HOW TO START YOUR OWN SUCCESSFUL WINDOW WASHING SERVICE

(As told by someone with "firsthand" experience in this business.)     

    Here's a business that, almost more than any other with equal
    potential for real wealth, meets the most stringent requirements of
    just about any skeptic.  In fact, there's so much in favor of the
    "little guy" with this business, it's a real mystery why more people
    don't choose this one as the vehicle for their ultimate independence
    and financial security.

    This is a business that can make you rich very quickly... It's a
    kind of service business that can very profitably be operated by one
    person - male or female...  The basic knowledge needed for success
    is simple and easy to learn...  Very little monetary investment is
    needed for equipment - usually less than $100...  There are
    virtually no storage space requirements...  You can operate out of
    your home for virtually as long as you like, and yet, there's a real
    demand for this type of business everywhere...

    The success potential for window washing services is present in the
    smallest of towns as well as the largest metropolitan areas.  Your
    risks will be minimal, while your rewards can far surpass even your
    wildest dreams.  Generally, a one man operation in a city of 50,000
    can expect to gross $4,000 or more per month after just 90 days.
    Operating expenses for one person operations grossing this amount
    should be less than $1,000 per month.

    Ideally, your plan should be to solicit new accounts, do the work
    yourself and establish a regular customer route.  Once you've
    established such a service route, and you're beginning to realize a
    good profit, you should hire part-time help to do the work while you
    solicit new accounts and establish more regular customer routes,

    You should concentrate on providing regular window washing services
    for all the one and two story office buildings and storefronts in
    your area, start with those closest to your home and expand your
    efforts outward.  Choose a busy thoroughfare leading into your
    city's downtown area.  Select the one closest to your home and begin
    calling on business owners and store managers all along this street
    into the downtown area.

    Usually, you won't have to do much more than introduce yourself,
    briefly explain your services, and leave your business card.  We did
    this regularly on a once-a-week basis, and after 6 weeks, we had
    enough business to keep one man busy - 6 hours a day, 5 days a week.

    Until you become well-established, don't even bother soliciting work
    on windows higher than the second story.  However, it's best to call
    on every business, one after the other as you make your way to the
    downtown area.  Later on, you can call upon churches, private
    schools, businesses located on side streets branching off the main
    thoroughfares, and even homes if you'd like to try that market.
    Generally though, you'll find the residential market too
    time-consuming to make your efforts really profitable, plus the fact
    that you simply won't be able to charge enough to make it worthwhile
    in comparison to your commercial customers. Apartment houses and
    condominiums are quite a different story however, particularly when
    you can land several customers in the same building,

    As mentioned earlier, you can headquarter in and operate completely
    out of your home.  You can store your cleaning equipment and
    supplies in a corner of your garage.  Your bookkeeping and other
    paperwork can be taken care of at your kitchen table, with whatever
    office supplies you need, easily stored in a dresser drawer.

    Speaking of office supplies, you should have a supply of business
    cards - and an adequate supply of billing statements with your
    business name and address, plus mailing envelopes and return reply
    envelopes.  You can get away with rubber-stamping your business name
    and address on your statements and envelopes, but your business will
    grow faster - you'll probably also save time and money as well - by
    going with printed supplies from the beginning.

    There are no "real reasons" not to list your home address as your
    business address, but listing a post office box number - if you
    prefer - will not really harm your image.  The important thing is
    personal contact - someone from your company regularly calling upon
    your prospective customers.

    Talk with them.  Listen to them.  Get to know them.  Find out who's
    currently doing their windows for them, if they have any complaints
    and how you can offer them a better deal.  When you've actually
    investigated the service they're already contracted for, and you're
    certain you can offer them a better deal, put your ideas into the
    form of a written proposal and give it to them. Don't be afraid to
    submit a proposal for a better deal, but remember when you do, your
    proposal should offer more than just a price break.  Under-cutting a
    competitor's price usually means less profit for you, and an overall
    deterioration of your reputation.  It may temporarily result in more
    work for you, but you're in business to attain wealth - not work
    yourself into an early grave...

    If your spouse is home during the day, she can answer the phone for
    you and generally set up appointments for you, while you're out
    making sales calls.  She can also type out your monthly statements,
    see that they're sent out on time, and pretty much handle your
    bookkeeping for you.  Should it not be feasible, or for some reason,
    inconvenient for your wife to handle your incoming calls for you,
    look around until you find a good, dependable Telephone Answering
    Service.  Many of these telephone answering services also handle
    typing jobs as well, so if you're lacking someone to handle these
    chores for you, chances are you can find all the services you need
    without too much of a search.

    It's important with this type of business that you have a "live"
    voice answering your calls.  Selecting the right people to handle
    your calls, and spending the extra time necessary to train them
    according to your desires - even paying a little more to have things
    done the way you want them done - is almost always well worth the
    time and added expense.  Remember, this is a service business with
    your growth dependent upon the personal contact you and your
    representatives have with prospective clients.  Work on it, develop
    it, and cultivate your personal contact transactions.

