What's a window cleaning teenager progress?

[perchboy]

Do I walk around and knocking on people's door holding my equipment?
Yes. Do the windows on the spot right when they say yes.

- How much should I charge? I've seen videos about charging 50¢ per window and in the window washing industry, I don't know how charging works
Charge enough that you will make over $50/hour

- My equipment are going to be a squeegee, microfiber cloth, a glass cleaner spray, bucket of water? Is this enough to go knocking on people's doors?
Yes

- Should my pitch be like "Hi! Local window washer here! Do you have any windows you want to get cleaned?" Saying it like an energetic teen?
Yes

-Should I be energetic the whole time when washing windows?
Yes

-I hear people talking about insurance and ABN and taxes. Should I do insurance and worry about taxes as well? I'm scared of taxes
No

Stop overthinking it. Simply just go knock on doors and clean their windows. How much easier do you want it to get?

I helped my friend start window cleaning and he made $200 in the first day.

Here's what he did - step by step actions for you to follow:
1. buy squeegee, extension pole, microfiber attachment for pole, bucket, window cleaning solution
2. ask ChatGPT how to clean windows
3. knock on doors saying "hi my name is Lawtiti and I'm offering my window cleaning services in the neighborhood" they will either say no or ask for a price. estimate how long it will take and charge so you make $50/hour to start
4. clean their windows
5. collect the money
6. go in to school feeling like the F*cking man knowing that you make in the evenings what the teachers make during the whole day

you're going to feel like you're ripping them off charging so high. its because you feel like youre worth $10/hour. they are not paying you for your time, they are paying you to get their windows clean. anyone would pay at least $50 to get their house windows cleaned. some people even charge $500 for window cleaning.

"but im only 15"
I'm 15 as well and charge $200 for jobs that take 2 hours so take my word for it.

if you have any tactical questions like what solution to use, dont overthink it. simply ask ChatGPT and do whatever the first thing it says. NOTHING IS AS BIG AS IT SEEMS it just seems big when you're starting out

anyone can make AT LEAST $100/evening after school following these steps. once you pass the mental hurdle and get paid for the first time you'll realize how easy it is to make money

 

[Chet Shen]

I'm going to do it! Tomorrow I'm going to wash windows for the first time in my life! I'm going to buy a squeegee today and learn as much as I can about washing windows. I'm 15 and turning 16 this year and I've never done this before and I'm quite nervous. I've been inspired by

piano's thread (idk how to link threads)​

I've seen the comments and I thought:" Hey, why not start a small and easy business since all I do is pretty much watch porn(yea, teen problems) and workout

There's some things that I'm quite worried about:
-I'm 15 and I'm going to go knocking on people's door, so I don't have any kind of transport except for my bike
- I'm not a pro at washing windows
- Sometimes I get introverted
-IVE NEVER DONE KNOCKING ON DOORS BEFORE, IM SCARED
- I can overthink stuff

Questions I have are:
- Do I walk around and knocking on people's door holding my equipment?
- How much should I charge? I've seen videos about charging 50¢ per window and in the window washing industry, I don't know how charging works
- My equipment are going to be a squeegee, microfiber cloth, a glass cleaner spray, bucket of water? Is this enough to go knocking on people's doors?
- Should my pitch be like "Hi! Local window washer here! Do you have any windows you want to get cleaned?" Saying it like an energetic teen?
-Should I be energetic the whole time when washing windows?
-I hear people talking about insurance and ABN and taxes. Should I do insurance and worry about taxes as well? I'm scared of taxes

Other than that, please leave tips for me as I've done nothing about producing but consuming my whole life and feel like this business could supply my family for the things they are going thru right now. I am going to do my best and help out financially for my mom and dad as Im in a bad family situation.

If you guys want to say anything please say it, I want to give out my best and be the best window cleaner in my community! Maybe more advance equipment later on. Other than that, IM GOING TO DO IT!

​

 

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[WJK]

Ill definitely do that when i get my clients or do d2d. Thanks!

I just bought some business cards for myself, heres how it looks like, not much...
Btw, im keeping my eyes up for any networking events or gruops. seeing if I can network and talk to as much people as I can and introduce them as a window cleaner and see if they want it

Good for you. Learn people skills. Learn to talk easily to the people around you. Be kind. Be respectful. Get those people to talk about themselves. It's their favorite subject. You will learn a lot about how the world works.

 

[WJK]

So if they can't really pay out, I could ask them for some cake or anything I return? Maybe some sandwich and coffee too?

Yes, I know it sounds laughable but let me tell you a story about my grandfather...

I came from a very rural area and closed society. It was all a long time ago. My grandfather and great-grandfather were both optometrists in that area. They had an office and they went from town to town fitting glasses for people a few days per week. I never knew my great-grandfather who had died young, but I knew my Grandpa well. He never kept books of who owed him. He charged what he thought people could pay rather than having set prices. He was also the town mayor where we lived.

No one locked their doors. We would come home with him. There would be a ham, a side of beef, a lug of apples or tomatoes, or something of value set inside his pantry. I asked my Grandpa where it came from. Who had brought that food? He'd say, "Oh, I don't know. Someone owed me something." A lot of his practice was paid in trade. He died very young from a massive heart attack. He was so loved. For 20 years after he died, people were still putting food and other goods into my Grandma's pantry.

Every year when the kids started school, Grandpa tested every first grader's eyes. If the kid's family couldn't afford to buy needed glasses, Grandpa gave that kid his glasses. There was a man from our town who became a rocket scientist in the NASA program. He visited us regularly when I was a kid. Every time, he sat my brother and me down to tell us the story. Grandpa gave him his first pair of glasses when he started first grade. He believed that all his success was based upon that gift that allowed him to learn to read.

Grandpa taught me a lot about the art of trading and the true value of work.

