I am a full time Firefighter starting as a total newbie in window cleaning.
My question is do u think it is beneficial to communicate in my biz name that I am a firefighter? Or make it known below the business name on my card/logo? Or nothing at all.
I see some other firefighters taking advantage of this but I wonder if it really draws customers.
I think identifying yourself as a firefighter can’t possibly hurt you, unless somebody is harboring a grudge cause their wife ran off with a firefighter or something.
I have been a firefighter for sometime now , I am reluctant to advertise as such although most of my customers are aware . I suppose there could be some conflict of interest possibly some ethical issues,for instance I did a city attorneys home once who has worked closely with the fire dept. I have also unknowingly cleaned the windows for our Mayor not knowing it was his home since his wife uses a different name . we agreed that maybe it wasn’t appropriate to have a business relationship.
I will admit people do like the idea of hiring a firefighter to clean their windows
Both of my son-in-laws are firefighters, one for the county and one is a seasonal Hot-Shot who works for me in the off season…I would ask the guys you work with…
I was torn on a similar idea and eventually decided not to go with it. I’m an Army veteran and don’t plan on ever playing the “Veteran Owned and Operated” card. I didn’t do anything crazy heroic during my time in the Army. I’m just a guy who happened to be in the Army.
In addition to that, I live in an area with a lot of wealthy homeowners who align themselves with a political ideology which typically doesn’t view the military very favorably. Bottom line, it would probably do me more harm than good. If Iived in pretty much any other city in Texas besides Austin, it would be a different story.
I guess it all comes down to knowing who your customer base is. You know your market better than anyone else on here. If you live in a smaller, tight-knit community where “everyone knows each other”, it could very well benefit you. Even when taking political ideology into consideration, I have never known anyone who has a negative opinion of firefighters or medics. Military and police seem to get wrongly thrown into the “bad guy” category by a sizable portion of the population, so it’s best just not to mention it in my opinion.
personally i would just as soon hire a full time dedicated window cleaning company as opposed to a moonlighter. to me it also implies that somehow you think you are better or more deserving of the business because of your position which is a turn off for me.
no offence is intended, these are my personal feelings, i appreciate greatly all service people, my brother was a canadian us marine mostly at el toro and then a firefighter here in winnipeg.
Being a Firefighter is a super cool profession and I would like to thank you for what you do for your community! As a kid I wanted to be one myself… but at 41 might be a little late to change to that career lol
Personally I think it’s a little lame when guys use their community profession as a way to try and pull in customers. Just start your business and put that in your bio on your website. Feel free to mention it to clients… but I don’t find it would add more respect to you as a business owner. It could seem to some your saying: “Hey, this is just a part time job and not my real one.”