I have been unemployed for over a year now, so I have decided to get into the world of window cleaning. Until I make some money, I have the minimum window cleaning tools to get started. I have adds on Craigslist, for the past month now and I have only one response…Not a way to start a business…I need some advise on what I should be doing to advertise my service. Should I just forgo the residential market and just show up at storefronts and ask for business? Any advise would be helpful. I think my pricing is cheap enough…I am charging $4 per window, and yet no bites…HELP! Joey
Sit back and wait for business to come to you? Sounds like my kind of business!
On a serious note, this is foolish. Get out there and hit the streets, present yourself to storefronts and business owners alike to get some funds started. Print up some fliers and hit the homes. Rinse, repeat. Price doesn’t always dictate, keep that in mind. Land one properly priced job rather than 2 cheaply priced jobs. Time = money. After this is being covered, I suggest spending what free time you have on crafting your skills, so those properly priced jobs are seen as such by your customers as well.
If you have a computer you can make up some inexpensive flyers and either print yourself or have staple or Office Depot print a few hundred. Go door to door in residential areas. You will get calls. Your price is too cheap for residential. It’s ok for store fronts. Also if you want store fronts you will need to go door to door and speak to the decision makers. Good luck
If you are only charging $4 a window than you should think about going back to work for someone else…cause you will make a lot more. Your low price is probably keeping you from getting more jobs. (Your established window cleaners are probably 2-3 times what you are charging, what does that make your level of service look like…why is this guy so cheap…is he gonna steal something…, did he just need beer money)
If your working for beer money there is nothing wrong with that. If your looking to build a legitimate, growing business that I certainly would not recommend sales/marketing strategy around the lowest price. You do nothing but lose.
Look at it this way: 20 ext windows = $80/2.5 hours min = $32 hour…but lets say you spent 15 minutes getting there and getting home. Now we are at 3 hours @ 26 bucks an hour…good money? I think not.
You just cleaned a house…took you three hours and you got $52…now lets take out the taxes. (Even though you are probably not paying them) [- ca taxes = [COLOR=#333333][FONT=arial]7.65% $4) for state (soc sec is 6.2% ($3) and [/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#366388][FONT=arial]medicare[/FONT][/COLOR][FONT=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif][SIZE=2][COLOR=#333333] is 1.45% $1]
Now we are $52 - $10 and you put $40 bucks in your pocket…and you have not even paid for gas yet. (Also, [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif][SIZE=2][COLOR=#333333]you will have to pay a portion of the med/and soc security tax when you take a paycheck. ) [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
Your take home is going to be around $30 for 3 hours of work. [SIZE=2]Your punching yourself in the face [/SIZE]every-time you do a job for that little amount. …you know home depot pays more than that…and you get benefits!
So…raise your prices so you have money to market and study these forums so you can actually build a legitimate business. Or get a gig at home depot and keep cleaning windows for beer money on the weekends if that’s all you want from your sweat.
