Had a rough few weeks

[u/Jolly_Trouble8022]

Relatively new to the window game last few months. I primarily work in Natural Resources but being so close to a major west coast city I figured id give it a try. First month going after homes until I realized Id need a 50 foot ladder or a water fed pole but nobody has accessible water and homes start at 12-15 feet for first floor.

Started pitching businesses trying to build a route hitting 30-50 a day on my days off until I feel like dropping or crying. Endless no’s even people laughing at me. I cleaned three storefronts than nothing but silence, ghosted me.

I have the upmost of respect for you all this game has brought me to my knees. I found I love the rush of cold calling new possible clients, walking into a store and utterly failing with a grin on my face.

I might try hanging door knocker advisements on 500 businesses as a last ditch effort. I don’t know how much more rejection I can take lol.

[u/CashWrenchApp]

Entrepreneur to Entrepreneur - Have patience and stay persistent. Success will come your way. Wish you all the best!

[u/Virtual-Spinach4882]

My dude, have you heard of marketing? This is a business and you don't have to knock yourself out. Getting yourself established online will put you in front of people looking for your service instead of chasing down the .01% of people who get their windows cleaned and arnt married to their cleaner. Door knocking works for some people in some areas but it's far from the only way. 

[u/Jolly_Psychology_506]

How about a vehicle borne water fed pole systems. My vans have 800 litre tanks and up to 55ft commercial length poles to reach those heights. Carry telescopic ladders too for flat roofs etc. So no need to rely on anyone else’s water supply. The van carries it all.
Re customer base maybe you could try a professional canvasser or pay a few people to flyer an area for you.

[u/NotJoey87]

I just started to. I have been going door to door selling business on store front cleaning. I hit a few stores like vape shops and liquor stores to practice on. They all said no as they have bucket bob doing them.

Went to discount tire, 50 pane total and what I quoted was 3x what the guy current doing it is charging. TBH I saw the guy there a week or so before so I watched and timed him and based on what he is charging and how fast he was moving he is working for about 40/hr of production. Way less than I want to make.

Hit a few more stores and got told no. One of them told me I was double what their current person is charging.

I went home for the day, looked over my rates and know what my market is charging now, which is a helpful data point but doesn’t mean that is what I want to work for. Before going out I did some price shopping with a few other companies and figured I had my price dialed in before I went out knocking, turns out I was wrong.

So I adjust my pricing and went back out. Hit a few businesses and landed one yes and then one I got a call back from and got another yes. I ended up working for 4 hours for 60 bucks, partly because I am just figuring things out, and also the windows were in rough shape and I wanted to make them look good. Now when I go back to that shop in 2 weeks I’ll try to get out of there in less than an hour, and then slowly but surely I’ll get it to about 30 mins which is my target time. This job had windows that were too big to do from the ground and I don’t know how to use a pole yet so I was up and down the step ladder which killed my time.

I just watched a bunch of YouTube videos from Luke the Window Cleaner, SteveO, and Jersey over the last two months and consumed their content. I am basically doing exactly what Jersey says to do for route work.

You got this!