I need your help asap.
Now I will spare you my poor little sob story because I am sure you have heard it all before, losing my job and then wife etc its like a Hollywood movie but who actually knew it happens in real life.
What do I need?..Advice
I need to put together the cheapest skeleton kit that covers the essentials but still come across as professional and not homeless.
I will be going door to door so if you have any sales lines that you find get the most traction, a price that’s hard to refuse without undercutting people to much.
I am a hard worker, I have attention to detail, care about customer service and have respect for your industry
To be honest I need cash straight away. I am now at the point that even if I found full time employment tomorrow I couldn’t even wait the 2 weeks for my first pay cheque to come in. I can’t think of another business with low overheads that I can get money right away! Any advice will be great
If you hit the icon in the upper left corner it will take you to the store page. Enter starter in the search icon and you will see a variety of starter kits.
Hey Steve076,
No professional experience as yet just stick standard around the house stuff!
But I figure if I practice at home after jumping on the training part here I should be ok to do basic jobs residential jobs
You should find another main job and pickup window cleaning on the side. It should not be hard to find a job in this economy. Look under the general labor category on Craigslist.
Or find another window cleaning company that is hiring and will train you.
You are going to stumble a lot at the beginning, which it sounds like you cannot afford to.
I agree with Johm. At least find a part time job. An pursue this part time. This business might be low over head but it’s not easy.
Yes you will find work staight away, but maintaining a steady cash flow is the trick. Not easy.
An gaining experience while trying to maintain cash flow makes it that much harder
I am sorry about your circumstances though. Been there done that
he already stated he cannot even wait for first pay period from job let alone how long it may take to find one.
you can earn money immediately in window cleaning.
Here you go. You can get money immediately by going after storefront. If you’re going to go door to door for houses, it might be a while before you get any jobs.
Do you own a lawn mower?
If so this may supply fast door to door cash and I’m sure its something you have done before.
Like others have said window cleaning isn’t really something you can just do because you want to.
Think it about it on the other hand would you be happy to pay someone on your home to learn their profession while charging you a comparable professionals rate, most rookies want to earn $50+/hr from the start, when in fact someone with zero experience is more likely to not have his shit together and take 4-5 times longer than a pro and expect to get 50x4-5 while in fact the work he has done is really only worth $60-$100.
It sounds like time is of the essence and funds are limited, plus no experience. It isn’t as easy as just showing up and raking in the dough.
As mentioned you should find any work to start that ladder of success since you are one incident away from total broke.
Manufacturing jobs can be found in just about any city, kitchen jobs, landscape, whatever it takes to get the cash flowing while keeping a keen eye for the next gig that pays more with more responsibility. You can clean windows part time while you are doing that to supplement.
Edit: Day labor often pays rather quickly. Sounds like your deal is cash fast. Pull weeds for cash at nice homes, check Craigslist for cash paid today, check out Career One Stop in your area. They can often help you get back on your feet.
Thanks Steve076 for the input.
However I will reply with this:
People have to start somewhere.
When you go to eat at a meal and an apprentice has cooked your food you don’t pay less for it, you provide your feed back and he learns.
Obviously I am not going to charge a professional rates of $50 per hour I am not worth it…yet
All I was after was my 2 questions answered an all rounder Squeegee and T bar
And an introductory sales line.
The rest will be a massive learning curve of hard work, videos and a ton of practice on my own windows.
Thank you so much To Cactus and JaredAl for your helps
I just wanted to say a massive thank you to all of you for taking time out of your day to reply to the post and helping a complete stranger out!
I sincerely wish everyone one of you success in your businesses and happiness in life. S
Seems everyone gave some good advice, Good luck out there.
I would hit storefronts “today” if I were you. You can pickup an Unger squeegee or 2 and a t-bar and sleeve and a bucket and dawn dish soap at homedepo, and hit the streets from sun up to sundown.
Make sure to wear clean cloths and smile a lot, stay positive.
And keep looking for a partime or full time job as your out hustling for work.
If you wanted to go pound the pavement, you probably already have or could borrow everything you need to hit small storefronts except for a squeegee and strip washer available right here on WCR. If you can’t wait on shipping, Lowes carries lower end Ettore squeegees with SS channels, strip washers, and replacement rubbers (I would stay away from the store/off brand products).
You supply or borrow a bucket, some rags, a little dish soap, maybe a step ladder, and start learning. It’s not ideal, but you could at least get started. Definitely a learning curve, but if you watched a few videos and then put that into practice, you would be able to clean a window good enough to be paid in no time at all.
Good luck, and keep your head up. You are in a tough spot right now, but can work your way through it!
People are discouraging you from jumping head first into window cleaning because it is not as simple as cleaning windows. The actual window cleaning is the easy part. The hard part is finding customers, dealing with those customers, solving problems that come up, dealing with rain delays, etc.
Plus we are coming up on the end of the window season soon. You are going to be hurting real bad over the winter depending on what part of the country you are in. Our area is usually shut down for 3 months.
If you had savings to live off of, by all means start your window cleaning business. But with no cash flow you could end up in a much worse situation.
InNeed, sorry to hear about your situation. One thing is for sure: you’ve come to the best place for help, support, and advice. This forum and its search feature will be your lifeline in the coming months.
Starting a business isn’t easy, so it’s good you’re willing to work hard. There’s a lot to learn, more than i ever imagined. But you can do it! Read this thread for some inspiration: http://windowcleaner.com/t/whats-your-how-i-began-story/14310
Also, watch this video. I watch it anytime i get discouraged. It’s by one of the excellent pros on this forum:
If i could do it over again, i would take the advice to start with store fronts. It’s much easier than homes, which could be complicated. You’ll cover more ground, which is important because getting business is partially a numbers game. Also, the income from store fronts is repeatable. Definitely follow the advice above from JaredAI. It works. The sales pitch and technique is in the thread he linked, which is one of the best threads on this forum i have encountered.
One tip i would like to humbly add is this: you are desperate right now… do not let that show through. You can always tell a sales person that just needs your money and doesn’t really care about you. Customers can smell this.
Also, a positive thing about your situation is, in fact, the pressure. When you can coast by because it’s not sink or swim, it’s harder to have the drive to get things done. You need this to work and you are going to make it work.
You can do this. We are all rooting for you. Best of luck!
your post was sincere as were the others i was just trying to focus on what he asked for.
my post was not meant to be rude either although it may have come across that way, sorry if it did.
