Hey Jordan, charlie again. Incredible post by the way! Speaking of value. You had me want to consider a person in my life through what you've shared. A brother of mine was actually between ideas and wanted to pivot from the idea of a strict pressure cleaning service into window cleaning recently. I was curious if you could provide any insights given your experience and knowledged gained?
Of course Jordan, any time. That would be great, my brother has been toggling between a few ideas for a business he was interested in building. It's revolved around all things water so far (soft washing, pressuring cleaning, and now window cleaning). It appears recently he has shifted to prioritize window cleaning. Found myself surprised when you mentioned you wash windows for a living - I was like hey! - Lee just mentioned he wanted to do this. Who better to ask than someone with your experience? The universe does work in mysterious ways indeed.
Here are some of my thoughts on window cleaning. Soft washing and gutter cleaning are services that go well with window cleaning being that all services revolve around maintenance of the home/business (window cleaning and gutter cleaning most often involve ladders as well).
If your brother is thinking about pivoting to window cleaning, my first question is why? Why the pivot from soft washing to window cleaning? It isn't wrong to want to pivot by any means, but understanding the reason why is important.
I am going to guess that your brother is most interested/focused on residential window cleaning (most solo operators begin via residential as it is a little more accessible to get the ball rolling right away).
PROS OF WINDOW CLEANING:
- Usually a much lesser start-up cost in terms of equipment than soft washing
- Also, less ongoing costs (no fuel or chemicals for pressure washing, etc)
- If focusing on Residential, window cleaning is perfect for recurring services MULTIPLE times per year (whereas soft washing often can have 3 years or more in between services)
- Price point is usually less than a soft wash job, so may be able to get "more work" right away (however, lower price point can also be a negative of course)
CONS OF WINDOW CLEANING:
- Ladders are usually needed and must be willing to climb 3 stories (this is a deal-breaker for some). 3 story ladders are heavy, and do require learning how to maneuver ladders effectively and safely around people's properties
- Price point. Example: a house might be priced at $150 whereas a soft wash job is most likely going to be a minimum of $300
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
- MUST FOCUS ON KEEPING RECURRING CUSTOMERS...treat them like gold. It costs so much more time and funds to gain a new customer...so, when you gain a new customer, you make darn sure that customer is yours for good
- The biggest driver of success is implementing the "dentist close" --> after a service is done, you ask the customer what day of the week works best for them and put them on the calendar for 6 months down the road...it truly is a game changer...think about it: if you have 100 customers and you book them 2x/year, you just doubled your business (do not wait for people to call you...we are all busy and not thinking about our windows). Every spring and fall, you call and schedule them. 99% of people love this..they don't want to think about it
If I were to do it over again, and wanted to grow fast (and have a good amount to invest), I would invest in SEO right off the bat...being on the 1st page of google with google reviews is the biggest driver of new customers. When people want a service, they search google (or ask a friend). It is expensive to do SEO professionally, but an absolute must if you want large growth.
Maybe your brother doesn't want employees? That is just fine...if that's the case, he will wear all the hats (scheduling, collections, accounting, marketing, labor, etc etc). Because of this, it is SO IMPORTANT to have your customers being serviced multiple times per year...this means you need less customers to fill your schedule = less moving parts.
- Usually a much lesser start-up cost in terms of equipment than soft washing
- Also, less ongoing costs (no fuel or chemicals for pressure washing, etc
(this is exactly why he mentioned the pivot to begin with.)
Every other week dealing with consideration after consideration. From what I understand the pivot is due to wanting to get right into window cleaning without waiting for a trailer build. Yea, he was wanting to do the works. He's done the work prepping for google ad services, setting up the yelp account, and having an artist draw up the logo for uniforms currently He doesn't want to jump right into taking on a ton of employees but from what he's expressed, of course he wouldn't mind the consideration after the foundation is built. You see I was thinking the same exact thing with the returning customers. I feel you can't beat that, especially in this day and age, didn't quite consider mentioning to him fall or spring but I'm far from any expert on any of it. Only here as he ponders on ideas. In addition, from what we're understanding, many new homes being built are coming with solar installed. He's also contemplated wanting to add solar cleaning to the list of services offered. He's gonna do what he's gonna do, but I did tell him I didn't think window cleaning and solar cleaning wasn't a terrible idea considering the low startup costs and the shared equipment. Minus the deoinized water for the spot free on solar. That's very interesting that you mentioned residential first. Oddly he's wanted to jump into small businesses to attempt to gain their favor as reoccuring customers. (Any thoughts there if no residential?) Whew that's very helpful of you Jordan. Thank you again, I'll definitely be passing off these insights tomorrow when he's off of work.
Great idea for a substack. Sharing with friends
Awesome, thanks Mathew! That's much appreciated!
I am very passionate about this project, and I feel it can provide people with a lot of value in their lives.
