YT YouTube2Text

YouTube2Text → Transcripts → Start a Cleaning Business With $1,000

Start a Cleaning Business With $1,000 — Transcript

by UpFlip · 7,905 words · 1,057 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

Open in transcriber Summarize with AI Download SRT/VTT

Full transcript

0:00- Welcome to an episode of Upflip.
0:01We are here in Bellingham, Washington
0:03with Mount Baker Window cleanings, Jackson Blackburn.
0:06Jackson, so good to be with you.
0:07- Yeah, you as well, Caleb.
0:08- All right, well, let's get into it.
0:09Let's hear your story.
0:10So when did you start your cleaning company,
0:12and what caused you
0:13to get into the window cleaning business?
0:15- Yeah, great question.
0:16So I began Mount Baker Window cleaning company
0:18back in the fall of 2017.
0:20And what caused me to get into it
0:22was actually more of a need than,
0:25"Oh, I'm going to go create this window cleaning business."
0:27- [Caleb] Okay.
0:28- It was more of a necessity
0:29because I had a lot of seasonal jobs prior to that
0:33where I'd maybe be there for three months, six months.
0:36I was moving across the country
0:37to all of these different jobs,
0:39trying all these different things,
0:40and none of them really clicked for me.
0:42And so after years of doing that, I was very tired.
0:45I got beat down, and a little defeated, to be honest,
0:48of switching jobs all the time.
0:50And so there came a point where I realized,
0:53I need to do something for myself.
0:54I need to be my own boss and make my own decisions.
0:57- Okay.
0:58Before you got to the point where you're at now,
1:00did you have anybody who helped you along the way?
1:02- Yeah, absolutely.
1:04I actually hired a business coach a couple years ago.
1:07His name is David Moerman,
1:08and he owns Home Service Business Coach.
1:11He was able to help me triple my revenue, essentially.
1:14- Hold that.
1:15Hey guys, if you want to find out how a single mentor
1:18took him from 400,000 to a million dollars per year,
1:21stay around.
1:22We're going to find out how a single mentor
1:24shifted his business.
1:26All right, briefly talk us through some of the services
1:28that you offer.
1:29- Yeah, absolutely.
1:30So we are full exterior cleaners,
1:31so we'll take care of anything from the roof
1:34down to the concrete.
1:35That's going to include roof cleaning,
1:36gutter cleaning, window cleaning, sidings,
1:39yeah, concrete, flat surfaces.
1:41- [Caleb] Uh-huh.
1:41- We want to be able to take care of your entire property,
1:44whether it's commercial or residential.
1:46- Okay, and what's the most popular services you offer?
1:48- I would say window cleaning is our most popular service.
1:51We clean windows every day,
1:53and typically we're cleaning windows
1:54at every single job that we do.
1:55- What are your most profitable jobs, and why?
1:58- Yeah, so our most profitable jobs are jobs
2:00that we can be at for an extended period of time.
2:03If you're constantly moving your truck around all day
2:05from job site to job site,
2:06then that means that your technicians
2:08are spending less time actually producing revenue.
2:11So the longer you could stay one site-
2:13- [Caleb] Yeah.
2:14- The more profit you're going to be able to produce there.
2:15And we can do this through upselling different services.
2:19- (Snaps) Upselling, hey, a $200 job is good,
2:22but a $2,000 job is great.
2:24Stay around to find out how Jackson uses a multiplier method
2:27to increase revenue.
2:29All right, changing gears a bit here.
2:30Heading to a supply store named-
2:33- [Jackson] Bay City Supply.
2:34- Bay City Supply, how far away from the warehouse is it?
2:36- Oh. it's just right around the corner.
2:38- [Caleb] Just a couple minute walk?
2:39- Yeah, yeah, we're going to be there in a second.
2:40It's actually where I got all the supplies
2:42to start window cleaning.
2:44- Really?
2:44All right.
2:45We're doing blitz questions.
2:46You got 10 seconds to answer these.
2:47Can you do it?
2:48- You got it.
2:49- Here we go.
2:50WebMD asks, "If you started out as a solo operator,
2:53"when did you know whether the time was right
2:54"for you to hire your first employee?"
2:56- Yeah, I'd say if you have enough work on the schedule
2:58to support yourself, you probably have enough work
3:00on the schedule to support a full-time employee.
3:02- Okay, hey, good job.
3:04All right, next question is from Question Everything.
3:07They're asking, "What are the first five things you need
3:09"to start the cleaning business, besides the tools
3:11"to do the actual cleaning?
3:13- Oh, I would say a website.
3:15You're going to want a golf shirt.
3:16- [Caleb] A golf shirt? - Oh, yeah.
3:18With your logo on it so that you can actually
3:19go be professional and drive sales.
3:23You're going to need a truck.
3:25I guess that's a piece of equipment,
3:27but we're going to go with the truck.
3:28(both laugh)
3:28Number four is going to be
3:30a customer relations management system, a CRM.
