I was planning on starting a window cleaning business earlier. But my family told me it wasn’t a good idea. One reason was that people won’t pay to have there windows clean. Now i am not too sure on how true this was, but i already purchased a window cleaning kit. My county has 100,000 plus people and there is only one window cleaning business. The rest of the businesses that offer window cleaning are like a commercial cleaning business that offer a variety services.
I figured that office cleaning might be a better idea. I plan to wash windows also. Would this be a better route to go. Also, i did not have a solid plan for my window cleaning business also which is why they didn’t want me to do it. But will office cleaning and window cleaning be a good combination.
I started window cleaning and after getting some office buildings they started asking if we also cleaned offices. Well one thing led to another and we picked up a few offices to clean after they close. I then hired a few people to clean the offices for me, but me and my wife still do a couple of offices after closing hours.
But it all started with window cleaning, and really I prefer cleaning windows than cleaning offices.
Thanks i didn’t know that the professional window cleaners were making a decent living, i haven’t seen too much information on it. I would like to start off doing offices and small commercials buildings first. I would like to clean the offices and clean the windows, i think this is a good way to start out. Thanks for welcoming me to this forum. My name is Michael btw.
So window cleaning can help you land a office cleaning job also. I just want to have more than one service offer when i create my business. Office cleaning and window cleaning are two lowest start up ideas i can think of. But did the window cleaning make more money than office cleaning.
One competitor??? I’m sure there’s a couple of others but that’s good the market is wide open for window cleaning.
Target a couple of nice areas and blast them with fliers, door hangers, every couple weeks, try different prices say 20 windows in and out $179 if you get a lot of jobs raise the price
I didn’t know that was possible for window cleaning. You must have an well established window cleaning business, it would take a while to get there. But do you offer any other add on services to your business.
Well there are two competitors (i forgot about this other company) who does strictly window cleaning, but he does power washing and gutter cleaning. The rest of the businesses i saw offer window cleaning but they are a varitey type cleaning business. So they offer like carpet, office cleaning, maid, and janitorial service and etc. So would people really pay 179 dollars for someone to clean 20 windows. I thought that would be a high price, but i don’t know what the rates are.
Or live in an area where people just won’t pay good prices for the service. I see what most people on this forum charge for windows and I can’t get anywhere near that in the area I live.
I started out doing janitorial work. Cleaning offices. I did this because it requires very little equipment. All the offices I cleaned were carpeted, so I didn’t even need a floor buffer. I could just load a couple of caddy’s and a vacuum into my car and head out. A few of the offices asked if I could do their windows, so I started learning how to clean windows. I got all this window cleaning equipment and was eager to use it. However, the commercial window cleaning in my area was almost nonexistent. The recession was in full swing and really putting a pinch on the local businesses.
So, I decided to target the wealthy homeowners in my area. I did fliers, and sent out mailers along with working on my website’s seo. I got jobs lined up every day that first summer. I was doing $300 - $600 window cleaning jobs. So, yeah window cleaning is pretty profitable - for me at least. A lot more profitable per hour than office cleaning.
As the weather started cooling I realized that if I wanted to work year round, I would want to start cleaning gutters, roofs, and maybe even hang Christmas lights.
I did a gutter cleaning job this morning. I charged $80, but they gave me $100. It took me exactly an hour. The people I went to college with in my social work program are making $12-$18 an hour working with the uncertainty of being laid off any day if funding gets cut to their particular program.
I wake up each day grateful that I can do enjoyable work and make enough money to put food on the table and heat up my house.
Prices vary by market, but a contributing factor to the variance is the difficulty of the homes. 2 story versus 1 story, sloping grounds versus flat land, storm windows versus casement. When it comes back to the take home Per Hour rate, most of us are probably pretty close. The technically easier markets need, but can also time manage, more homes in a day, than those with more challenging homes.
For Hademade, if you are proficient with a ladder, it will be easier to talk two story homeowners into washing their windows, based on the safety issue. If you have lake homes, golf course homes or some other affluent demographic that hire landscapers or housekeepers, they will be accustomed to paying for a quality service. Make sure you can provide the quality service, and charge accordingly.
As you can see from this forum there are several thousand members here that clean windows for a living. Some may do it part time but most I venture to say are doing this full time as I am. This is one of the easiest businesses to get started in partly due to the low initial investment. As you read these threads, you will see there is alot more to the business once you get going. Lots to learn and lots of areas that can bring additional income along with windows. You can expand as far as you like. There are no limits other than the ones you put on yourself. It takes work and time, but anything worthwhile does. Good luck.
I have heard about people being laid off and college grads can’t find a decent job in this economy. It seems like you have to target the wealthy neighborhoods to be successful in this business or storefronts. Is there enough gutter and roof cleaning jobs for the winter. Also, do people pay a lot for Christmas decorations.
Window cleaning does have a low start up cost which is a good thing. But the only problem for me is the ladder issue. I don’t have a truck and i don’t want to spend too much money on the ladder yet. My budget is really low, i am still in college at the moment. Is it possible to clean two stories homes with just the extension poles and no ladder while starting out. The window cleaning business can be expanded, but i am trying my best to research what add on service would work well with window cleaning.
jesse Im Glad to here things are going so well for you over in Kitsap. I would have thought you would have a tough time over there.(I grew up in P.O./ Bremerton.) I thought the economy would have hit there harder than anywhere.
To the new guy"Michael" if Jesse can make it happen in the area he is in it can done anywhere.
I am in my 3rd year of business and have over 550 clients that were mostly gotten from Hitting neighborhoods with flyers.About 65% actually.
Nick In N Out Window and Gutter Cleaning, Seattle, WA 206-432-0025
