What would you say if I told you I knew a great way to earn a decent part-time wage that will cost you as little as $200 for supplies? If you are semi-retired or already retired but itching to do something useful with your time that can even help with your finances, let me tell you about window washing. I’m not talking about hanging off the side of a building twenty stories above the ground, either. That is, unless you like that sort of thing.
Even if you live in a small town you can make a window washing business turn a profit and generate regular business throughout the warmer months of the year. Basic supplies, such as pails, sponges, squeegees, shammies and cleaning solutions will cost you far less than you can imagine and you can make all of that back in your first full day on the job. I know a guy who scoots around the business sector of our small town on an electric scooter. He carries some supplies in a carrier attached to his scooter and rides with a long handle squeegee in one hand.
He can park on the street and walk to most of his clients on that street then move down to the next block and repeat the same routine. He does this from mid-morning until late in the afternoon and pockets a fistful of dollars. One of his secrets is that he fills his bucket with water at the business he is working at so he doesn’t need to haul around jugs or a tank of water. He adds his cleaning solution to the water and off he goes.
He does outside windows mostly in the spring and summer as the businesses he services have a janitor who takes care of the interior windows. For clients who don’t use a janitor service he cleans their inside windows. In the cooler months he still has those customers he cleans just the interior windows for. He charges by the hour and has both residential and business clients that use his service.
Aside from the affordable start-up costs, having a window washing business means you can be your own boss. When you are your own boss you get to decide how long and how often you’ll work. You can also decide how many customers you want to keep as ‘regulars’ and when it’s time to solicit for new ones.
In addition to the flexible schedule, which will allow you to still hit the links with the boys or head off to visit relatives whenever you want to, you won’t need office space where you’d be paying rent and utilities. In fact, if you set up a small shop in your home or garage, it could benefit you even more with some tax deductions.
But why window cleaning? That’s a simple one to answer as it is virtually recession proof. That is to say, windows will always get dirty. That can be the result of the climate or a combination of dirty hands and faces that press against windows in high traffic areas. It’s also a pretty easy business to find regular customers as you can build a regular scheduled window cleaning program around some of the busier locations as you may be needed to clean windows more frequently than with other clients.
As for what you can earn, the average window cleaner makes between $50 and $70 per hour. If you worked just one day a week you could earn $1,400 to $2,000 in extra income in a single month. Of course, your pricing would have to be in accordance with what your market can bear, but these numbers are possible as business professionals will pay top dollar to keep their office space looking sparking clean to set a good first impression with their clients.
You can find out more about how a window washing business can help enhance your retirement by visiting www.ProfitableWindowCleaning.com.