3:32You're going to need a CRM to manage
3:34all of your clients' information.
3:36Lastly, you're going to need other pieces of marketing.
3:39So maybe that is flyers, door hangers, brochures.
3:43- Mm-hmm.
3:43Next question is from Matthew Yates.
3:45He asks, "How did you not give up?
3:46"Especially when the light at the end of the tunnel
3:48"seems so far away?"
3:50- So I had no option.
3:51You know, I did not come into this business with money.
3:55- [Caleb] Uh-huh.
3:56- And so I had bills to pay.
3:56I needed to get by.
3:57I needed to get my rent paid on time.
3:58(Caleb laughs)
3:59And so I didn't have a choice.
4:00Like I actually needed to keep going.
4:02- Good job.
4:03Next question is Rosetta Hutchinson asking,
4:05"How did you get your clients?"
4:07- Yeah, so my first clients I got
4:09was all through door hangers.
4:10I went down to a local print store.
4:12I printed out about a thousand
4:14of these really thick index cards
4:16that I would spend all night punching holes through
4:18and putting rubber bands through.
4:20- Wow.
4:20- And I spent an entire fall putting those
4:23in the neighborhoods that I wanted to work in.
4:25- Okay, good job, you did it.
4:28So we're at Bay City now,
4:29and what I love is that you started your business
4:32just on a thousand dollars, is that right?
4:33- Yeah.
4:34- Is that typical for this industry?
4:35- I think a lot of people do start with more,
4:37but you can certainly start
4:38with as little as a thousand dollars.
4:40- Okay, okay, would you be able to show us what we need?
4:42- For sure, let's go.
4:43- Okay, let's go
4:47- Okay, let's start grabbing things.
4:48So just get everything that we need
4:50to start our window cleaning business,
4:51and tell us how much it costs.
4:52- So first thing that you're going to need
4:54is a squeegee here.
4:55So this squeegee might run you $30 total
4:58for the channel, the rubber, and the handle.
5:01You're obviously going to need these
5:02if you want to clean windows.
5:04- All right, let's get it in the cart.
5:05- Second thing you're going to need
5:07is what we call a t-bar and a scrubber.
5:10So this is what you're going to actually use
5:12to apply solution to the window,
5:13and then you're going to be able
5:15to squeegee it off the glass with your squeegee.
5:17A t-bar and a scrubber pad might cost another $25.
5:21The next thing you're going to want is a razor.
5:23These razors might run you $30 for the razor
5:26and the pack of razors.
5:27These are used to scrape debris
5:29that have adhered to the window for a number of years.
5:32Next thing you're going to need is a fine Brillo pad.
5:36This is also used to get debris off the window
5:38that might be stubborn, that won't come off
5:40with just your scrubber pads.
5:42So Brillo pads, these will probably run you 2-3 dollars.
5:45All right, next thing you're going to need
5:46are some microfiber towels.
5:48This will help you detail the window
5:49and also clean any excess liquid or solution
5:53off the glass or window sills.
5:55You might wanna look into spending around $50
5:57on microfibers, so you have a little bit of extra ones.
5:59You're also going to want a bucket,
6:01something like one of these.
6:03This might run you $40,
6:05and this will actually help you keep solution in there.
6:07So you can keep your scrubber pad wet, nice and soaped up.
6:11This is a great first bucket to get.
6:14You can keep your solution on one side
6:16and some extra tools on the other side to keep them dry.
6:18These will run you around $45.
6:20- So what else is going to make up
6:22that thousand dollar initial investment?
6:23- Yeah, so you're going to want a ladder.
6:25You know, that's going to be really essential
6:26to get those hard-to-reach windows.
6:27Second thing you're going to want is a golf shirt, okay?
6:30Something like a nice polo with your logo on it,
6:32so you can be presentable when you're out selling jobs
6:34and meeting clients.
6:35The third thing you're going to want
6:37is a well-designed logo,
6:38that's going to be a good representation
6:40of your brand and your company.
6:42You can spend maybe $50 and get this designed
6:45on a website
6:46like Fiverr or Upwork. - Mm-hmm.
6:48- The last thing you're going to want
6:49is some marketing material.
6:50So I would suggest putting as much money
6:52as you have left over into buying some door hangers
6:55that you can then go put into the neighborhoods
6:57that you want to be working in.
6:58- Okay.
6:59The lawn care industry is another great opportunity
7:01for outdoor service businesses.
7:03So if you're looking to get into that
7:05and want to make $200,000 a year,
7:07go listen to our Episode 5 on the Upflip Podcast,
7:08where we hear from Legends Lawncare founder.
7:12Go check it out.
7:13- All right.
7:15So Caleb, welcome to our office.
7:17This is where
7:18all the magic happens. - Ooh, like it.
7:19- Yeah.
7:20- What is your projected revenue for 2023,
7:22and how did the profit margins break down for that?
7:24- Yeah, so we're going to be aiming
7:25for 1.1 million in revenue for 2023.
