First, are there really that many people looking for a window cleaning service? Most people are generally capable of cleaning their own windows and would see view this service as a luxury and not a necessity. It obviously is possible to make a living from this service, but I’ve yet to find much talk online about my scenario (I.e. tiny rural town). I had planned on targeting wealthy and/or elderly people, but I’ve read that even the lower and middle class will be well worth targeting. I’m just trying to narrow down the best approach so that I have the best chance for success and to avoid wasting my time, money and energy. I’m extremely low on funds and barely have anything to work with besides a Hail Mary. Also, how affective is canvassing in this business? It’ll be one of the only forms of marketing for me at first. Well, I also read about networking with complimentary businesses, as in realtors and home builders. I don’t know exactly how to go about approaching them though. Connecting with my local Chamber of Commerce was also mentioned, but I don’t fully understand what they would help with since I’ve never visited this kind of facility. I assume I would have to have my business completely legitimate when approaching the Chamber of Commerce as well, which I’m not going to be able afford right away. I’m stuck in a tough situation in life and really could use this business idea to pull me out of it. I’m just worried it might not be the right area to market to and receive a solid residual clientele from it. Any advice would be truly beneficial and very appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read my post.
First of all, welcome!
How many people over how large an area, approximately?
There is a lot of good advice on this forum for basic equipment. You can get started on storefront work for less than $100 if you spend smart.
Canvassing for storefront work is the cheapest and most effective way to get it. It comes down to your personality, presentation, and persistence.
I started with a 5k town and a nearby 15k town. How big are you talking about and are there any neighboring towns?
Go get some equipment Getting started? Start here
Then start hitting the storefronts Prospecting Storefront Managers
The residential will come but storefront is usually easy to get.
Thank you! You have no idea how grateful I am to have found this online community.
I live in Raymond, WA. The population is about 2800. South Bend is the nearest town and it is about 1600 residents.
I’ve already purchased a 4ft pole, 14" applicator and squeegee from Unger. I heard about this brand and Etorre, but chose to go with this brand instead. My girlfriends parents already have a janitorial style mop bucket, so I didn’t have to purchase that yet.
I’ve attempted to canvass at storefronts in Raymond and wasn’t having any luck. The owners or managers either didn’t seem interested and/or told me they already had a window cleaner. Since that day I’ve decided I should focus on residential first and then work up to taking on commercial based clients.
Can you please elaborate on presentation?
SE corner of WA ST?
I live in Raymond, WA. The population is about 2800. South Bend is the nearest town and it is about 1600 residents.
Really? So far I haven’t had much luck with storefronts. I’m worried that my town is too small to be receptive to a service like window cleaning since it’s a DIY mentality. Very back country.
Mid-west near the coast on the Willapa River.
There is no reason why you can’t dominate your little town of 2800 people. Having said that, the problem you’re going to run into is that you will run out of places to solicit in just a few short days. That doesn’t mean you can’t become the #1 window cleaning company in your town, but you’re going to have to expand to other towns and cities if you want to build a sustainable business. If you’re just doing this for “side money” then that’s another story. How far away are you from civilization? (Towns/cities with lots of strip malls, small and medium commercial office buildings, endless restaurants, etc.)
You will get told no 80- 90% of the time especially if you are bidding the jobs correctly . Keep your head up. Even the ones that tell us no are just saying not now in my mind lol 
. Im not a storefront guru by any means but we service a few. I’ve been out handing cards out all week on our routes. I’ve had a ton of no thank yous, maybes and one yes. Over time if you keep at it you will get better at your pitch and with your technique improving your confidence in bidding jobs will most likely improve as well. My name is Luke if you ever need anything feel free to ask.
Welcome to the forum, you have landed in a great place to learn.
Presentation is how you present yourself and your service (Be clean and well-dressed. Say “Sir” instead of “man”). And how ably you can make your services sound appealing; How well you can overcome minor objections without being pushy.
I’m assuming I’m not the only person doing a window service in my town since a few storefronts mentioned that they already had a window cleaner. Although, I hope I come across more professional in the long-run since I’ve been studying marketing, even though I only really know online marketing.
Also, I still feel that this service is more of a luxury and not a necessity to some, especially to a back country, DIY mentality dinky town setting. I’m still going to try my ass off to make this happen, but I have my concerns.