 

[constant]

I'm going to do it! Tomorrow I'm going to wash windows for the first time in my life! I'm going to buy a squeegee today and learn as much as I can about washing windows. I'm 15 and turning 16 this year and I've never done this before and I'm quite nervous. I've been inspired by

piano's thread (idk how to link threads)​

I've seen the comments and I thought:" Hey, why not start a small and easy business since all I do is pretty much watch porn(yea, teen problems) and workout

There's some things that I'm quite worried about:
-I'm 15 and I'm going to go knocking on people's door, so I don't have any kind of transport except for my bike
- I'm not a pro at washing windows
- Sometimes I get introverted
-IVE NEVER DONE KNOCKING ON DOORS BEFORE, IM SCARED
- I can overthink stuff

Questions I have are:
- Do I walk around and knocking on people's door holding my equipment?
- How much should I charge? I've seen videos about charging 50¢ per window and in the window washing industry, I don't know how charging works
- My equipment are going to be a squeegee, microfiber cloth, a glass cleaner spray, bucket of water? Is this enough to go knocking on people's doors?
- Should my pitch be like "Hi! Local window washer here! Do you have any windows you want to get cleaned?" Saying it like an energetic teen?
-Should I be energetic the whole time when washing windows?
-I hear people talking about insurance and ABN and taxes. Should I do insurance and worry about taxes as well? I'm scared of taxes

Other than that, please leave tips for me as I've done nothing about producing but consuming my whole life and feel like this business could supply my family for the things they are going thru right now. I am going to do my best and help out financially for my mom and dad as Im in a bad family situation.

If you guys want to say anything please say it, I want to give out my best and be the best window cleaner in my community! Maybe more advance equipment later on. Other than that, IM GOING TO DO IT!

​

Welcome to the window cleaning crew.
Here are top 5 tips:

1.Don't buy Leifheit, buy Unger equipment
2.Expect to get rejected, expect rejection to hurt, expect to keep moving forward
3.Even if some building's windows are only slightly dirty, still pitch your services to them. People with clean windows often pay for their windows to stay clean, while people with dirty windows often don't care about clean windows.
4.Don't reject yourself, before being rejected by others. If you don't know if a person cares about clean windows, at least try.
5.Don't make your cleaning solution too concentrated, or it will dry and leave spots very easily. I personally got best results with water and a small dash of Fairy dishwashing liquid.

 

[Carbon45]

This thread made me want to start window cleaning, I ordered the equipment online, I'll start once It arrives.

 

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[Chet Shen]

I know I haven't replied to the thread a lot of times. Here's my update

UPDATE!!!
Made $220 today. Took me 4 hours and I did a shit job today in my opinion, left some streaks behind. Knocked on around 20 door with my new equipment, looking professional. Gave out 6ph numbers.

Improvements:
1)I feel much more easy and fun when knocking doors. At first I was thinking a lot, after a while I felt more happier and hopeful that more doors and more rejections I felt.
2)Saw that I was making people laugh because I'm putting effort on my body language and feeling more confident

Areas to improve:
1)My shitty job, left streaks, need to keep practicing. Idk if it's me or my equipment that sucks(Got Unger squeegees from Amazon for like less than 50AUD)
2)I need more time to actually calculate. When I hear interior and exterior, I just think of around $200 and calculate in less than 2min, which I should spent about like 5min for accurate calculations. Need to relax and calm down and actually bring a calculator when they wait for me to calculate the price.
3)The dad who had my phone number left the house and the mom had to give me the money.I then asked for them to review my business profile and she told me that he will review them and text me to send him the link. I didn't even asked for referrals as I was not confident of my job even though she said it looks great. Saw my own job and thought of leaving as soon as possible. Definitely need more practice.

Plans:
1)Do d2d on weekends
2)Make a website and make an about us page with a photo of myself
3)Do storefronts and give them business cards on weekdays( Please give me your opinions)
4)Gotta upgrade my business profile and make a website

 

[perchboy]

Maybe I should clean my neighbours house for free?IDK

please dont do that. thats desperate. demand $50/hour and you will soon make $50/hour

1)One of the objections that came to me was that I can't clean the second floor as my pole is too short, should I buy a longer one?
you can either buy a longer pole, or avoid those types of houses. I'd recommend buying a longer pole once you have the money for it so then you can charge higher for those higher houses.
2)I gave people my phone number and wondered should I get cards with my phone number and put it in letterboxes and give it to them?
good idea but not necessary. buy once you make enough profit
3) I feel weird about buying an extension pole, squeegee, scrubber and potentially a ladder as I'm scared of the price like $150-$200
make $200 profit first and then reinvest it.

4)Should I knock on the same doors as today next time?
no. if the people were interested and told you to come back then yes.

Question that I got is what if I come as annoying to the homeowners? I feel like they might be annoyed at my presence and tell me to F*ck off anytime as I'm selling them something, do I just make my pitch funny enough to make them less annoyed?
Who gives a F*ck if they're annoyed? Just go to the next house. They're not going to do anything to you aside from verbal abuse.

Good job so far @Lawtiti . Keep up the hustling

 

[Simon Angel]

Should I get my business registered? Get an ABN(Australian Business Number) and get it verified so I can send invoices to the storefronts? I mean, I thought this would be a learning experience and I didn't thought about the ABN part or making my business legit. Should I make it legit if I want to learn first hand on business?

I'd focus on going out there and selling until you're doing like $1000 per day or hiring other people to clean for you. Yes, giving out invoices will make it easier to close stores, offices, warehouses, etc that need cleaning.

But that's for B2B, which you shouldn't prioritize right now. I'd focus on making some good money from residential first.

I really feel that I'm overthinking about stuff. My friends are coming together playing basketball, people having fun with their friends and I'm here thinking about my window cleaning business. Feeling left out, could have joined my friends and have fun. Lol, I feel like playing with my friends is useless. Feel like playing basketball or just having fun in general is useless. Feeling overwhelmed, maybe it's just me.

I was 15 recently. Actually, I was 15 a good 10 years ago, but it honestly feels like yesterday.

Now, unlike you, I only began being interested in entrepreneurship at 18, and between 16 and 18 I partied a lot, met my first girlfriend, etc. A lot of exciting teen stuff.

So I'd definitely recommend to NOT miss out on some of those experiences (but don't be dumb about it).

But at 18, before I even graduated high school, I was already taking action and making money while everyone else was panicking about what subject to major in, partying, and riding high on that social media life (trust me, the cool kids' popularity fades away quite quickly when people suddenly have more things to worry about than counting likes on their photos).