7:28- Whoa.
7:29- Yeah, and we are aiming for about a 20% profit margin.
7:32And that profit margin is after I'm paid,
7:36our managers are paid, that's what's left in the bank
7:38to help reinvest into the business.
7:40- Is that typical for the window cleaning industry,
7:4220% profit margin?
7:44- You know, I think that is a really good place to aim for.
7:46I think a lot of people fail to achieve that,
7:48because they haven't budgeted for the year well.
7:50So they'll either overspend in marketing or equipment,
7:54or they'll pay themselves too high,
7:56and they won't actually have money left over
7:58to reinvest-
7:59- [Caleb] Mm-hmm.
7:59- [Jackson] back into the business at the end of the year.
8:01- Okay.
8:02Hey, Upflip family, is starting a cleaning business
8:04sounding good for the low initial expenses and big payoff?
8:07You may remember Chris, from Episode 102.
8:10He made $6,000 his first month, $18,000 the next month,
8:15and now earns $125,000 per month with his cleaning business.
8:20The best part is he partnered with us to reveal everything
8:23in a free Upflip masterclass.
8:25In under one hour, you will have all the tools you need
8:27to start your very own cleaning business.
8:30If you're an entrepreneur looking to make $10,000
8:32in less than 60 days, I highly encourage you
8:35to click the link in the description below
8:36and join us before it's too late.
8:39Seriously, what do you have to lose?
8:41It's free.
8:42Okay, Jackson, where to?
8:43- Yeah, so we're going to head off to a job site
8:47that the guys are at right now.
8:48They're doing a little bit of roof, gutter cleaning,
8:50and I think some window cleaning.
8:51So let's go check out what they're up to.
8:53- All right, let's go.
8:54Where are we at and what are we doing here?
8:56- Yeah, we are in beautiful Ferndale, Washington,
8:59and as you can see, we've got a client's house behind us.
9:01We're going to be washing the roof,
9:02we're going to be killing some moss that's on the roof,
9:05and also preventing it from growing back,
9:07as well as cleaning the gutters and their exterior windows.
9:11- All right, can we check out your truck?
9:12- Yeah, absolutely.
9:13So this is one of our trucks that we use for soft washing.
9:17This truck is designed for small to medium soft wash jobs.
9:21So anything larger, we've got a bigger trailer
9:24that's actually going to take care of those kind of jobs.
9:26So this truck is designed for a house this size.
9:29So this truck can come out, we can take care of the roof,
9:32we can do the siding, can pressure wash the driveway.
9:34This truck can really do it all
9:36for anything that's medium-sized.
9:38- So we were just checking out at the hardware store
9:40stuff to get into the business.
9:41What are the other must-haves once you step up
9:44to like some bigger gear like this?
9:46- Yeah, absolutely.
9:47Some equipment that you have to have
9:49would be a soft wash system, okay?
9:51If you're going to be washing roofs,
9:53you're going to be washing siding,
9:54you're going to want to be able to spray chemical
9:56and have a soft wash system.
9:58And so this is a 12-volt soft wash pump,
10:01and it is an electrical pump
10:02that is powered by a switch right here.
10:04You can actually see, this is our proportioner.
10:06We can adjust the different levels of chemicals,
10:09soap, and water that are coming out of the end of the hose.
10:11So, you know, the percentage that you use on a roof
10:13is going to be different than the percentage
10:15that you use on siding- - Yeah.
10:16- and you can easily control that all right here.
10:18- Okay, and what are you spraying on the roofs?
10:20- Yeah, so sodium hypochlorite
10:22is what we're spraying on the roof.
10:23And then we also mix that
10:24with something called a surfactant,
10:25which is going to help let that chemical sit up there-
10:28- [Caleb] Okay.
10:29- And do its job longer than, you know,
10:31if you were to spray without it.
10:32- Okay.
10:33Jackson, I can tell you run things excellently around here.
10:35So going to your customer experience and
10:38how that customer experience contributes to your success.
10:41- Yeah, absolutely.
10:42We like to really focus on our customer service here.
10:44So we actually believe
10:45that we are a customer service-based business
10:47that happens to clean windows.
10:49When you call into our office,
10:50you're going to get someone on the phone
10:52that is happy to talk to you,
10:53happy to answer your questions, get you on the schedule,
10:56get you on the books, and help just deliver this experience
11:00that you're not going to get
11:01with another window cleaner in the area
11:03that might be too busy to answer their phone,
11:05maybe they're up on a ladder.
11:06We actually have dedicated people in our office
11:09that are ready to help you.
11:10- Okay.
11:11All right, we got some window cleaning going on behind us.
11:13And my next question is, Jackson,
11:15what is one thing that you wish that you would've known
11:18before you got started in your business?
11:19- So I probably would've chose a different name.
11:22So obviously we're called
11:23Mount Baker Window Cleaning Company,
11:25and that does two things.
11:26That limits where we're going to be working,
11:30and that also limits our services, right?
