Updated Working As A Subcontractor

Working as a subcontractor

Working As A Subcontractor

I wanted to speak about something that could really add a nice income stream to your business. Subcontracting. Many janitorial companies in particular, don't want or don't know how to properly clean windows. Many are very eager to work with a window cleaning company to clean windows for their clients. They may be happy because they may have turned down window cleaning jobs before, but now, they can have someone they trust clean the windows, and they can make a tidy profit on it.

Also, if you think about it, many jobs are locked out of reach. Janitorial or cleaning companies have the contract to clean the windows, and no matter how much we try, it may just be out of reach for us. So working with janitorial companies, or property managers opens up a huge new market for commercial window cleaning.

I have worked with several janitorial companies over the past year. One janitorial company I have cleaned a restaurant for. Another has me clean some insurance office windows. Another had me clean payday loan centres, And one had me clean a condo sales office. Generally there are two kinds of companies, serious business owners who charge good prices, and are reaping the benefits, and ones who charge very little and are working like dogs. I have worked with both.

The important things to deal with when you work with companies is this. Provide a pay period that they must pay you by. For example due on receipt or due in two weeks. You deserve your money, and don't stand for not getting paid til the customer gets paid. Let the contractor manage the risk, that will be a large weight off your back.

One cleaner that I worked for took one whole year to pay me. Thankfully it was a tiny amount, but it really shows that you must clearly state payment terms, which I did, and be on them persistently for payment.

Try to put things in writing, even if it's just an email. For each new job you bid on send an email outlining what work you will do, and how much you will charge. Often terms are forgotten and arguments or misunderstandings may arise.

Don't feel that you need to cut your prices. I have charged decent prices, and the contractor was still able to put a decent cut on top of it.

Good communication is key. A janitor doesn't think like a window cleaner, and he might not understand your pricing, what work is involved, or other issues.

An advantage of working as a subcontractor is that you may get jobs that you may not get through your marketing efforts, or you may not be allowed to bid on.

Of course, janitors are not the only people you can work with. You can subcontract for property maintenance companies, national service companies, even other window cleaners. Any window cleaning job where the customer is not yours is subcontracting.

So, in summary. Set payment terms, communicate, put things in writing, and don't cut your prices if you don't have to.

Just recently I've added another company to the janitorial companies I deal with. It's an initial clean, that is decent money. I'm going to do the initial clean on Tuesday and we are going to sit down for coffee that day and talk about cleaning all the buildings that he cleans. He called me based on a referral from a client I serviced last year so it also shows the power of referrals.

Currently I only clean for several cleaning companies. In fact I can count them on my hand. However, I would like that part of my business to explode so that I can diversify my revenue quite a bit and not be too dependent on any one aspect or customer. I plan to call up janitorial companies and see if I can meet with them and make arrangements to provide quotes.
Thanks for reading my blog. If you are in the Toronto area, and want your windows cleaned. Call me. I am the Toronto Window Cleaner. 647-409-8144

Hiring an employee or using a subcontractor

Hiring An Employee or Using a Subcontrator


The time comes in every small business where you don't handle every part of your operation.

Sure, at one point it might seem thrilling to where many hats. But over time, it gets exhausting. Some people choose to do the technician work of their business, and I respect them.

However, I want to focus more on my business and less on the actual work. I love canvassing for new clients, and dreaming about new accounts to add. The actual window cleaning is fun, and I miss it when I don't get out there and clean windows. But at a certain point it distracts me from my main aim. Growing my business.

That is why I have hired a technician to go out and clean my windows. I know, I can't be like some business owners who abdicate their authority and just hope that their employee takes care of things. On the other hand you have to give them a measure of trust and not micromanage.

By implementing methods to track when the work was done, for example getting signatures from each job, or having them also sign a guestbook at certain clients you can track that the work was done. At times you have to visit your clients, strengthen your relationship and make sure the work is being done to your satisfaction.

There are many other reasons to hire someone. Spending more time with family is a very important reason for instance.

So go ahead, hire someone. It should be a qualified person. You should have them sign a well thought out contract. And never abdicate your responsibility to service the client and monitor the work.

I hope you enjoyed reading my blog. If you are in the Toronto area and want your windows cleaned call me at 647-409-8144. 

Working as a subcontractor

Working As A Subcontractor
 
I haven't posted for quite a while. So I apologize.

I wanted to speak about something that could really add a nice income stream to your business. Subcontracting. Many janitorial companies in particular, don't want or don't know how to properly clean windows. Many are very eager to work with a window cleaning company to clean windows for their clients. They may be happy because they may have turned down window cleaning jobs before, but now, they can have someone they trust clean the windows, and they can make a tidy profit on it.

