prices per hour.  I have sold a domestic round whilst retaining 2/3rds of our commercial work, giving me a real pot of working capital.

Treat your business professionally and look after your customers, work hard and keep moving forward and your business will look after you for year after year. You will be able to reward yourself with real prices per hour to you and any employees and have some of the nicer things.

And from another point of view our business is all year and yes we do earn good money throughout the winter, wemay lose the odd day but that is made up for on the good days.

Would I go back to £6.00 per hour in a factory - not a chance!!!!

Rob

[frames to panes]

Don't forget Rob is probably nearer the "other"end of the business scale to the majority of us on here and i'm guessing with a name like laddermonkey you are a traditional cleaner? The big money would appear to come from commercial work on this forum unless you are very lucky to have a very compact round every day.

[Rob_Mac]

DJW

I have been very fortunate, I don't believe in luck and I am very determined to make my life better - not wealthy but easier.

I have grown a business quite quickly by some standards and have been able to capitalise on opportunity - I have also taken the risks and had to stand the cost for months on paying out and not getting paid on time from invoices.

It has been the sharpest learning curve and at times it has been absolutely awful and I have shed tears - for me it has turned out well and I have come through the other side.

I am no brighter than anyone on here and I had no more when I first started, i've been at every stage that the normal cleaner has been at and I can relate to everyone of you when you come up against the brick walls.

I needed to make a difference because I was very nearly repossessed and had the bailiffs knocking - when married to my second wife.

Being skint is a good incentive to get off your arse and sort it out in my book.

Where I am at and the tears are not for everyone and you need to find a point that you are happy with, I don't want you all chasing the same work we go for - it will make it more difficult.

I love the industry because it enabled me to turn my life around but it wasn't just the industry - I played a large part in it as well.

I wish you all success - wherever you are at

Rob

[frames to panes]

Well said Rob, i'm not knocking you at all, just illustrating the differences between successful cleaners and less successful (like myself) cleaners who have been in the trade for a short time. I conclude that good money is not an overnight thing and has to be built up over years.

[Alex Gardiner]

I know window cleaners who are still working off of ladders and regularly earn between £100-200 a day. Those earning £200 are very hard working though.

I think that classes as a decent wage, especially as their overheads are very low.

Using WFP then you should see £100 (10x £10 houses) as a minimum daily wage. Realistically you need to see about £140 (10x £14 houses) per day to allow for operating expenses. There are commercial and very well established window cleaners who earn a lot more, but this is usually down to years of experience and getting the right work.

[Rob_Mac]

You've hit the nail on the head there - it takes years to make your round compact, house after house after house and years to develop commercial - small, medium and large but it is only when you look back you can see how much you've grown.

Good money - big money has a bigger cost to your life than just time.

It will put a strain on every part of your relationship and can easily over stretch you and this goes against most peoples reasoning of coming into window cleaning - for the no hassle, worry free, answer to no one life of a one man operation.

It also has the rewards if you can put up with the aggravation and if you get a taste for the bigger money it can be highly rewarding.

I don't see us as having achieved it all there are those on here earning a lot more than I am - much much more. We are middle of the road but you do need to see all ends of the structure on these posts. To you and most it may seem alien to have a large business - that is only because you haven't got there yet, either through time served or personal & financial reasons.

We all need examples in life and mine is a guy who came on here and got fed up of the bickering and nonsence - he operated 10 vehicles in the North East - Frazers Venters, met him at the very beginnings of the APWC, no nonsence, worked hard, superb ethic and had a real desire to make the industry a safer and better place.

When he went off this forum we lost a valuable contribution to it

Rob

[Davo]

Midas , enjoy reading your posts, if not for the fact that the "bully boys" cant push you off the topic with a slur on your level of experience.


Excellent quality statement on your website, something ( for those that care) to aspire to.




