[geefree]

Hi,

Sometimes its good to share your feelings with like minded people , so here goes,

Are you proud of what you are doing , and have acheived?

or do you still feel littlle down because, people in general think... oh he is only a Window cleaner.?

Do you feel good about your work, and the way you have built a successful business, only for others to say..

oh he is only a Window cleaner.?

Do you get asked ... "oh how are things going" ?.... and looked down at .. at the same time.. and not really listened to?... because......

oh he is only a Window cleaner.?





It may be me ... and you guys will tell me.. :

I cant shake it off,  i feel, although i am doing well, i feel like i am being looked upon as someone who has lost his marbles......

Why is that....?

one very close friend told me he is happy and proud that i left my sales job.. on the spot...

and started this .and built a round in a year and a half..... happy for me..

other people close / and fairly close to me give me the impression that i have taken 1 step forward, and 10 steps back..

i am very proud of what i do, and one day i will lough loudest..

but for now, i find it hard sometimes.

not business wise.

close people wise.


Anyone else had this , or  is it me ?

[windowwashers]

EmbarasseD some times if I am honest feel embasassed, I dont know why, most of the time it does not happen now but every now and again I feel really bad saying what I do maybe it is the old stigma I dont know.

Most of the time I am very proud, if I meet old freinds they laugh if I say I  own a wc company and if they laugh at what i do I let them, as they say what they do and I know I am doing far far better, the silent is a great feeling no need to boast

When this myth has gone so will the feeling.



Being honest here I do ok for My family and myself thats what really matters to me.

love to hear other people views.


Ian

[geefree]

Hi Ian,

I think its the old w/c thing... there is still a stigma attached to it,,!

The old......... Beer money thing.


I Will tell you alittle short story.


Before Christmas , My girlfriend and i , went looking around for a leather suite.

she is very choosy and very designer orientated,.... but we had to have one NOW! 

so we went to a suite designer outlet , and saw one on offer, delivery for xmas......

i had a little barter session with the sales guy... and reduced the price....

on the way to the desk ...(it was a cash sale by the way)......... he said to me .. "what do you do  for a living" ?,


I said i am on the dole... because i thought "bit nosey".....

My girlfriend said......." he is a window cleaner and  why do you ask?

He laughed....... because i had just spent £@@@@

and said ... "well you will be on the dole if you are a window cleaner.!

these are the type of things i mean and why i posted.

confidence dops.

gary

[The Seven Bays Window Cleaning Company]

You know. To be perfectly honest  - I'm proud to be a window cleaner.

I mean, I work outside, when I want, I'm my own boss, I actually enjoy cleaning windows  - and to top it all I earn enough to afford a good standard of living.

So, when asked what do you do for a living, I proudly say 'I clean windows', and wait for the smirk. They can smirk as much as they like, but I know I'm in a better position than them - So, I smirk the longest

Never feel ashamed of what your profession is labeled as - be proud of what you have achieved !

And shout with pride.....I CLEAN WINDOWS, but also the frames, sills and doors too

[windowcleaninginessex.co.uk]

A friend of a friend said to me once--- YOU ARE ONLY A CLEANER --- i told him no get you facts right I am a-- WINDOW CLEANER - he soon shut up when i told him this..

 I live in a 5 bed bungalow, my mortgage will be paid by the time I am 44 years old (5 years time ), I have a heated swimming pool,  I own my own astra van, i own a 4yr old 4x4 and my wife has a new car every 2 years..... i won,t keep going.

Like i say i am a --WINDOW CLEANER-- AND PROUD OF IT

Darren

[Dean Aspects]

I tend to be a little embarrased but i shouldnt be as when i look back to what i had when i was employed and what i have now the difference is huge i even have days off when i need to and can now afford to go abroad for holidays
The freedom to me though is worth more than all the material gain would never go back to employment now as this freedom is worth too much to me
I am proud of the fact that from nothing i have built up a business that turnsover enough to pay for all these things and if i want i can build it more i can

Dean

[Londoner]

It doesn't bother me one way or the other but my 16 year old son is really embarrassed about it and if I take him to school I have to drop him off up a side street.

He says its because his mates will take the P if they find out.

I do have a mate who still thinks the George Formby / banjo jokes are funny and they really get on my nerves.

[JJWindowCleaners]

A friend of a friend said to me once--- YOU ARE ONLY A CLEANER --- i told him no get you facts right I am a-- WINDOW CLEANER - he soon shut up when i told him this..

 I live in a 5 bed bungalow, my mortgage will be paid by the time I am 44 years old (5 years time ), I have a heated swimming pool,  I own my own astra van, i own a 4yr old 4x4 and my wife has a new car every 2 years..... i won,t keep going.

Like i say i am a --WINDOW CLEANER-- AND PROUD OF IT

Darren

I would not justify myself like that.  I am what I am.  I pay my way, I dont claim benefits and if I sometimes feel like people are looking down their noses at me through my choice of job, then I remember quietly what I have achieved. 

[windowcleaninginessex.co.uk]

The George Formby song, if i had a pound every time i heard someone whistle the tune, I would never have to work again.

Darren

[windowcleaninginessex.co.uk]

A friend of a friend said to me once--- YOU ARE ONLY A CLEANER --- i told him no get you facts right I am a-- WINDOW CLEANER - he soon shut up when i told him this..

 I live in a 5 bed bungalow, my mortgage will be paid by the time I am 44 years old (5 years time ), I have a heated swimming pool,  I own my own astra van, i own a 4yr old 4x4 and my wife has a new car every 2 years..... i won,t keep going.

Like i say i am a --WINDOW CLEANER-- AND PROUD OF IT

Darren

I would not justify myself like that.  I am what I am.  I pay my way, I dont claim benefits and if I sometimes feel like people are looking down their noses at me through my choice of job, then I remember quietly what I have achieved. 

