[rl]

Hi again guys, I'll try not to let this sound like another new guy wanting to know if I should take up window cleaning or not, which it is! I'll just tell you about myself as you guys all seem friendly and willing to give good advice.

Basically I've been thinking of starting my own window cleaning business for the past 4 months or so, I've always wanted to work for myself, I'm 30 years old with a wife and young daughter and probably another baby within next 2 years, based in Lancashire, my wife has quite a good job that she enjoys and I have a job which pays me £8.50 an hour 40 - 45 hours a week working shifts which include some early starts 5:30am and a late finish (midnight) every other saturday night, I have every other weekend off and work the other weekend with a day off in the week too , I don't absolutely hate it, but I don't look forward to going to work, I'm sat on my backside 9 - 11 hours a day which is doing nothing for the size of my stomach!!!

So to me there are many reasons I'd like to start a window cleaning business:
1. I'll be working for myself which i've always wanted to do.
2. I won't have to work every other saturday and sunday nor work until midnight.
3. Hopefully I'll earn a similar or more wage, eventually.
4. I won't be sat on my backside for my entire working week, I'll be out and about hopefully keeping healthy.
5. I'll be doing something I enjoy.

I have a van and intend to put together a WFP system and buy the bits needed for traditional cleaning, and then start by cleaning my own/family windows to get some practice and hopefully then get an odd job or two to do on my weekday off from work and then when I have to much work, leave my job and do window cleaning full time.

However, my wife hasn't said as much, but I know she's a bit worried about me doing this full time, which I understand, after all at the moment I'm guaranteed a weekly wage after tax of £260 - £300 which we need to pay the bills, where as as a w/c nothing is guaranteed. Most posts I've read have said, do it, you won't regret it, you won't look back etc, but I have read a couple saying it is more difficult to get into w/c now and there are a lot of people doing it, which since thinking about doing it I have seen more and more vans going about doing w/c, but don't know if thats because I've been looking for them!

So, if you've made it to the end of this post (well done!) and I would appreciate your advice or anything you want to say.

Thanks in advance, your advice will be greatly appreciated!

[karygate]

hi i was in your position 2 years ago. i started by dropping 450 leaflets and getting 7 customers and have built from there by recommendation alone. i now have over 150 customers and an income of around 250 pounds a week for half of the hours i used to work, which is what i used to earn. i did it for quality of life but i know i will just keep building from strength to strength as customers keep on coming .
 if you need to build quicker then canvassing is your route but i do not think you get quality of customer and commitment that way but the income comes quicker

as whether to go wfp or not i would go straight in at wfp because the start up cost will probably be not much more and you already have a van,i still work out of a box trailer.

  what i did was to get a part time job while i was building up .hope this helps.

[Central Window Cleaners]

With some hard work canvassing and the add on services like gutter cleaning and conservatory cleaning I don't think you would have any problem in earning over £300 a week.  Once you get upto speed you should be able to make at least £100 a day so you would only have to work 3 days to make you minimum per week.

[ftp]

But bear in mind although say £400 a week sounds very attractive in your present job, you need to take off your overheads (considerable when starting up WFP), no holiday pay, no sick pay, no pension and sitting on your arse like me today whilst the rain bounces off the conservatory roof.
My advice - build it up but don't jump ship 'till you really have to. That day will come when you have too much work part time but not enough for full time. Good luck.

[GWCS]

Making a decent round takes time, and a lot of effort. Your will prob find yourself working weekends to catch up from the rain, or if you have a lot of work on. You will be out working in all weather getting soaked, working in temperatures ranging from 0 to 30, its not plain sailing as everyone makes out.

Its hard work, but there are rewards.

Personally i wouldn;t have done this as a job, if i wasn't struggling to find a job and went to work with my uncle and got bitten by the bug, and i actually like working outdoor in all weathers (in fact if i could choose a job other than window cleaning, id probably be a forest ranger)

I love this work now, but it has its drawbacks.

If your the sole bread winner or you are dependant on your wage as well i would suggest getting some personal accident insurance once you quit your other job, because if you have an accident are are not able to work, whos gonna pay your bills? Oh and make sure you FULLY understand the T&C's of the policy many people get sold rubbish polices that dont cover them.

If it a case of being healthy or the size of you belly then you are plainly over eating, and taking too many calories for the job you are in.

