[mr D]

ps out there sounds like it was about time your friend knocked it on the head b4 god made him

as for paying tax. i belive every one should pa tax on every penny the earn have some respect. where would we be if every one did jobs on the side? you can bet your life a wc paying no tax has no insurance and there for has lower over heads and can and will unfairly under cut others there for reducing the profits in the trade!

[Jonathan Spencer]

ps out there sounds like it was about time your friend knocked it on the head b4 god made him

as for paying tax. i belive every one should pa tax on every penny the earn have some respect. where would we be if every one did jobs on the side? you can bet your life a wc paying no tax has no insurance and there for has lower over heads and can and will unfairly under cut others there for reducing the profits in the trade!

I do pay my tax on it as I am a wuss on getting caught.  And on lower prices I am actually cheaper than the full time lads around by me.  Not because I undercut but because I price the job as I have been taught, maybe I am doing something wrong.

[mr D]

no jon you price your work as you see fit. at the end of the day one of the joys of self employment is putting a price on your own work. i do it. i too am mostly cheaper than other guys round my way. manly coz i'm alot faster so i can afford to be.

i only asked if you pay tax out of intrest as i know many dont. its a big problem if not the biggest we have in this job. people who pay cash think there doing you a favour there for can sometimes take the micky. if you make it clear from the start you declear EVERY penny then it tends to stop this and the haggling.

[Niall McAllister]

if you had licensing in england,you may get round some of these problem.a bigish outlay to start, then fines and bans for getting cought, put the cowboys off, and does something to improve the image of window cleaners with the public. no more, "there you go cash in hand, wink wink"

[Jonathan Spencer]

no jon you price your work as you see fit. at the end of the day one of the joys of self employment is putting a price on your own work. i do it. i too am mostly cheaper than other guys round my way. manly coz i'm alot faster so i can afford to be.

i only asked if you pay tax out of intrest as i know many dont. its a big problem if not the biggest we have in this job. people who pay cash think there doing you a favour there for can sometimes take the micky. if you make it clear from the start you declear EVERY penny then it tends to stop this and the haggling.

I actually turn work down these days.  What I tend to do is back 3 quid on and if they say if it is too dear I say that is the price and if they agree I am better off.   

[mr D]

not to sure where i stand on licencing to be trueful. i hate to think england would need to follow something that scotland did 1st. lol

[mr D]

JS tottaly the way to do it. i do this to a certan exstent but i'd advise not to over do it as you will build an over priced round and if times get really hard as there prodicting if your charging silly money your service might be something folk will cut back on. if your not pushing your luck then there see it as something fairly priced and worth keeping with.

[geefree]

if you had licensing in england,you may get round some of these problem.a bigish outlay to start, then fines and bans for getting cought, put the cowboys off, and does something to improve the image of window cleaners with the public. no more, "there you go cash in hand, wink wink"

Considering you have to be licenced in Scotland, .. how is the competition?

are your prices better because there are not many fly-by-nights and dole boys on the job?

In England, it is relatively easy to get into this business......

in fact its getting to be  quite a common statement for people about to lose jobs , or thinking of having a change... " I WILL GO WINDOW CLEANING IF I HAVE TO"


I , Personally worked my way out of a sales job, into window cleaning, via pressure washing at weekends, until i had enough work to make the transition into window cleaning....

I think it is too easy to get into, but very hard to maintain, and stick at it...

Thats why, there  are the fly by nights... and summer brigade and dole boys..... making it hard for the rest ......to put a decent price in... and change the public image of the real window cleaners who are trying to make a business or a living out of it

Because, these dossers want beer money... ONLY.

And when the cold weather comes, they run and hide... because they are shirkers and do not know what work is....

and dont know how to speak to decent people... and they are scruffy and that continues to give window cleaning a bad name.

and when they get a few customers too many..... they run and hide again !......

because they dont know how to cope... because its starting to turn into a JOB!!!.... So off they go again.


Until the beer money runs out.

There.  

[Niall McAllister]

It's still not perfect, you get chancers, but the councils are to blame for not policing their licensing.
that is changing, Doug (D.A. Services) at www.slwcn.org is putting a lot of man hours in to fixing this.
the thing is that for it to work you have to be willing to point the finger when you have to:I know a lot of people will hate that idea, thinking all for one and that. but, if the other guy is not going through the proper chanels he is not your pal and he is damaging your reputation.
the upshot is, the more guys that aren't willing to pay, the more work there is for the honest guy that is doing it right

[morphe]

I want to change as my current employers are idiots and have made my life a misery over the years.

[sprocket]

You guys, you make me laugh!

