My wife and I go thrifting… we did it when we were broke years ago for extra money and still do it for the rush of finding great deals. Found a $9 expresso machine the other day that sells for $125 on ebay used.
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It looks cool, but you are extremely limited.
Eh…have you seen what kind of jobs he’s managed to do over the years from his set up?
I agree, his range may be limited compared to what I need here in DFW. But he is by no means limited in the scope of jobs he can do.
Although, I still think a motorcycle would be super cool pulling that trailer…
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Limited, how so?
@DanTheWindowMan, you should look at the work @Pure_Water_Window_Cl has done. 7 story buildings with wfp is all you need, and more than most need. I believe he has posted in the past that he actually saves time because where he is at, parking is super bad and things are closer together than a good deal of the locations the rest of us are in. For Josh, the situation is optimal. For me, even if things were close, I’m too lazy to tow a trailer on a bike. 
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Keep in mind that we operate in a large downtown core of a major city and there is literally nowhere to park a truck or van. While this setup isn’t for everyone it saves $1, 000’s in parking fees/tickets, $10,000’s in fuel/maintenance costs, and many many hours of sitting in grid lock traffic trying to get across town.
We take the road or bike lanes and never ever deal with traffic or parking. Our visibility is 100% because we park literally right in front of our clients. It costs us 8¢ to travel 25 miles.
This system couldn’t replace a van/truck for many guys but for most in our city it absolutely could. We compete with any company up to 80 feet, charge much more than most, and have way way less overhead than nearly any operation out there. Plus, it’s insanely fun to commute!
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Dude, you know how sick it’d be to rig up a sleek looking trailer behind one of your bikes? You wouldn’t want to stop for work!.. Just keep riding.
Funny you should say that. This is a Drifter I found in a barn last summer and sold. Complete with trailer hitch mounted to the frame. Think of the possibilities…
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I love woodworking!
And I just made customs concrete countertops for my kitchen. Had a blast doing it, thinking about getting into that on the side
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@Pure_Water_Window_Cl Josh, how do you sell yourself to properties if you are charging much more? I have found property managers in my area to be price sensitive more so than resi, but maybe I’m still selling myself short?
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We focus on jobs that many other local companies cannot properly handle. Our focus the last few years has been 90% on property managers and administrators that take care of 6-7 story condo buildings. These are too large for bucket Bob operations to do effectively and too small for high rise companies to handle with their hordes of employees or sub contractors. Both parties very often cannot offer quality services.
I’ve been undercut by both types of companies by half our prices or more and have had the clients plead to take us back the following year. I do, however, understand that it’s a niche market that does not exist everywhere.
It also comes down to a healthy confidence and attention to detail.
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Very helpful Josh @Pure_Water_Window_Cl, thanks for the response. Appartments in my area could seem to care less, but I haven’t been to all of them so you never know. I have been having more interest from hotels and we have a ton of those, so I will need to focus on those and office buildings more than likely, and likely raise my prices 25%. Most people are surprised by my prices. The ones that don’t go with me think they are a ton but they don’t have their windows cleaned or the company did a bad job, and the ones that go with me think my prices are great. If I can hit 125 hour consistently I’ll be happy and will likely do more on the maintenance clean. Right now I have been at 80-100. Your posts about how you structure your business always inspire me to push myself to not settle!
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Simple, you can’t reach what someone with a vehicle can. It’s super cool that you can do this and focus your business in a concentrated downtown, but that is not common or helpful to the average window cleaner.
Having said that, I have massive respect for what you do. I am Quebec born, and I know how hard the winters are.
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Somebody pee in your Cheerios?
This dude is out there killing it on a friggin electric bike. So I’m pretty sure is cash flow is sick compared to a lot of people.
His posts are absolutely relevant to any business not just WC. His approaches are unorthodox and extremely creative separating him from the masses.
Now he’s cashing in on a hobby by building them. Maybe a smaller niche market but that means higher profit margins. Congrats on the bikes man!
For us
WC is just another service we added. Personally I haven’t cleaned a window in sometime. We have a tech handle that.
We also have carpet cleaning that’s handled by someone besides me.
Janitorial that’s handled by someone else.
Last year we launched our restoration company for flood,fire and mold. We also are able to rebuild the homes for them. We’ve also trained some to rebuild cabinets in house. Our custom work is still being outsourced.
We like having the cleaning income as it’s suoer low overhead and it lends to the cash flow.
Lots of opportunities to grow just don’t limit yourself to hearing from those in our direct fields. We do mini interviews with all types of businesses and professionals
Wish y’all the best
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new side hustle: finding pasta and living Ground Hogs Day over and over again
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Doesn’t everyday feel like a Monday ?
Running a 3D Printing service. I actually have some parts I’ve made and have been using for several months now that have really increased my time efficiency and made certain tasks easier. I made this bucket clip that holds my detachable channels and T-bar against the bucket wall so I can rinse my sleeve properly. I hate carrying anything more than 2 gallons of water. I’ve made several adapters to combine WFP poles too
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do you have some images to share?!
It’s also handy for when you clean out the bucket, refill, and mix solution. I can pick up the clips and set them on the ground with the tools still in them. (I am a nazi about not putting tools in the dirt)
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