[bobplum]

flood restoration work (holland,low lying,climate change) could be a good opportunity
bob

[pingu]

Some cracking replies here...

Yep since June 06 all I have done is eat, pooh and think window cleaning,whether the worry of failure or the constant drive for more, more, more.

Ok so the round is built to a good point...yep it could get better, some days where the rate is not as good as it could be and some where I just toodle along without a care in the world...

Someone wrote that I have to either embrace the work or get used it as Ill be doing it for sometime..so very true.

I am taking today off as well as yesterday...having a long weekend and going to drill the business and see where and what I am going to do with it...the trouble in a way is that for the most part all my plans and projections have been completed in 3 years and not  5 as 'planned'. (hope that did'nt come across too arrogant).

For anyone here who has been on here for a while will know that I am very anal about numbers, stats and knowing every detail down to turnover & profit per km driven etc .

So I'll take some of your great advice on and take the dogs out to the woods this morning and reflect.

Cheers for the shoulder, thank-you very big.

Dave.

[lee_dewing]

good for u dave,

I have been obsessed for the last couple of years with w/c and it has made me even more boring than i already was

My round is not perfect and could be better but if i look back where i was to where i am now i can't help but feel a little bit proud of myself.

I've just took up a hobby i really enjoy, which gives me another outlet and I'm trying to keep a tighter control on my spending on work stuff,

i have wasted sooo much money on silly things that i really don't  need!

I now have other targets to improve my fittness, shift a bit of weight, spend some money on myself now and not my business,

Going to spend some money up-dating my wardrobe, and hope to have a better holiday this year.

I don't mind the job and the repetition of it, i take comfort in the fact that i have built myself a pretty secure future, and vastly decreased the risk of injury to myself via wfp.(thus ensuring my business is safer and me )

I do shift my work around and don't know exactly where i'l be next time as i don't work in the rain, only very light drizzle, unavoidabley shifting my work around; and i do experiment putting different work together trying to decrease time and increase profit

I now realise i can never keep my round the same and custy's will cancel through choice, moving,dying or i may cancel them so my work schedule is ever changing so it is not really groundhog day.

some days i enjoy a chat with the odd custy a cup of tea sometimes biscuits, fried egg rolls.

I set realistic targets for earnings in a day and  stick to them.

I have two targets related to earnings for the week, what i have to earn and what i'd like to;  if some weeks i earn the latter than so be it.

I have learned not to worry so much about lost time due to weather and anything else that crops up.
as i now realise i will always earn my must have target.

At the moment i am not intrested in building empires and having staff.

I know some on here do well with this but i am sure they would admit it wasn't and still isn't easy and i imagine could be stressfull.

I can get pee'd off with some custy's but take comfort in the fact i only see them for a short duration, unlike working with somone :

also i do inside work also on the odd occasion and i quite enjoy the change of scenery(was going to do a post on idea about this)

sorry dave i have waffled far too long from all these posts on here i think the choices seem to be carry on as you are setting more targets and figures looking to build that empire or instead take comfort in what you have achieved and start finding other things to put your energies in

goodluck dave, i always enjoy reading your posts: perhaps you should write a book on how to build a profitable window cleaning round from nothing

thanks lee

[wfp master]

I get really motivated, when I think about my ex boss. I used to work in a Hospital kitchen and she was a slave driver and all that for the minimum wage. I worked in shifts and I hated it. So every time I think of her, I want to clean a few more windows. I should put a picture of her on my fridge

do u take ure fridge 2 work people do strange things   

[cozy]

Dave, stop changing your name on here mate, that's a bad sign

[AuRavelling79]

Nijmegen is about 20 minutes drive from here...not far at all.

Dave.

A bridge too far? Like Arnhem.

How about motivating yourself by saving for a big treat.

[simbo]

its the silly things that get to me like, i try to keep to a 6 weekly clean most happy a few say not often enough and the others could not give a toss. today had one cancel due to undercut and more frequent one cos of god knws what a at first said marks on window and my advise slip says "any probs i will return to sort" so no excuse  there and talking to the guy i established he just did not want to pay anymore, now that small minority really get me down, they will say anything rather than the truth.
nearly all the othes are great so why do these stand out and get to us so much!!
paul

[wizard]

Because by nature we like to be prefect at what we do.Therefore we want to improve on the not perfect work.

[mark dew]

Dave, don't think you have come to the end. You have just climbed the hill that's all. A window cleaning round should be a living entity. Culling, pruning, looking at efficiency savings. There is always something that can be done to improve things.
This is the point you should be congratulating yourself.
If you're happy with your round, then do things in other areas of your life.

I'm a bit of an anorak at times though and think getting your house paid off asap is as good motivator as possible. 

[david thomas]

I feel the same as Dave worked hard this past 5 years built up 3 w/c rounds sold 2 of them now what.The round that I have now makes a good living but I don't have the same motivation as when I was building the business up,I would
like to take the next step and take staff on but with past business ventures I found this to much stress.My big problem
with w/c it is a repeatative job same thing day in day out I am battleing with this with myself all the time.

[JRDEasiReach]

I feel the same as Dave worked hard this past 5 years built up 3 w/c rounds sold 2 of them now what.The round that I have now makes a good living but I don't have the same motivation as when I was building the business up,I would
like to take the next step and take staff on but with past business ventures I found this to much stress.My big problem
with w/c it is a repeatative job same thing day in day out I am battleing with this with myself all the time.

Isnt it the same as any other job, at least with w/c and being self employed we can all take a day or two off as and when we need to, concentrate on other things etc.  I hope i dont start having thoughts like this in a few years or whenever i get to where i want to be.  Thing is with me i just need enough to keep me going for 5 hours 5 days a week for now, then when my son gets a bit older i can expand and build again so i think it will be a while before i feel like you lot do well most of you. 

Im just aiming for several goals and they aint linked to w/c in the slightest just will come from the money i make doing it

[A & J Owen Window Cleaning]

bin there got the tee shirt as to speak 3 things you should do
1 set targets and goals
2 select space and time for yourself
3 remember setbacks are only temporary
we are all in the same boat

[pingu]

Well thanks all for taking the time to put your thoughts here...so good to have others opinions as we all know this can be a business where we are in isolation to those around us.

But after going out with the dogs and having a long think I came home and thought how best to move forward...

So I want another 1200 euro's worth of work every 8 weeks, which really transpires into 1000 as there is about 200 worth of work that I just hate cleaning and I want rid of.

Some days I have far too much work so these days are being 'jiggled' so that there will be a reasonable set amount of work 4 days a week for 7 weeks and then the 8th week will be holiday - spare time.

Now this is the hard bit....endevour to take things in a calmer manner and let the waves roll over me.... I can be prone to knee-jerk reactions.

Have enrolled in classes to make my Dutch language better.
Get that full sleeve and chest plate tattoo I have always wanted.
Aim to get xx thousand euros in the bank for our next mortgage.
3 days in Amsterdam booked for Nov - weekend away .
Bought a kelly kettle so I can have hot food and drinks for lunch @work

So thanks..for the input...

Dave.

[Ian Rochester]

Dave,

Move on to the next challenge, keep the window cleaning going but employ someone to do if for you and give yourself time to look at other opportunities.

We started exactly the same as you nearly 7 years ago, now have 18 staff and cover all aspects of cleaning.  Don't know the Dutch market greatly but there must be a niche market for you and your business acumen.