When did you guys start adding other services to your window cleaning business? I’m talking about gutter cleaning, soft washing, pressure washing, light hanging etc.
Was it when you saw more potential of higher profits in other services? Or When you got an employees and needed filler work? How did you break into the new service you started providing?
Before i started my own company the companies i worked for all offered add on services so it only made sense to have add on services that way i wasnt a one trick pony.plus depending where you are window cleaning can be pretty seasonal and slow down quite a bit in the off season so it just made more sense to have additional services.I always look for more potential for more income so nothing i do is filler work its all about profit for me
I added services to suit the weather after an abnormally wet summer - - lots of customers cancelled appointments because of rain, so it made sense to add services like pressure washing that can be done in any weather & keep the cash flowing…
I started window cleaning and added gutters, pressure cleaning, etc later. Now I am downsizing. I sold my “Box Store” floor service business and the commercial building janitorial service business. I am moving my window cleaning into a specialized service and going after a niche market
I think we did some gutters our first year, and we started planning on incorporating some siding cleaning once we saw the potential income.
I went to a training day at an industry event (NOLA) after our first year, and we did a soft rollout of siding cleaning that next year.
We kept doing gutters as people approached us, and we started to see a large demand and the potential for good earnings. Then we rebranded a little and started advertising all 3 services.
Gutters are a natural fit. If you have ladders and a market for gutter cleaning, you should do it. It has great potential, and it can really extend the season a little.
Pressure washing services are a nice compliment, but they do require learning a new skill set, which makes them a little more challenging (at first) as an add-on.
When I bought the multi-service office cleaning company that I worked for the last 2 years about 99% of the revenue came from the daily and weekly cleaning clients. The projected gross revenue and operating expenses were based on using the same revenue model.
My focus to grow the company has been on getting what I call “day jobs”: getting called out for WC, carpet cleaning, floor work and even the odd CCU. So I could say that every one of those tasks has been an added service. In the 7 months since I bought the business I have been able to get the “day job” revenue to produce more than 20% of the gross revenue.
The next additional service will probably be hard water stain removal. I am very interested in pressure washing but not sure I want to spend more money at this stage. Probably more interest in PW for boats than for buildings around here and I would need a tank and pump to PW most of them.
I’m planning to add on gutter cleaning and pressure washing. I currently offer light office cleaning as a secondary service. For now, little things first.
I added my gutter cleaning etc after my window cleaning to make sure I would be busy enough. And when I had money to buy equipment.
Gutter cleaning is a cheap add on (as long as you have access to a ladder). High profit margin.
If I was to get back into it I likely wouldn’t offer any add-on services if I had employees. If it was just me I would probably do a few.
I did my first add-on service on the very first job I did. ( gutter cleaning)
Chris - what would be your reasoning for focusing solely on window cleaning?
Automation & systemization mainly. I like the idea of being focused on one thing and doing it well. As opposed to just doing a bunch of stuff sort of well. Thinking back to my days owning a WC company a lot of problems we had were because of too much diversity in our offerings.
As an owner operator though ( If I went that route ) I would want a few add ons to drive the ticket price up. Ideally only working at one house per day.
This is pure gold, right here. Something I wish I had figured out and implemented years ago. Plus, I don’t get bored so easy!
Yesterday, I spent about 7 hours at one house:
Vs if I was only offering window cleaning, I would be running around to multiple properties and wouldn’t have a prayer of making that amount in one day. Plus, in my small (population, not geographically) market area, it’s hard to fill a day with multiple customers.
There also seem to be more customers willing to shell out $1000+ if they’re getting multiple services, than those who have a ton of windows and would be paying that $1000+ just to get their windows done. I’m able to tap into a much wider demographic this way.
I also dig the properties that take 2-3 days to complete. Not something everyone is comfortable with, but it seems to work out for my customers.
No, this pure gold! Nice job Alex. 
…on a holiday no less! 
