I currently provide windows. gutters and moss! I enjoy windows, gutters I don’t mind it pays and moss I actually hate. Most of my competitors do the same thing plus pressure washing. I think it is no secret that a lot of people want one company if they find one that takes care of all of their needs. It’s very annoying that I have one competitor that is really good and since he does pressure washing I will lose window and gutter jobs to him since he has that service and I do not. I am thinking as a competitive edge to offer something he doesn’t witch is carpet cleaning. I am wondering who on here does what and how you deal with customers calling for stuff you don’t do. Drives me nuts that everybody wants the jack of all trades?
What services do you offer?
Do you get frusturated when you say no we don’t do pressure washing and they say oh will they do all 3 we will just use them?
Have any of you considered carpet cleaning?
I am thinking about ditching gutters and roofs? There are companies here that do windows and carpets and there window cleaning employees and quality is shit so it would be a good way for me to compete less with the window, gutter, roof, pressure wash guys and compete with the window and carpet guys?
I would hate carpet cleaning. All that looking down at the floor…
I like soft washing. It complements window cleaning nicely. I’ve got some competitors who do power washing, but I’m one of the few who has soft washing with a pressure washer really dialed in so I can be competitive and make bank.
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I get excited about soft washing but it’s just not my thing. I don’t understand the terminology of tools even after research and I’m not a fan of bleach. I had 12.5% mildy leek and my cargo trailer has a hole in the floor now. Also when it comes to hiring, I’d rather have an employee out cleaning carpet then training people to blast bleach on roofs and houses and it’s just not my thing. I think softwashing is profitable and looks cool for sure I just can’t learn it from reading about it, I would need physically trained and again with employees the last thing I want is some guy killing someones dog, or ruining their vegetation with bleach lol
Plenty of money just doing window cleaning especially, one story houses. I do some Screen repair and thats it. Why complicate things with too many different things.
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I have a friend in the carpet business, every so often in the winter months he needs a hand, so I go and man the second wand on his truck mount.
Just my opinion, but it will take your full attention to get into that business. Chemicals, techniques, chemistry, etc. Additionally, at least here, folks are moving heavy into hard floors and ditching the old carpets of yester-year. Just some thoughts.
My friend has begun his jack of all trades. He started out as a window cleaner, built up 700 residential accounts and then decided to get into pressure cleaning and soft washing since he already had the base clientele there. Just recently he started sealing driveways. Man you want to talk about profit margins…the driveway sealing makes pressure washing/softwash money look small. And the thing is, you are already THERE…they WANT YOU TO DO IT ALL…they trust you. Sealing is just like waxing a car…you prep the driveway (pressure wash with surface cleaner)…put sealer down with a sprayer and some paint rollers…
He also is networking with a painter to service those residential homes, giving the people a total package service.
It is a lot of work, but once you become good at these trades you will be kicking yourself as to why you didn’t do it sooner…(JUST like how so many people say that about water fed poles and pure water!)
I help him out when I am slow with the people I work for, it’s a great business add on…remember-- Someone else is going to do that…WHY NOT YOU? My friend was so hesitant to drop the 7-10k in supplies, but after 2-3 months he was making profit off his investment.
Is that for you though? Maybe not…to be honest I just clean windows-- but I am considering buying everything I need and adding this. I do not care for soft washing as you are literally just spraying bleach (sometimes 15-30 gallons) with a soft mix and a soap to keep it on the roof. You have to know what the hell you are doing otherwise you just ruined 5,000 worth of landscaping because you didn’t know BEFORE/DURING/AFTER those plants need to be hosed down. Plus the wildlife and creatures you kill from the bleach … The way I look at it, my friend can do the roof, I’ll do the home and the windows 
Thanks for sharing the driveway sealing idea! I would like to learn more about that process. Where do you recommend we learn more about it?
If there is one thing I would add if I could is house washing and surface cleaning. Looking to ditch gutter cleaning. Too messy, hot and loaded with roaches and ants. Use to offer hard water removal, ditched that. Currently not offering dryer vent cleaning due to a back injury. I find when we drop services we don’t like, we end up having more time for windows, which we enjoy doing and make us more money.
I cleaned carpets before and where I lived it is very profitable but here in Orlando, I see so many trucks that I would have to focus on a niche market (high quality rugs only) to make it worth it.
Add the soft washing and driveway cleaning! (At the beginning of a season of course, not the end when are all slammed making money) I just did in August and wish I would have done it sooner. Mostly is easier on the body, and its easier to make more per hour. (Usually) equipment investment is a bear in comparison, but I feel like its easier to grow pressure washing from a profit margin standpoint than window cleaning. Also easier to teach employees I would think.
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