11:32So I've actually named a location,
11:33and I've named the services that we're going to be doing,
11:35which is great if you're just trying to stay localized
11:38as a business, but it stunts our growth.
11:40We can't go franchise, we can't go expand into other places
11:42with a name that's localized like that.
11:45Whereas if I chose a name that isn't specific
11:48to a location with a broader reach,
11:49let's just take for example, you know,
11:52Trojan Property Services could be, you know,
11:54could be the name of a theoretical company.
11:56Now you're not limited to one location,
11:58and you're not limiting your services.
12:00So property services, what's under the umbrella of that?
12:02Well, there's many things that you can do
12:04with a name like that.
12:05- How would you describe your company culture,
12:07and how has that helped your business?
12:09- Yeah, absolutely.
12:10So we're really big into our company culture here.
12:12I would say it's one of the biggest factors
12:15that we've got going for us.
12:16So, you know, I started this business years ago
12:19to be able to afford my time
12:21to go snowboarding, mountain biking, snowmobiling.
12:24So I wanted a way that I could have the time
12:27and also the money to go do the things that I love.
12:29And so now today, we want to provide that
12:32for everyone that works for us, you know?
12:34So that's why we're paying them above an industry standard.
12:36We've got a four day work week.
12:37We want to give our employees the resources
12:41so that they can also go pursue their love
12:43for recreation and the outdoors.
12:45And then we bring that around full circle
12:47by giving back to charities that help other people
12:50in our area get outside.
12:52So that would be the Baker 542 Ride Special Olympics team.
12:56You know, we donate money to them
12:57to help them get on the slope,
12:59as well as the Whatcom Mountain Bike Coalition.
13:01That's a group that actually builds and maintains
13:04mountain bike trails in Whatcom County.
13:05So everything we're doing
13:07is for ourselves and the community to get outside.
13:10- Cool.
13:11So you've become a coach yourself.
13:13So what are the benefits of providing mentorship
13:16as a business owner?
13:16- Yeah, so I absolutely love working
13:18for Home Service Business Coach.
13:20The people that we have in our group,
13:22in our program, are so fantastic to be around.
13:25We've got this community full of motivated entrepreneurs
13:29who are on the same journey
13:30to grow and scale their business.
13:31And so being able to connect with them
13:33in our weekly Zoom meetings,
13:35it's just a fantastic opportunity
13:37to be around such high energy.
13:39- How did you get into coaching?
13:41- So I became a coach after David saw the success
13:45that his teachings actually gave me.
13:47So I was able to quickly turn around the systems
13:50that he taught me, implement them into my own business
13:52and scale at a very high speed.
13:55And so within about a year, or actually a little less
13:59than a year of me joining his program,
14:01he actually turned around and made me a coach.
14:04- Oh, okay.
14:05There you go.
14:06Are people getting their windows cleaned
14:07every month of the year?
14:08How does your revenue vary between the the different months?
14:10- So it's definitely a seasonal business,
14:12and we're going to have our highs and our lows.
14:14I would say that on our best month,
14:16that we're doing around $120,000,
14:18and then in the dead of winter,
14:20we can do as little as $20,000.
14:21- Wow, okay. - So you can see,
14:23it's either really low or really high.
14:25And so we learn how to just ride these waves.
14:28- What are some of the ways that you make up
14:29for that lost revenue during the winter season?
14:31What are the techniques that you use?
14:33- Yeah, so one thing that we started doing
14:35is holiday light installation.
14:37So we have a holiday light leasing program,
14:39which means that we actually store the lights.
14:41We do everything for the clients.
14:42It's a very white glove service-
14:43- Mm-hmm. - so they don't even need
14:44- to think about it - Yeah.
14:45- Other than picking up the phone to call us in the fall.
14:47We'll take care of everything for them, from design,
14:49installation, removal, maintenance, and storage.
14:53And that has been great for our team,
14:55because now we're able to keep people busy
14:58through November, December, and then take-downs in January.
15:00So it really adds like three more months to, you know,
15:03what might be an eight-month seasonal business.
15:06- So if somebody's just starting out,
15:07and they need to get all these supplies,
15:09is it better to offer a range of services,
15:11or just focus on one thing first?
15:12- Yeah, so everything that we've gotten here today
15:14is going to be specifically for window cleaning.
15:17You know, for another $50, you can get a bucket and a scoop
15:21and go clean some gutters.
15:22- [Caleb] Yeah.
15:23- But I would really try and focus on just that window
15:25cleaning first, because the other equipment
15:27that you're going to need to get into pressure washing
15:28or soft washing, is definitely going to cost more money.
15:31But if you can get enough jobs and clean enough windows
15:34in your first few months, then you can easily expand
15:37into offering pressure washing and soft wash services.
15:40- Okay, so once you get the basics down,
15:41you can just start adding more and more services?
15:43- Well, not quite.
15:44You really don't want to overextend yourself.
15:46You want to be known for being really good at a few things.
