Money, Money, Money? Are you getting yours? How to get paid quickly.

Are you sitting on a mountain of unpaid invoices?

I wrote before on the importance of getting paid. I make sure that after just 2 weeks the majority of my customers that haven't paid an invoice that is aged 14 days get a friendly reminder letter.

I have found that this has sped up payment for me and enabled me to have more cash flow and less uncollected invoices.

Another important thing to do in your small business is to make sure that you have created all the invoices for all the work that has been done, and not delay in emailing or mailing the invoices.

Today, I was surprised at the hundreds of dollars of work that I have not billed going back to Dec 2011. I was wondering why my business bank account was leaner than usual of late.

So, very simple things to do to keep your cash flow healthy is to remind customers after two weeks to pay your invoice and to make sure all invoices have been created and are sent to customers quickly. Remember you have a right to your money. You don't need to apologize for that.

Get More Homestars Reviews

Get More HomeStar Reviews


My last post spoke about using HomeStars to find a reliable contractor. And as I said I used HomeStars to find a good duct cleaning company. Canaduct had hundreds of 10 star homestar reviews. So with that info and checking their website I was sold.

I hired them in large part due to HomeStar reviews. I wondered how they were able to get hundreds of reviews. A couple days later I found out, with this follow up letter.

Now tell me is this a good follow up letter? Would you use it? Any criticisms?

Here it is:

Hi Michael,
I am pleased that you were satisfied with our recent performance, duct cleaning your home.
I would be most grateful therefore, if you would kindly give us a 10-STAR review on www.homestars.com.  It is important to our company that we continue to have updated reviews, lest we be left in our competitor's dust.
Thank you.

Paul  B***
Air quality and HVAC specialist
Www.canaduct.com
Www.heatingontario.ca
416-410-3777(work)
647-999-7062(cell)


________

I was a little surprised about how forward it was in asking for a 10 star review. But besides that it is a good idea, short, and sweet too.

Give me feedback,

Mike Polsky
647-409-8144
mike@mmwindowcleaners.com
http://mmwindowcleaners.com

Links:
homestars.com
canaduct.com

Using Homestars

Using HomeStars

A few months ago we bought our first house. We are very excited, but as with any new house purchase there are many unexpected and unwanted surprises.

We want to get our ducts cleaned. It turned out that even though this house is 10 years old, and even was renovated the ducts were never cleaned. Imagine the disgusting air that we have been breathing in.

We have never hired a duct cleaning company before, and our friends and family couldn't recommend a good one. So to find a reliable service provider I took to the net and checked out HomeStars. I looked for a duct cleaning company that was reviewed and consistently met or exceeded customer's expectations.

I found a company Canaduct that had hundreds of 10 star reviews. I was impressed. How can a company even have so many good reviews. After looking at their website I gave them a call and booked an appointment. They did a good job, though it was nothing spectacular. I was pretty impressed with all the upselling they tried to do. A good trait for a service provider. And it wasn't done in a pressured or guilty manner. The crews were on time and did good work.

Now why am I bringing this up? Because it's something I want to implement in my business. With using a new company people myself included look for online reviews. Every major purchase I have made I do a lot of research and I spend a lot of time looking for reviews.

For example when I vacation, and we are choosing a resort. I spend some time looking at the reviews of the resorts from people that have gone, and I make my choice on that, more than even the price of the trip. Same has gone for pretty well any major purchase I have made.

So take advantage of human nature. List yourself on HomeStars and put in place a system that encourages satisfied customers to post reviews. Get above just one review like mine currently stands at.


Next time I am going to show you the follow up letter that Canaduct sent me to encourage me to post a review on HomeStars, should I use something similar? You tell me,.

Thanks for reading

Check out my website http://www.mmwindowcleaners.com/ Or call me 647-409-8144

Links Mentioned: homestars.com

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. 

Keep your competition close

There is a saying to keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Although a few of your competitors can be your enemy, not all of your competition is, in fact many are not.

My Toronto window cleaning competitors include some good friends and acquaintances, We respect each other, although we do get jealous of each others successes. Especially when they are ahead of us on Google.

Some we have got to know on window cleaning forums, and from there we built up a friendship and trust. And others I have known because many of my friends are window cleaners as well. Because they treasure the flexibility and good pay in the field.

It's good to keep in mind, especially in a service business that there is more than enough work out there for everyone. There is an infinite amount of windows to be cleaned. No one company can clean everyone store and house out there.

Not every business owner has the same focus of his business. In my industry, some prefer to clean stores and commercial, whereas others love cleaning residential and despise commercial. Some do add ons to their regular work, which I will not mention what they are in this post. They serve niche markets and at times make much more than window cleaning.

Keep Your Competition Close

Many times I have used my competition to pass on jobs, to have them do a job under my name. They have also been kind enough to pass on work to me often without expecting anything in return.

They have proven to give me honest and reliable advice when I needed some help with pricing, dealing with employees and subs and their compensation, and common issues in window cleaning.

Of course, you always keep some info to your self, and don't let them know every business strategy that you are planning to implement, but sharing business knowledge is far better than keeping things to yourself for fear that they may copy you. To learn and to grow you do need to share some of what you are doing now and learn what they are trying as well.

Why am I saying all this? Well today, three of my competitors, two - who I do business with who work for me on certain jobs - met up. We enjoyed a burger and fries with them. We shot the breeze, talked about window cleaning, the industry, our marketing, some of our goals and needs, and what we wanted to accomplish in 2012.

So go ahead, have a coffee with your competition. You do of course have to use common sense, take your time to get to know someone, and not give away your "secret" recipe, but sharing information and knowledge with a trustworthy and kind competitor may help you to grow and thrive in the window cleaning field, or whatever field you are in.

I'm not saying there are not unscrupulous or dishonest competitors in your field, so use your head. But there are likely many honest, decent people that are just trying to make a living for their family, that would love to sit down and have a coffee with you. You can learn a lot.

Do you want your windows cleaned? Call the Toronto Window Cleaner. Mike Polsky. At 647-409-8144.

Thanks for reading my blog.

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

Improving SEO

A couple weeks ago, I spent many hours working on my website. Why? I've been disappointed with it's search engine ranking. Although I'm quite pleased with the layout of my site, the company that helped me create wasn't able to help me when it came to ranking high on search engines.

Althouhgh I have always had a very high ranking on Yahoo for certain keywords. I have never been high up on Google. The highest I got was about 23 down the list.

So I decided to take action.

I bought a book from Chapters. I'm not going to disclose it here due to local competition also reading this blog. If you want to know the book, email me at mike@mmwindowcleaners.com. However, I applied almost everything in the book. However, it only cost me about $30. I have read about two thirds of it so far. I have spent countless hours to implement the suggestions, and improve the layout of my website, and other things.

After about a week, my site went up to about number 5 or number 6 on Google. Other webpages on my webiste are further down the list. I am very happy with the results so far, and I'm getting the calls to prove it.

So if you are going to buy some books for your business. Don't just read it, implement the strategies and methods within. It does no good for you to just read something and forget it. Your website will not climb much if you do nothing.

I found great improvement in my site by just putting $30 down. And I'm continouly working on my site to get it up to #1. Perhaps that is a pipe dream, but being within the top 5 is pretty cool.

Wanna Check out my website? Let me know what you think.Toronto Window Cleaning - M&M

Are you in the Toronto area and want your windows cleaned? Call Me, the Reliable Toronto Window Cleaner at 647-409-8144.