Hey guys, thinking bout making the leap from my 9-5 to my own boss here very soon. Question for you guys, do you guys add or do anything different on rain days?! and by add I mean like rainx or jetdry for water spots. And do people still want you to come or usually a reschedule?!
Its pouring here in NJ.
… but its not dangerous out.
Still working.
Are you referring to Route or Residential ( or both ) ?
Both. Didn’t know if anyone added anything to mix for water drops or if residential customers rescheduled. This year in Pittsburgh has been the wettest I can remember in my 32 yrs and wasn’t sure if that hurt anyone’s business
If you add most rain x or similar type products to soapy water it’s non effective, soap kills it. Has to be applied independently and then the next washing with soap removes it
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Unless you use a WFP then its just be a PITA to clean, leave rain x on your windshield not on building windows.
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I tell customers that I don’t reschedule because of rain then I add a raincoat and rain pants to my wardrobe on rainy days.
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That’s what I wasn’t sure of yet, if people just kinda deal with it (residential) and doesn’t affect any of my commercial. Just waiting for a good jumping off point to quit the ol 9-5. Just me and the old lady
Rain in and of itself doesn’t cause water spots. Dirt and ground water does.
Do you already have some clients as a base, or are you planning on jumping in and hoping for the best?
I have some now but thinking bout pushing estimates hard to get a full schedule so I can quit my job. Only was an idea/hobby until last couple years when I realized I don’t like working for people, don’t like being stuck at a place doing nothing just to get paid and then still being negetive anyway. Never had a problem with working or motivating myself to do what needs to be done, just hate politics involved in ANY 9-5. “Grown men” that rattle and backstab more then my 4 and 2 year old
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Still kinda baffles my Mind that one day I could make 500-1000/day cleaning windows (no where near that now)
We don’t work when it rains. First, customers cancel, even if you don’t cancel when it’s raining. Second, if you’re doing any ladder work, it’s dangerous to do that while the ladders wet. I can’t risk that with employees.
That’s my experience with rainy days. But in SoCal and LV we don’t have a lot of rain during the winter.
My advice (take it for what it’s worth), is to build your client list big enough, that you don’t have a huge gap in what you make as an employee, and what you make as a business (profits).
500-1k a days sounds good, but that’s only good if you are keeping most of it. Marketing will likely be a fair portion of your business budget, and insurance will cost you more, with the more job you’ll be doing. Besides you’ll need to pay all your own taxes and you’ll need an accountant or a pay service to make sure your payments to the government agencies are made on time.
I’m not trying to be negative or sound like a know it all. Just that things change when you go from part time, to full time in your business. I don’t know what you and your lady are making a year now, but if you both average say 30K a year each, you’ll probably need to gross no less than 100K in your business to cover business expenses, personal liabilities/expenses/benefits and keep the same lifestyle.
I can and has been done. You just need to be very savvy about it and plan well. It’s the difference between success and failure.
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The 9-5 should become much more bearable because you can look forward to running your own business. This safety net also gives you the opportunity to improve your marketing and other business skills and techniques until you get the critical mass needed to go solo.
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No not negetive at all my friend, I’m an open book on this. I want to learn as much as I can. I’ve been on the business end of it since I was little (my old man owns his business and I’ve seen the highs and lows of it all, past ten years I’ve been learning more about the financial side). As for gross income on my own, I’m the only one on the books (she’s a waitress and we also have a property management going and we’re going to be pushing more and we’re involved in our first home flip for more income and her brother is going to be investing in flipping with us next year as a financial backer) so windows won’t be my only income but it will be for most of the year. I only make 30/hour now which is 244/day. So with average window cleaning price that’s one house a day to live same life as we do now (not including other business ventures were in). That’s why I’m trying to get going now and get my client list up so I’m on my own, somewhat established, and have more time for our other business ventures and not being stuck at my 9-5 to get paid cause I have to be there. I’m in construction FYI, carpenter for UPMC
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Just remember the points Hoosier made. If you’re bringing home $30 and hour, your probably technically making 45-60, if you factor the money the company is spending on your office overhead, insurance health or business, business taxes, any 401 or other perks. There is a lot of hidden money people are technically making or earning even if they don’t see it or is officially being paid by someone else.
I’ve always found to be good at something you need to focus on it. For you it might be construction, your property management, flipping houses, or window cleaning. Nobody is truly great at everything, and if you are it’s crazy expensive to be so.
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