Ive done jobs sitting on my bum in a call centre and i put on weight cos i ate more then i needed too. Therefore i would suggest reducing your calorie intake or get to the gym or get out exercising when you get home from work to burn the extra calories off. Im out most days working but i ensure i find the time to get to the gym, to stay fit and healthy.

You will find that everyone that replies on here are an established window cleaner who have made the financial and emotional risks to get a business of the ground.. what about all those that have tried and failed? You wont hear their side of the coin..

Im not saying dont, for what reason would i do that? I just saying be careful its all too easy to get dazzled by the lights and number that get posted.

[ftp]

Very few people actually choose to be a window cleaner most are forced into it. Be prepared to be the butt of the George Formby jokes from friends and the initial feeling of being rock bottom in the eyes of many. Windowcleaners are down there with the dustmen and toilet attendants. Yor wife may not like the idea of telling her friends and the kids about your wonderful career move.
Once you get established and start compacting your round and get to the stage where the phone goes off most days and look at your earnings then you will have the last laugh. 

[Skyglide]

You have to have 100% commitment to building your business, and YOU HAVE TO LIKE CLEANING WINDOWS. The transition from regular money to regular cash flow from your business will be hard and take longer than you think.
Your wife is right to think like she does and in Lancashire you've got a lot of rain and downtime.
A man has to work to the day he dies generally, so try and choose work which is enjoyable and pays the bills.
If you take the plunge you have to accept that everything around you will have to suffer your obsessiveness to make this work.
That said, we have done this and come out the other side with a decent standard of living. Suggest part time or work with a window cleaner to see if you like cleaning windows first.

[sparklebright]

I agree with all the above. Also...

You have to be a self-starter. Unless you do your work you earn nothing.
Sounds obvious I know but some people just turn up to work without thinking about it, and just bum around until it's hometime.  You know the type I'm sure. :
Are you the sort who works hard even if he's not being watched, if so then you'll be OK.
Or are you the type who does the bear minimum in which case you'll be skint.

Practise a lot so that you get speed up. Build up a small round on your days off, most work is monthly so that should be OK, and as someone else said, you'll reach a point where you have to go full time or give it up. When you do make the jump canvas like mad.
It won't be easy, when I was setting up I basically had two jobs for a while, I was knackered. but I have never regretted it.

Well apart from one morning at 5 am when my hand almost got froze to my pole!

[GWCS]

I agree with all the above. Also...

You have to be a self-starter. Unless you do your work you earn nothing.
Sounds obvious I know but some people just turn up to work without thinking about it, and just bum around until it's hometime.  You know the type I'm sure. :
Are you the sort who works hard even if he's not being watched, if so then you'll be OK.
Or are you the type who does the bear minimum in which case you'll be skint.

Practise a lot so that you get speed up. Build up a small round on your days off, most work is monthly so that should be OK, and as someone else said, you'll reach a point where you have to go full time or give it up. When you do make the jump canvas like mad.
It won't be easy, when I was setting up I basically had two jobs for a while, I was knackered. but I have never regretted it.

Well apart from one morning at 5 am when my hand almost got froze to my pole!

thats got to be the worst.. freezing cold mornings, and you have to get up to go work outside! your hands are numb and your fingers feel like they are about to fall off. Pole work is worst as you are not using your hands in the same way as trad to keep them moving to get the blood circulating.

[Londoner]

Its got to be inside you to stick at it, once you start there is no going back. Reflect on this very seriously.

[macmac]

Very few people actually choose to be a window cleaner most are forced into it. Be prepared to be the butt of the George Formby jokes from friends and the initial feeling of being rock bottom in the eyes of many. Windowcleaners are down there with the dustmen and toilet attendants. Yor wife may not like the idea of telling her friends and the kids about your wonderful career move.
Once you get established and start compacting your round and get to the stage where the phone goes off most days and look at your earnings then you will have the last laugh. 

PMSL 

We really are the lowest of the low!!!!

[cozy]

All very good posts. Christies mentioned perhaps working with a window cleaner. I can't imagine a WC having a problem with that. Give it a go to see how you feel. Oh and what GWCS said about gym work, if you don't get at least a little bit fitter than you are now, when you finish your first days work, you will feel more knackered and aches and pains in places you didn't know you had places.

Another good idea would be to look back on some old posts and see what guys get for problems and how to solve them, you won't have to reinvent the wheel then, if you know what I mean.