Let me tell you that now, 6+ years after graduating HS, the majority of my friends and acquaintances are, for lack of better words, broke losers:

– More than half are currently unemployed

– Most of them do not have girlfriends (the "IDGAF cuz I smoke weed bro" attitude only works to impress in high school... and even then it still falls short)

– None are brave enough to start a business or a side hustle. Even though I've always been very open about my journey, my failures, and my successes and sought to help them set bigger goals and follow up on them, they feel MUCH more comfortable hanging out in the local parks smoking weed and playing cards until 3 AM

– They're broke as hell. They still live with their parents and only keep talking about what they want while working dead-end shit jobs for 2-3 months a year and then spending what little money they have on weed, beach vacations, and gambling

– They talk about money and life like they've got everything figured out but it's just a circlejerk of "yeah, this country sucks and you can't make good money here" and/or bragging about getting a €7.50/h job at a DHL warehouse in a foreign country 2000km away from home

– They chase after "easy" money and do not understand the concept of adding value to others. They look for jobs where "you don't really do anything 95% of the time" that pay minimum wage. That's how ambitious they are

Now, I do have another friend group from high school that ALL pursued careers in the tech industry.

Most of them are programmers/coders in some form and the most successful one amongst them works for Amazon where he gets paid mid 6-figures. Unsurprisingly, he would only seldom hang out with the others and spent most of his time studying.

But to cut a long story short...

In just a few short years from now, you'll be LIGHT YEARS ahead of your friends EVEN if you just kept doing what you're doing now.

And you don't really have to "learn business". You already know the basics of business and are applying them!

Plus, you have MASSIVE balls to be doing what you're doing at 15. So even though your confidence is shit now, in just 2 or 3 years you'll be a F*cking badass.

I promise you, you have NO idea how awesome your life will be in the near future if you just keep this up. Girls will be all over your future confident self, too.

Just keep going and don't be afraid to share your failures here—we all go through our own on a regular basis. This includes feeling like you want to quit.

 

[WJK]

I'd focus on going out there and selling until you're doing like $1000 per day or hiring other people to clean for you. Yes, giving out invoices will make it easier to close stores, offices, warehouses, etc that need cleaning.

But that's for B2B, which you shouldn't prioritize right now. I'd focus on making some good money from residential first.



I was 15 recently. Actually, I was 15 a good 10 years ago, but it honestly feels like yesterday.

Now, unlike you, I only began being interested in entrepreneurship at 18, and between 16 and 18 I partied a lot, met my first girlfriend, etc. A lot of exciting teen stuff.

So I'd definitely recommend to NOT miss out on some of those experiences (but don't be dumb about it).

But at 18, before I even graduated high school, I was already taking action and making money while everyone else was panicking about what subject to major in, partying, and riding high on that social media life (trust me, the cool kids' popularity fades away quite quickly when people suddenly have more things to worry about than counting likes on their photos).

Let me tell you that now, 6+ years after graduating HS, the majority of my friends and acquaintances are, for lack of better words, broke losers:

– More than half are currently unemployed

– Most of them do not have girlfriends (the "IDGAF cuz I smoke weed bro" attitude only works to impress in high school... and even then it still falls short)

– None are brave enough to start a business or a side hustle. Even though I've always been very open about my journey, my failures, and my successes and sought to help them set bigger goals and follow up on them, they feel MUCH more comfortable hanging out in the local parks smoking weed and playing cards until 3 AM

– They're broke as hell. They still live with their parents and only keep talking about what they want while working dead-end shit jobs for 2-3 months a year and then spending what little money they have on weed, beach vacations, and gambling

– They talk about money and life like they've got everything figured out but it's just a circlejerk of "yeah, this country sucks and you can't make good money here" and/or bragging about getting a €7.50/h job at a DHL warehouse in a foreign country 2000km away from home

– They chase after "easy" money and do not understand the concept of adding value to others. They look for jobs where "you don't really do anything 95% of the time" that pay minimum wage. That's how ambitious they are

Now, I do have another friend group from high school that ALL pursued careers in the tech industry.

Most of them are programmers/coders in some form and the most successful one amongst them works for Amazon where he gets paid mid 6-figures. Unsurprisingly, he would only seldom hang out with the others and spent most of his time studying.

But to cut a long story short...

In just a few short years from now, you'll be LIGHT YEARS ahead of your friends EVEN if you just kept doing what you're doing now.

And you don't really have to "learn business". You already know the basics of business and are applying them!

Plus, you have MASSIVE balls to be doing what you're doing at 15. So even though your confidence is shit now, in just 2 or 3 years you'll be a F*cking badass.

I promise you, you have NO idea how awesome your life will be in the near future if you just keep this up. Girls will be all over your future confident self, too.

Just keep going and don't be afraid to share your failures here—we all go through our own on a regular basis. This includes feeling like you want to quit.

Take the ideas in this post down the road for a lot more years...

I went to my 50th high school reunion last fall. It was both interesting and dismal

I went to the meet-and-greet the night before the main dinner. I saw one of my best friends from high school. She told me off in front of everyone for helping her mom & dad too much when they were alive (I regularly sent them small amounts of grocery money on gift cards when they really needed it.) She was really angry with me. for financially helping her parents when she couldn't. I had never told my friend what I did, but I realized that her mother told her. My friend was mad at me. I tried to tell her how much I loved her mother and how grateful I was for her Mom helping me when I was a little kid. Nothing I said helped. So, my husband and I left that get-together early.

The next evening, I went to the main dinner event. People showed up dressed up and ready to have their pictures taken. (I didn't want a picture, so I hadn't bothered to dress up.) But, in spite of their formal appearances, a lot of them really haven't gone anywhere or anything interesting. They had worked lower-level jobs. As I talked to different people I realized I was the odd man out. I'm a Juris Doctor (graduated from law school when I was in my 40s, plus my 3 other degrees) while most of them never further their educations past high school. Most, in that huge room, were retired with side jobs and were totally broke. They were just squeaking by.

