[ftp]

Tips tax deductable?

[james44]

ftp yes mate it may be tips but it is still part of you income which is taxable,

Any income you have is taxable!

[actualcleaning]

actualcleaning that is not my website that is someone elses

Oh right...i thought you would have had that one or .com...??
Not sure about the freebies,i find it hard enough as it is without giving stuff away...but maybe you are seeing a bigger picture....
Good luck

[james44]

actualcleaning its not exactly freebies it business expenditure the same way if you worked for a company and they paid for an office christmas bash its tax deductable

[dai]

Well done James, I always thought there was an untapped market for Dial a clean. You are proving it.

[james44]

thanks dai,

It is really hard work but enjoying it still lots to do but getting there,

I really feel that anybody out there if they can get together a good squad of window cleaners could have a very good business, as you know dai there is a massive customer base out there waiting to be had.

[R W C™]

thanks dai,

It is really hard work but enjoying it still lots to do but getting there,

I really feel that anybody out there if they can get together a good squad of window cleaners could have a very good business, as you know dai there is a massive customer base out there waiting to be had.

Personally I think this is a crazy idea but thats just my opinion, the thing with doing Dial-A-Clean is youll have to advertise all the time like carpet cleaning, gardening etc, unlike those of us that pick up a customer which is then repeat business month after month...

[dai]

thanks dai,

It is really hard work but enjoying it still lots to do but getting there,

I really feel that anybody out there if they can get together a good squad of window cleaners could have a very good business, as you know dai there is a massive customer base out there waiting to be had.

Personally I think this is a crazy idea but thats just my opinion, the thing with doing Dial-A-Clean is youll have to advertise all the time like carpet cleaning, gardening etc, unlike those of us that pick up a customer which is then repeat business month after month...

But what James is doing is converting those one off cleans into regular 12 weekly cleans at twice the price

[R W C™]

thanks dai,

It is really hard work but enjoying it still lots to do but getting there,

I really feel that anybody out there if they can get together a good squad of window cleaners could have a very good business, as you know dai there is a massive customer base out there waiting to be had.

Personally I think this is a crazy idea but thats just my opinion, the thing with doing Dial-A-Clean is youll have to advertise all the time like carpet cleaning, gardening etc, unlike those of us that pick up a customer which is then repeat business month after month...

But what James is doing is converting those one off cleans into regular 12 weekly cleans at twice the price

How many one off cleans do you get asked to do without advertising....

[james44]

How many one off cleans do you get asked to do without advertising....

Now lots people are now getting to know what i am offering and are contacting me,

How it is working is when i get a few in a street word spreads and more and more customers are taking to the idea!

[Gordon Saunders]

 I read somewhere that window cleaning in the USA is done like this with customers paying a premium rate to have their windows cleaned when they wish .  Might be completely wrong about that mind .
 Personally i would rather have regular customers as it is easier to manage and a  known regular income is achieved .
 Mind you if it was possible to charge a call out fee like other trades then why not.

  G

[james44]

gordon i am turning them into regular customers just better paying ones!

Example: i normally work in an area where i will do 3/4 houses an hour doing it my old way i would have earned £20

Doing it the dial-a-clean way i earned £36  for the same type of houses in roughly the same amount of time

I would normally work 8 hours a day less tea breaks etc this would earn me £140 a day

When i did some of the dial-a-clean customers i worked 8 hours less tea breaks etc this earned me £252

yes it was a harder day but with rewards!

[Gordon Saunders]

you have answered your own question then james 

[noelg22]

I read somewhere that window cleaning in the USA is done like this with customers paying a premium rate to have their windows cleaned when they wish .  Might be completely wrong about that mind .
 Personally i would rather have regular customers as it is easier to manage and a  known regular income is achieved .
 Mind you if it was possible to charge a call out fee like other trades then why not.

  G

No your completely rite about that as I have looked into it as after I am finished university I'm strongly thinking of moving to the US and starting up a window cleaning business, though the premiums some of the companies charge are outrageous (in a good way) my aunt was charged $450 for her windows in Florida, and has about the same area (m2) of windows as a 4 bed detached over here. Granted that is not a regular monthly payment and they obviously have to canvass more, but normally they will get them done every year or 6 months. You wouldn't need the same customer base as we have over here! I'm also aware that this particular window cleaner is over the top dear, but I've looked into it in depth and the average for a clean in the US about $200.

