I started by accident while tinting for a glass company 18 years. i bought the tinting side of that company when I left on good terms. Now only clean windows to fill the gaps in my tinting schedule.
Btw I personally find it troubling to use a company for 6 months just to gain experience with full intention on starting your own business.
Oh boy mine is an interesting story. I will most like have to rewrite this a few times to keep out personal details of the owner.
However in saying that I must strictly say, if anything you are reading here seems similar in any way to your life is strictly coincidental. No names or anything to the identity of either the employees or the owner or the business itself have or ever will be mentioned. I am not here to slander a business that will someday get what it deserves what ever that shall be. KARMA exist.
I worked for a company that had already been in business for roughly 8 years, it was a multi service carpet, window, duct, roof, upholstery cleaning.
I had no window cleaning experience what so ever. He loved people without any cleaning experience, as a lot of you say, easier to train in your ways.
First official day he sits me down and says, watch this you tube videos, and videos from some site (turned out to be WCRA), grab this belt and go wash my windows.
So I did. And Iām pretty intelligent and love learning from YouTube and putting it into to practice. Itās how I have fixed nearly everything since 2 years after its launch. (I used to just open broken stuff and learn by failure)(sometimes I still do!!)
After washing his windows like a champ with a few foul ups that I corrected and learned from. He set me up with his best guy.
(Must shorten this section so you donāt all fall asleep, ask me if you want to know what I wrote here)
I worked for the company for almost 3 years. Mostly along side the owner eventually I was training all the new guys and every employee ever hired before me was let go for numerous reasons. It was crazy.
However, already knowing a lot about business from research of many years wanting to own my own retail or automotive business. I adapted well when I began doing office work throughout those 3 years as well as going out in the field. I set him up with the new payroll system (quick books online payroll) and came in every morning at 6am to set up our local city vans at his house/ garage while he slept in till at least 10am.
I would answer all his phone calls and when he woke up I would hit he field for the day.
While the owner did SOME business stuff.
I had to teach myself how to run a business, however, I will admit he did teach me many different things. (Mostly what not to do!!)
He has since changed the name of company 3-4 times, is now a maid service, is very dishonest with customers and way too rushed (4hour job done in 2 hours with next job scheduled 1 hour after the first 4 hour job is scheduled. ) (say wtf??!!) and is running a locally owners and operated business here while living in a completely different state.
He eventually ālaid offā me and his other best field guy out of no where. Changed the name of the company and is now a maid service. He once told me no one is worth $15/hr.
I started my own business 2 weeks later. That was 14 months ago!!
Sent from my iPhone using Window Cleaning Resource
I never worked for a window cleaning company. I was in an office job, but wanted to start a business. I started a janitorial business and had intended to use window cleaning as a gateway to offering janitorial services. After cleaning a residence and discovering how much money I could make cleaning windows, I eventually dropped the other services. I learned through books, videos, and experience. That was 11 years ago.
Sent from my SM-N920V using Window Cleaning Resource mobile app
That would be stealing , although I will admit some guys deserve to get this done to them
Also not something you could go to jail for , but "karma is a bitch "
Sent from my iPhone using Window Cleaning Resource mobile app.
Thatās good that youāre not of those guys who would still the clients database and use it for own purpose. I know some examples of it, very bad situation.
I think the best way to find new clients is to provide qualitative services. Then your clients will tell about you to their friends and they to theirā¦So the word of mouth works pretty good. But also you can try to post some ads in newspapers and on the Internet. Some websites are for free to do this.
For example you can place your ad here:
Iāve had several cleaners over the years leave and attempt to steal my customers. I had one do it this year. He took a little $12 route job after he quit, then went to work for another guy who left and tried to steal my customers 10 years ago. Then he called me a few months later and had the nerve to ask if Iād hire him back. WTF?
Karma will always come back around for you.
Opposite of many here.
Had a lot of business running, sales, marketing, and advertising experience, but no window cleaning experience. Looked like a simple, profitable business to get into. One I could train someone to start making the company money in with-in two weeks.
I then watched youtube videos, went to some events, ended up interning with 3 companies outside of my state to see how they ran and learn the ātricksā (2 weeks at each), networked with some great people in the industry, and read my butt off.
never worked for other window cleaning company but wanted to have my window cleaning business even few years before I started . one day just quit my job almost 6 years ago and started my own company .BEST thing I ever did for myself !
from day one my rule#1 is never ever try to still customers . if you are GREAT as you promised soon or later they will find you !
I resemble Mikeās statement.
When I got started with White Glove Window Cleaning in Edmond, OK that I sold to my ex-wife and her husband. (They dropped the ball thatās for sure, because there is no longer talk of the company anymore.) I had nothing. I borrowed $50 from a buddy. Borrowed ladders from my dad. Just scratched together what I could with what I had. Which was nothing but my ability to speak and walk.
I put out fliers and got rides to jobs until a buddy sold me a 1988 Jeep Cherokee on credit and I painted a bed frame to match the silver color of the truck and used suction cups to mount my modified bed frame ladder rack. Due to lifes curve balls I couldnāt get a bank account and my credit was jacked, so I got a walmart prepaid visa card and used it as a bank account to set up a paypal account. This way I could take credit cards.
Previously I had a cellular recycling company that turned a good coin but hubris and poor decisions due to lack of life experience screwed that up. Lost it all. So I joined forums and started seeing what people were actually saying about the business. You can say I am really good at starting over, but everything I know about window cleaning I learned online and through practical experience.