I realized I was in a totally different life situation from the people I grew up with. I couldn't tell them about my business success without making them feel bad. Anything I said would sound like bragging. So, I told them that I'm retired and I kept asking them questions about their lives. I was glad I hadn't dressed up so I could fly under the radar. No one there had any idea of who I had become, so I focused on them. Listening hurt my heart. I sure don't share their challenges and problems!

So, I called my husband in the middle of the event and had him pick me up. I just stood up, excused myself, and walked out. We took off and went on a nice unexpected vacation for the rest of the time we had planned for that trip.

 

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[Gordon]

I'm going to do it! Tomorrow I'm going to wash windows for the first time in my life! I'm going to buy a squeegee today and learn as much as I can about washing windows. I'm 15 and turning 16 this year and I've never done this before and I'm quite nervous. I've been inspired by

piano's thread (idk how to link threads)​

I've seen the comments and I thought:" Hey, why not start a small and easy business since all I do is pretty much watch porn(yea, teen problems) and workout

There's some things that I'm quite worried about:
-I'm 15 and I'm going to go knocking on people's door, so I don't have any kind of transport except for my bike
- I'm not a pro at washing windows
- Sometimes I get introverted
-IVE NEVER DONE KNOCKING ON DOORS BEFORE, IM SCARED
- I can overthink stuff

Questions I have are:
- Do I walk around and knocking on people's door holding my equipment?
- How much should I charge? I've seen videos about charging 50¢ per window and in the window washing industry, I don't know how charging works
- My equipment are going to be a squeegee, microfiber cloth, a glass cleaner spray, bucket of water? Is this enough to go knocking on people's doors?
- Should my pitch be like "Hi! Local window washer here! Do you have any windows you want to get cleaned?" Saying it like an energetic teen?
-Should I be energetic the whole time when washing windows?
-I hear people talking about insurance and ABN and taxes. Should I do insurance and worry about taxes as well? I'm scared of taxes

Other than that, please leave tips for me as I've done nothing about producing but consuming my whole life and feel like this business could supply my family for the things they are going thru right now. I am going to do my best and help out financially for my mom and dad as Im in a bad family situation.

If you guys want to say anything please say it, I want to give out my best and be the best window cleaner in my community! Maybe more advance equipment later on. Other than that, IM GOING TO DO IT!

​

Might add a reason for doing it, such as: "Hi I'm Lawtiti, and I am trying to save money for college so I don't have lifelong debt. You will get clean windows and I'll get some college money." Along with some sort of Interrupter, such as a scratch off lottery ticket. Good luck and get out there and try.

 

[Chet Shen]

I'm going to do it! Tomorrow I'm going to wash windows for the first time in my life! I'm going to buy a squeegee today and learn as much as I can about washing windows. I'm 15 and turning 16 this year and I've never done this before and I'm quite nervous. I've been inspired by

piano's thread (idk how to link threads)​

I've seen the comments and I thought:" Hey, why not start a small and easy business since all I do is pretty much watch porn(yea, teen problems) and workout

There's some things that I'm quite worried about:
-I'm 15 and I'm going to go knocking on people's door, so I don't have any kind of transport except for my bike
- I'm not a pro at washing windows
- Sometimes I get introverted
-IVE NEVER DONE KNOCKING ON DOORS BEFORE, IM SCARED
- I can overthink stuff

Questions I have are:
- Do I walk around and knocking on people's door holding my equipment?
- How much should I charge? I've seen videos about charging 50¢ per window and in the window washing industry, I don't know how charging works
- My equipment are going to be a squeegee, microfiber cloth, a glass cleaner spray, bucket of water? Is this enough to go knocking on people's doors?
- Should my pitch be like "Hi! Local window washer here! Do you have any windows you want to get cleaned?" Saying it like an energetic teen?
-Should I be energetic the whole time when washing windows?
-I hear people talking about insurance and ABN and taxes. Should I do insurance and worry about taxes as well? I'm scared of taxes

Other than that, please leave tips for me as I've done nothing about producing but consuming my whole life and feel like this business could supply my family for the things they are going thru right now. I am going to do my best and help out financially for my mom and dad as Im in a bad family situation.

If you guys want to say anything please say it, I want to give out my best and be the best window cleaner in my community! Maybe more advance equipment later on. Other than that, IM GOING TO DO IT!

​

Update!

I'm coming back from school now and the post in nextdoor has made 1 person asking me to do it today for 5 standard window and 1 sliding window, I said $50 and she accepted it. Another person told me that she has a double story house and has 20 windows to clean. I might have to buy an extension pole now

 

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[WJK]

I'm going to do it! Tomorrow I'm going to wash windows for the first time in my life! I'm going to buy a squeegee today and learn as much as I can about washing windows. I'm 15 and turning 16 this year and I've never done this before and I'm quite nervous. I've been inspired by

piano's thread (idk how to link threads)​

I've seen the comments and I thought:" Hey, why not start a small and easy business since all I do is pretty much watch porn(yea, teen problems) and workout

There's some things that I'm quite worried about:
-I'm 15 and I'm going to go knocking on people's door, so I don't have any kind of transport except for my bike
- I'm not a pro at washing windows
- Sometimes I get introverted
-IVE NEVER DONE KNOCKING ON DOORS BEFORE, IM SCARED
- I can overthink stuff

Questions I have are:
- Do I walk around and knocking on people's door holding my equipment?
- How much should I charge? I've seen videos about charging 50¢ per window and in the window washing industry, I don't know how charging works
- My equipment are going to be a squeegee, microfiber cloth, a glass cleaner spray, bucket of water? Is this enough to go knocking on people's doors?
- Should my pitch be like "Hi! Local window washer here! Do you have any windows you want to get cleaned?" Saying it like an energetic teen?
-Should I be energetic the whole time when washing windows?
-I hear people talking about insurance and ABN and taxes. Should I do insurance and worry about taxes as well? I'm scared of taxes

Other than that, please leave tips for me as I've done nothing about producing but consuming my whole life and feel like this business could supply my family for the things they are going thru right now. I am going to do my best and help out financially for my mom and dad as Im in a bad family situation.

If you guys want to say anything please say it, I want to give out my best and be the best window cleaner in my community! Maybe more advance equipment later on. Other than that, IM GOING TO DO IT!

