Clean Up With A Window Washing Business...Andrew Safer

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With business cards in hand, start contacting the shopkeepers and store owners in your town. Act like a professional: present your card and always try to establish monthly or bi-monthly accounts. Just being confident of the value of your service should get you through the sales pitch and land you some regular jobs.

I'v a tried advertising in local newspapers and found that I still obtain most of my work by stomping around town, ringing doorbells, and presenting my card. Actually, although you may not relish this part of the business . . . it's a great way to gain a fresh perspective on the ole home town, or to become acquainted in a new area. You do have to learn to take the good with the bad, however. On days when people are gruff and you can't find a single job, it's best to take the situation in stride, go on home, bake some bread or otherwise cool off . . . and try again when the stars are more fortuitous.

Remember, whenever you're bidding for work, that streak-free window washing is a valuable service and you should charge what your time is worth (I figure mine at $3.00 to $3.50 an hour). Calculate how long a particular job should take and give your prospective customer an estimate. Bear in mind, too—when presenting a quotation—that haggling is often the name of the game: be willing to bend a little to get some of those choice assignments.

Will it work? It has for me! I moved to Missoula, Montana last fall ... just in time to put up and clean people's storm windows before winter sat in (putting up and taking down storm windows—where the climate warrants such activity—can be a nice supplement to your window-washing enterprise). I've since parlayed that running start into steady residential work and ten regular business accounts.

Being a professional window washer is—to me, at least—a fun, honorable, and profitable business. What's more, every average-sized town can support one or two freelancers in the field ... so, if the enterprise appeals to you, check out the possibilities in your area. With a little hustle, you too can clean up washing windows!

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