If you are taking good care of your customers, why worry about the competition ‘beating you out’?
what do you mean by beat me out?
Hi all,
This thread has shed some light on a interesting business model. oh yeah! Thanks for the quote. I have never heard of it.
The more I work, the more accounts I can have. The more accounts I have, the less likely a new competitor can get a step into my local market. I take my career very seriously. When you clean windows in an area with very little competition it pays to make sure everyone knows who the window cleaner is. I feel that’s the best way to gain notoriety in the commercial side of this business.
I will be off next Friday. I am really looking forward to it. This will be my first month taking off one day a week.
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Fastfanner: Do you work alone?
Yeah it’s just me so it’s either work all the time in the busy season or hire someone. I have so many accounts that if I don’t work everyday I’ll get behind. That would make a good tread: When do you know it’s time to hire? It’s really not all that bad working alone as long as my shoulder and wrist hold out. I do like working by myself because I always know what I did and I don’t need to watch over anyone. I kind’ve have mixed feelings about hiring, at this point, but if I land any more large accounts I may have no choice. I’m not against hiring but I feel like I’m doing pretty well financially so I don’t know if taking on the added stress is worth it. I’m just so used to doing things by myself that I’m not sure how to go about finding the right person.
I was really hoping this was a Tim Ferriss related thread 
I have been cleaning windows for about 6 months having started in October of last year. I am a little worried about summer work as I am not heat tolerant at all. I live in the Austin area and from mid May until Oct 1st our days are always 99 to 102 every day with 80% to 95% humidity. Even when I get up around 5:am the temps are hovering in the low 80’s and humidity is worse at that time of day. I bought an ice vest and a hat that holds ice packets to help keep me cool. Because of my heat intolerance I am planning on only doing one house per day to see how I can handle this summer. I like the 4 day work week, and that might be good for me. However, I have 2-3 days each week that I do storefronts, and then try to keep 2-3 days for doing residential. Recently I said yes to doing a couple of large restaurants on Sat & Sun mornings. I will have to arrive around 5am to get them done before they open at 9:00am. I consider my weekend afternoons my days off. Am I over doing it? I know that Louisiana is extremely humid as well. How do you handle it? Cold weather doesn’t affect me at all, but business seems to really be picking up with the hotter days. I hate saying no to clients. I am older and my health is a concern. I’ve ended up in the hospital with heat exhaustion more than once. Any advice?
I only clean residential windows. I start at 6am during the summer and drink plenty of water
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Hardtobeme In your case I’d say take it easy and do what Chad said. Drink lots of water and don’t over do it. You can get burnt out quick if you don’t micro manage your schedule. Just ease into things… That’s my advise. Maybe take a good long break midday? You can do it.
I definitely will take things a bit slower this summer…I’ll start early and end by 2:00 as it gets really brutal the closer to 5:00 and doesn’t start to cool down until long after the sun goes down. I plan on taking only three residential each week to start with. That coupled with my storefronts should be plenty until I know what my body can tolerate. I noticed the roofers and guys working outside usually start early and end their days early.
What part of the country are you located in? I’ve lived all over, east to west, north to south, but always had a desk job until I decided to go on my own.
I love the window cleaning!
When I had a residential storefront mix I didn’t schedule any residential work in July and August.
That is a plan I could live with! I am anxious to see how my ice vest works to keep me cool. It looks like a bullet proof vest, but it has pouches where you insert ice packs. I bought a separate wide brimmed safari style hat that you can place an ice pack in the crown to keep the noggin cool. I was wearing it around the house yesterday looking all set for combat! So far this spring has been cool for us. Only two days that have reached 90 degrees, but I know what is around the corner! Stumbled on the ice vest by mistake. People that have MS are susceptible to overheating. A friend was just diagnosed with MS and I was trying to find info on it as I didn’t know much about the disease.
Some guys are crazy and go out at 3am so they’re done by noon.
That is what I’ll have to do with my store fronts, but, I don’t think it would work on residential. I really need to move to the UK or Germany! Anyone want to trade homes and window cleaning routes? Small home on 5 acres, two fireplaces (many dead trees on property from 8 years of drought, so firewood is available) Large metal workshop garage (holds 4 cars). New Barn with stalls, horse trailer, old truck, and old horse! Good neighbors! (they all carry guns in one hand and the bible in the other) Oh, almost forgot, we have a 1 acre pond fully stocked with large mouth bass, and catfish. Small orchard of peach, pear, and plum trees, mostly dead from drought. Small guest house (fixer upper) for mother in-law, has electric, but no plumbing! Mild winters, only snows once every 10 years or so. Summers are brutal!!! Several state parks nearby, but no trees as we had major wildfires a couple years ago! Just kidding on the trade, unless???
4-day work week is great! I use the 5th day for make up if weather messes up our schedule. I have a family so it’s nice to have 3 days with them. We have a tight schedule (booked sometimes 3 weeks out) so the extra day for make up helps our customers not have to wait 2-3 weeks later then originally scheduled.
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I like the idea of an extra day for weather delays! I have probably been overbooking for a newbie, but have found that many of the customers that are calling have recently put their homes on the market. These homes generally sell within 2 or 3 days of being listed, before I can get them cleaned and then the customer cancels so it gives me a free day. Once summer gets here we won’t be getting any rain, so the need for a rain day isn’t too critical, but I think I’ll need it for my own sanity! I like the idea off a 4 day work week! As someone once said, “When you are on your death bed, you won’t be wishing you’d spent more time at the office. Fishing, Golf and Family are much more important”. I am making more in four days of window cleaning than I was in six days of my old job! I love what I do!!
Wow. I wish I worked 4 days. I’m all out, 6 days a week. I dont think I could afford to only work 4 days
food for thought:
if one schedules 5 days a week, it really ends up being a 4.25 day workweek on average over the course of a year once you take out sick, holidays, non-east coast weather, personal and vacation. (The .85 factor)
a 4 day a week schedule, assuming nothing encroaches on the 5th day, ends up being a 3.5 day a week schedule