​

When my kids were young, they washed our neighbors' windows for their spending money. It worked. I copied off some 1/2-page fliers for them. It's set them up for life. They know how to talk to people and how to work.

Just go do it! Start your prices very low. Then, as you get better at it, raise them. Also, you will pick up regular customers. Here's another question you should ask each person, "Do you have any other chores I can do for you?" They may have dog poop to scoop up. They may have weeds to pull. They may need you to do their dishes. I've worked just about every day since I was 11 years old. I did everyone's chores in my neighborhood when I was a lot younger than you are. I learned business at a very young age. And it has really paid off for me.

 

[Chet Shen]

Take the ideas in this post down the road for a lot more years...

I went to my 50th high school reunion last fall. It was both interesting and dismal

I went to the meet-and-greet the night before the main dinner. I saw one of my best friends from high school. She told me off in front of everyone for helping her mom & dad too much when they were alive (I regularly sent them small amounts of grocery money on gift cards when they really needed it.) She was really angry with me. for financially helping her parents when she couldn't. I had never told my friend what I did, but I realized that her mother told her. My friend was mad at me. I tried to tell her how much I loved her mother and how grateful I was for her Mom helping me when I was a little kid. Nothing I said helped. So, my husband and I left that get-together early.

The next evening, I went to the main dinner event. People showed up dressed up and ready to have their pictures taken. (I didn't want a picture, so I hadn't bothered to dress up.) But, in spite of their formal appearances, a lot of them really haven't gone anywhere or anything interesting. They had worked lower-level jobs. As I talked to different people I realized I was the odd man out. I'm a Juris Doctor (graduated from law school when I was in my 40s, plus my 3 other degrees) while most of them never further their educations past high school. Most, in that huge room, were retired with side jobs and were totally broke. They were just squeaking by.

I realized I was in a totally different life situation from the people I grew up with. I couldn't tell them about my business success without making them feel bad. Anything I said would sound like bragging. So, I told them that I'm retired and I kept asking them questions about their lives. I was glad I hadn't dressed up so I could fly under the radar. No one there had any idea of who I had become, so I focused on them. Listening hurt my heart. I sure don't share their challenges and problems!

So, I called my husband in the middle of the event and had him pick me up. I just stood up, excused myself, and walked out. We took off and went on a nice unexpected vacation for the rest of the time we had planned for that trip.

Thank you @WJK for always responding and replying to this thread. It feels like everything I do and post in this thread is supported by entrepreneurs and experienced people so I don't feel alone.
@Simon Angel thanks for replying as well, really big help there!

I can really see my friends going out in the holidays having fun. Some studying for maths for their engineering courses in uni, some going somewhere and some chilling. I'm kinda viewing this window cleaning as a "I'm a doer and doing business" and seeing this as an opportunity to learn how and what businesses needs. So instead of applying for a job, I'm doing business and learning at the same time, posting problems after problems here and seeing what I can learn from.

Going D2D today, going to be the nicest person ever and see if they need my service or not. My brother went for a job which makes me jealous cuz I haven't made any income yet. I'm going to try to give them candy to appreciate their time (if I have any) and just knock spreading positivity.

 

[piano]

@piano @Subsonic I'm coming back

Oh I love that your ping didn't get shown up in my feed. Imma just ping @Subsonic in case he didn't get it as well.

I stopped because of exams or rather that's my excuse. I stopped in like after my last post in this thread, this thread has completely turned off and stop, sorry guys. I completely stopped going to fast lane forum and even went back to my bad old habits like P*rn and just pure idleness.

I think you should ask yourself why you stopped coming (exams are surely not the reason).

I think I stopped because I saw that WC was not recurring enough and needed a lot of d2d which I'm not very excited about. My excuses:
- WC is not recurring enough for me( all I did was on residential and not on storefront BECUZ idk how to)

Hm, is that the answer? Close enough, here are my thoughts:
I don't know how much you tried out, however I do believe that you're able to crack recurring cleans.
For example; you clean at their house and they say that they'll call you back when they need it.
Now many months have passed and they didn't call back.
What do you think happened?
Perhaps they forgot about you or they lost your number.
Now what if you call them instead in a few months?

Thinking like that, right? Trying and figuring things slowly out.

And for window cleaning not being recurring enough; something I heard @Johnny boy do are subscriptions. You can find it somewhere in his lawn mowing thread. That way you can get a steady paycheck all year round.

As for storefronts; they are imo the easiest to sell to. You could drop me off in France and I'd be able to sell windows (I speak bad school French lol).
Or in other words; if you manage to sell to residential d2d, then you definitely can sell to storefronts, albeit perhaps not with the same prices as stores normally pay less.

- I used to constantly check on FB and Nextdoor even in school class and was constantly paranoid about my WC sales and how to get more customers

But was that the most important thing at the time? Considering that you spent so much energy on it and failed, perhaps not.

-Pain in the a$$ to clean doubles story windows because it's hard to access the top exterior windows(Perhaps target different houses that has easier access to upper story windows?)

Lol I fully agree with you. I want to cry when I get higher windows. For this, you can research on your own (window cleaning forum, Steve0 window cleaner etc). In Germany however it's not that big of a problem when doing inside and outside (as you can do the outside windows from the inside).

-Idk how to make a subscription for window cleaning to have a recurring income. (Perhaps more services like exterior house cleaning?)

What do you mean? Making a contract is probably a good idea because I can already see the a$$ pain you're gonna get if you make it inofficially.

-Should I target customers who have pets specifically as they pay more and are much more willing to pay?

Lol you see what you're doing there?
What the F*ck does that matter?
There's more important stuff to think about; you should rather think about step 1 than step 8.

About this: I think I'll actually discard the idea for now (to do an SMMA). Partly due to your guys' messages to me and also partly due to @Subsonic .
Subsonic is about the same age and in the same country as me and already has got some promising results. And the fact that @heavy_industry teased me a bit in the thread... I don't know if this is just the kind of motivation that will die tomorrow but I thought that I should at least try again. After all, I only knocked on a few doors!

