From Weekend Warrior to Window Cleaning Coach

Back in the early 90’s, Andy Engstrom was operating a pallet jack in a warehouse for $16/hour. He was getting by and doing alright, but his life would soon hit a turning point. It came when his best friend, Jaime Leon, showed him how easy it was to walk into a neighborhood, sell a window cleaning job, and get paid. By the time of his first sale, Andy hadn’t even learned how to properly use the window cleaning tools that he was borrowing from his friend Jaime. These “Weekend Warriors” soon began operating a window cleaning business under the name, “2 Dudes Window Washing” in Anchorage, Alaska. It wasn’t before long that Andy launched “Capital City Windows” which has been serving Juneau, Alaska since 1998.

One of the driving forces behind Andy’s decision to become a professional window cleaner was to enable him to have more time to do things he loved, such as recording music. “My favorite thing about the industry is that it's an occupation that enables you to better the quality of life for your customers. It's like giving a bouquet of roses or a box of chocolates to someone... Everyone loves to have their windows professionally cleaned, and I'm happy to provide that service for them.”

Unlike many of us, who pull our hair out during the slower winter months, Andy has learned to embrace the slow-time and spend it catching up on life. And when it comes to the tools of the trade, Andy’s company uses the best of the best. He has tried nearly every window cleaning product or tool, partly from personal interest and partly out of the necessity since he has so many subscribers to his popular window cleaning newsletter.

As far as advice goes, Andy has as much to give to the industry as anybody out there. Although he is saving most of his advice for his instructional books, he didn’t leave us empty handed. He recommends a few good reads like "The Tough Minded Optimist" by Norman Vincent Peale. Another good one is "Multiple Streams of Income" by Robert Allen.

Lastly, Andy says, “It doesn't matter what you do in life... You determine the outcome of your life and you determine your own level of success. If you want to succeed, you've got to have a dream. Your dream is going to get you up day after day. Also, you don't have to reinvent the wheel. Follow the pattern of successful people who have done what you want to accomplish.

DREAM BIG

WORK HARD

PERSIST



Each week we are going to take a close look at a different window cleaning company. If you would like to be next to share your story or just have some helpful advice for your fellow window cleaners, please email kcpowerclean@gmail.com and tell me you want to help out.

Subscribe to our blog so that you don't miss the next company profile.
Thanks Andy for your time, energy, and valuable input.

A window cleaning business we can envy

Most start-up window cleaning owners don’t make it through their first winter before hanging up the squeegee and turning to a new line of work. Learning how to cope with a slow winter season can be very difficult, and those who make it year after year deserve a pat on the back.

Surviving the seasonal change is one thing, but thriving through it is another. That is the case with Chris Lambrinides’ New Jersey window cleaning service. In 2000, after deciding that he didn’t want to have to punch a clock, he decided to start All County Window Cleaning, now one of New York and New Jersey’s biggest window cleaning operations. Prior to his window cleaning adventure, Chris worked as a golf cart and newspaper delivery boy. He also worked construction, hardware, sales, telemarketing, and a grocery store clerk. Then he decided to take control of his future.

Now All County now has a large fleet of Toyota Tacomas that are equipped with the newest tools and plenty of water-fed-pole equipment to brighten your windows on any building up to 4 stories high. They also have a great staff of 55 people during the busy season who have all been thoroughly trained at the company’s facility.

One thing that Chris likes about the window cleaning industry is that “with a hundred dollars worth of supplies, you could drop me in any town in the US, and I can be up and running very quickly. It’s very easy to make a good living with a minimal investment.”

The business does have its challenges though, especially because the seasonality of the business makes things difficult from an operational standpoint. In order to keep things organized and streamlined, the company uses Service CEO’s business management software for their day-to-day operations.

Chris has a few books that he thinks entrepreneurs should invest some time into; those being Getting Things Done by Dave Allen and The Emyth Mastery by Michael Gerber.

