I have a love hate with storefronts. I love it when the phones aren’t ringing. I hate it when I’m slammed.
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I used to feel the same, and then I just got overwhelmed with them because I was scrambling to get them all done to make pennies on the dollar in comparison to what I can make now with pressure washing. My route wasn’t that close together, so though it wasn’t bad I just decided to let them go instead of killing myself to get them done or to build a better route.
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Has to be tight to make it worthwhile .
Agreed, and its not for everyone. I used to think I would keep them for when I get employees, but I’ll just be resi and commercial.
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It appears to me that you never worked in a office environment. What you have to understand is, things take time. 7 days, isn’t long enough. Sometime mail delivery can take two or three weeks. Basically, Owners or Manager approves the Expense and then another person writes the check, then it possible someone else verify or mails the check. In any case, if you ever find a company that pays you quickly, treasure them, don’t get mad at any of your customers who take longer than your expectations, just think, does you Electical provider/Phone provider or any other provider get upset when you don’t pay in seven days? Just remember you are just another bill that they are willing to pay, be grateful and appreciative of that,
I like getting paid the same day with residential. I used to have a few small storefronts. I would always have them pay me the same day. I can see with larger commercial how the Net 30 can add up real quick. Next thing you know, you are waiting on $2 -$3k to come in.
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Not the same thing. Even mortgage company’s expect payment in 2 weeks. If I were running a couple hundred grand a year or more then perhaps, but then again payroll would have to be met. A company with a multi million dollar income? Yea, they can probably wait.
I have a bunch of net 30 accounts. All I can say is the checks come on time every time. That’s all that matters to me. End of story 
Ant way how’s the alligator wrestling business going ?
@windowsrx I have had some of my best per hour jobs on commercial. I have a property manager that passes me about 15k+ a year and once the property is clean, take good money maintaining it. I also usually only wait 2-3 weeks for payment. Not bad for 125+ hr.
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That is great! I think most businesses are really good about paying within 30 days. A good friend of mine does really well with commercial accounts. I bet you do really well too.
Good to hear. I know there are a lot of guys that make a killing with commercial. Definitely a lot more than I make doing residential. Glad they pay you on time. 125+ an hour is really good!
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I appreciate your thoughts, however I have to disagree with some of them.
Not with the assertion that you can make money with commercial work; of course you can, and many of us do.
But the quote that comes to my mind is: "The most damaging phrase in the language is ‘We’ve always done it this way’.”
Just because net30 is the ‘norm’ does not mean in my estimation it should be.
The assertion that in a properly operating office it takes a MONTH to go from invoice to check, is where you lose me.
I think a better description would be that net30 terms are a convenient way to slow roll exiting funds, and calling it ‘standard’ is a convenient way of muscling service providers.
Does all of this add up to “buck the system! This is the hill I die on!”? Clearly not, I capitulated, and will continue to do so as long as the money continues to come in.
But to try and justify an outdated system or defend my commercial accounts borderline religious adherence to an outmoded net30 system is too much to swallow. It feels like Stockholm syndrome.
When you BUY something, you PAY for something. Period. I’m not a bank, or a lender, or your friend. Why is it okay for you to hold my money until you decide to pay? Because you’ve decided that’s ‘standard.’
Again, I have commercial accounts running net30, but just because I do, doesn’t mean it’s right.
You certainly have the right to do business as you see fit. I’m just saying that I have worked in a office environment, before I did I had no idea, about how slow things actually can get handled, it doesn’t mean it won’t get handled, just take time. The whole system isn’t going to change because we don’t like it. We can either accept their business or move on. It will be a losing and pointless battle if you try to change them. If you listen to what other window cleaner experience about large commercial contracts and especially governments contracts it takes months , even some almost a year to get paid. But that the how business gets works here, we can choose to work with them or move on. It’s up to you decide
This right here.
Great thing about this business is that there are three types of customers - Residential/Commercial/Storefront - of those three types of customer there are two types of payment - “Due upon completion” and “Due whenever the hell we say we will”. Accept that one which makes you happy. 
I would rather the 100/hr on resi I see you posting that you make. I make that sometimes, but tend to float between 80-100. Resi is easier too usually than the work Im talking about. Multi story wfp is hard, draining, and is very boring to me! I don’t do it often, but for the sake of the conversation I threw it out there.
I’ve got 5 businesses that had monthly services that have not paid me for my work in Feb, Mar, April, and a couple of those is May. They said they’ll call when ready. We’re all opened up but no calls and no checks. 2 are gone, and 3 aren’t answering the phones. Tax write off but what hurts is that reality that the friendly visits and well wishes now come down to $$$ dollars and cents. It is teaching me to pick and choose the jobs and people I want to work with more.
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80-100/hr is really good. I have always found residential to be easier as well.
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Thanks! I should say that’s more for repeats. I don’t upcharge for 1st cleans, and recently I’ve gotten a few that haven’t been cleaned in years. $65/hr today, but I also wasn’t trying to kill myself with speed either.
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