James i've been watching this thread closely since you started it and I've been very curious to what would happen with your idea, I thought it was definately worth a  shot, as you had nothing to loose, if it didn't work you could have went back to the old style system of obtaining custies. Having read your posts I have to congratulate you on how you appear to be making this work, though I think it takes alot more effort to implement than a standard window cleaning round, it very well may pay off! I hope it does! I live in the north of Ireland and I'm starting to think that it may be a very good marketing tool, to use here!(at the risk of stealing your idea). Theres alot of people out there who just want there windows cleaned on their terms and not be tied into a regular monthly or bi monthly cycle and these potential customers should have their windows cleaned too at an increased price ofcourse! Think about the amount of people who don't have a window cleaner and why they don't? I'd say about half the customers I canvass tell me they don't have a window cleaner and they don't want one, that's mainly due to the fact that for years, well where I'm from if you had a window cleaner then he came every 2 weeks or monthly, people are now in the mind set that this still happens and in order to get your windows cleaned you need to comply with this(at 22 I know your thinking I haven't been around long to know this but I'm reliably informed by older members of my family) . For these reasons I believe this is a very good idea and it may be something I will use when canvassing from now on, however I do think that regular customers will always be our bread and butter but see no reason why we can't have both regualr customers and one of cleans (DIAL-A-CLEAN)!!
     

[actualcleaning]

I think this is going to take off big time over here in the uk.
More and more people nowadays have less disposible incomeand are much more awaqre of that fact.Ok there will allways be a space for the traditional monthly cleaner,but i have noticed over time that a lot of my new customers often reflect that when i clean their windows on a regular basis they really are not needed...but they have been signed up as a regular customer and stick to it,but i do believe that if given the option they would go over to a 12 weekly schedule and pay a higher price.I obviously wont be doing this with my regular rounds,but what a marketing tool to use for new rounds.
I will be implementing this for a couple of months to test the water in my area.If i have an understanding of my areas that i clean then i can see me gaining a lot of new customers and indeed can imagine taking a few off of other cleaners,so it may be controversial but it is a business concept that needs trying out.
James44 and all others willing to try it out...good luck.

[james44]

Totally agree noelg22

Yes it is harder to build than an normal window cleaning round but with the rewards at the end of it make it worth while,
and i wish you the best of luck on your round building

[tompoole]

I offer the same service , i have a full regular round now, if someone wants a one off i do it and charge x2  but while you can charge more, your over heads are more Too, with more fuel, time  and water used and of course the advertising. so unless you charge alot more then can't see you would take much more than having regular customers
It is a good idea but i would want a regular list also just to keep the money coming in no matter what

[james44]

I obviously wont be doing this with my regular rounds,but what a marketing tool to use for new rounds.

Actualcleaning at some point you will have to offer this option to your regulars because it wont be long before they hear about what you are offering your new customers

when i first started my own round this was something that i did from the start offered them 4/8/12 weekly

At the moment we are taking on more 8 weekly than 12 but we will build it up so as we have a full round for the 8 weeklys and will push hard to build up a full round for the 12 weekly already have a full round for the 4 weekly


learning your area is a must because customers will call you at home for a price in their street and you will have to know the street very well and all houses in it,

keep us informed to how you are getting on and best of luck keep with it; it may seem slow to start but do your best to let customers know what you are offering tell as many people as you can so as word gets around quicker.

[james44]

Well update for those who have interest in what I am trying to do with my new business concept,

Called a few of my local cleaners to arrange a meeting to discuss what i am planning to do in our area and the reasons for it, i have thought of a few reasons as well which could benefit us all,
well glad to say it went very well and the other cleaners have a better understanding of the whole concept.

Thought it would be better to call a meeting as a couple of them where not happy to what i was doing only because they did not understand the reasons behind the concept,Thought this was the best option as if I had just gone and did it without thinking it through I would have upset a few cleaners as this was stated from earlier posts

First and foremost was that it has a potential to help clean up our industry!
We all agreed to give it a go
(1)   not to dump the customer who only wants it done every other month as this is a 8 weekly customer,
(2)   Rather than say no to a customer who only wants her windows done now and then try and get them on a 8/12 weekly clean
(3)   Don’t turn away those one off cleans try and get them onto a 12 weekly clean


Buy doing the 3 above methods it will help get rid of the dolelites and the ones who knock on doors just to get enough for beer money for that night, The more we do the less for them if we do this we hope to see less and less of them about our streets, ok you will still get customers who are only willing to pay a few quid they can have them
But if we keep turning those customers down all we are doing is handing it to them and in that case we will never get rid of them, ok you will still see them around but hopefully not as many and hopefully go and do something else,

We also spoke about canvassing which I gave them helpful tips as 2 of the cleaners don’t have full rounds yet!

What I have found when canvassing is the uptake on customers is far greater by offering the customer the 4/8/12 weekly cleans than if I were just offering them the normal 4 weekly  and only offered them the dial-a-clean if they did not want the other options this is working out better,

I have changed my trading name to

(OPTIONS)
Window cleaning
& associated services

With the dial-a-clean option implemented into it

If there is still people who see negatives in this concept please post as I would like to try and turn them into positives!

The negatives posts have been helpfull in a way for me to think things through

Thanks for your feedback.

[lee09]

Hi James,
I agree in principle with the dial a clean as I also offer this if they will not commit to a more regular cycle.
One thing that I picked up on from your last post regarding the doleites, you will not stop them, and by pushing the dailaclean to hard you are at risk of the doleies doing the regular work for peanuts while your cash flow suffers while the less committed 3 and 4 month customers decide if their windows need doing.
Lee