What I did today:
-woke up early to get the piano task out of my way fast
-went to town hall and got some knowledge on legal stuff (not business related but essential)
-got myself a hip belt to look more like somebody who actually does shit (I feel like my appearance plays a big role)

What I am going to do after posting this:
-knock on doors or businesses

I'm scared to the bone but whatever.
Let's see what I can do.
About an hour until it gets dark...

Here is me in a very simialr situation to you ^; I wasn't getting any sales and I thought about starting an SMMA but people encouraged me to continue.

Whatever you do bro Imma cheer for you however I think this horse isn't dead yet (is that even a saying?)

Also, IT'S SUMMER IN AUSTRALIA RN WHY ARE YOU DECIDING TO QUIT NOW ???

Good luck!

 

[Subsonic]

Oh I love that your ping didn't get shown up in my feed. Imma just ping @Subsonic in case he didn't get it as well.


I think you should ask yourself why you stopped coming (exams are surely not the reason).

Hm, is that the answer? Close enough, here are my thoughts:
I don't know how much you tried out, however I do believe that you're able to crack recurring cleans.
For example; you clean at their house and they say that they'll call you back when they need it.
Now many months have passed and they didn't call back.
What do you think happened?
Perhaps they forgot about you or they lost your number.
Now what if you call them instead in a few months?

Thinking like that, right? Trying and figuring things slowly out.

And for window cleaning not being recurring enough; something I heard @Johnny boy do are subscriptions. You can find it somewhere in his lawn mowing thread. That way you can get a steady paycheck all year round.

As for storefronts; they are imo the easiest to sell to. You could drop me off in France and I'd be able to sell windows (I speak bad school French lol).
Or in other words; if you manage to sell to residential d2d, then you definitely can sell to storefronts, albeit perhaps not with the same prices as stores normally pay less.

But was that the most important thing at the time? Considering that you spent so much energy on it and failed, perhaps not.

Lol I fully agree with you. I want to cry when I get higher windows. For this, you can research on your own (window cleaning forum, Steve0 window cleaner etc). In Germany however it's not that big of a problem when doing inside and outside (as you can do the outside windows from the inside).

What do you mean? Making a contract is probably a good idea because I can already see the a$$ pain you're gonna get if you make it inofficially.

Lol you see what you're doing there?
What the F*ck does that matter?
There's more important stuff to think about; you should rather think about step 1 than step 8.


Here is me in a very simialr situation to you ^; I wasn't getting any sales and I thought about starting an SMMA clench but people encouraged me to continue.

Whatever you do bro Imma cheer for you however I think this horse isn't dead yet (is that even a saying?)

Also, IT'S SUMMER IN AUSTRALIA RN WHY ARE YOU DECIDING TO QUIT NOW ???

Good luck!

Thanks for the ping.

I have got some trouble getting sales right now, but that's just part of the game.


@Chet Shen My favorite saying is "If it was easy, everyone could do it". We don't want easy because we don't get paid for easy.

 

[Chet Shen]

please dont do that. thats desperate. demand $50/hour and you will soon make $50/hour

1)One of the objections that came to me was that I can't clean the second floor as my pole is too short, should I buy a longer one?
you can either buy a longer pole, or avoid those types of houses. I'd recommend buying a longer pole once you have the money for it so then you can charge higher for those higher houses.
2)I gave people my phone number and wondered should I get cards with my phone number and put it in letterboxes and give it to them?
good idea but not necessary. buy once you make enough profit
3) I feel weird about buying an extension pole, squeegee, scrubber and potentially a ladder as I'm scared of the price like $150-$200
make $200 profit first and then reinvest it.

4)Should I knock on the same doors as today next time?
no. if the people were interested and told you to come back then yes.

Question that I got is what if I come as annoying to the homeowners? I feel like they might be annoyed at my presence and tell me to F*ck off anytime as I'm selling them something, do I just make my pitch funny enough to make them less annoyed?
Who gives a F*ck if they're annoyed? Just go to the next house. They're not going to do anything to you aside from verbal abuse.

Good job so far @Lawtiti . Keep up the hustling

Thanks you so much for the support! For the Update:

I knocked on 22 doors today in the afternoon and came back home for lunch. Gave 8 people my phone number as when they rejected my window cleaning service, I offered general cleaning(pressure washing, lawn mowing,etc) and most of them said they will call me back when they need it. Is this what MJ DeMarco meant when he says don't do multiple business???So I pretty much have to learn how to do those general house cleaning now...

One guy said that he will have a cleaner come the next day and will call me back next week and I gave him the estimated price of $150 for the exterior.

One guy also said he will call me back as his lawn is interfering with the pathways to the windows around couple of weeks and one old lady said she'll call me back as she has to think about it(said that she really need it done)

After lunch, I kinda felt overwhelmed that I told people I offered them general cleaning and I feel like I have to take a new notebook out and learn how to mow lawns, pressure wash, all those stuff and write it all down. So I kinda just sat there and research on my tafe college thing since our selected few school students will take a look at tafe physically. I'm buying a squeegee and window scrubber from Amazon($75 total).

My dad has a friend and I offered her to clean her windows in exchange of taking photos of before & afters and referrals. I think if I do a great job on the houses, I'll ask for referrals and ask them if they know anyone who needs window cleaning. Maybe I can do general house cleaning services plus window cleaning? Saw some Facebook posts in our community group about general house cleaning.

Other than that I feel more confident and happier. I've started to incorporate some Josh Lester lines into my pitch, like:"So what we do is we handscrub every inch of your windows" & "If you don't mind, I'll go around the house, count up the windows and give you a price, it'll take me like 30 seconds" or "handsome guy" I think I'm starting to imitate him and feeling more confident about myself. Feeling like a salesman now! My dad says that I should go get a job at KFC or McDonald's or something. I feel that I should just keep on going door to door and eventually I will get someone to pay me $150-200 for the interior and exterior like Josh Lester! Freaking Legend with the pitches!

 

[piano]

Man why the front haha.

I still haven't forgotten the day you recommended me Wish

 

[piano]

NGL, I'm feeling like I'm challenging @piano at scaling a window cleaning business. I wonder if @piano is winning...