15:49You know?
15:50And for us, that's just cleaning the exterior of homes.
15:52You want to keep your business processes
15:55as simple as possible if you want to scale.
15:57So if I could do everything over again,
15:59I would've just jumped straight
16:00into roof and gutter cleaning.
16:01- [Caleb] Really?
16:02Okay. - It is easily
16:03the most profitable out of any
16:05of our exterior cleaning services.
16:07- What's been your biggest mistake as a business owner
16:09so far, and what did you learn from it?
16:11- Yeah, so I'd say our biggest mistake
16:12was not having good systems
16:15built around onboarding employees
16:16and actually getting them trained up to speed.
16:19If you don't have a good training,
16:21a good onboarding process set up, good systems around that,
16:24then you're going to lose employees, right?
16:26And so, on the other hand, if you do have that set up,
16:29as soon as an employee comes into your company,
16:31you're walking them through the steps
16:34and then giving them the tools for them
16:36to actually have success at their job.
16:38And what that does is actually you're going to increase
16:40your retention with your employees.
16:42If you can onboard them and train them
16:44with proper systems and give them tools,
16:46they're going to stick around for a lot longer.
16:49- How long do your employees typically stick around?
16:50- Yeah, so, you know, maybe a few years ago,
16:53we were getting 6, 8, 9 months out of our employees.
16:57Currently, most of our employees have been here
16:59for over a year.
17:00So everyone that was with us last fall
17:03has come back for the spring.
17:04- Cool.
17:05- So we've really worked on retaining our employees
17:08and focusing on the things
17:10that make this job enjoyable for them.
17:12- Mm-hmm.
17:13How much does each of these run?
17:14So you got the proportioner, you said,
17:15and then this pump here.
17:17What does that cost?
17:18- Yeah, so these pumps are maybe on the higher end,
17:21around $700, on the lower end, maybe $400.
17:24- Okay.
17:25- And to be honest,
17:26you have to replace them quite frequently.
17:27You know- - Yeah.
17:28- We'll maybe go through two pumps a year on this truck.
17:32- Mm-hmm.
17:33- A proportioner might run you around a thousand dollars
17:35on the top end.
17:37- Okay, what are some other equipment and their prices?
17:39Let's just go through the whole truck here.
17:40- Yeah, well, so this whole skid is great
17:43because we've got all of our equipment on one thing.
17:45So we've got a pressure washer on here.
17:46We have a water purification system
17:49for our water-fed pole unit,
17:51which is this handle right here.
17:53- Yeah.
17:54- It's going to allow our technicians
17:55to actually clean windows from the ground.
17:57- Okay. - And keep them safe.
17:58Hoses themselves might run $400 for a,
18:02you know, 200-foot length. - Yeah.
18:05- You could have a setup that's as cheap as a thousand,
18:06or you could have a set up that might run you over $6,000
18:09for like a dual-user water fed system.
18:13However, my advice for anyone getting into the business
18:17would not be to go ahead and buy yourself a $20,000 skid
18:21right off the bat.
18:22- Okay.
18:23- You know, you can get all this equipment
18:24for a lot cheaper and actually make it yourself.
18:27- All right, guys, so you can start off with a simple setup
18:29with maybe about a thousand dollars,
18:31but if you want to upgrade to the proportioner,
18:33it can save you a lot of time.
18:34It just costs a little bit of extra money.
18:36Now, I know you do a three year plan, is that right?
18:38- Yeah.
18:39- All right, so talk to us
18:40about your vision and your planning
18:41and what you plan to do within that timeframe.
18:43- Right, so every year we create a new three-year vision.
18:46So the last one we made was for 2025.
18:48This year we're going to be making one for 2026.
18:50The three year vision is a way for us to know
18:54where we're heading as a company.
18:55So, you know, something that my mentor, David,
18:57used to say is, you wouldn't get on a bus
18:59if you didn't know where it was going.
19:01So why would someone want to join your company,
19:02your business, if they didn't know where it was going?
19:04So this is a way for us to look into the future and say,
19:07"Hey, where do we want to be?"
19:09And when we actually construct our three-year vision,
19:11we ask for everyone's opinion in the company.
19:13We're talking to our managers,
19:14we're talking to our technicians.
19:15"Hey, where do you guys see us going?
19:17"What do you think is and should be our vision
19:20"for the future?"
19:20- Cool, okay.
19:21You get everybody involved.
19:22- Yeah, absolutely.
19:23- It seems like there's a big problem
19:25in hiring for industries lately.
19:27Has that been a problem for you guys?
19:28- Yeah, hiring for us has actually gotten easier
19:31as we have evolved in how we look for employees
19:34and what we're able to offer employees.
19:35You know, and things that you need to look at
19:37are what are you offering them?
19:39What are the benefits?
19:39What does your job ad look like?
19:40And what are they signing up for?
19:42Is it just coming out here
19:43to maybe clean gutters in the rain?
19:45- [Caleb] Yeah.
