About how long did y’all wait before you quit your full time job to do your business full time… or did you just jump right in and hope for the best
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Interested in seeing answers here as I’m in a similar position… Or predicament. Give us hope!
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How long were you part time before quitting?
2 years.
30 hours per week the first 14 months, then we lost a client so I got myself a crappy day job > 40 hours per week and worked 12 hours a week for the cleaning company for 10 months.
Just when I was ready to buy into the company we lost the 2 best accounts and the owner got discouraged and sold me the entire business. Been busy rebuilding it the last 10 1/2 months and am on track to exceed projected gross revenues by > 1.6% and I have a better margin on the 3 biggest accounts.
When I started working for the company I wanted to work 40 hours per week and expand into “day jobs” (WC, carpet cleaning,floor resurfacing) but the owner was focused on the steady revenue from the commercial cleaning accounts. Now that I own the company most of my focus goes into getting additional revenue from day jobs but I appreciate the steady revenue of the commercial cleaning accounts.
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Yes.
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Was working in a bike shop under an a$$hole manager. Had been planning to switch to window cleaning for about a year prior. One day he said something that made me cock my head and say - “I’ve had all of this crap I’m taking”, and clocked out. The following month (when I intended to start my business) I broke my back in a mountain bike crash. Five months later I landed my first window job and have been going since.
Let me say, it sucked financial going from a weekly paycheck to having to produce one from scratch. Go part time paycheck/part time window gig, then transition when it looks good. Expect there to be lean months with the good ones.
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I had a pickup and a hundred bucks. Bootstrapped from there. Never worked another job during.
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Words fail me. I’m guessing she’s worth it 
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I looked out of the window at my terribly slow job.
I noticed it was filthy.
I walked out and spent my last $100 on window cleaning tools at HD.
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If I had the choice, I definitely wouldn’t repeat my journey into window cleaning the same way. I kinda just “fell” into it after the company I worked for went bust - it was my first time self employed, first time trying to figure out how to do accounts and taxes & the first time I even thought about trying to advertise & build a business - I definitely didn’t plan it well, and lack of planning cost me big time.
Plan it well - figure out your pricing, then add 20% for the bits you forgot to plan for.
Have your marketing lined up & ready to go - launch a huge campaign 4 weeks before you quit your job so you have work to go to straight away, and if at all possible have all the marketing planned, paid for and self managing for the first 6 months at least.
Be realistic about equipment - buy what you need, but don’t get obsessed with 60’ poles if you only do residential work! Be realistic about your work vehicle - I made the mistake of buying a tiny truck, and had to change it for a bigger one before my business was even 2 years old, probably could have saved $4000 if I just bought the bigger one to start with!
PLAN - then plan some more
Write all your plans down, and compare today plans to the ones you wrote a month ago - can you see a tendency towards unrealistic optimism or maybe an overly cautious attitude in the difference a month makes?
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Funny how that works, huh? Still with her? [quote=“HBM, post:9, topic:39940”]
2 years. 30 hours per week the first 14 months, then we lost a client so I got myself a crappy day job > 40 hours per week and worked 12 hours a week for the cleaning company for 10 months. Just when I was ready to buy into the company we lost the 2 best accounts and the owner got discouraged and sold me the entire business. Been busy rebuilding it the last 10 1/2 months and am on track to exceed projected gross revenues by > 1.6% and I have a better margin on the 3 biggest accounts.
[/quote]
Great story. It takes a lot of guts to go all in when the owner is belly up.
Perseverance!
These stories are inspirational. Right now I don’t have a business… I just have an idea with an LLC behind it and not a single customer. Its been mentally stimulating and engaging in that process has been great. I’m almost ready to launch it and see how high it can fly on a part time basis. I won’t likely quit my day job, but if or when my job goes away I want to be ready for that transition.
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I worked in radio for an awful company. Under paid and had to deal with a lot of shit because they were so cheap. Boss was the biggest asshole I have ever encountered. My grandpa used to make me clean windows because he owns a commercial construction company. At a young age I learned how to clean glass and started to love it. So one night I turned my key in at the radio station and told my boss how awful he was and started my window cleaning company. I promised myself to never work for such an awful company/boss again. Currently working on my masters degree (finish this winter) to become a Professor. May not leave my full time window cleaning gig and teach only part time…unless a university will to pay for my PhD. I still clean my grandparents house and their office building! I give them a family discount haha.
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What are you studying?
Applied Communication. My undergrad was communications with a speciality in media studies.
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