Bro, your a$$ needs to complete like 8 more of those jobs and you already out earned me.
I also have to finish this disgusting pile of paperwork fml.
And what if I am winning? Is your Australia's temperature going to drop to absolute zero and all of you die? No, you'll keep riding on kangaroos or whatever you Aussies do.
So keep going bro (also please start liking my replies if they are of value to you lol)

 

[Andy Black]

Learn people skills. Learn to talk easily to the people around you. Be kind. Be respectful. Get those people to talk about themselves. It's their favorite subject. You will learn a lot about how the world works.

I love this. The next time someone asks what skill to learn I'll point them to this (if I can find it again).

 

[Andy Black]

Wait, that's weird. Why should I take advices from the forums and business mentors from government bodies with a pinch of salt?

Taking something with a pinch of salt means to not believe it 100%.

Hear the advice but do your own due diligence and follow your gut.

You're going to get a lot of conflicting advice and it can send you in circles.

 

[Ing]

Imo most important to list yourself on google.
When anybody looking your town on google maps sees your logo coming up, its more important than a card or a homepage.
Second is homepage, as ppl look for it , when they see on maps.

 

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[Chet Shen]

Got into a free Worksop from the government in Wednesday called "Planning for growth" it was about business planning and it emphasizes a lot on sales & marketing and accounting. I learnt a lot from the workshop and thought that you guys might learn a thing or two from what I've learned.

Opportunities without structure= chaos. Where structure represents processes/systems. How can you make the opportunity work without much systems/processes to reach a desired result. Every results needs to have processes/systems. It's to make the work organise and easier to do without thinking much.

Niches are much more narrow and industry are much more broader. Say e.g. window cleaning. Window cleaning is an industry while residential window cleaning/ commercial/industry window cleaning are niches as they are much more specific and narrower. You have to excel/dominate in one niche first before you go on to another niche. If you just go to any niches and don't care, you won't have the right equipment or you won't have a customer base/case studies that proves that you're an expert. Like wheres your proof?

Sales and marketing is the primary goal of every industry and the second goal is the delivery. Sales and marketing are what makes businesses known and attract prospects, if you're good, you're able to attract more and more prospects. "You cannot lead and grow at the same time as managing and controlling" where leading & growing is sales and marketing as it helps your to expand and dominate your niche while managing and controlling is the delivery part where you control and deliver the promises/perceived value that you have made to your customers.

Prospects- never dealt with you before
Customers- 1-3 transactions
Clients- Long term client

Know the difference of each stages as you have to give out different messages and you have to be specific on who you're targeting. It's a small tweak but it can come of as huge when comes to marketing and selling

There are two ends in marketing:
The front end where you try to attract new prospect from pull marketing, where they come to you & The Back End where you upsell(more value)/cross sell(different niche) your product/ services so that you create a buying frenzy which increases clients loyalty. New businesses who have customers should focus on the back end, where they convert the existing customers into clients by upselling/ cross selling.

There are strategy and tactics in business marketing/sales. Strategies are which market niche do we target? Who is our target audience? Ideal customer? And tactics are the leads/ assets like websites, email marketing, social media and so on.

3 ways to grow sales:
1)More prospects/customers/clients - where you do your prospecting/referrals/ and other marketing
2)Increase No. of frequency of transactions per customer
3)Increase average value of client/increase average life cycle where you upsell/ cross sell any other product/service to keep them buying.

Selling is all about the transfer of certainty where you have to make the prospect trust your
- product/service
- company
- person - you
You have to come across as enthusiastic, sharp and an expert. If you don't get the sales, one of them are missing.
Use your tonality/body language to seem like a trusted advisor and make them know that you're in control and you have the perfect solution for them.
When someone is shopping for prices, like " that's too expensive/ can you make it $..." It's because that you haven't added/communicate enough value. Prices doesn't matter and nobody shops for prices, people wants results, benefits, value. You can sell someone 4-10x the amount of money if you added enough value and they WILL buy it. It's either they feel that something is missing/value is missing/ you have to stack on value after value. It's all about results, what results can you give, what value? Results, benefits, value. You can ask people who decline your offer, why they didn't accept it? Did you not come across as enthusiastic, sharp and an expert?

Copy the best. If one window cleaning company dominated the industry, why not copy them? There's no reason to not copy the best. Copy their website, where do they put the ads? The pictures? Copy their lead funnel, what do they offer to their prospect? Customer?client? You can copy the top 10 best performing industry and see what you like and implement them onto your own.

You need to know your numbers as well. As you will know what levers to pull to get healthy again. You get to see problems and remove. To know your numbers, you have to learn some accounting. Balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement and KPIs. Basics of accounting is what every entrepreneur need to know. The cash flow statement is the most important as it's all about cash and liquidity. You can work without profit, but you can't work without cash.

When delegating your tasks to expand your company, set results, roles and responsibilities. Make it clear and specific. Don't always check up on them too often, give them some space to work. Tell them to give you reports and check on them once in a while, not a lot. Or you'll be like a mother to a child. Make them responsible and accountable for what they do.

What makes your different and special from other businesses. If you don't know, you're just an average business. Find out what separates you from the others. What makes your different? The guy told me to give him a 10 sec elevator pitch that separated me apart from other window cleaning businesses and I f*cked up, words can't even come together because I know I'm average. Know what makes your different, if you don't, you're not special.

And lastly. How bad do you want it? Are you willing to go through failure after failure? Are you willing to be called all sorts of profanity? Are you willing to get frustrated and thinking that no one likes you? Are you willing to go through doors after doors and no's after no's and feeling like shit? How badly do you want it? You may not want it that badly, it's up to you.

These are some points that I've learned and my takeaways were
-Sales and marketing are primary goals of every industry.
-Learn basic accounting
-Prospects, customers, and clients are different
-Theres front end and back end of marketing
-Learnt that niches are important and much more narrow
- Selling is about transfer of certainty.
-Read Straight line system by Jordan Belfort, learn how to sell
-Im a little bitch being protected by parents and if I have kids and a wife, I would have gone 110% to get sales. Stop being a pussy being scared of looping in sales because someone might tell you to F*ck off and other sorts of bad words. Go get contracts like your life depends on it. Just do it.

