I reached out to a local Carnival Shoe Store last week. Got a call from the manager last night so I called him back this morning. He was interested in a window cleaner because his other cleaner doesn’t do it anymore. (Sound familiar?)
He wanted inside and out, licensed and $500,000 insured, monthly service.
Great - I say…hey, license isn’t required in the State of Florida, and I carry $1 million GL. He says - Good, that works.
I quote $27 plus tax for exterior and $54 plus tax interior/exterior.
Ohhh, corporate office will only approve a maximum of $50. (Yea, right). I also drop the bomb that I DO NOT DO NET 30. Lickity-split the conversation is over.
He wanted to beat me down on the price; he wanted me do the job and get paid 30 days later when the job is due to be done again; then wait another 30 days to get paid for that service, so he is always 30 days in the rears.
Meanwhile tomorrow before lunch? $350. Who else loves residential in the morning?
Residential - usually pays that day.
Commercial up to 6 weeks for your payment but a nice check.
Storefront - hurry up and wait for the money that will buy you a happy meal at McD’s.
On top of that residual income you could have landed a couple more houses or store fronts because you are there with your company rig and being out were people can see you. Sorry it wouldn’t work long term for you
That is one side of the coin. The other is the guy is wanting to beat me down on the price - I’m not chasing to the bottom;
He wanted to pay 93¢ per pane including tax, I was already down to $1 per plus tax.
For reduced price he wanted $500,000 GL, I carry $1 Mill. (I don’t carry that in order to chase the cheap guys)
His last window cleaner doesn’t come around anymore. Sound familiar?
My price was easily fair.
Ok so I was just looking at the long term of potential customers and the exposure to them by beeing seen at this store front. I dont see a loss of $4 dollars being that bad unless it was out of the way. If I was in your neck of the woods I would gladly take this off your hands.
I don’t do net 30 either.
The most i do is Net7.
I landed a big chain and they wanted to do net 30 “because that’s just how they pay their venders” but i stuck to my guns and they pay me on site!
I’m in FL… what do u mean license isn’t required? Business license?
Personally, I don’t have a problem with net 30 if it’s a reputable customer. Esp for store front and restaurant work. Majority of mine pay cash at the till, but I’m afraid that I look unprofessional if I look like I can’t live 30 days with out the pay.
That said, I hate when the customer tries to beat me down on price. I’ve taken them when I needed to, but usually have such a bad taste in my mouth that I dislike the job.
When working storefronts, loyalty isn’t a grantee. So figuring a stop is worth X can bite you in the butt. Doing something as a “loss leader” isn’t wise in this business, unless it’s for the same client with guaranteed work.
It’s a fast track to going out of business though, once you start cutting out your profits in the name of getting an account. He already cut his prices as low as he thought profitable.
That comment kinda irks me. How is it, that if you were legit in business, all things being equal, how could you offer to do it for less? Lots of solo guys here, and quite a few here have been in business longer than 5 years. How is a buck a pane profitable, much less when you’d do it for less than a buck? Even if you could clean glass like Flash Gordon, 50 bucks an hour on the glass for an average speed cleaner is where a baseline should be. So if you are fast, it should be to your advantage, not the client. Too many guys are excited to drive prices to the bottom. A very poor business plan.
@anon82274079 the loss was $4 dollars. So the price wasn’t $54, that’s still $600 a year. I am glad that comment irks you because at a drop of $4 dollars and then walking away just means you priced yourself out of whatever he could of sent your way. What I was getting at was the exposure of being out front to potential customers. At a loss of $4 dollars you still have a rolling billboard parked up front with your name on it and your walking around with a billboard that has your business logo on it as well. This wasn’t ment to bottom feed of the lowest dollar, is was to get a presence out in front of the public. Who knows what could become of it.
I’ll haggle 4 bucks off to get a 50 dollar monthly job. Everyday. I won’t do net 30 for anyone. Cash at service especially if your going to beat me up on price. Don’t want them done this month? You won’t be getting them done next month either, not by me.
A dollar a pane is profitable, mighty fine high horse you got there. Too bad it cost so much to maintain.
I don’t honestly think you are thinking about this situation at all. If they are willing to pass you up over 4 dollars a month, what happens when you take it for 50 bucks a month, and some new guy offers to take it for 45? Putting those eggs in your basket before you have them will leave you in an “oh crap!” situation at some point.
If you are already doing storefronts, who really cares about this one storefront that doesn’t pay enough? If you want to get your signage in front of people, there are other ways to do it that doesn’t involve taking a loss in your profits.
When you offer your price for services, and someone beats you down on price, you ARE in a race to the bottom. You already made up your mind what the price needed to be to pay overheads and make a profit. When you accept less, what are you cutting out but the profit you found acceptable?
Net 30 is something I can live with. Net 30 when you always have to start calling a 35 days asking for your money is a a different story. Cash upon completion is king!
Been in business long enough to know that if I thumb my nose up in the air over $4 dollars that any potential leads from this manager or landing any storefront in the area isn’t going to happen because I would be to expensive to everyone, including anyone wanting more like their homes or what not. As for the guy that underpids my work and takes it we will see how long he lasts before they give it back. There is other ways to get singage out that’s true. But if your getting payed to be somewhere in the first you might as well make the most of it.
Bottom line is I see potential leads and business by simply being there with a good attitude and talking to everyone that’s around you at the time. You can hand out business cards while getting paid. They see your smile, logo on your shirt, and a clean company rig and they will put that together as a good choice for themselves. So it’s not less that I would except from this, it’s the possibility
Don’t need a license. A DBA, an Employment ID#, insurance is your call (but wise to have it!), but no license required to clean windows.
Electricians, Plumbers, Contractors, need to be licensed.
