$1500 Starting Out

Newbie Corner
21

Hey man im 3 hour drive from Belleville. I work in Belleville once a week in the winter I subcontract to change the pattison billboards. I even had the contract to clean the glass on the mall poster displays in quinte mall but then they got rid of them!

Summer company is a good program I met a local guy in my town that got the grant from them as well… he bought a reach-it wfp and unger di tank. Im not sure but I think the water quality in Belleville is very good like 20-30 tds average so a simple DI tank is all you need to get pure water just FYI. My 2 cents would be go for the residential market as you are still in school and only have a few months off. You probably don’t have a vehicle to be outfitted with ladders properly so the wfp might be the best route and don’t sell yourself short. Get some fake quotes from competitors in your area and price likewise.

Good luck man and if you happen to land a big commercial contract il help you out!

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22

You might have had something going there except for this.

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24

I had looked into the price of a wfp but when I looked at the Reach it and the Wash it, I believe it came to about 4-5 thousand with taxes. I figure I’ll start the old fashion way and once a make some money I can start investing in the more expensve equipment. As far as I know, there is one major company locally, everyone knows them and they have been around for over 20 years. I have heard however that it is very hard to get in with them because they are booked solid for months, and I have also heard they don’t do tracks, and screens. There are also a lot of rural communities here, where people are on well water, not sure how that will affect the water tds or even if it will deter people from the wfp due to using up their well water.

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25

I mean all you gotta do is ask the customer. (Given they lie too) "How much are you paying now? " Why waste my time getting a quote your never gonna consider. If you do, you better hide the tools that are in your pickup. :smiling_imp:

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26

I just figured I would see how long it normally takes me, then I can get a better idea of what to charge. Also if customers are jumping at my prices, then I’ll probably start charging more, and if I am not getting anyone I’ll start charging less. Since I started telling people that I am starting the summer company, only a few people so far, I have had most ask me to let them know when I start. I even had one say I have 15 windows, I’ll give you $150 cash and even supply the ladder lol. I told her I wanted to wait until I had everything properly set up. I’m sure there’s money to be made in “cash jobs” or “side jobs” but that’s not how I want to run my business. That’s the beauty of having my own business, I get to make the decisions!

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27

Squeegees + handles, T-bars and mops: 6", 12", 18"

4 Homer buckets w/lids: One for water, one for dry tools, one for dry rags, one for wet rags + wet tools.

Scrim towels: 3
-or-
Microfiber towels: 25 (just to be safe in case you can’t do laundry for a couple days)

Bath towels: 2 or 3 for use as drop cloths inside homes.

Paint brush, bench brush, or cob web brush for wiping sills and dusty fames.

Dish soap: Anything will do. Dawn is popular. Natural soaps like Ecover, Myers and 7th Generation are better, IMO.

Small measuring spoons (so you can experiment to find the right soap:water ratio for your needs)

Triumph 6" scraper + a pack of stainless steel blades
0000 steel wool
White scrub pads

Nylon belt
Bucket on a belt
Belt pouches for scrubbies and scraper

2 Packages of extra squeegee rubber (Black Diamond is a good bang for your buck)
Optional: Ronan Cutting tool (makes it much easier to cut nice ends on your rubber)

Extension pole: 12’ of the same brand as your squeegee and mop handles so the tip fits just right.
Ladder: Werner 13’ multi will get you everywhere you need to be below 2 stories and will fit in the backseat or trunk of a car.

Extras: Homer bucket, car wash brush, tide w/bleach alternative for cleaning screens.

Spend the rest of your money on door hangers and business cards.

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29

Lol I was just thinking the same thing

31

Don’t we all?

32

I did my first job this weekend, I was doing my in laws house for free so I could get some practice. They had 32 panes and it took me 3.5 hours to do int/ext and clean all the screens. They were really happy with it and gave me some money for doing it. Overall it was a great experience, glass looks good clean, sun was out, and no one was telling me what to do. My biggest concern now is I found out the local company here does the same amount of windows, 2 guys do it in 2 hours. Int/ext/tracks/screens for $120. I feel like that is really cheap, $30/hr per person before all the expenses taken off.

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33

Congratulations on getting your first job!

Sounds like you would have made $34.29 per hour if you had been paid $120 for that home. I think that is good for someone starting out. Not fruitful to worry about the competition at this stage, better to focus on getting clients and learning WC technique.

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34

Plus one. @Ksn4p, it sounds like your competition is priced a bit on the low side, but it also appears they aren’t very efficient. They got schooled by a newbie :wink:

For 16 double hung windows I’d be at $208. But anything above $150 is respectable.

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35

Congrats on your first job! Those other dudes are way cheap.

Realistically though, you needn’t worry about the cheapo depot cleaners. 30/ hour won’t pay for much advertising or other overhead prerequisite to growth. If they really are such a super deal you can bet they’ll stay plenty busy serving all your local tightwads.

Eventually they’ll hit a saturation point and will have to increase prices to expand their market share by hiring. -OR- They will get sick of working for peanuts and taking home 15 an hour (with no benefits) after taxes, insurance and all the unpaid time they put in doing office work.

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36

Thank you, and these guys are “the guys” for cleaning windows locally, they have been around for over 20 years or something, everyone knows them, they are booked solid, and they are a big enough because they have employees working for them. So I’ll probably have to price competitively with them. That’s $3.75 a pane with int/ext screens and tracks. The information I got was from a customer that had been with them for 18 years though, so maybe they charge new people more.

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37

Yeah I don’t see how they can make a decent living, let alone staff a company grossing 30 an hour across the board. My spider sense tells me that job must be the exception if they have been in business so long.

Maybe do some homework and call them to bid your home or a friend’s house to see where their current prices are at. I really can’t imagine running a business for 18 years without a rate increase.

Another possibility is they offer a frozen rate for customers who maintain a certain frequency. They could conceivably lock in a price as long as they get called for quarterly cleans, but as soon as one gets skipped the job gets a price update. Maybe you just happened to find the ONE GUY who hasn’t missed a quarterly cleaning in 18 years.

Just speculation. But seriously, do your homework. And let the forum know. That kind of knowledge could be useful in the future…

38

That’s the key phrase. They’re already too busy to be taking on much more work. So you don’t have to be all that competitive with them.

We have a company sort of similar to what you’re describing. Their prices aren’t ‘cut-rate’, per sé, but last I knew they were a lot cheaper than us. They’re the JC Penney of window cleaning, we’re more like Neiman Marcus. They’re all booked up, and I can’t remember the last time we went head to head with them on a bid.

Separate yourself from them in terms of marketing, pricing, etc., and you should be golden.

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39

Do you know if you need any specific training for working on a ladder in Canada? I don’t plan on doing anything over 2 stories and I am going to get ladder stand offs. I just don’t want to get dinged by the ministry of labour. I can’t see a fall arrest course helping with ladder work.

40

Not that I’ve heard of. I don’t do anything over 2 stories either so the scam known as WSIB doesn’t touch me.