What I'm going to do next:
- Brainstorm what makes me special and how I can upsell/cross sell services to be better
- Learn how to sell - Straight Line system by Jordan Belfort
- Focus on my niche and delegate my work

 

[Andy Black]

@Andy Black do you mind posting some of your sales call here? I would love to read/hear it as Idk where to find it

This is myself discussing "sales calls" with @xShepherdx

MARKETING - A chat about selling marketing services

@xShepherdx posted last week about his frustrations hiring a marketing freelancer. We've never spoken but I offered to hop on a call and chat about it. If you watch then please add your notes and I'll add them to this opening post. What's your takeaways? What will you do different going...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

Here's a podcast I did for a bit:

HOT! - EXECUTION - Let's Chat Sales

I started a podcast with Brendan McAdams who has years of experience as a sales pro. Join us in our first episode to learn how we: Figure it out as we go along. Find Product-Market-Fit, one customer at a time. Allow niches to reveal themselves as we engage the market. We also discuss, among...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

 

[Chet Shen]

Really asking myself
"I'm this is a learning experience, when should I stop?"

"This window cleaning business has the potential to outearn a minimum wage employee, should I scale and outearn a minimum wage employee?"

I just bought an extension pole for double story but I won't buy a ladder for safety reasons.(I will be able to clean some exterior upper story windows, but not all)

I'm really asking myself where I'm going with this, as I'm hiring my friends for casual workers.

My goal: Learn selling, marketing and other business owner skills.

I feel stressed about training my friends for Saturday work as it's a double story house, no extras just windows(but I'm definitely gonna clean their sills&frames)

I feel overwhelmed about the things I have to do:
-create short videos for posting valuable content in Facebook to capture their attention and hopefully make them hire me
-learn Facebook advertising
-learn how to manage my friends
-thinking about upsell/crossell for my service
-approaching storefronts

I met a kid on a bus yesterday. He was a dropout and was 16 yr old. A first year apprentice in electrical work. He went to tafe(an Australian career school that teach you trades and offers apprenticeship on jobs for free, they pay you for work. But once you do school apprenticeship, you can't go to uni). He works 4 days a week and one day learning in tafe, and other weekends does extra work. Reminds me that I should be learning and moving on to an apprenticeship.

Now I'm really asking myself, should I not scale to double story and keep learning marketing for single story house? Idk. I need some time alone thinking.

 

[Andy Black]

You get to learn how to scale with people, processes, and technology? And you get to learn marketing? All while doing it rather than sitting in a class? All while getting paid? Well done!

 

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[Andy Black]

Funny thing about that is my school career interviewer said I should do business studies as since I'm doing business. @Andy Black That's true.

The first interview was a business consultant guy. I told him I saw no future in this but all about learning business.
He told me that I should learn tonality & body language selling from Jordan Belfort and make irresistible offers(upsell/crossell).
Told me I need a strategy for residential and business owners.

A lot of value in what he told me. I really feel like an idiot talking to him. Made me feel that I should be more specific and think more in a numbers game.

I really feel dumb as there is so much to learn honestly
-learn referrals selling
-Learn how to make an irresistible offer
-Make an elevator pitch
-write what I'm offering on paper
-study my competitors
-know the business owners before I knock on their doors
-make brochures

I really need to learn and I feel like he is going to come out the screen and strangle me if I don't learn.

Your goal isn't to "learn". You're goal is to serve/help people, and get paid so you can help even more.

Have you read this:

NOTABLE! - What if you already know enough?

The most obvious danger of consuming too much is that it turns you into a consumer. A lot of that “free” (and paid) content out there is designed to turn you into someone else’s consumer. (And it’s not free btw... not unless you put zero value on the time it took to consume that “free”...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

 

[Andy Black]

@Andy Black am i taking your words to seriously?

Take everyone's words with a pinch of salt, including mine. What works for one person may not resonate with you. I'm always pushing the "help people" angle because people are so focused on their own goals or short-comings that they don't end up serving anyone. Or they do people a disservice by not getting out of their own way and engaging the market.

In this forum we all aspire to be business folks, and I contend we serve people better if we get paid for it and build a business to deliver that value at scale.

HOW we do that depends on our personalities, strengths, weaknesses, interests, etc.

I just find that if we have the right North Star then it simplifies things a lot.

Is this helping anyone?

Can I get paid to help them?

Can I get paid to help even more?

I want to help my community and to do that, i will have to learn those skills and be qualified and start helping others"

Be careful of limiting beliefs. Do you *have to* learn those skills and get qualified? There's many ways to help people and get paid doing so. Even in that scenario, maybe you generate leads for those businesses and help home owners too. No need to be qualified in a trade then. Don't mix up what you're doing and why with any given way how.

convince the prospect

I personally don't like this phrase. I prefer to think that "sales is a screening process". I'm not here to convince anyone of anything. My mindset is "This is what I do. This is how we do it. These are some of our results. It may or may not work for you. Reach out if you need any help. Best of luck."

 

[Andy Black]

One of my "bucket list" business ideas or passion projects is to help youngsters (and others) untangle themselves. Your questions and your other thread have just affirmed that.

 

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[Jrjohnny]

18 doors in and 3 ph no. In and I'm feeling very sad. No sales.

This feel like shit. I feel like everyone hates me and feel like a pest.

People rejections are getting in to me now (this is what happens when you don't go d2d every week) I feel like shit.

Maybe because my bad family relationships are getting in to me and need an actual friend to comfort me. Feel like crying ngl.

Probably need to watch Josh lester videos and learn his techniques.
Now is school holidays 2weeks and I feel like I could print out some flyers and deliver them and go storefronts in the weekdays.

Ngl I feel like getting a job would be better than this. Now feeling shit

I don't even know how @piano and @Subsonic can keep going.

Hey man, you got to know people don’t mean to hurt you, they said no, they dont see you as a pest. They probably see you as a confident, nice kid. They may have been rude because you never know, they could have been fired by the boss. If they say no, just say thank you for your time. Something else you can do is give them a little piece of candy. Just be the nicest person you can be. Remember, be the reason why someone smiles.