I have worked with several janitorial companies over the past year. One janitorial company I have cleaned a restaurant for. Another has me clean some insurance office windows. Another had me clean payday loan centres, And this latest one has me clean condo sales offices. Generally there are two kinds of companies, serious business owners who charge good prices, and are reaping the benefits, and ones who charge very little and are working like dogs. I have worked with both.

The important things to deal with when you work with companies is this. Provide a pay period that they must pay you by. For example due on receipt or due in two weeks. You deserve your money, and don't stand for not getting paid til the customer gets paid. Let the contractor manage the risk, that will be a large weight off your back.

Try to put things in writing, even if it's just an email. For each new job you bid on send an email outlining what work you will do, and how much you will charge. Often terms are forgotten and arguments or misunderstandings may arise.

Don't feel that you need to cut your prices. I have charged decent prices, and the contractor was still able to put a decent cut on top of it.

Good communication is key. A janitor doesn't think like a window cleaner, and he might not understand your pricing, what work is involved, or other issues.

An advantage of working as a subcontractor is that you may get jobs that you may not get through your marketing efforts, or you may not be allowed to bid on.

Of course, janitors are not the only people you can work with. You can subcontract for property maintenance companies, national service companies, even other window cleaners.

So, in summary. Set payment terms, communicate, put things in writing, and don't cut your prices if you don't have to.

Thanks for reading my blog. If you are in the Toronto area, and want your windows cleaned. Call me. I am the Toronto Window Cleaner. 647-409-8144

Paul's great marketing blog

Paul McQuillan, a lively,passionate, and great contributing forum member, of Window Cleaning Resource and National Window Cleaning Directory, has turned his passion and ability in marketing into a book:

Onslaught Marketing "How You Can Survive the Economic Crisis and Emerge 10x Stronger Than Your Competition"

His website address is: http://onslaughtmarketing.com

And he authours a very interesting and informative marketing blog - http://jointheonslaught.blogspot.com

He has brought up an important missed opportunity. Forced Continuity, or putting customers on a schedule. It has inspired me, and led me to share and agree with his point about forced continuity. Here is the blog posting:

http://jointheonslaught.blogspot.com/2009/02/window-cleaners-take-heed.html

Forced continuity is regularly scheduled window cleaning on a indefinte frequency. Whether that is every two weeks, four weeks, eight weeks, or twice a year.

As Paul goes on to say, many residential window cleaners fail to offer regularly scheduled cleans for their residential customers.

This has inspired me to think of offering this service to residential customers I will attain this spring. The only issue would be to make sure that one can make enough money to drive there, stop, get equipment off truck and clean windows. So an important factor is setting the price at a reasonable level. His suggestion of $80 sounds reasonable.

If you could get many customers to go for this service, a route could be made, causing certain efficiencies to develop and lowering your costs (gas, marketing, etc) per customer.

As an example, Mr Squeegee, aka Tony Evans, anewviewia.com has a winter route, where he cleans some of the windows on certain houses once a month, and has a regular route, which enables him to make some money during a hard time for many residential window cleaners - winter.

Having forced continuity, or putting residential customers on a regular schedule would enable you to make more money per customer. would enable you to get through slow seasons better, and enable you to have a little more of a predictable income.

This is why I enjoy cleaning commercial glass. Everything I do is on a schedule. I can predict how much my company will gross per year, I can schedule my customers for the most efficient way of cleaning them to minimize wasted driving time. I'm cleaning relatively clean glass, and I'm not always forced to market like crazy, since one customer will gross me thousands of dollars a year, for an indefinite period of time, perhaps years. Instead of just making a few hundred bucks, and then trying to get another customer.

Putting customers on a schedule makes a lot of sense. So think about ways you can implement that for your business.

And check out Paul's blog for other great marketing ideas.

Stop leaving so many voicemail messages

Stop Leaving So Many Voicemail Messages

One thing I have learned in the last few months is this. Stop leaving so many voicemail messages.

We hope by leaving them that a prospective customer will call us back when they get a chance, but they rarely do. There are some that have a personality that they return all calls and all messages. But so many, for one reason or another don't. This also applies to email messages too.

Sometimes you might leave one message initially to get the ball rolling. Perhaps you are calling the wrong person and they forward the message to the appropriate party.

But when trying to land a job, don't keep leaving messages. It is far more effective to keep calling, when you get the person on the phone (this requires some patience) they will usually feel like they need to make a decision, and often will make it on the phone. Or they might tell you to call back in a week (call back!). It might takes repeated efforts but some of your efforts will pay off. So be persistant. However, leaving messages will not lead to the same success.

Some other people are worse, and you need to see them in person. Be concious though to do this at a time that you are in the area, and are not needlessly wasting time or gas.

Thanks for reading my blog!

Are you in the Toronto area and want a quote for window cleaning. Call the reliable Toronto window cleaner at 647-409-8144. Or visit my website http://mmwindowcleaners.com