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How To Start A Window Cleaning Business - Simple Business Ideas

Updated on June 19, 2013

If you are looking to start your own window cleaning business this guide will tell you all you need to know. We will look at how to get your own window cleaning round, what window cleaning equipment you will need, how much it will cost you to set up and also how to make your business a success. Hopefully this guide will tell you all you need to know when it comes to starting your own window cleaning business.

A window cleaning business is a great small business to set up. It’s cheap to set up, you don’t need any real skills and it pays well. All you really need to start your own window cleaning business is a little determination and some hard work. Window cleaning is a great part time job as it has flexible hours, pays well and also keeps you fit and healthy. So now let’s take a look at what steps you need to take if you are planning on setting up your own window cleaning business.

Window Cleaning - Getting Started

The first thing you will need if you are setting up your own window cleaning business is custom. Ideally you need to know what kind of business you want. Will you be looking to do residential housing or will you be looking to go for commercial buildings. A residential window cleaning business is easier to set up. There is more money in commercial work but you need to be more committed to the business, work longer hours and depending upon your location you may also need to abide by certain safety laws and regulations. For a first timer it is recommended that you start out with a simple residential window cleaning round. If things go well you can progress up to commercial work at a later stage.

So let’s assume you are looking for residential work. There are two ways to go about this. You can either purchase a window cleaning round or you can go out and canvass your own work. The advantage of buying a window cleaning round is that you will have well established customers that will be reliable. You can also pick where you want to work depending upon which rounds are available. To find a round for sale you can look in the local classifieds or even online. There are often adverts with people selling their work. The area you live will play some part in how much you pay for your round. As a rough guide, where I live it costs me 20 times the weekly wage. In other words it would take me 20 weeks to make back the money I paid for the round. The more you pay for your round the bigger it will be. Make sure you buy a round that pays well and is well established. It may be an idea to get the seller to take you round a few customers just to make sure they are trustworthy and the round is a good one.

If you don’t want to invest in buying a window cleaning round you can canvass for work. This is a good way to get work without paying for it, however you have to be careful. First of all select an area to canvass. It might be an idea to inquire of a few home owners as to if they already have a window cleaner. If they do you are best moving on to another area. One good way to canvass work is to do a leaflet drop. Get some flyers printed out and then either hand them out or post them through people’s doors. Leave your phone number and offer to give people a free quote. An excellent way to pick up customers is to visit newly built housing estates. Maybe even get in there before people start moving in, leave flyers so that people have the option of using your services before anyone else gets in there.

Buy Window Cleaning Equipment Online

Window Cleaning Equipment

There are two ways to clean windows. You can use the modern pole system, this is very good but it can be very expensive to set up. Alternatively you can use the old fashioned method of using ladders. Customers prefer this approach as it cleans the windows better and does an all round better job. So if you decide to go down the ladder route what will you need? Well first of all a ladder obviously. Depending upon the work you do you will need different ladders. If it is high work, obviously you need longer ladders, make sure the ladders you purchase are the correct ones for the work you will be doing.

Next up you need your basic equipment. You will need a bucket, a squeegee, a t-bar and mop, bucket on a belt, some pockets, a scraper and some scrims or cloths. You can purchase much of these over on Amazon, the prices here are very reasonable and you will get good quality products. Unger is the best known window cleaning make and all their products are very good. For your squeegee you can choose from a few different sizes, if you do large windows then go for the bigger version, whereas if you do a few smaller windows then you would be better with a smaller one. You may like to get two squeegees to use.

You will also will want a good sturdy belt, then you can hang your pockets on the belt and easily store your equipment. The bucket on a belt is a very handy tool as it will keep a small amount of water with you so that you won’t have to repeatedly return to your larger bucket. There are different cloths or scrims you can use. Microfibre cloths are very good and these last well but can be quite expensive. Many window cleaners use the old fashioned scrims, these do a very good job and are quite cheap to buy. When you have your equipment and your work ready to go, what can you expect to earn?

Window Cleaning Earnings

 

So how much money will you make if you set up your own window cleaning business? Well obviously it depends upon how much work you are prepared to do. Generally though window cleaning does pay very well. I know of some window cleaners who can make up to £30 an hour, which would be close to $50 an hour in the US. Admittedly this is only if you have very good work and work at it very hard, but you can earn a really good amount if you work hard at your job.

Many people who start window cleaning just start off with a smaller round and if they find they enjoy it and are making good money they expand their round to earn more money. If you do a good job you can often pick up extra customers and business just by word of mouth. If you find your round is getting to big you can always sell part of it and make a little extra money that way.

When it comes to how often to clean your customers windows this is down to personal preference. The residential work I do is usually once per month, but I know of some window cleaners who go back every two weeks. If you are doing shops or businesses then you may even find they want them doing on a weekly basis. If you have work that is monthly a good way to increase your earnings is to ask your customers if they would like their windows cleaning every two weeks. If they agree to this then you have doubled your income, if they say no, well you haven’t lost anything.

 

Setting up your own window cleaning business really is a great way to get a well paid part time or full time job. The money is good, you stay fit and healthy and you can work flexible hours. As you don’t need any special skills or abilities this is a job that almost anyone can have a go at. So if the idea appeals to you, hopefully this guide will have given you an idea of what exactly it takes to start your own window cleaning business.

working

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