19:46- Or is there a deeper meaning behind the job
19:48that they're signing up to do?
19:49- Where do you find employees?
19:50- Yeah, so we've been actually having a lot of luck
19:53finding employees via social media.
19:55Our social media platforms actually have a better chance
19:58at finding a core value match.
19:59- [Caleb] Oh yeah. - Than a, you know,
20:01a program like Indeed where you might get-
20:03- Yeah. - Very generic responses.
20:05- And so you're on social media.
20:06Are you using Facebook Ads or just organic posts
20:09to reach those people?
20:10- For social media, we are using Facebook
20:12to reach out to potential clients,
20:14but we're actually trying to utilize Instagram
20:18to showcase our company culture to help us find employees,
20:21since a large part of our business is constantly recruiting.
20:24- What's a tip for those Instagram
20:26or Facebook advertisements for really capturing somebody
20:29that you would want to work for your company?
20:31- Yeah, so we're just trying to showcase our employees
20:33and what we do here.
20:34You know, so the posts that get the most engagement for us
20:37are our staff outings.
20:38You know, there's a photo of us playing paintball
20:40or you know, having a hibachi meal, or you know,
20:44we've highlighted our employees in the past
20:46with them maybe kayaking or skiing.
20:48And those seem to be the posts that do the best for us.
20:52- Yeah.
20:53All right, Jackson, how many employees do you have?
20:55- Yeah, so in our slow season we'll have as little as eight.
20:58And then in our busy season, we'll have as many
21:00as 12 employees on board.
21:02- Okay.
21:02And what's your training processes for those employees?
21:05- Yeah, good question.
21:05So we've created a two-week training process.
21:08The first couple days we have them in the office,
21:12we're going over video modules that we've created.
21:14We're going over PowerPoints, we're testing them,
21:17and we're giving them safety training, things like that.
21:20And then for the next two days of that first week,
21:23we've got our guys actually going out
21:26to our operation manager's house
21:29and cleaning it top to bottom with us.
21:30- Really?
21:31- Yeah.
21:32So he's got actually the cleanest house in town,
21:33because we're constantly cleaning it.
21:35And then the second week, what we do is have them shadow.
21:38And so they'll slowly start to get their hands on the tools,
21:42start cleaning and helping our lead technicians out
21:44so that by the third week that they've been onboarded,
21:46they're ready to go with the lead technician on their own.
21:49- What are some other systems and processes you use
21:50to help train up your employees?
21:52- Yeah, so we've used a program called Talent LMS,
21:56which essentially allows us to make an in-depth module
22:00for every service that we offer,
22:02in this system- - Oh.
22:02- So that we can actually show them a video,
22:05give them a PowerPoint presentation,
22:06and then test them to see what they retained from it.
22:09- This is a physically demanding job
22:10with a lot on their plate.
22:12So how do you motivate your employees?
22:14- Yeah, absolutely.
22:15That's a really good question.
22:16One of those is through incentives.
22:18So we incentivize our employees to get good reviews.
22:21We've opened up a tip line for them.
22:23And then beyond just those monetized incentives, you know,
22:28we've got right behind us, this is our career paths,
22:31which actually should be updated for years down the road.
22:34You know, we made this poster when we were a lot smaller
22:37to show the possible positions that would be opening up.
22:39So when someone gets hired on as an assistant technician,
22:43we can show them, you know, if you do really well at this,
22:45you can become a lead technician.
22:46And then if you want to get into any other career path,
22:48you know, we're going to have
22:49a customer service role available.
22:51Maybe you want to do marketing, maybe you want to do sales.
22:53We're about development here.
22:54- Yeah.
22:55- We don't want someone to get hired on
22:56as an assistant technician and stay there for years.
22:58You know, we want to bring them up through our company,
23:00hire within, and develop our talent.
23:03- Okay, do you always have people start here,
23:06or can somebody jump in here if you see potential in them?
23:09- Yeah, so the only role that we've actually ever hired for,
23:12from outside of the company would be
23:13for a customer service representative.
23:15But everyone else has to start as an assistant technician
23:18and work their way up.
23:19- Okay.
23:20How has your role as a business owner changed?
23:22- You know, when I first started the business,
23:24I was doing everything.
23:25Okay, I was the one that was on the truck,
23:28I was communicating with clients, I was doing our sales,
23:30I was doing our advertising, I was fixing our equipment.
23:33I was doing everything under the sun that it takes
23:35to run a business.
23:36And as we've grown, as we've scaled,
23:39I've basically found people to fill those roles, okay?
23:42So I've split myself into now, you know,
23:44eight different people instead of just me.
23:46So we've got specialists in every single department.
23:48And so now my role in the business is to check in
23:51with Trent, our operations manager,
23:52and make sure things are running smoothly.
23:55- So how do you choose what things
23:56to delegate or not delegate as you're growing?
23:59- Another great question.
