Starting a window cleaning business should be a quick and easy process. This blog outlines everything you should think about before getting started, and provides a guide to equipment for every budget, to help get you underway.
Traditional window cleaning, with a bucket and a squeegee, appears to be a thing of the past thanks to technological advances. Leading brands provide a vast range of products, including window cleaning brushes, water tanks, telescopic poles, and squeegee heads, to ensure you have a well-equipped van, full of professional window cleaning equipment.
You can get started with very little upfront costs and tackle the job with a ladder in one hand and a squeegee in the other. However, by starting small you will limit the progress your business can make. Modern professional window cleaning equipment allows you to do a high-quality job in less time – meaning more jobs and more money – as time is money.
In addition to acquiring window cleaning equipment, you will also want to produce a business plan. It is important to research competitors to find out how much other window cleaners charge and what services they offer. Think about your marketing techniques and how you will grow your business.
Window cleaning kit – what do I need?
Your essentials when starting a window cleaning business are a window cleaning brush, a pole, and a water supply. That may be a bucket (although that’s not advisable as it’s restrictive), an outdoor tap, or a battery-operated water tank. These are your fundamentals; you can always add on any extras, such as specific squeegees or scrapers later on if need be.
It is important to point out, however, that without some extras from the get-go you might be running into a few obstacles, such as watermarks post-cleaning. To combat this, a much cheaper alternative to a water filter would be a simple squeegee blade which can attach to a telescopic pole on a twin gooseneck attachment. This way you can brush the windows, flip the pole over and wipe down with the squeegee.
Before purchasing your telescopic window cleaning pole and brush, it is important to consider what type of property you will mainly be cleaning - is it more domestic or commercial? If smaller domestic properties, a 30ft telescopic pole should suffice. However, if the property is larger, for example, a small office block, you may need an extra 10ft, taking you up to 40ft in total.
How often are you going to be using your telescopic pole? This is an area to consider, as you can purchase lighter Carbon telescopic poles or aluminium poles. If window cleaning is your main business, you may be using it all day, every day, so a lighter Carbon pole would be more efficient. Whereas if it is an addition to an already existing business, it might only be used 2 or 3 times a week, so an aluminium pole may suffice.
The most popular start-up products chosen by professional window cleaners
To make things a little easier for you, we have put together packages for people wanting to start a window cleaning business based on our experience with the most popular products. This gives you an idea of what equipment other window cleaners are using and also a rough starting price.
Package number 1 - Aquaspray Pro 20 Battery operated spray tank with a 30ft Telescopic Lightweight Aluminium Waterfed Pole and Squeegee.
This package is ideal for those window cleaners operating mainly in domestic houses. The spray tank provides a water source for if your customer does not have one, so it is a good unit to have.
Package number 2 - Aquaspray Pro 45 battery operated spray tank with 40 ft Telescopic Carbon Waterfed Pole and Squeegee
This package is ideal for window cleaners targeting more commercial cleans, for example, small office blocks or flats. Having a carbon pole means it is lighter and easier to use, so if you are using it all day on big cleans, there will be less strain on your shoulders.
How much money do window cleaners charge?
Unfortunately, we cannot give you a specific answer to how much money window cleaners charge as many variables could impact cash flow. We can, however, point out that it is important to consider the following:
- The location of the job
- The size of the job
- What equipment will be needed to complete the job
It might be worth contacting people with industry experience as you will find that many people are extremely helpful and can provide tips and tricks.
How do you market your window cleaning business?
With the growth of social media, you can now reach a huge audience spanning across the country – something that traditional methods such as flyers cannot. You can, therefore, think on a larger scale when it comes to marketing. Based on your market research, you will need to stand out from the crowd, so think about what you can offer and what you want to show when marketing; your marketing needs to reflect your unique selling point.
Some areas to consider include:
- Your logo
- Are you going to have a website to direct people to?
- Online marketing through Google or social media
- Make your business available to be reviewed on Trustpilot or Google
- Traditional marketing – flyers or newspaper adverts are still a great way to market yourself and reach a target audience that social media cannot.