By the way, if you get really strange awkward plonker custies, go and ask FTP, he knows all about those

[cozy]

PMSL name change is always a good idea. As you can see, you will need a sense of humour, this helps

[Platinum NW]

GO FOR IT
End of the day its the cash you want so if you have the determination and support i think from your wife is what you want then you will be wealthy. There is not many places to go wrong in window cleaning and you will learn all the business skills you will need from the experience - Look at me im only 20 and ive just sold a round for nearly £30000 now im setting up a construction company

Just believe in yourself especially when its gets tough like when its constantly raining or many guys on ere will tell you that you will get the odd weeks when it gets to you. Let your wife know that you are committed and ask for her support all the way and your half way there

If youve got the cash try and buy and existing round

GOOD LUCK

GOOD LUCK

[elite mike]

All very good posts. Christies mentioned perhaps working with a window cleaner. I can't imagine a WC having a problem with that. Give it a go to see how you feel. Oh and what GWCS said about gym work, if you don't get at least a little bit fitter than you are now, when you finish your first days work, you will feel more knackered and aches and pains in places you didn't know you had places.

Another good idea would be to look back on some old posts and see what guys get for problems and how to solve them, you won't have to reinvent the wheel then, if you know what I mean.


By the way, if you get really strange awkward plonker work-associates, go and ask Cozy, he knows all about those 

your first name is not matt by any chance 

[gary999]

im now in my third year its been hard work and im
only now just starting to get anywhere near where i want to be
i have had plenty of probs over the last three yrs financial and
personal but for me i feel ultimately it has been worth it.

as for wives worrying...well mine never stops

especially when it starts raining

[Dean Taberner]

rl,

Its no good,

Stick to your current job,

Dean.


Only joking......

Its an ideal job mate, its very hard work to build up though,

Dean

[matt]

you need to try and spend your spare time building up a little round before you jack your job in, or failing that, talk to a few local guys and see if they have any spare work going ( it'll be the crap, but its a start and a few quid in your pocket )

[Dale Smith]

Superb thread this... good honest advice..well mostly!!  

RL - pick through the advice it's very very good.
I started with my brother without getting any advice & regret it a lot.

My best advice would be to start slowly, work at it part time while still keeping your full time job. You will then know when it's time to jump as FTP says, he is right about what people will think about you as well when you say you are a window cleaner.

We have nearly finished our 2nd year, the round is improving all the time...but....it's been tough to get to where we are.

[rl]

well, where do i start, thanks so much for all the replies, i never expected so many to reply and give me such good advice. I've been on forums in the past for plumbers/electricians etc and they are all a bunch of miserable bar stewards, you guys are so up beat and seem genuinely happy in your work and unlike them happy to help people out.

so, with regards working outside in all weather and doing a manual job, my first job was working for a scaffolding firm, bloody hard graft and in all weathers, so I know what it's like, not always the most enjoyable thing, but I do strangely like the thought of getting wrapped up on a cold winters morning and stetting off for the day.

and about window cleaning not being thought of as the best job in the world, I have thought the wife might not be keen on telling everyone what I do, we've just moved into a new house and some of the neighbours are doctors and the like, to be honest I couldn't give a toss what people think of me, but the wife might, I did think she can say I'm the managing director of a cleaning company and we have 5 vans on the road etc, they'd never know!

my job at the moment is a bus driver  , done it dor the last 7 years, compared to the scaffolding it's not hard graft, but it is really tiring work mentally. If it weren't for the bosses, passengers and other road users, it'd be a great job!, but seriously I feel like every day I get home thinking I can't do this for the rest of my life.

I have to admit, canvassing would not be my idea of good fun, I enjoy meeting people and get on with people and will enjoy seeing people when I'm cleaning windows and don't mind calling to collect money  etc, but I know how I feel when someone knocks on my door selling something. How ever I'd try and get the wife or someone in the family to go out canvassing so I know they'l do a good job. If and when I left my full time job i'd probably give it a go.

I do intend to start and do my day off in the week window cleaning and there is the possibility of me going to a 4 day week so I might be able to do 2/3 days window cleaning before having to make the jump and leave employment.

As for my stomach, after 7 years as a bus driver, I've put on 2 stones, there are very few people who come to work there and don't put on a stone or two, but as you said and I admit I do enjoy the odd take away etc that I probably shouldn't have, and could make more of an effort to keep fit, but hopefully the window cleaning will start the belly shrinking instead of growing!

So, thanks agian and I look forward to reading more of your replies.