24:00So I would find the things
24:01that either you really don't enjoy doing
24:03or that you're maybe not so good at doing,
24:05and delegate those right off the bat,
24:08so that you can then focus on the high level tasks
24:10that you like doing, that you're good at doing.
24:13And that's what's going to push you along
24:14and get you growing your business.
24:16- Okay, that's great info.
24:17Talk to us a little bit about your social media.
24:20What platforms do you use,
24:21and how do you engage with customers?
24:23- Yeah, we use Facebook to advertise to our clientele.
24:27It can be a really powerful tool
24:28if you know how to utilize it correctly.
24:31If you don't know how to utilize it correctly,
24:32you can end up spending a lot of money
24:34and actually wasting it.
24:35Maybe you're targeting people
24:37that aren't going to be interested in your services,
24:38or they're not in the correct area.
24:40So it's really important to know what you're doing
24:43if you're going to dive into the world
24:44of Facebook advertising.
24:46- All right. Have you wasted money on Facebook Ads before?
24:47- Absolutely, yes.
24:49- How much did you lose?
24:50- We lost around $6,000 one year-
24:52- Ooh. - In Facebook Ads,
24:54because we thought we had set it up properly,
24:57but Facebook didn't think so. (laughing)
24:59- Okay, remember that guys, Facebook can be good,
25:02but you can waste a lot of money
25:03if you're not careful with it.
25:04- People really aren't interested in getting spammed
25:06with advertisements, okay?
25:07They don't want to see a bunch of posts
25:10that are, "Oh, save $50 on your roof cleaning,"
25:12or, "It's time to get your gutters cleaned.
25:14"Call right now."
25:15That is probably the least effective thing
25:17you can do on social media.
25:18What does really work are posts
25:20that show your community involvement.
25:22So for instance, we had a made a post
25:25about us cleaning up a local skate park and resealing it.
25:28That got twice as many likes
25:30as any other photo that we've ever posted.
25:32So community involvement, showcasing our employees,
25:35that's how you're actually going
25:36to get the community to engage with you.
25:39- Okay, talk us through the booking and estimating process.
25:43Is it mostly on paper or just all electronic?
25:45- Yeah, I'd say most of it's electronic.
25:47So there are two main ways
25:49that people can get in touch with us.
25:51One would be going to our website
25:52and filling out a request-a-quote form,
25:54or actually physically calling us.
25:56There's a lot of information online
25:59for us to be able to quote houses virtually.
26:01- Yeah.
26:02- You know, there are realtor sites,
26:04there are Google Street maps, there are the county assessor.
26:06So there's plenty of ways for us to be able
26:09to actually come up with a price that's going to work
26:12just with our computer.
26:13- Okay.
26:14- However, a lot of our sales is going to be done in person.
26:17So any job that we think is going to be
26:19over a thousand dollars,
26:20or let's say the house is valued over a million dollars,
26:23we're going to want to meet that client actually in person,
26:26because there's actually a better chance for upsells
26:29when you do that.
26:31- Okay, so what percentage of jobs do you think
26:33you're visiting in person versus quoting online?
26:35- Yeah, I would say it's about half and half.
26:37You know, if it's a quick and easy quote,
26:39maybe they just want a window cleaning or a gutter cleaning,
26:41and that information is here online,
26:44then we're going to quickly send them a quote.
26:46You know, if they want a little bit more done,
26:48or they have a big house,
26:49we think that they might be a really good client of ours,
26:52then we're going to actually want to go out
26:53and create a relationship with them by meeting them
26:55in person and looking at their entire property.
26:57- Do you have a wild guess about how much
26:59that increases your conversion ratio
27:01when you're going in person with the customers?
27:03- Yeah, I would say that it actually increases
27:06our conversion ratio by about 20% on those actual jobs
27:11that we're going to look at, you know?
27:13Because when someone's actually able
27:15to meet you face-to-face,
27:16we're able to provide a lot more value in that sense.
27:19You know, and we are a premium-priced business,
27:21so let's say a client, a potential client,
27:24is getting three different quotes.
27:26Two of them come in from online,
27:28and they've actually never met them.
27:29But then actually we show up at their doorstep
27:31and are able to give them a lot of value
27:33in that in-person conversation.
27:36They're way more likely to book with us
27:39because now they trust us, they've met us,
27:41they see that we're actually there to add value
27:43for their experience.
27:45- Sounds like you have a boatload of leads
27:47coming in every month.
27:48Do you know about how many leads you have?
27:49- Yeah, so we aim for about 200 leads a month plus
27:53in the busy season.
27:54- Wow.
27:55So how do you manage and nurture all those leads?
27:57- Yeah, great question.
27:58So we use Jobber, that's our CRM,
28:00which is your customer relations management software.
28:03- [Caleb] Okay.
28:03- And what's great about Jobber is that you can track
28:06the progress of that client
28:08from the time that they contact you.
28:09So you're invoicing the job, and then following up with them
28:12months down the road to see
28:13if they need your services again.
28:15- Okay.
