One thing I do is I try and not be in a hurry
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I am guilty of this! My wife gets on me about that all the time. I have been working on slowing down.
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Ok, Im new to the industry, but wow what you are doing; I didnāt even know was possible. Thank you for teaching me about new destinations. I am still gathering data on my location, but I know I want to hire and leave the field. I have so much to learn. It is crazy to read that guys made 100k in year 2, and I donāt know if my area can support that in any year.
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I love solo. I am solo in my carpet cleaning, all of my exterior services from house washing to window cleaning, gutters, etc. I love the solo aspect for quality control. Injury would be the only downfall. But I have some savings by the way. Like some people above have said, when itās me I sell premium service. There is no perfect cleaning job but I figure Iām giving them a nine but at the end of the day 90% of all employees would be an eight at best because itās still a job to them and itās not so much about the passion. When Iām the guy on the job I can sell the job for about 30% higher. And employees bring a headache that I donāt want to deal with. Now I will incorporate part-time help but as far as a full-time help her with benefits where I have to worry about keeping them busy during the off-season, that headache outweighs the rewards. Thatās just me. There are different ways to run a business. There are different size levels. There is no right or wrong, one-size-fits-all answer. You would lose money being on vacation, but then again you would have a vacation etc. Good thread
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Based on a 4% yearly withdrawal rate.
If youāre getting a 7% return on your investment account, 4% withdrawal means you wonāt draw down your principal, and the account can continue to grow with inflation.
Some personal finance guys advise a 2% or 3% withdrawal rate, to account for down times in the market. But I figure if thereās a down spell, find supplementary income or draw from savings. Why slave another 10-20+ years because you feel you need $1.5million+ to retire safely?? Live simply enough, pay off the house, etc., and most could retire on $625,000 (withdrawing $25,000/year)
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Thatās the real trick. If you can be content with what you have, retirement gets a lot simpler. Problem for most people is they want to retire at a higher standard of living. And they are paranoid of outliving their savings.
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Right, its helps when you price correctly. 
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Thanks for the follow up Alex!
We were looking at 5-6% return and 2-3% withdrawal ā¦
(We need to revisit the numbers)
Please donāt take offense at this, but personally I think āmarket dominationā is overrated. Then again, I know and care little about the commercial market. So take that with a grain of salt
I donāt want to have the company that has all the customers. I want to be the one that all the customers want. That means being visible, identifiable, and unique. Chad Pās approach of a 3-5 year waiting list and twice yearly minimum is what I want. He has a killer website that must be bringing in a lot of leads, but itās primary purpose is to present his value and scarcity to his customers.
We have to admit that our egos come into play when weāre running a business. How can it not, when we start to receive recognition, compliments, etc., for what we do? But does our ego get us into trouble? Do our goals align with our real values, or what our ego wants us to experience?
For me, the choice of remaining solo comes down to 3 things:
- My values
- My preferences/personality type
- My skills
Iāll elaborate later on how each of those plays into the decision. But Iāll just say for now, that if my skill-set and preferences/personality were different, I would be happy to employ people while staying true to my values.
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Apples to oranges. Window cleaning in the residential market is truly a luxury service. For luxury goods itās not uncommon to wait if you really want the best.
I doubt anyone is putting off ALL window cleaning for 3 years until that guy can get around to their job. Rather, they likely hire some generic company like Fish or Squeegee Squad for the interim and drop them like a hot rock when their man becomes available. Just like the folks who want to drive Bugatti cars will probably just nut up and slum around in their Mercedes in the meantime.
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This is a great post.
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Wow, there is a lot of great info here, and I donāt have time to read it all right now, so this could be redundant.
Running a solo/husband & wife team is absolutely a viable business plan, one that can be designed to fit the lifestyle you desire. That said, it is important to leverage the advantages you have and properly value your assets. For example, you can position your company in the market in a unique way that a larger company cannot. As a solo/team operator, you have complete control over every aspect of the delivery of your product. Not so with larger companies dependent on employees. As a result, it is easier for you to fill the needs of high-end clientele. Your clients will always know who will be in their home. They get a consistent ācustomer experienceā each time they hire you. You build up a personal relationship with your clients. Here is the kicker: There is only one of you. Therefore, because your time is in demand and your supply (your time) is limited, your prices can be considerably higher than others in the market because they cannot offer what you can, YOU. This will allow you to run profitably without leveraging employees.
As for retirement, the savings & investment plans are great. However, I had a remodeling contractor suggest a system to me that, while I havenāt implemented it, made some sense: If you have good credit and can spare some investment, buy one rental house each year for 5 years, each with a 15 year mortgage. The renter will cover most of the mortgage, though you may have to kick in a little and will be responsible for repairs. In 15 years, the first mortgage will be paid off, and one each year afterwards for 5 years, giving you a retirement income from the rentals. I havenāt implemented it, but I can see some merit in it.
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For me, I know I need to take good (better) care of myself.
As an ADDāer, I have a tendency to āhyper-focusā on the task at hand, and at times Iām completely unaware of what my body is trying to tell me I need.
Something Iāve started experimenting with lately, is setting the timer on my phone for every 45 min. When the timer goes off, I try and pause whatever Iām doing and run through a short list of bodily/mental needs. Stupid silly stuff like Thirsty, Hungry, Stressed, etc. Then Iāll try and address whatever needs I discover.
This was actually my wifeās suggestion, and I thought it was completely ridiculous to start with. But she could see how my getting too absorbed in stuff was affecting me negatively. Taking care of this simple stuff before they pile up into an overwhelming situation has been a real asset to me. I still find the timer annoying, but I can see that going through that list every 45 minutes has made me more efficient, mindful, and happier while working. Who wouldnāt be happier, simply being able to work comfortably, instead of ignoring all of the nagging messages your body is trying to tell you?
When you think about it, you wouldnāt keep driving your work truck for months and months with the maintenance or engine lights flashing, would you? You rely on that truck for your livelihood. Plus you want to avoid more expensive repairs down the road. But trucks are replaceable. Our bodies arenāt.
Kyleās thread about āgetting back to a new normalā is a real eye-opener of what can happen when you ignore too many of your bodyās signals. Iām really glad heās ok, and I donāt want to come off as a āvictim blamerā. But everything that happened to him could have been prevented by paying attention to the āmaintenance remindersā.
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I am having a strange revelation.
I think that the arthritis pain in my knee and shoulder that slows me down a bit might actually be a good thing. This is because they prevent me from working to exhaustion and not having enough time for my family and overall quality of life activities. I suppose the arthritis pains could be viewed as the canaries in the coal mine.
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Honestly, I am just a regular guy. I have been very fortunate with my business. There are a lot of other window companies in my area that potential clients can chose besides me.
I have learned so much from all the great window cleaners on this forum!
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As one who leans towards having a crews.
I love the solo guys. They get booked up fast, and yes as solo guy it might take some time but you can price yourself to the max.
I do not know the percentage but most of our calls need the work done this week, or in the next 72 hours. Often times solo guys quit answering their phones cause they are booked out and donāt see the need.
- We answer the phone, the client is shocked
- We have teams and can fit them in most of the time
- They are so desperate at that point we price ourselves to the max.
but yes having crews is stressful at times. My norm for busy season was to see the team head down the road and I would have 60-70% of the next week booked. Run bids on Saturday and take care of 20%, then wait for that last minute SOS job.
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Determining these things are key in order to know if one should stay solo or if one should hire or how many people one should hire.
A question I just recently wrestled with was, will I be better off presently and in the future if I hire or if I stay solo? Will I be better off in in regards to being true to my values? Will I be better off financially? Will I be better off physically?
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