[geefree]

I had around 10 houses to do on one street... all next door to each other...all identical semis.

where you can do both the sides together... so out came the fishing diy pole.... i flew through them.... so light so easy...

its not the be all and end all, but it certainly has its place.

Still love it Tosh. 

[Peter Fogwill]

How long did it take Gazz?

Peter

[Chris Galloway]

Finally, got mine sorted, will be using it for the first time next week, with the new flocked SL2 brush, looking forward to it.

[geefree]

How long did it take Gazz?

Peter

one hour 40 mins.

[cbcs]

£3 per house.

[geefree]

£7

[geefree]

thought you were belling me 

[geefree]

How long did it take Gazz?

Peter

 : : :

[groundhog]

£7

I can't believe that people are still charging silly amounts like this!!!! Even the cheapest window cleaner I know, now has a minimum charge of £10 

[geefree]

come and live around here then...like i said small and easy to do.

[geefree]

you cant go around charging people £10 for ten mins work, thats why some are losing jobs quickly,.. and others have not lost any .. and are still gaining new ones daily..... ..they probably knew they were being over charged.. but could stand it when they were well off...... a small semi in this area is around that price... not cheapest and not the most expensive quote... its a competitive price,..

now as the recession bites, people who have over priced and took customers for a long ride... well...these guys will be the first to go... in my opinion...not only that... but when things get better.... they will look elswhere for a new window cleaner.

and besides, even if it took me 2 hours... thats £35 per hour... hardly a "silly price"  to be charging in real terms... is it?

[[GQC] Tim]

you cant go around charging people £10 for ten mins work, thats why aome are losing jobs quickly, ..they probably knew they were being over charged.. but could stand it when they were well off....

now as the recession bites, these guys will be the first to go... in my opinion...

and besides, even if it took me 2 hours... thats £35 per hour... hardly a "silly price"  to be charging in real terms... is it?

You can't? You can mate, £35 an hour is way too low, not even the daily average should be that. The price per minute worked should be around £50 to £60. So if a house takes 10 minutes, from the first window to the last, they £10 is the correct price.

I haven't lost any yet, and I have gained about £125 of work these last 2 weeks.

[geefree]

well i think £35 iper hour s absolutely fantastic, .. and i feel very fortunate.... i would feel very lucky on £17 per hour on domestics,

very very lucky and fortunate.

i dont take 3 or 4 or even 5 puond houses,but i know lots of people who do.... even on here....

and if they can do 4 or 5 of them in an hour...its  still a good wage.

iI do aim high, and one day i hope to do very well, but after 2 years,

i am where i set out to be.

so i am fortunate.

There are people worse off.

 

[groundhog]

Gazza, setting a minimum charge was the best advice I ever got from this forum! And I believe that £10 really should be the minimum price for a proffessional business. My minimum is £25, and I have some fantastic work that if I had not set this minimum I would probably be doing for about £12 - £15 if I priced on a count up of windows! I do still have some work from when my minimum was £10, one of these is on a single storey barn conversion, and all it involves is me cleaning 3 very small skylights as the owner cleans the rest of the windows himself, I told him straight away that my minimum was £10 which he was fine with. If I had priced it per window I would probably only be charging £1.50 for the job, but I get a tenner for about 2 mins work!! and that is what I am in business for, to make as much money as I can. So do yourself a favour and set a decent minimum charge, you won't regret it!!! 

[NWH]

Gazza, setting a minimum charge was the best advice I ever got from this forum! And I believe that £10 really should be the minimum price for a proffessional business. My minimum is £25, and I have some fantastic work that if I had not set this minimum I would probably be doing for about £12 - £15 if I priced on a count up of windows! I do still have some work from when my minimum was £10, one of these is on a single storey barn conversion, and all it involves is me cleaning 3 very small skylights as the owner cleans the rest of the windows himself, I told him straight away that my minimum was £10 which he was fine with. If I had priced it per window I would probably only be charging £1.50 for the job, but I get a tenner for about 2 mins work!! and that is what I am in business for, to make as much money as I can. So do yourself a favour and set a decent minimum charge, you won't regret it!!! 

Everything about that was true,£3-4 houses just gets me scratching my head i`m afraid i`m not going to knock anyone but i find it hard to beleive you can run a business like this.I wouldn`t get out of the van for that kind of money,it sounds like some are just happy to not travel for the money.

[geefree]

Im afraid you cant do that in this area, dont you think we would?....

as for running a business like that, nwh.....if we tried to have a minimum of ten pounds  to flourish, it would take us ten years to build a round,... so we have to charge in line with competitors, and eventually keep the cream and ditch the bad....

I clean a local vicarage,..the new vicar has been posted here, .. and moved from the south....

i quoted him £20.. he accepted, but his eyes popped out of his head...i looked at him, said you sure you ok with that? you seemed a little suprised.

He said from where he has just come from , this would be nearer £40.....

so every area is different,

You suprise me actually, as you know lucritive areas can command more money, .... a sandwhich shop on a busy road , will always take more than one on a country lane. emphasising  my point of individual areas......
every business is different, and as for travelling, some whole northen areas, are in a similar price bracket, so we would be talking travelling up to 100 miles for the difference to be felt.  so with fuel... the object is defeated.

[[GQC] Tim]

Everyone in my area charges peanuts, I don't and I have excellent work.

[groundhog]

i quoted him £20.. he accepted, but his eyes popped out of his head...i looked at him, said you sure you ok with that? you seemed a little suprised.

He said from where he has just come from , this would be nearer £40.....

In other words.... if you had quoted £40 you would probably have still got the job! but for double the money!!! 

[geefree]

I have plenty of high priced work,...those semis are average and easy... not underpriced at all... nor are they over priced for the time it takes to clean them.. i set out to target large detached and large semis,..i do no council estates at all... ( i was brought up on one so i dont need a lecture here.  my choice not to)

thats why it has taken me longer than usual to build a good round...

i have lots of semis at 10 pound ... those above....are 7 pound priced right..

the vicar, well, i cant think oh he may be from down south, i will charge him their rates  :... and if i had got away with it , i dont think it would have been long before he realised he was being ripped off, compared to his neighbours prices.... cleaned by me.

£20 a good price .

i know the £3 and £4 pound calls... other people do them not me..

and thats up to them... 5 in an hour ... not a bad wage for someone...

why is this a debate when most people on here understand every area in the country is priced differently.?

[groundhog]

5 in an hour ... not a bad wage for someone...

I think that this is the problem here.... you are thinking in terms of a wage, when you should be thinking in terms of turn over and profit! Think of it as a business and not as a job!! When I was employed I used to be on about £18 an hour, I now take far more in an hour, but am I really better off? Well as an employee I also got paid if I was off sick, I got 28 days paid holiday a year, I would have recieved an excellent final salary pension + many other attractive benefits! As a business owner I have much higher overheads, I don't get paid a penny if I take a day off sick or if I go on holiday, any saving for a pension has to come out of my earnings. So as you can see from the above, to make it worth my while going into business I need to be making a lot more money than I was when employed!!

I'm not being critical, I'm just suggesting that you could be taking considerably more than you are, and that setting a decent minimum price is a very sensible step to take!