When asked about his view of being a small business owner, he quoted a famous unknown quote, “Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t.”

Here are a few tips that we can take from Chris

1) Find a balance of residential and store-front window cleaning can help your company fight off the change in demand for your services during the slower winter months.
2) Find good add-on services such as gutter whitening and rain flow instillation, which is All County’s favorite add-ons, to help when window cleaning is slow.
3) Invest in yourself by reading the best of the best.

Thanks Chris for sharing some of your insight with us.



Each week we are going to take a close look at a different window cleaning company. If you would like to be next to share your story or just have some helpful advice for your fellow window cleaners, please email kcpowerclean@gmail.com and tell me you want to help out.

Subscribe to our blog so that you don't miss the next company profile.

Start branding for your small business

Corporate giants spend millions of dollars on branding campaigns every year.

Why?

Because they work.

Customers aren't ready to buy when you want them to buy- they are ready to buy when they want to buy. Don't fight it, use it to your advantage. The trick is to learn how to become the "master of the moment." This is the moment when the customer decides that he/she is ready to purchase.

Who will come to mind in your industry when your potential customer decides that they are ready to buy. It won't be you unless you begin your branding campaign now.

Start by getting your company logo designed, and put it on everything that you can.
Sooner or later, people will begin to recognize it.

Our window cleaning company has our logo on our trucks, t-shirts, business cards, door hangers, fliers, and if you look below; we have a bumper sticker placed on all of our window cleaning buckets.



So we can't spend millions or even thousands on a nation-wide branding campaign, but atleast we can assure our customers that we take our service seriously. This begins by looking professional and presenting a consistent image.

How to clean windows with a Tucker Pole

The Tucker Pole is a water-fed-pole that has a 1/4" water delivery system that runs inside the telescoping aluminum pole.

It works well only when pure or deionized water is being fed through the brush. There are certain techniques to ensure that you get better cleaning results with this pole, so don't let an unexperienced window cleaner tell you that you can't get good results with this system. Chances are they don't have one or never even used one...

There are many advantages to cleaning with this system that has been in Southern California for over 30 years. Here are just a few...

- It is safer because no ladders are needed.
- The windows stay cleaner longer:
... because no soap residue is left behind
... no static electricity that attracts dirt that comes from buffing out the edges of the glass
... the frames and sills get a thorough cleaning
... no streaks, no smudges, no smears- pure water dries spot free!
- It is often more cost-efficient than a nose-to-glass service because it can cut cleaning time in half.

Here is a pic of KC Power Clean using the Tucker Pole and Pure Water System to clean the windows at the Best Western Meridian in the city of Orange in California.

Laguna Niguel power washing service

Check out how clean this patio furniture came out for a customer in Laguna Niguel, CA.

We used our pressure washing system to wash the exterior of their house and also to clean their patio furniture.

And to think that they were going to throw this stuff away...

Tile Roof Cleaning and Washing Service in Orange County, CA

If you need a roof cleaning service, make sure you hire a professional company who know how to properly perform this service.

A qualified and reputable roof cleaner will be able to clean your roof with less pressure than an inexperienced roof cleaner.

Using the right chemicals to loosen the mold, algae, and lichens is the first step to a clean roof...

Add a slideshow to your website to boost sales

People like pictures

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People don't have time to read

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Get a slideshow from flickr on your website

How to keep price conscience customers!

Customers are only interested in one thing when they call to learn about your company. It is the value that they will receive from their hard-earned money.

Window cleaning is a service business, but many people view it as a commodity business. That's because to them it is a commodity business. Some people will prefer to pay more for the comfort of having a company that will provide excellent service from top to bottom, but still others will not.

So if you sense that a person is price-conscience and wants to save some money on a window washing service, give them options. Tell them that your pricing system is based on experience for how long it takes to perform the service, but if they want to help speed that up, there are a few things that they can do.