    As the size of your company increases and you hire crews of people
    to handle work assignments, you can usually get your answering
    service to take on the added duties of job assignment notification
    or dispatcher.  All of this simply points up the possibilities of
    operating your business out of your home indefinitely, should you
    choose to do so.

    If somewhere along the line you decide to set up an office in a
    location other than your home, you might want to make an offer or
    otherwise induce one or two of the people from your telephone
    answering service.  Regardless of how large your work force becomes,
    it's always best if you supply the window washing equipment and
    supplies.

    Employees should be allowed to take the equipment home with them,
    and required to use their own vehicles for transportation to each
    job site.  By all means, spend the extra money to supply your
    workers with uniforms.  Matching shirt and trousers with a big patch
    on the back of the shirts, listing your company name and phone
    number, is not only impressive in projecting a professional image,
    it is also one of your cheapest and best advertising methods.

    Once you have hired people to do the actual window washing for you,
    get a couple of magnetic signs showing your company name and
    telephone number.  Be sure to "wear" these signs on your car as you
    make your sales calls and spot check on the progress of your work
    crews.  Later on, you can get similar signs for your crew chiefs.
    If you should opt for company-owned vehicles, you'll find vans to be
    the most convenient and serve your needs the most efficiently.  Be
    sure to have your company name, phone number and logo printed on
    each side of these vehicles - and allow your crew chiefs to drive
    them home at night - all of which benefits you with practically free
    advertising.

    The kind of equipment you'll need to professionally wash windows is
    relatively simple...  A 12 or 18 inch window brush, aluminum
    telescopic brush handle...  6 inch, 10 inch and 18 inch squeegees
    with replacement rubber blades...  A couple of plastic or galvanized
    water pails, one 2 gallon and the other 5 gallons.  And an 8 foot
    step ladder, plus maybe a 6 foot straight ladder...

    Your start-up supplies should include 5 gallons of liquid soap...
    a good supply of clean rags, towels and chamois...  And a sharp
    razor blade scraper...

    This entire list of equipment and supplies should total no more than
    $250 in cost. You will need to add to your equipment only as your
    business grows and you have the need to hire more personnel...

    Some professional window washers are proclaiming an alternative or
    "better method" than with the use of window brushes and squeegees.
    They're advocating the use of "strip washers." These are 3/4 inch
    pieces of aluminum pipe covered with a nylon sleeve that fits the
    pipe.  These are similar in appearance to the handy do-it-yourself
    paint rollers, and are used in much the same manner.  These strip
    washers reportedly work very well on all but the dirtiest of
    windows,

    Another alternative is an extension pole and brush device. Water is
    pumped through the handle and out the brush in a rinse-wash-rinse
    cycle.  Most professionals claim this device is ideal for second
    story windows, but for best quality workmanship, they still prefer
    the basic brush and squeegee approach.

    Still another alternative is a hose-water-fed brush that utilizes
    deionized water where ladders aren't feasible.  Deionized water is a
    kind of water from which all minerals and foreign elements have been
    removed.  Using this kind of water assures the window washer an
    easier and faster job with no worries about streaking or water
    drops.

    Your prices should range between $20 and $25 per hour.  Pay for
    hired help should start at $5 per hour.  It's important that you do
    some homework on the various glass treatments in vogue these days.
    Many of these coatings or coverings require special treatment such
    as the use of soft towels instead of brushes that might scratch the
    surface of the window coating.

    The professional technique for washing windows cleanly and in the
    least amount of time is as follows:  A few drops of cleaning
    solution in your bucket of water.  Remember, too many soap suds are
    detrimental to quality work.  Wet your brush from the bucket and
    then scrub the window. Take your squeegee and make one wiping pass
    across the top of the window.  Be sure to keep the end of the
    squeegee pressed firmly against the molding or top sill of the
    window frame.  Wipe the squeegee, and then do the same thing down
    each side of the window.  From this point on, it's just a matter of
    wiping the window clean with one continuous stroke.  You do this by
    arching and looping your wiping strokes across the window pane, back
    and forth, never stopping or lifting the squeegee blade from the
    glass. With this method, you can wipe even the largest window clean
    in just a matter of seconds.  Practice at home on your own windows
    and those of your neighbors.  You will quickly develop a knack for
    this method and wonder why you never discovered it before, when
    you've finished with the squeegee, take a chamois and carefully
    "blot-wipe" any excess water that may not have been picked up along
    the sides and bottom of the window frame.  In reality, that's all
    there is to it.

