Hi Stephen, my honest opinion is that it $1.50 per pane per side is low. It also sounds like you are taking too much time to clean the windows as well. You may be too detailed in how you are cleaning, 7.5 hour avg. for 56 windows in and out, including screens seems too long. In my opinion customers want clean, but not ultra clean.
Window cleaning is piece work, price fair, be efficient while producing quality work and move on…
My customers want ultra clean. And I’ll provide that, no matter how long it takes. That may be why I have so many quarterly customers. If you charge high prices, but do mediocre work, it’s not gonna work. If you charge premium prices, and provide premium service, you’ll do just fine.
I’m just saying, I provide “ultra clean” service. Screens, tracks, sills, etc. I don’t settle for 80-90% quality, and I never will. Telling someone to do that is fine, if that’s there business model/method, but that’s not mine. Read it how ever you want.
So do you clean tracks with a toothbrush? We had a customer say that her old window cleaner in Oregon did that. And I am not sure why she started sputtering when I gave her the price.
Charge $4 per pane which is $8 per double hung and you could probably make your target goal of $200-$300 per day. Shoot for $300 a day and you can buy the good snowboard wax lol That’s great that you are already crunching the numbers and coming up with a business plan.
I need to start making a production log myself. Record how many windows or panes (whichever method you are going by) with each job and how long it takes you to clean all the windows. After a few window cleaning jobs, you’ll start to really get a feel for how much you are actually bringing in per hour. IMO, strive for at least $40 per hour in the beginning and work up to $60 per hour.
I think most window cleaners probably top out at $60-$80 per hour. More profitability after that point will probably only come when you add employees.
Aside from the efficiency you will gain in cleaning windows, there are other ways to save time and effort. These things have helped me to reduce the time before, during, and after a job.
Organize your equipment: know where everything is in your vehicle
Reduce what you carry into a house to what you really need and no more. Ideally, make everything into one trip.
Consider using a spray bottle instead of a bucket and mop. This way you will always be putting clean solution on the glass, and your 6 gallon bucket is now a tote. Also, with a spray bottle you can get 10 to 15 complete windows - more if you reduce the volume of solution you are applying to each pane - whereas with a mop you are only going to get one, maybe two windows before having to go back to the bucket. I find it to be less messy (less dripping) and the little bit of over spray is helpful to wipe the frames.
Keep everything you are working with in one place and work toward your vehicle, that way loading up is a breeze and takes five minutes instead of twenty.
As you work, see if you can make a significant run without having to fetch anything. As I go from window to window (inside) I use towels and a shop vac, everything else is on my belt (though I want to craft a tote or a Herman like dolly instead). I can go from window to window like this, and be able to carry my step ladder from room to room.
I find that these little things go a long way to shortening my stay at a job, and minimizes my footprint in a home.
These practices apply to doing the outs if you are doing them by hand, and the mindset applies to wfp if using that method.
Most importantly, have fun with it! Its rewarding to me to keep honing and see my hourly rate increase as the result. Yesterday, because I could use only pads to clean my hourly shot up to $140.00 per hour. This was rare, and many factors beyond my own efforts contributed to this being possible - mainly, ultra efficient ventilation (virtually dust free) non smoker that doesn’t open his windows and doesn’t cook with grease along with materials that minimize off-gassing from his furniture, paints and finished AND I am the only one that has touched his glass so there are no residues to contend with - it can and does happen.
I never said my customers were picky. I would say I’m the picky/OCD one. I guess I’ve just trained my customers to expect that. I have one customer that I would call ultra-psycho. She has be do in/out every two months, and has been the only one to ever use my rain guarantee. However, the $200 invoice always turns into a $300 1.5 hr job, so I’ll deal with that all day.
Sometimes I wish I could be happy with 80-90% quality. I would probably get more work done. Possibly once I get an employee, or two, my OCD may subside a bit. Who knows.
That’s great that you are already crunching the numbers and coming up with a business plan.