Trust me I was not justifing myself, just letting him know window cleaners are hard working, make a living and not at the bottom of the work chain like some peolple think.

Darren

[elite mike]

A friend of a friend said to me once--- YOU ARE ONLY A CLEANER --- i told him no get you facts right I am a-- WINDOW CLEANER - he soon shut up when i told him this..

 I live in a 5 bed bungalow, my mortgage will be paid by the time I am 44 years old (5 years time ), I have a heated swimming pool,  I own my own astra van, i own a 4yr old 4x4 and my wife has a new car every 2 years..... i won,t keep going.

Like i say i am a --WINDOW CLEANER-- AND PROUD OF IT

Darren

dead right ,LOUD and PROUD

[pingu]

To be honest I would say yes I do get embarassed...despite knowing that I am building my own business and have freedoms, choice etc, etc...

I suppose that I will never shake off these things in my head but in the main that is what they are....nonsense in my head.

I have moved to a different country and having one business fail have started a window cleaning business...the fact that I do not take anything from the country that I now call home and pay my taxes and all other payments that I am required to make...makes me feel good....I am a foreinger in another land but I now stand up on my own 2 feet and feel good for this alone...but I would imagine that I shall always feel embarassed about being a window cleaner.

Just the way it is....

Cheers
Dave.

[ronnie paton]

i guess im embarressed o has if people ask what i do i say run a cleaning business, i do other stuff but 80% of my income is window cleaning.

People just look at you as if its a poop job and friends comment all the time like you rjust a window cleaner haha

but at the end of the day im a proffesional window cleaner with a uniform and sighn written van, i do things different tham most window cleaners round my way so i see my self has a business man and i think like a business man!!

[simon knight]

All my real mates and (more importantly family) have no problem at all with what I do and think of me no differently to when I worked in a bank.

As for other people....frankly I really couldn't give a stuff what they think.

As somebody once said: Those who matter don't mind.

                                        And those who mind don't matter.

[dai]

Embarrassed, why? Are other peoples perceptions so important? If anyone has a problem with me being a window cleaner, the problem is all theirs, I want no part of it.

The only thing that does matter is how you perceive yourself.

It becomes pretty obvious when you start reading the earnings threads that some of us have problems with their self esteem.

I'M ONLY A WINDOW CLEANER BUT I EARN XXXX, is a common direction for these threads to go.
We can't all be the best, most professional, highest earners. I understand this, just like I know I will never play rugby for Wales.
I will never be the best at anything. But hey!, I'm think I'm an OK guy.
Be happy with who you are, life's too short to worry about other peoples perceptions. Dai

[Sanity]

I am very proud of the fact I have built a small business that has value...

However I do find myself embarrased whenever someone asks me wht I do for a living..

I have tried,

'I own a small business'
'I am self employed'
'I own a window maintenance company'

rather than

'Im a window cleaner'
'I own a window cleaning business'

Maybe when I have the nice big house and flash car I will be able to hold my head up and say Im a window cleaner...

[Ian W]

I am trying to build up my business to go full time. This makes me proud, because it is going well (so far).

I feel embarassed when people ask me how it is going because you can tell they think you are mad! Crazy I know.  :

[Ian_Giles]

I'm actually proud of what I do, it amuses me that no doubt some of the workers in some of the various offices I clean will look down on me as just a 'menial' worker but for the most part, my income will far exceed their own

I have customers in high flying jobs who I would consider clueless and inept, ditto some friends who are in positions of some importance, but again, in so many areas they just don't have a clue.

I'm also the groundsman for my cricket club, too long a story to relate here, but some of my fellow committee members had to chip in and help with the groundwork...
One - a headmaster - was cutting the strip for the following weekends game...he couldn't understand why it wasn't cutting any grass....sigh! I lowered the blades for him.
Prior to that I had to show them how to operate the mower...pull handle to start it...grip lever to make it go...complete doughnuts !
And we are talking headmasters, company directors and the like.
And on the outfield gang mowers, all powered off the PTO on a small tractor...well, that was just too complicated to risk letting one of them use it.

I can strip a car down and rebuild it, (not a modern day BMW mind!) I'm skilled in many area's of the building industry, I am vastly practical...I look down on these headmasters and company directors....they aren't in my class!!!! lol.

I played Squash (to just under county level) for 20 years, as I played to a good standard I would often thrash others in open club competitions, ergo I was very much respected because of my ability on court.
Squash was a game that attracted people from all walks of life, yo uwould go on court and play your game, shower, change and go for a drink with the guy you'd just played.
Nobody had a clue what the other did for a living, by the time you had got around to discussing what was done for a living, respect had been borne on the squash court.
With some of course, when it came around to telling them you were a window cleaner you could see the double blink of surprise, but the respect remained, especially as in some cases I was also the coach they came too for lessons!

Your own self perception is the most important thing, especially when you find yourself comparing yourself to someone else....you can end out like Ronnie Corbett in the 'I know my place' Sketch (alongside John Cleese - bowler hatted toff - and Ronnie Barker - middle class man - very clever sketch actually...

Ian

[d s windowcleaning]

i am pround of being a window cleaner and ive never felt embarassed about that . ive had full support from family & friends and the amount of people whos asked me for work as been huge . I left a really well paid job to be my OWN BOSS and ive never looked back . i started with only 6 houses but now im doing really well yes im really pround of what ive done for myself .

[Pure H20 Cleaning Services]

Am i embarassed, never really thought about it, am i proud, never really thought abot it, am i happy earning good money being at home with the kids in the mornings & after school not working weekends or nights, YES.