I once scheduled a price-conscience customer to a job that I wouldn't have because I gave him the option of removing his own screens before I got there (with the agreement that he would put them back). I gave him a discounted rate for the service because there were now no screens on the home (which saved me about an hour on his particular home) and he saved about an hour worth of my wages. He was thankful that I was willing to work with his budget, and I was glad that I didn't have to take any screens off.

Even though I consider it highly important that a customer receives the total service experience; he wanted to do some of the work himself. So keep this in mind when selling your services: "It's only important if the customer thinks it is important."

5 tips list

Here's a very comprehensive list for almost everything small business that you could imagine.
I'll call it the 5 tips list...


5 tips list for small businesses

Go check it out

Free Window Cleaning Tips

If you are starting a window cleaning business, you ought to take a look at some valuable resources that will help cut your learning curve. There are many available online, but one in particular is FreeWindowCleaningTips.com

Check it out here: Window Cleaning Free window cleaning tips, videos, ebooks, supplies, business kit, and glass industry resources.

Confirm your appointments...

Have you ever scheduled an appointment to meet somebody and you were the only one who showed up? It happens to the best of us, so don't take it personal. People are busy, and they forget to write things down on a schedule. Some people have too many schedules for their own good.

One simple way to decrease the number of times that you show up to stare at your own shadow is to make a reminder call. This is just to confirm your appointment for such a date. It works best when it is done 1-3 days in advance.

This simple call gives you confidence that they aren't going to forget about you, and it assures them that you aren't a flaky window washer. It's a good way to build some trust before the first window is ever cleaned...

Los Angeles Window Cleaning and Washing

Network for success

When I first started my window cleaning company, I was smart enough to do a couple things correctly. I interviewed as many people in my industry that were willing to talk to me. I would find the numbers of different window cleaning companies and just start calling. Little did I know what a great impact it would have on my learning curve.

Over time, I began to receive call-backs from these window cleaners who had a customer that they couldn't get to in a short-time period, and they asked if I would be willing to do the job for their client. Why me? I guess because I made a good impression on them, or maybe they just didn't know who else to call possibly. But either way, I was beginning to see my schedule fill up when it otherwise wouldn't have.

Receiving window cleaning jobs from these mentors of mine was just one of the many benefits that I received. The other, which is harder to place a value on, is the knowledge and advice that I received from them for free. This advice was worth much more than a few window cleaning jobs. So before you head on your way today at full-speed, take some time to consult a few professionals in your particular industry. You may be surprised how much people are willing to help out or share how much they know.

Special thanks to my business mentors who have helped me so much over the past year or two. Brian - Prestige Window Cleaning, Joel - See Thru Window Cleaning, Chris from Fullerton, and obviously the most important one, my dad- First Rate Building Maintenance.

Improve your small business management...

If you haven't been staying in touch with everything that Google has been doing, then it's time to get caught up to speed. Whether for business or personal use, Google has so many free applications that can make our lives easier.

One of the Google Applications that my window and pressure washing company is currently incorporating is the calendar. I am very fortunate because I have a friend who does a lot of canvassing and selling for my business, and we have tried several methods of keeping our calendars in-sync, which is very time-consuming due to double-entries. Also, I have a habit of forgetting to write down appointments that my wife sets for me. Well, now she can add an appointment to my calendar from anywhere that she has an internet connection (which is scary because the web travels with her everywhere thanks to the iphone).

Well, now we can keep organized thanks to Google. Their calendar allows you to share your calendar with other people, and they can reciprocate it by syncing their calendar with yours. Also, you can edit the settings of these calendars so that a friend can add or delete an appointment on your calendar, or you can downgrade the authority settings so that they can simply view what's on your schedule.

Best of all, if you have a PC running a current Windows OS and you use MS Outlook to stay organized, you can sync that calendar with your Google Calendar. The only downside is that they are not caught up to speed on the mac platform, so if you use MS Entourage (the outlook equivalent) it does not sync two ways. But with a little time, I bet they'll have this all squared away.

Check it out at Google's Calendar Application