- You’re buying customers and goodwill, not a business that runs itself. Check every name on the list.
- Ride along, match customers to payment records and map every address before you agree a price.
- Rounds are usually valued on regular annual turnover, with the figure agreed between buyer and seller.
- Tight streets, up-to-date prices and Direct Debit customers make a round easier to keep.
- Expect to lose a few customers early on, and plan the handover to keep the rest.
A window cleaning round for sale can be the quickest way to fill your diary, or the quickest way to pay good money for customers who leave. You’re not buying a van or a set of ladders. You’re buying a list of people who’ve agreed to have their windows cleaned, and it’s only worth what they do once the seller has gone.
What you’re actually buying
A round is a list of regular customers: who they are, where they live, what they pay and how often they’re cleaned. On top of that you’re paying for goodwill, which is the habit those customers have of getting their windows done and their willingness to carry on with someone new. There’s usually no stock and often no kit, and nothing stops a customer saying “no thanks” the first time you knock.
That’s why the checks matter more than the headline price. A cheap round full of customers who drift off is dearer than a fair price for one that sticks. A decent round should come with:
- A full customer list with names, addresses, phone numbers, prices and frequencies.
- The date each customer was last cleaned and when they’re next due.
- How each customer pays: Direct Debit, bank transfer or cash.
- Round notes: gate codes, dogs, parking, and exactly what’s included at each house.
- Any commercial work listed separately, with its own terms and contacts.
Where to find a window cleaning round for sale
Window cleaning rounds for sale turn up in trade Facebook groups and forums, through word of mouth, and sometimes through brokers who sell rounds for a fee. Some of the best ones never get advertised at all. A cleaner who’s retiring, moving away or trimming outlying streets to tighten up their own round will often offer the work to someone they know first.
So ask around before you start scrolling adverts. A seller who knows you is more likely to be straight about the weak spots, and a round that sits next to yours is worth more to you than it is to anyone else.
Questions to ask the seller
Get the answers in writing, or at least in a text or email you can look back on. Here’s what I’d ask:
- Why are you selling? Retiring or moving away is a good answer. A vague one deserves a closer look.
- How long have most customers been with you? Long-standing customers are more likely to stay.
- When did prices last go up? If it was years ago, you’ll be the one putting them up.
- How many customers have you lost or gained this year? It tells you whether the round is growing or shrinking.
- Does anyone owe you money? Agree who collects what’s owed for cleans done before the handover.
- Is there commercial work, and is it on a contract? A contract may not pass to a new owner automatically.
- Will you introduce me and help with the handover? A seller who disappears on day one costs you customers.
- Will you stop cleaning in this area? Agree it in writing, with the area and for how long.
Check the customers are real
This is the bit people skip, and it’s the bit that matters most. A list on paper proves nothing. You want to see the customers, the houses and the money.
Ride along on the round
Ask to work the round with the seller for a day or two. You’ll see the houses, the access and how long each one really takes, and you’ll meet some of the customers. If the seller won’t let you, ask why, and think hard about the answer.
Check the payment history
Ask for records that show money coming in: bank statements, Direct Debit payouts, the round book with dates and amounts. Pick a handful of customers at random and match them against the payments. A customer listed as every four weeks who’s paid three times this year isn’t a four-weekly customer.
Look for padding
Watch for customers who haven’t been cleaned in months, one-off cleans counted as regulars, and friends and family on mates’ rates. None of them are worth paying for.
Density and travel
Two rounds with the same number of customers can be completely different businesses. One packed into a few estates is a handful of tight days. One spread across a dozen villages is a lot of diesel and a lot of time sat in traffic, and driving time earns you nothing.
Put every address on a map before you agree a price. Look at how many you could realistically do in a day, and how the work sits next to your own round. Streets next to yours are gold. Customers miles out on their own might be worth passing on once things settle.
Window cleaning round value and what you’ll take home
Rounds are usually valued on the regular annual turnover of the customers being sold, and the final figure is agreed between buyer and seller. There’s no fixed formula, whatever anyone tells you. What you’re really working out is whether the round pays you back, and that comes down to what you’ll take home, not what customers pay.
Turnover is what customers pay. What you keep is that minus fuel, water, kit, insurance and the days you’re rained off. The quickest check is to work out what each job earns per hour, including the drive to it.
Check how old the prices are too. If they haven’t gone up for years, you’ll need to raise them, and a few customers may leave when you do. There’s more on working prices out in how to price window cleaning jobs.
Direct Debit, bank transfer or cash
How customers pay changes how easily they come across to you.
- Direct Debit customers are used to paying without being chased, which is a good sign. Their mandates are set up with the seller’s business, though, so ask how they’ll move across, or plan to send each customer a new link.
- Bank transfer customers need your details, and some will keep paying the old account for a while. Agree with the seller how that money gets passed on.
- Cash customers mean someone has to be in, or money left out. Ask how often the seller ends up chasing.
A round with plenty of Direct Debit customers is usually easier to hand over and easier to keep. If you’re taking on cash customers, the handover is a good moment to offer them a better way to pay. Lewis explains how per-clean Direct Debit works in No job, no charge.
The handover and the first few months
The handover letter
Customers should hear about the change from the seller first, before you turn up. A short letter or text from them does more than anything you can say yourself.
Hi [name], it’s [seller]. I’m passing my window round on to [your name], who’ll clean your windows from [date] on the usual day and at the same price. You’re in good hands. Thanks for your custom over the years.
Follow it with your own introduction: your name, your number, the date of the first clean and how they can pay. Customer details are personal information, so only take what you need to run the round, and make sure every customer is told who’s taking over. If you’re not sure what can be shared, get advice before the list changes hands.
Keeping the customers you paid for
Expect to lose some. A few liked the old cleaner, and a few will use the change as a reason to stop. Some buyers agree to pay part of the price up front and the rest after a set period, based on who’s still on the round. If you do that, put it in a written agreement. Then do the simple things well:
- Turn up on the day you said you would.
- Match the seller’s standard or beat it, especially on the first clean.
- Leave a card with your number so customers can reach you.
- Hold prices for the first few months unless they’re badly out of date.
- Answer the phone and reply to texts quickly.
Red flags when buying a window cleaning round
- The seller won’t let you ride along or meet customers.
- There’s a customer list but no payment records.
- Lots of customers are “due” with no recent clean dates.
- The whole price is wanted up front, in cash, this week.
- The round is spread thin over a wide area.
- The seller is staying local and won’t agree to step back.
- Customers haven’t been told the round is being sold.
One red flag might have a good explanation. Two or three, and I’d walk away from that window cleaning round for sale, however tempting the price.
Once it’s yours, get everything into one place on day one: prices, frequencies, gate codes and how each customer pays. If you’re on Zifty, we’ll help you bring the customers across from the seller’s spreadsheet or round book, so nothing gets lost in the handover.
Every customer, price, gate code and note in one place. Pause or stop jobs with a reason, filter by round or postcode, and never lose track.
See how it works →Buying a round this winter? Zifty is opening to UK window cleaners a few at a time, so get your name on the waitlist for early bird pricing.