Mark

[JSMC]

currently earn 22.5k in my normal job and possibly in the future i will leave this to WC. as long as i can earn this or more i be happy.  ihave very good benefits in my work including final salry pension, paid sick leave, holiday entitlement and goto college studying H&S. for me if i DO change jobs it wil be for change of lifestyle for me

[bassjamm]

Might i just add that i find this to be a very interesting thread, not only to learn what others are acheiving, but to hear the wise words of those that have excelled, but kept it in balance.

I've just turned 21 and i've been cleaning windows since leaving school pretty much, i took a year out to try and acheive, what some might call 'greater things'.  But the way i now view it is this...

I'm 21, i could just be leaving uni with 20k of debt and a 2 day a week job paying me £80 a week at best...but i'm not, i'm 21, yes i have debt through the reclessness of youth, some of that being business loans however, but i can earn far more than anyone else my age within reason.  I'm also a keen musician, one of my band mates has just been promoted to Asociate of a large surveying firm, he's on a good wage, now nearing 40k, but i know that he's had to spend 20 years to get there, i don't earn 40k a year, but 30k would be possible if i put the work in.  I've built my round up over the passed 2 years, and i can honestly say that i can go out and earn a good living.

I personally struggle with getting out in the mornings, hence the post on here at near 10am, but i have no responsibilities and therefor don't really appreciate what i have got i guess.  I do however enjoy window cleaning, it allows me to pursue other, more important goals in life, and to have a good amount of money at the end of the month, it is relatively hassle free, but as we all know, you have to put the work in to reap the rewards, this is something that i am learning rather quickly!

As Midas said...being skint is a pretty good reason for getting out there and doing work!!!  I've taken this on board over the passed month and bought another round, which has doubled the size of my round...so being skint led to take action, now i have the responsibilty of pleasing new customers in order to make that a success.

May i also add that this is all domestic work i am talking about...commercial is my next goal, but i don't want it to upset the balance i have struck in my life!

For anyone who is interested, i would reccommend 'The Richest Man In Babylon' as a good read/listen, it has helped me to get my business into a position where i can honestly say i earn a good living.

Just my thoughts.

Jamie

[Helen]

from some of the posts i have read and some of earnings claimed, am wondering where i am going wrong

1) Don't always believe what you read!
2) High claims of earning is not the be all and end all of life.
3) How long have you been trading? A higher level of income doesn't happen over night, it takes a lot of hard graft and effort and discipline to get it right or as near as you can.
Remember the saying......." slowly, slowly catchee monkee
Sorry couldn't resist that one
Just keep putting effort in and decide yourself what you are doing wrong, that is if you are

[Village Gleam]

Very good posts from everybody, not just Midas. An excellent thread that restores faith in the forum. When I read the topic i thought, here we go.....

[Helen]

Very good posts from everybody, not just Midas. An excellent thread that restores faith in the forum. When I read the topic i thought, here we go.....

Thankyou kind sir

I still have the feeling it could go the way you thought it would though :

[Rob_Mac]

Mr S - Ta for that

Davo - thanks again

Helen - are you Neil Williams wife or relative as you both have the holiday website on your entries ( sorry to take it off topic - noticed this the other day)

[bluez]

I think it is possible to make a good living from window cleaning, there are many out there who do but that does not mean that all who try succeed.

Set targets and persevere........then repeat.....then repeat

Business is the same regardless of the product or service, most of all it is about attitude. imho

[Count Phil]

I think its pure motivation for the first few years. Getting out and canvassing and quoting, working in the afternoon when it rained in the morning.

One thing I have noticed, when you start to do alright and have a good round (I've been going five years) it gets easier to keep going. You can relax if you are happy with the size you are (I am) but it becomes self sustaining - you pick up more customers than you need, so growing is a choice not hard work. So, will I take this new customer on or will I say I'm full?

Mind you that's after a few years of hard work, but suddenly the pressure goes!
However, if you want more than a good living, I think that takes motivation permanently and sitting back and relaxing will take a few more years longer to come.