The closest city is about an hour and a half drive from here (Olympia, WA). That’s actually where we just moved from since we lost our apartment and had to move back to my girlfriends parents garage. We’re in a tight spot and I’d like to get out of it ASAP. I’m appreciating all the feedback on here so far.
Funny thing, I just found you on YouTube. I haven’t watched your videos yet, but I have a few bookmarked on my account for later. I appreciate you reaching out and assisting a newbie on here. It’s a bit intimidating to start a business by yourself and it feels good knowing I have support on hear from individuals that are already doing window cleaning for a living.
I kind of already figured I’d get a bunch of no’s and maybe’s since I’ve canvassed before for nonprofit green organizations. It was unpleasant most of the time.
I keep stressing the fact that in the back of my mind I have this concern that my town is too small and behind in times that they’ll possibly see this sort of service as a luxury and not a necessity since they’re back country, DIY type of people. I hope I’m wrong and that I get plenty of busy people that like to keep their home presentable and clean or that I’ll find bored stay at home mothers that just want to spend money on something.
Understood. I figured you meant sticking to the script, being polite and having a rebuttal.
Sí.
youv got to put your heart and soul into it- no "but but, what if " . that means youv got to hustle . offer free window cleaning that always gets people talking.hey that ginks doin free window cleaning. is he by gosh, whats his number blah blah “howabout i clean yours for free?” give me a cake in exchange?
from the minute you wake up start getting the word out that you exist AND that youre decent. facebook etc, youre posting everywhere,the pest who posts willy nilly , youre forever in the town centre [never sitting at home ] you will get noticed. if you are really broke you can write out your own flyers as you hang in the library , folk prefer this personal touch over glossy bragadocio flyers in my opinion. youre doling out these flyers every afternoon from 1 till 3 . 7 days a week.months go by , i guarantee youll be busy
I can almost guarantee that you’re not the only guy in town cleaning windows. Don’t let that bother you though. McDonalds never says, “Well I guess we can’t build a new location in THAT town because they already have a Burger King”. You just have ignore the competition and go get your piece of the pie. Everyone on here will tell you, “there are enough windows for everyone” and it’s completely true. I live in a metro area of 2 million+ people and there are endless window cleaning companies. Do I care? Hell no because even if I had 200 trucks and 600 employees, I still wouldn’t be able to clean even 10 percent of the windows in my area.
If you run into one of your competitors, my advice is to befriend him. I’ve spoken to quite a few of my competitors on here and in real life. They have all been very professional and helpful. Everyone generally understands that it’s a big world out there and there’s enough for everyone. Maybe one of your competitors will be so busy one week that he can’t handle everything on his plate and he’ll call you up and ask if you’re interested in doing a $600 house that he has lined up but can’t get to…no strings attached. You’re $600 richer and you did him a favor by helping him keep his promise to the customer. Win/win for both parties. See what I’m getting at?
Yes, you very likely have a few competitors out there that you don’t know about yet. You’re going to meet them one day whether you like it or not. Be nice to them and they’ll be nice to you.
Hello Matthew and welcome to the forum!
I looked at Raymond on a map and saw many nearby communities. If you have reliable transportation start canvassing those towns too.
In areas with small populations it helps to offer multiple services. Related services are gutter cleaning, screen repair, hard water stain removal, etc. There are LOTS of good posts on how to provide those services that you can find with the search function. Since I am in a small town at the end of the road I also do carpet cleaning, floor resurfacing, commercial cleaning and more.
Networking with other service providers is easy. Just find job sites for landscapers, painters, pest control, etc., go onsite and ask for their cards. Be sure to ask for more than one card, that shows them that you are serious about giving out their cards. Then give them your multiple cards. If you don’t have fancy cards with a logo yet don’t let that stop you. A simple card that can be printed at home could have your name, number and service on it. Upgrade the card once you start getting some revenue.
Charge!
…Yep, that’s pretty accurate, we are a luxury service… so that’s whom you market to, the folks who have better things to do than clean their windows… And think about traveling…I drive an average of 35 miles to get from my home to my main market area… Do you know your area? Your county?
Do you know the areas where people are more likely to spend money on a luxury service? Is there a resort or vacation area? Focus on those areas, even if you have to travel.
