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Increased business size with CleanerPlanner
How The Cardiff Window Cleaning Company moved from Excel, increased the size of their business and saved 24 hours a month
We spoke to Joseph Richards, Managing Director, about his move to CleanerPlanner.
The Cardiff Window Cleaning Company has been trading for about 4 years. However, we’ve been window cleaning for around 16 years – I started when I was 15 years old with nothing but a borrowed ladder and a squeegee. We’re based in Cardiff, but cover much of South Wales and Bristol. We have a client base made up of around 20% domestic and 80% commercial customers. We combine the use of water fed pole and traditional window cleaning, from the ground or from MEWPS. The company has also built up a team of Rope Access Technicians, with 2 of them recently gaining their IRATA qualifications.
…for a long time, we simply used Excel…whilst it did the job, we found it time consuming and limiting
We’ve tried several other window cleaning software programs in the past, but we until we found CleanerPlanner, we couldn’t find a solution that we felt worked particularly well. So for a long time, we simply used Excel spreadsheets and Dropbox. Whilst it did the job, we found it time consuming and limiting, and it produced a lot of unnecessary paperwork.
CleanerPlanner has saved us time in ways we didn’t even imagine it could.
You get a 30 day free trial which gave us more than enough time to play about with it and get used to the system. Once we committed, it was a very simple process to add all of our customers and get started.
CleanerPlanner has saved us time in ways we didn’t even imagine it could. For example – producing invoices is now incredibly easy, and you can email them straight from the software. It’s also saved us lots of time compiling figures for our accounts and VAT returns. We have probably saved around 6 hours per week in admin time, so around 24 hours a month – which is a substantial time saving to say the least!
We have probably saved around 6 hours per week in admin time, so around 24 hours a month
Yes, definitely. The reporting features on CleanerPlanner have highlighted areas that we need to improve – showing us which are our most and least profitable jobs, vans and rounds – that’s just not information we had to hand before and it’s so easy to access on CleanerPlanner. Armed with this information we have been able to drop under-priced work, focus on taking on more profitable jobs and push for growth in areas of the business where there is room to accommodate new work.
The ability to quickly provide outstanding invoice statements to our commercial clients has been very appreciated – it gives them all the information they need in a professional format, which reflects well on us as a business and drives quicker payments. We’re also more focused on obtaining client’s email addresses and mobile numbers – as CleanerPlanner makes it so much easier to keep our clients updated and in the loop.
To be honest, the thought of running my business without CleanerPlanner now is scary.
All of them! To be honest, the thought of running my business without CleanerPlanner now is scary.
Dramatically. Unlike a spreadsheet, CleanerPlanner makes it immediately obvious when debts are overdue and by how long. Then in just a couple of clicks, we can send a polite reminder, either by text message or email.
We delayed for too long – there’s no doubt that we should have used CleanerPlanner sooner.
As a company we are simply a lot more organised. We’re able to plan ahead with much better insight than we ever could before. The team love the mobile app and have found it a huge improvement over the antiquated paper spreadsheets I used to provide for them. Our cash flow has also improved with the ability to invoice more quickly, stay on top of debts and get payments in quicker.
We delayed for too long – there’s no doubt that we should have used CleanerPlanner sooner. Whether you’re a one man band or a large business, if you’re wondering whether CleanerPlanner could work for you – just take out the free trial and you’ll see. The benefits are immediate!
…if you’re wondering whether CleanerPlanner could work for you – just take out the free trial and you’ll see. The benefits are immediate!