Hey Jordan, charlie again. Incredible post by the way! Speaking of value. You had me want to consider a person in my life through what you've shared. A brother of mine was actually between ideas and wanted to pivot from the idea of a strict pressure cleaning service into window cleaning recently. I was curious if you could provide any insights given your experience and knowledged gained?
Charlie, thanks for reaching out. I absolutely would be willing to provide my insights.
Let me gather some thoughts / bullets and will post for you / brother.
Of course Jordan, any time. That would be great, my brother has been toggling between a few ideas for a business he was interested in building. It's revolved around all things water so far (soft washing, pressuring cleaning, and now window cleaning). It appears recently he has shifted to prioritize window cleaning. Found myself surprised when you mentioned you wash windows for a living - I was like hey! - Lee just mentioned he wanted to do this. Who better to ask than someone with your experience? The universe does work in mysterious ways indeed.
Charlie,
Here are some of my thoughts on window cleaning. Soft washing and gutter cleaning are services that go well with window cleaning being that all services revolve around maintenance of the home/business (window cleaning and gutter cleaning most often involve ladders as well).
If your brother is thinking about pivoting to window cleaning, my first question is why? Why the pivot from soft washing to window cleaning? It isn't wrong to want to pivot by any means, but understanding the reason why is important.
I am going to guess that your brother is most interested/focused on residential window cleaning (most solo operators begin via residential as it is a little more accessible to get the ball rolling right away).
PROS OF WINDOW CLEANING:
- Usually a much lesser start-up cost in terms of equipment than soft washing
- Also, less ongoing costs (no fuel or chemicals for pressure washing, etc)
- If focusing on Residential, window cleaning is perfect for recurring services MULTIPLE times per year (whereas soft washing often can have 3 years or more in between services)
- Price point is usually less than a soft wash job, so may be able to get "more work" right away (however, lower price point can also be a negative of course)
CONS OF WINDOW CLEANING:
- Ladders are usually needed and must be willing to climb 3 stories (this is a deal-breaker for some). 3 story ladders are heavy, and do require learning how to maneuver ladders effectively and safely around people's properties
- Price point. Example: a house might be priced at $150 whereas a soft wash job is most likely going to be a minimum of $300
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
- MUST FOCUS ON KEEPING RECURRING CUSTOMERS...treat them like gold. It costs so much more time and funds to gain a new customer...so, when you gain a new customer, you make darn sure that customer is yours for good
- The biggest driver of success is implementing the "dentist close" --> after a service is done, you ask the customer what day of the week works best for them and put them on the calendar for 6 months down the road...it truly is a game changer...think about it: if you have 100 customers and you book them 2x/year, you just doubled your business (do not wait for people to call you...we are all busy and not thinking about our windows). Every spring and fall, you call and schedule them. 99% of people love this..they don't want to think about it
If I were to do it over again, and wanted to grow fast (and have a good amount to invest), I would invest in SEO right off the bat...being on the 1st page of google with google reviews is the biggest driver of new customers. When people want a service, they search google (or ask a friend). It is expensive to do SEO professionally, but an absolute must if you want large growth.
Maybe your brother doesn't want employees? That is just fine...if that's the case, he will wear all the hats (scheduling, collections, accounting, marketing, labor, etc etc). Because of this, it is SO IMPORTANT to have your customers being serviced multiple times per year...this means you need less customers to fill your schedule = less moving parts.
Happy to help with other questions!
Extremely thankful for the insight Jordan!
----
- Usually a much lesser start-up cost in terms of equipment than soft washing
- Also, less ongoing costs (no fuel or chemicals for pressure washing, etc
(this is exactly why he mentioned the pivot to begin with.)
Every other week dealing with consideration after consideration. From what I understand the pivot is due to wanting to get right into window cleaning without waiting for a trailer build. Yea, he was wanting to do the works. He's done the work prepping for google ad services, setting up the yelp account, and having an artist draw up the logo for uniforms currently He doesn't want to jump right into taking on a ton of employees but from what he's expressed, of course he wouldn't mind the consideration after the foundation is built. You see I was thinking the same exact thing with the returning customers. I feel you can't beat that, especially in this day and age, didn't quite consider mentioning to him fall or spring but I'm far from any expert on any of it. Only here as he ponders on ideas. In addition, from what we're understanding, many new homes being built are coming with solar installed. He's also contemplated wanting to add solar cleaning to the list of services offered. He's gonna do what he's gonna do, but I did tell him I didn't think window cleaning and solar cleaning wasn't a terrible idea considering the low startup costs and the shared equipment. Minus the deoinized water for the spot free on solar. That's very interesting that you mentioned residential first. Oddly he's wanted to jump into small businesses to attempt to gain their favor as reoccuring customers. (Any thoughts there if no residential?) Whew that's very helpful of you Jordan. Thank you again, I'll definitely be passing off these insights tomorrow when he's off of work.