Window Cleaning Infographic

The Window Cleaning industry has many abbreviations and initialisms that can cause confusion even for experienced Window Cleaners. Here's all you need to know! 

The short answer is no. 

The long answer is also no, but with a caveat. 

Most Window Cleaners are self employed, or so our research suggests, which means that there's more required to be a Window Cleaner than simply cleaning windows. 

The cleaning technique can be picked up with practice, either through helpful videos and some trial and error on your own windows - or a few weeks working with an experienced cleaner.

You won't know everything of course, but it's enough to get started. 

Whilst you learn the basics of cleaning, we recommend sinking some time into learning how to manage a business and your taxes.

This step-by-step from www.gov.uk covers how to get yourself setup for self employment. There's also some useful links on starting a business. 

It's worth getting to grips with this early on, and keeping accurate records from the start.

Otherwise, 12 months down the line you'll be doing your first set of self assessment tax returns and wasting time digging out lost receipts and expenses. Tax returns can be a daunting if you're unprepared but once you're familiar with the process it's super simple. 

Our Starting a Window Cleaning Business hub covers the specifics of Window Cleaning from a business perspective - specifically aimed to startups. Below are a few of the more popular articles: 

- How to start a Window Cleaning Business

- How to reliably pick up Customers

- What Insurance do you need for your business

- Choosing equipment to suit your budget

- Taking Cashless payments & software

So no, returning to the original question, there are no qualifications needed to get started and this is one of the things that makes Window Cleaning a great business - it's a level playing field with little barriers to entry.

But, there are difficulties associated with the job, some of which include the Great British weather, and the challenge of being your own boss. 

If you go at it with a studious mindset and a good amount of work ethic, the world is your oyster! 

Ensuring your Window Cleaning business is sufficiently insured will bring peace of mind and cover you in case the worst should happen. Displaying relevant insurances can also be an excellent way to prove to potential customers that your business is professional, trustworthy, and reliable.

Particularly for commercial work, some customers may even require particular types of insurance.

Here's a brief overview of the types of insurance to consider for your Window Cleaning business, but please note, we are not experts in the insurance field, and this is by no means an exhaustive list. We always recommend talking with an insurance provider for specific info or if you have any further questions not answered by this article. 

General/ Public Liability

This protects you business from employee or third-party claims of bodily injury, property damage, or advertising mistakes. This includes many different scenarios but two common examples are: if you accidentally damage a roof panel on someone’s home whilst cleaning, or if someone gets injured because of your work.

Employers Liability

If you have employees, you’re legally required to hold employers’ liability insurance. This protects you if an employee is injured or becomes ill due to the work they do for you. For example, if an employee is injured while they’re working on a ladder and they don’t have the adequate safety equipment to protect them.

Business Equipment

You cannot run your business without your equipment, so business equipment cover is a good idea, particularly if you have equipment that may be costly to replace.

This type of insurance can help if your specialist equipment is lost, stolen, or damaged. Though often they will require strict measures to ensure equipment is protected and locked away, be sure to go through the fine print.

Personal Accident

Personal accident cover provides cover if anyone in your business is unable to work because they've been injured in an accident, whether in a business or personal capacity.

Legal Costs

This covers the legal costs of advice or representation when taking action against on any legal issues, for instance disputes with suppliers or clients.

Business/ Commercial Vehicle Insurance

Your vehicle will require cover for specific business usage, this is particularly important to check and change if you plan to use a vehicle you already own. 

Business Interruption Insurance

Business interruption insurance minimises the financial effects of unforeseen interruptions to your day to day work. It offers coverage for lost income and extra costs if your business is temporarily unable to operate due to covered events like fire, flood, or other risks.

Head to our Starting a Window Cleaning Business Hub for more helpful guides.

Should you need a license to clean windows is dependant on where you work in the UK. Mostly, there is no direct license or accreditation that is required in order to start a Window Cleaning business.

You will need to consider insurances when beginning your business, but there are no direct licenses that blanket cover the UK. (insurance is covered in greater detail here)

An exception to this is Scotland where most local councils require that Window Cleaners obtain a license. The following information is directly from the gov.uk website relating to this type of license:

Most councils will issue a licence that lasts for 3 years. You must renew it before it expires.

If you need one you can usually apply in person, by post or online. You will need to pay a fee, which will vary from council to council.

You may also need to provide:

• proof of your public liability insurance
• a copy of the employers liability insurance that covers you, if you are an employee
• at least 2 passport photographs

If your council issues an identification badge for window cleaners you must wear it visibly while working. Otherwise you must carry your licence with you while working.

Penalties

If you work without a licence or make a false statement on your application you may be fined up to £2,500.

If you don’t meet a condition on your licence and continue working you may be fined up to £1,000.

You must notify the council if you no longer meet the conditions for holding a licence. If you don’t you may be fined up to £1,000.

If the council demands you return your licence and you don’t you may be fined up to £500.

Head to our Starting a Window Cleaning Business Hub for more helpful guides

Buying an existing Window Cleaning round is a great way to expand or kickstart a new business.

There are a few things to look out for when buying a Window Cleaning round, including the cost, frequency, age, method, and location. Below these are broken down in more detail. 

Please note, the scope of this article is not to cover the legalities of buying a business, but rather to give the uninitiated a peek behind the curtain of the Window Cleaning world.

