Why so many window cleaners appear, then disappear
Live in Telford long enough and you will have seen the pattern. A new van appears on the street, the price looks great, and a year later they are gone and somebody else is knocking. Here is what is actually going on, from someone whose family has been doing this since 1992.
The numbers behind it
Office for National Statistics survival data tells the same story for any low cost trade to enter. Of every ten new businesses, roughly nine are still going after a year, about seven make two years, and only five or six are still trading after three.
Window cleaning follows that curve closely. The barrier to entry is a van and a ladder, so plenty of people try it. Far fewer stay.
Why most of them stop
They price too low on day one
Undercutting fills a round quickly, but it fills it with people who came for the cheapest price and will leave for a cheaper one. When fuel, insurance and equipment costs rise, the sums stop working. What follows is either a steep price rise or a quiet disappearance.
They chase one-offs instead of building a round
A one-off job pays well on the day and is worth nothing in February. The ones who last build regular four or eight weekly customers in a tight area, so there is money coming in through the quiet months.
Reliability slips
People rarely leave over price. They leave because someone stopped turning up, went quiet, or was impossible to get hold of. Once that trust goes, they start looking.
No system behind it
Early on you can keep a round in your head. At a hundred customers you cannot. Missed visits, forgotten invoices and a route that doubles back on itself all cost money and reputation at the same time.
It is harder work than it looks
Slow winters, competition, weather and a physical day. A lot of people decide it is not the life before the business has had chance to settle.
What the ones still here after ten years do differently
- They price fairly from the start. Not cheapest. A level that pays for doing the job properly.
- They build dense local rounds. Same streets, minimal driving, more time cleaning and less time in traffic.
- They treat reliability as non negotiable. You know roughly when they are coming, and you hear from them if that changes.
- They keep asking. Knocking near existing customers, looking after reviews, asking happy people to mention them.
- They run it like a business. Proper booking, proper invoicing, costs tracked, small improvements rather than constant undercutting.
- They stick at it through the years where it is hard, until the round supports itself.
Where we sit: my dad started in 1992. I have been running my own rounds for two years now to the same standards, across Telford and the villages around it. The round is built to still be here, which is a different aim from filling it as fast as possible.
What to look for as a customer
When a quote comes in a long way under everyone else, it is worth asking why. Sometimes it is a genuine new starter doing it properly. Often it is someone who will not be around long enough to become part of your routine.
The ones who last tend to:
- Turn up when they said they would.
- Tell you what is happening without being chased.
- Charge a rate that reflects the work, insurance and equipment involved.
- Still be cleaning the same streets in a few years' time.
Worth asking any window cleaner
How long have you been going?
A fair question and nobody decent minds it. Aqua Glaze runs on standards set in 1992, with Liam running his own rounds for the past two years.
Are you insured?
Always ask. We carry £5 million public liability. Anyone working at height around your property should be able to answer this instantly.
What happens if I am not happy?
Tell us within 48 hours and we come back and put it right, free. A cleaner who cannot answer that question is telling you something.
Do I have to sign up to anything?
No. There is no contract and no minimum term, and you are only ever charged after a clean has actually been done.
If you want a window cleaner in Telford who will still be on your street next year, send a message or get a price in about thirty seconds with the instant calculator. No obligation either way.