To be truly successful at any business. You have to be more than just a technician, you have to wear several hats so Michael Gerberās Emyth really does apply here. But is dependent on what your goals and model will be, if you plan on owning a job and not owning a business; take from the E-Myth what you need and leave the rest for now.
Keep in the top of your mind when things go south for a momentā¦ āThe definition of success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.ā ~Winston Churchill (Words that motivate)
I would focus more on watching the Chet Holmes āUltimate Sales Machineā youtube videos for free, or giving it a good read. Audible download free if you donāt have an account already. Check your phone app store. Just saying. Also get ahead of the curve and keep SUPER ACCURATE RECORDS of just about everything. Time and Dates are muy importante right here too, just saying. You will be glad you did.
Not just jobs. Keep track of when you contact people the first time. Make notes about them, then when you follow up make reference to something you spoke about to build rapport with your potential client. Doing that and the simple fact you are following up with your potentials in a scheduled manner will set you apart from other window cleaners in your area. Post sales follow up should be very similar, you can basically recycle your existing conent. The majority of my life the lowest closing ratio I have ever had was 50%. With Window Cleaning I maintain a 80%, but this isnāt my first rodeo. I sold painting numbers on curbs and mail boxes from my little red wagon, some stencils, and some paint I had my older brother buy before people were huffing and you needed ID and all that.
This will help you save a lot of time. Also, proven fact. Just a thank you card with two business cards inside will increase sales conversion by 25% and your referral conversions dramatically. According the Harvard Business Review a couple of years back, referrals are 30% more likely to close on the spot at an 18% higher ticket value. Just putting that out there for you to chew on. These are old school tactics not even taking into consideration the power or social media. While the majority of your clientel do not use social media as much as most, social media is the direction to take your marketing. I donāt care who you are or what you do.
Anyway man. Get out there and make money. I really wish I would have worked for another company for a while before starting out on my own, just for technical experience. But all technical experience is going to do is make you more money. More experience = faster completions with less busy work. You may start at $30 hour squeegee or WFP pole time while figuring things out. Donāt let that get to you. Several here bill much larger amounts per hour. Thatās ok. You are where you are.
In the irrefutable words of George Carlin. āIt doesnāt matter where you are, because thatās where you are.ā
No matter what. Starting out on your own you are creating your dream. You are embarking on the entrepreneurial journey of life. Welcome. Jump on in my manā¦ āThe water is fine.ā With your chosen business model you have stumbled across one of the most lucrative business models that receives immediate cash flow from the very first day you start depending on what you do and how you do it.
If you need help or have questions along the way man. ASK. Thatās what we do here. We help each other. We donāt give hand outs, but we will definitely offer you a hand up. Have any other biz related questions? Hit me up. Text me and maybe we can schedule something on a weekend to chat on the phone or something. 520-488-0608
DISCLAIMER: That olā crusty dude Zig Ziglar. He saidā¦ āIf you help someone across the pond, you canāt help but get there yourselfā. So I am not soliciting on this forum. Last time I made an offer on WCR to help someone, some dude started chiming in like I am a solicitor. I am not. That dude made me feel weird about offering to help here because I donāt want to come across in a salesy way. Iām just not that kinda dude.
So if you sent me a message and I didnāt respond. It was because one bad apple with a bad attitude ruined it for the whole bunch. Just saying. Now that I am back in my right state of mind, sortaā¦ I may have some extra time to kill.
I had no experience when I started. I started door knocking and introducing myself to people in my community. I started doing high end homes within a month of being in business. That was a wake up call. I actually really think it was important to start out that way because it was a crash course! Within 3 months of doing it on the side, I had to quit my day job. There are times when it has its challenges but the money is really good and my customers are always satisfied. I see to it. If they are not, I make it right. I am still learning and i think that its important to always have that attitude because when you think you know it all you will stop working to improve and that is when a young buck will come up and start taking your business from you.[/I]
This is a great lesson for all of life. Itās amazing as I get older and learn more, I realize how little I knew back when I was younger and thought I knew everything.
To quote the irrefutable words of the Red Hot Chili Peppersā¦ āThe more I see the less I know, the more I like to let it go. Aye, Oh. Aye, Oh.ā
[MENTION=20204]WesternReserveWC[/MENTION] I get it man. If I only knew 1/2 of what I thought I knew back then, I would have been leaps ahead.
The biggest life lesson or whatever as of late my man, āknow your limitationsā.
Donāt know about you guys but I have lived the majority of my life with the thought I am invincible.
My take on this was, if I am invincibleā¦ I can do anything. So I guess I go testicles out into whatever I do. I meanā¦ Isnāt that why we all love window cleaning. That satisfaction of doing some crazy acrobatics and getting the job done no matter what. 3 stories high, one foot in a tree, one on your ladder; you know what I am getting at. Thatās what makes this fun.
I am sure there are those of you that donāt. Now that I am 40 I am straight WFP at the moment. At least that is what I am trying to retrain myself to do.
Now that I am restarting into window cleaning after a 5 year sabbatical. I am grateful for the all the experiences I have gained in just the last few years, let alone 15 - 20 years ago. I can only imagine what else is to come.
I am grateful for this forum because it is a great way to share your experiences with others. Reading through others experiences here has saved me LOTS of heart ache and money.
Just saying.