Our hope is that this article helps you ask all the right questions, so that you can make an informed decision when buying a Window Cleaning Round. We recommend getting advice regarding transfer of ownership and GDPR regulations before committing to any purchase. 

How Much Should I Pay For a Window Cleaning Round? 

Perhaps the most common question on this topic is; how much should I pay for a Window Cleaning round? Most sellers will ask for a multiple of the monthly turnover. On average rounds are sold for 3-5 times the average monthly turnover. That said, as with any business - the price is not always reflective of the value you'll get from that business, nor is it indicative of the profit made from that round.

Also worth taking into consideration is the context, if a seller is asking for 6-9 times the monthly turnover, but the round is well priced, in a good compact area, with long standing customers - then this might be a fair valuation and worth the investment. 

You can quickly work out what the local 'going rate' is with a search of online forums/ facebook groups, where sellers regularly advertise. 

As with any sale, the price is always negotiable, and the amount you pay for a business may make sense to you even if it doesn't to others. If you've ever seen an episode of Dragons Den, you'll notice where Dragons are happy to negotiate if they think the business fits in and adds value to their existing portfolio.  

Pricing Structure

Often, rounds are advertised for sale as a multiple of their monthly turnover, not taking into account the profit made on that round. If a round is made up of underpriced jobs, the turnover might look good but you will quickly find yourself with no money left at the end of the month, particularly if the location and distribution of the work is less than ideal.

Making sure that the work is appropriately priced is a difficult thing to do, and short of visiting every single job, requires a level of trust with the seller. Some buyers choose to work alongside the existing Window Cleaner for a few jobs to get an idea of the type of work included. 

Payment Method

How the payments for each customer are setup is often a good litmus test for the general organisation of the round. If the round is organised neatly into a spread sheet, with each customer setup to pay by direct transfer or via a direct debit service such as GoCardless - you can bet this is a well organised round.

However, if you've got 300 customers paying cash, organised with a Bic pen and a prayer, this might indicate there's some work to do. 

Apps and softwares to help organise customers and payments are now commonplace in Window Cleaning, there is no excuse for a sellers work to be an illegible maze of notes and memory. An organised round is easier to transfer, easier to manage and is always a good sign of a well managed business. 

Round Age

How long the Window Cleaner has been cleaning the round and the reason for selling the business are important things to know.

A customer that has had the same Window Cleaner for 20 years is going to be more loyal than one that changes every few months. Of course, most rounds will have a mixture of long term and short term work but look out for whole rounds that have been built in the last few months. It's not unusual for Window Cleaners to canvass work then attempt to sell it for a profit, these rounds will likely experience a high drop off rate. 

Round Distribution & Location

With rising fuel costs, this has never been so important. The distribution of a round in simple terms refers to how spaced out the work is.

10 houses on the same street are preferable to 10 houses in 10 different towns. An ideal round is centred around a few core locations. As a window cleaner, the aim is to make as much of your time as possible chargeable. By this, I mean reducing the time spent doing things that nobody is paying you for, such as commuting between jobs. 

A compact round that is close to home will save you time and money in the long run. Going back to the 'Price' section of this article, a Window Cleaner will often advertise a business sale at a multiple of the turnover, with no mention of the actual profit it makes - this is where you need to do the maths and make a judgement of how much actual value it adds to your business. 

Cleaning Method

How the current Window Cleaner goes about their day will set expectations of the new Window Cleaner. Many customers are resilient to change and so it's important to know the methods used by the existing Window Cleaner. 

If the seller is exclusively using a traditional cleaning method, and you plan to exclusively clean them with pure water, then you will want to plan for a drop-off as you communicate to the customers the change in technique.

Mass converting of a customer base from one technique to another can be time consuming and throw up roadblocks, so it is important to know this before negotiating a final price. 

Precautions

Whilst not exhaustive, the above considerations will leave you with a healthy overview on what a Window Cleaning round/ business looks like, however - here are some final recommendations we have to protect yourself with any purchase. 

Document the Purchase with a basic Contract and Receipt - To some this will go without saying, however for many Window Cleaners the informal nature of the work means that paperwork is never completed (and therefore there is no record!). You may even choose to itemise what has been purchased and at what point.

We recommend getting in writing that the seller cannot contact customers for a period of time. Legally and financially it will be difficult to enforce, but having it in writing will act as a deterrent and often reveal a sellers intentions. 

Staged payments instead of a lump sum - Paying an agreed amount upfront and the balance after a period of time gives you time to complete the work, communicate the change with customers, and accommodate any drop-off (see below). If the entire amount is paid up front, you may find the seller is not motivated to troubleshoot any problems as they arise. 

Agree an 'acceptable' level of work drop off - As the existing Window Cleaner communicates a change of service, some customers may use this as an excuse to cancel, having an agreed level of drop-off that is acceptable (5-10%) will help to keep this within acceptable limits, any more than the agreed amount and you will need to re-negotiate the price. 

Commercial work or contracted work - Contracted or commercial work is likely to be the most difficult and uncertain. The customers' contract is with the existing business and so they are unlikely to care that you have 'purchased' the work. It's important to ensure that the customer is happy to switch and that the contract is not about to expire/ go out to tender.

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Head to our Starting a Window Cleaning Business Hub for more helpful guides