I started trad 1994, moved to wfp 2003.

If you believe that you are talking to humans when you type at this forum, think again!

What you are talking too is succesful window cleaners,who did the graft,and who, with contracts under their belts have opened up a warehouse selling??? correct, wfp

i am 37, nobody but nobody should have to live the life of a solitary window claner. i am now struggling to type because of the athritis (always ask them to show you their piano skils) It's all bullpoop, you will make lots of money, but, your health will suffer.

ps  i am now going to join raf. I'm lucky, i'm young.

How are you lookink forward to athritis?

Ask your granfather, it's really horrible.

[Chris Galloway]

I want to change as my current employers are idiots and have made my life a misery over the years.

Dont work for Equity Insurance do you? lol

[mr D]

You guys, you make me laugh!

I started trad 1994, moved to wfp 2003.

If you believe that you are talking to humans when you type at this forum, think again!

What you are talking too is succesful window cleaners,who did the graft,and who, with contracts under their belts have opened up a warehouse selling??? correct, wfp

i am 37, nobody but nobody should have to live the life of a solitary window claner. i am now struggling to type because of the athritis (always ask them to show you their piano skils) It's all bullpoop, you will make lots of money, but, your health will suffer.

ps  i am now going to join raf. I'm lucky, i'm young.

How are you lookink forward to athritis?

Ask your granfather, it's really horrible.

weirdo

[Oakley Windows]

You guys, you make me laugh!

I started trad 1994, moved to wfp 2003.

If you believe that you are talking to humans when you type at this forum, think again!

What you are talking too is succesful window cleaners,who did the graft,and who, with contracts under their belts have opened up a warehouse selling??? correct, wfp

i am 37, nobody but nobody should have to live the life of a solitary window claner. i am now struggling to type because of the athritis (always ask them to show you their piano skils) It's all bullpoop, you will make lots of money, but, your health will suffer.

ps  i am now going to join raf. I'm lucky, i'm young.

How are you lookink forward to athritis?

Ask your granfather, it's really horrible.

You want to fly planes and you got arthritis?

[NWH]

What`s that Sprocket bloke on about.

[kench.philip]

I started two years ago because:

1. no training nessesary whatsoever
2. simple to learn
3. no ladders at all (wfp)
4. all maintenance cleans so once you get the work you no longer have to look for more, with the advantage of being able to predict your annual earnings.

Lessons learnt: dealing with the public isn't straightforward, weather is a drawback, ladders are needed even if only for access, collecting is a pain, there was a stigma attatched to the job, it can become boring and motivation can be a problem.

I had no idea of the earnings potential (good or bad), no idea how to run a business or how to price up work and still struggle with customers who mess me about.

Morning FTP,
Can i email you or vice versa ?
regards  phil

[ryanst1982]

I work, but get 4 days off out of every 8 so wanted to do something rather that sit on my arse on these days. Wife has stopped work so need to start earning another income so thought this job perfect. Only started canvassing yesterday so cant tell if its gonna be a success yet but heres hoping

[dai]

"Well thanks WCE, Discount don’t compare yourself to “Herbert’s” and if there is any comparison your in trouble!

Bad times! What for all or for some? And for other does that mean good times in a bad time?

It’s a tricky one isn’t it? "  

Who are the Herberts Ewan? come on, name them and give them a chance to reply.

[R W C]

"Well thanks WCE, Discount don’t compare yourself to “Herbert’s” and if there is any comparison your in trouble!

Bad times! What for all or for some? And for other does that mean good times in a bad time?

It’s a tricky one isn’t it? "  

Who are the Herberts Ewan? come on, name them and give them a chance to reply.

I think 9 months is long enough for them too reply lol

[Murdie window cleaning]

Well I'm one of the new guys and if any one is remotely interested in why I want to get into window cleaning I will tell you.

For the best part of 2 years I have been wanting to work for myself, to have the flexability that would enable me to have. For 10 years now I have worked in retail, the long hours that are involved in that means I realy strugle to have a life out side of work and earlier this year I split with my Mrs, so now I'm juggling my free time between my kids, still trying to see my mates now and again and the presure of being a retail manager.
So over the last few months the thought of working for myself had to become more than "something I would like to do" and become reality and after looking into other ideas the low start up cost of setting up as a window cleaner and the relative flexability that it brings meant that this is what I've decided to do.

I mean how else do you think I stumbled onto a forum for window cleaning ? I found this site while researching the subject, between this and the window cleaning coach website I found some fantastic bits of advice and if in 6 months time this is my sole job and making a living out of it I will be a happy man once more.


So to all you guys who post advice on here, I thank you all, it is truely appreciated