    You'll find the spring and summer months to be your busiest, but
    because of the increasing popularity of painting holiday scenes and
    special sale announcements on business windows, be alert for year
    round opportunities along these lines as well. Keep plugging away
    and offering your services to businesses throughout your area,
    particularly along those busy thoroughfares where moving traffic
    contributes to the build-up of dirt & grime on windows.

    When you're ready to hire helpers or people to do the work for you,
    a simple ad in your local newspaper's "Help Wanted" column should
    bring you more applicants than you will ever use.  After you have
    hired the one or the ones you want, keep a record of the ones you
    liked but did not hire, and check with them when you want to add
    onto your crew of workers again.

    Bulletin Board notices will also bring in a surprising number of
    applicants.  Another good idea is to spread the word that you're
    looking for part-time help, amongst your local firemen, policemen
    and teachers.  Depending on your area's pay scales, you can also do
    pretty well by contacting the temporary help services in your area.

    About the only regular advertising you'll need to do is a medium to
    large display ad in the yellow pages.  This is a must because once
    you're established, you'll find at least 50% of your business coming
    from having seen your ad in the yellow pages.  An "insider's" trick
    to advertising in the yellow pages - Try to name your business with
    the very first letter of your business name beginning with A-B or
    X-Y-Z.  Statistics and surveys tend to prove that when people look
    for a service in the yellow pages, they invariably pick from either
    the top or the bottom of the alphabet.

    Aside from the yellow pages, your next best advertising will be the
    "reminder" kind, such as note pads with your company name imprinted
    on them, special calendars or holders, special date or appointment
    books, and/or sports caps with your company name/emblem on them.
    However, as this kind of advertising is quite expensive, it's good
    to keep it in mind, but best to hold off on it until you can well
    afford it.

    Any radio, television, newspaper and/or direct mail advertising
    efforts will cost you much more than any business you receive from
    it, so don't even consider this type of advertising. However, do
    think about, and submit "press release" material to these media as
    often as you can, because any publicity coverage they give you will
    surely be well worthwhile.

    Telephone soliciting for business works very well, but you should
    have a list of businesses and their telephone numbers, plotted out
    according to new routes you are trying to build.  Time spent
    travelling between jobs will cost you money, just as time spent
    looking up telephone numbers along a certain planned route will
    seemingly take forever.  If and when you do decide to drum up new
    business by phone, you'll have much greater success if you can offer
    some sort of promotional gimmick to get them to try your service.

    We had great success one time by offering to do the windows for free
    if they'd let us put a sign in the window - These windows cleaned by
    AAA Window Cleaning Service - 666-5824...  Another time, we did the
    windows for half price as an introductory offer...  And still
    another time, we joined with our telephone answering service - on a
    combined promotion...  half price on three months of telephone
    answering service just for trying our window washing service...  The
    ideas, gimmicks and promotions you can use are limited only by your
    imagination...

    Later on, we hire some good-looking college girls - on a commission
    basis - to call on businesses along the new routes we were trying to
    develop.  They just introduced themselves as representatives of our
    firm, explained our services and offered a half price introductory
    service.  They ended up selling better than 60% of the businesses
    they called upon.

    During one summer, we even tried a crew of these young ladies as
    window washers - they weren't the best...  We dressed them in snappy
    red & white suspender-type short-shorts and drew quite a crowd on
    each job.  It was good advertising for us - we got free newspaper
    and television coverage, and an untold number of new business leads
    - but the glamour of the whole thing grew old very quickly.  But it
    was a gimmick that brought in new business, caused a lot of people
    to recognize that we were in the window cleaning business, and made
    our selling job easier.

    Truly, this is an easy business to start...  and with just a little
    bit of imagination on your part, as well as persistence and quality
    workmanship, you can easily become as financially secure as you
    want...  All it takes is action on your part, so reach for it and
    may you always enjoy the fruits of a bountiful success.

OTHER SOURCES FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

International Sanitary Supply Association 5330 North Elston Avenue
Chicago, IL 60630

BUILDING SERVICE CONTRACTORS, International Association 301 Tower, Suite
525 Vienna, VA 22180

American Institute of Maintenance 1120 Chevy Chase Drive Glendale, CA
91205

BUILDING SERVICE CONTRACTING Economic Development Administrators
Department of Commerce Washington, DC 20001

Tucker Manufacturing PO Box 848 Cedar Rapids, IA 52406

UNGAR (Strip-washer Distributor) 254 West Lincoln Avenue Mt Vernon, NY
10550

Von Schrader Company 9112 Place Racine, WI 53403

NATIONWIDE LEAD SERVICE PO Box 2712 Appleton, WI 5493

Barra Chemical Corporation 8851 N. 21st Phoenix, AZ 85015

SERVICEMASTER INDUSTRIES 2300 Warrenville Road Downers Grove, IL 60515

ARMTRONG BUILDING MAINTENANCE COMPANY Franchise Division 5308 Cole, SE
Albuquerque, NM 87108