My window cleaning business is still growing and this will be my first winter as a business owner. What are you guys doing to keep busy?
More advertising?
Gutters?
Pressure Washing?
Store Fronts?
monthly residential clients, preparing our spring marketing blitz, shooting a new series of Weather or Not, and working on our spring scheduling procedures.
Hibernate…
However, I [U]do[/U] try to pick up some business, marketing or accounting classes during the slow seasons.
I do snow clearing and I get paid whether it snows or not and it’s coming down a lot so far. By this time tomorrow it will be 4 storms and about 60 cm.
Purchased a Commercial Vacuum cleaner to service a couple storefront accounts that needed a weekly Interior vacuuming but didn’t need a full blown janitorial service to get it done…Happy Turkey Day Everyone!!
Spending 2 days a week or so selling storefront, just to keep myself from becoming a shut in. Besides that, all music time… continuing work on my first solo album, doing the music for a friend’s short film, slapping together a single or 2 for another buddy’s label and picking up a few DJ gigs up and down the NE / Mid Atlantic.
… then either WMC or UMF in Miami to celebrate the start of spring and my second season 
Contrary to what alot of people believe, Even us residential window cleaners here in Socal see a bit of a slowdown in the winter months.
I will be focusing on my new scratch removal business, as I decided to run it separate from streak free.
I also will be planing out and promoting seminars that I’m speaking at (non window cleaning related) towards the end of 2011
I’m slammed with commercial work, thankfully. I am focusing on glass restoration and expanding the business in any free time I have.
I have 2 days of commercial route work per week and one small route that gets done every 28 days.
I also have 12 office cleaning accounts which generate some steady income.
It’s part time in any event and I find it somewhat of a relief while I put more time into other pursuits close to my heart and brainstorm for the next year.
Ok so from what I’m getting from you guys here’s what needs to be done to be ready for next year. I need to either:
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Find commercial accounts that can keep me busy during winter. (weekly/monthly)
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Find enough store fronts enough to keep me busy.
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Or make enough money throughout the year to basically hibernate for the winter.
Feel free to add-on to the list
About 400 storefront every month all winter
I was fortunate to build my business 50% towards storefront when I started…
For a new guy, there are several things you can do. Snow removal, Christmas lights, are a few… GL
WOW thats impressive, what do you find worked for you in getting new store front accounts?
I actually live in so cal so it doesn’t snow much here. But ever since it rained a few weeks ago most people have gone into the “OK its officially winter and ill wait till its over to get my windows cleaned” mode. Basically a RAPID decrease of calls for me.
I looked at it as a numbers game. If I could get one or two $15 accounts per day, and went out every free day I had including saturdays, well do the math after a couple years. Some are obv more than $15 and very few are less. I haven’t marketed fulltime in years. Once you build it, it’s like a big snowball. Grows just working it…
Just get out there and don’t restrict yourself to one area. We have route in 10 towns including my city…
We’ve had 94 cm of snow in the last week, the record for November is 96 cms:( I worked till 4:30 am tonight…well, I didn’t start till 8pm.
Over Christmas shutdown, we do a lotta specialty atrium projects while places are shut down. We offer substantial discounts to do them over the winter, and most places take us up on that (if it’s an annual sevice, which is typical around here).
The lift needs a tune up. A few things repaired, but mostly prospecting/sales until spring starts. And it’s OK to relax in the winter. We’ve got a few large CCU jobs this winter we’re NOT looking forward to, but it’s work.
I plan to spend some time to get to know my new son. He will be born on the 3rd or the 7th of December.
If my boy plans on sleeping, which I hear don’t happen often, I plan to spend time with the wife, then after that…
Changing my website around (too many new guys copy and pasting my stuff)
Finish reading Kevin’s book (on the last few chapters, but on the ones about tracking and my math sucks gotta read it again)
Finishing the movie I am making
Finish the brochure I am making
Finish my tax prep
Evaluate the systems I have in place and see how to make things more efficient-implement them
(after those 2 free downloads from WCR, I think I will be buying more stuff to see how I can structure my company like theirs)
Find a venue to put on a seminar here in San Diego and promote it
Another thing I did a couple years ago that worked good = I offered a window cleaning bail-out (comparing it with the government bail out).
With new sign-up’s I offered two months of free service with agreement to stay with us for atleast a year. I didn’t have them sign anything, did limited marketing and picked up appx a dozen new accounts. All but one are still with me today.
This works more towards the already established route. I now pay my employee an hourly (will change in spring) and just paid him for doing the free cleanings…
Hey thats a smart idea, ill have to try that pretty soon. Did you make some kind of flyer or is it just something you would talk about to the owner?
Dang that sucks that someone would purposely do that. It basically hurts the both of you SEO wise.
I just went in and rambled something down the lines of "my normal pitch then, You know about the government bail out don’t you. They’re bailing out banks. Well, we are offering our own bail-out, but for small business (then explain the 2 months etc…)
GLGL