28:16And what are some great tips for managing
28:18and working with your leads?
28:19- Yeah, well, you're going to want your leads
28:22to go into the same place where you're going
28:24to be creating quotes, creating invoices,
28:27and then following up with clients down the road.
28:30So if you have everything in one place,
28:31then that's less work for you,
28:33essentially to be doing on the road.
28:35- Okay, so you can do all of that right in Jobber?
28:37- Yeah, absolutely, and Jobber has saved us.
28:40- Are all the supplies usually ones
28:42you can find at hardware stores,
28:44or do you need to go to special places to find the rest?
28:46- Yeah, so we actually use a lot of specialty, you know,
28:50distributors, so people that have the best equipment.
28:53We are always looking for the best equipment
28:56that we can buy, because when equipment breaks on the job,
28:59that's a loss in revenue, that's a loss in profit.
29:01- [Caleb] Yeah.
29:02- Your guys are out there with broken equipment.
29:03It's frustrating for them.
29:04So we try and get equipment that isn't going to break,
29:07that's going to have some longevity
29:08that we can use for a long time
29:09and get the most money out of.
29:10- Mm-hmm.
29:11Before we were talking about your mentor, David Moerman.
29:15- Yeah.
29:16- Okay, and you said that he took you
29:17from 400K to a million dollars a year in revenue.
29:21And how long did that take, and what was that like?
29:24- Yeah, so it all happened really quickly.
29:27I hired David because I was missing a lot of pieces
29:30to business that he was able to essentially give me.
29:33You know, he has been there and done that before.
29:36And so he was able to give me the equations and the formulas
29:39to plug into my business to help it grow.
29:41- Okay.
29:42- And that's really what's so great about hiring a mentor,
29:44is they've done this before.
29:45You know, we're not trying to reinvent the wheel here.
29:48We are just trying to do something that maybe someone else
29:52has come before you and done really successfully.
29:54So finding that person and asking them for advice
29:56can be incredibly helpful- - Yeah.
29:58- To grow your business.
29:59- So what systems were the most important
30:01in helping you do that?
30:02- Yeah, I would say that the most important system
30:05that we implemented was our training system.
30:08- Was there one thing in particular
30:09about that coaching that helped you reach your goal?
30:12- Yeah, absolutely.
30:13So David is really big on delegating tasks, okay?
30:18And so he taught me how to do that in my business.
30:21So the first thing that I did was went ahead
30:24and made Trent our production manager,
30:26and then I went ahead and hired an office manager.
30:28So I essentially split my role into two different people.
30:31And once you're able to do that,
30:32you create specialists in those roles.
30:34And so for you, yourself, as a business owner,
30:36to believe that you're going to be the best
30:38in every single area of your business, is just crazy.
30:41- Yeah.
30:41- Especially when you are running a business,
30:43your mind is on a million different things happening, right?
30:46You're thinking about the overview of the business,
30:48finding someone that can focus in on one certain area
30:52is going to help you grow.
30:53- Can you walk us step by step through the process?
30:56Job comes in, quote comes in on the website
30:59through the form, and what are your next steps from there?
31:02- Yeah, absolutely.
31:02So the first thing that we're going to do
31:04is call the client.
31:05We want to call them as quick as possible.
31:07You know, we want to give these guys
31:09a great first impression,
31:11and that is quick customer service.
31:13- Yeah.
31:14- So we're on the phone, we're calling them right away,
31:16and we're saying, "Hey, we saw that you just put in
31:17"a request for a quote.
31:18"How can we help you today?"
31:20And then they're going to let us know.
31:22They're probably going to reiterate at that time
31:24what they put into the request form.
31:26- Mm-hmm.
31:26- You know, I want my roof cleaned,
31:27I want my gutters cleaned.
31:28And so at that point, you know, we're going to assess, okay,
31:31is this something that we can quickly do online
31:33over the phone with them and send them a quote?
31:35Do they want this quote right now?
31:37You know, is this a thing that they're looking for speed
31:40in getting a quote?
31:41Or do they want us to actually come out to their house,
31:43greet them in person,
31:44and physically look over every aspect of their home?
31:48- Okay, so you gauge where they're at,
31:50and then once you gauge that, you might go in person,
31:53you might do it online.
31:53What are the next steps in getting them that quote?
31:56- Yeah, so then the next step would be to schedule it.
31:58So you know, the way that we quote in person
32:01is we actually have Trent or Mikey,
32:03they are two of our managers, go out in person.
32:05We don't have a sales team at the moment.
32:08I would rather send out our employees
32:11that have actually been on the job for a number of years
32:14that know all the technical aspects of our cleaning.
32:18They're actually able to add the most value to the client
32:22and educate them the most on our cleaning processes,
32:25rather than a salesman who might just be there
32:27to close the job.
32:28- Okay, so you don't need to do high-pressure sales?
32:30- No, no.
32:31We're actually pretty against high pressure sales here.
32:34We'd rather educate the client on what needs to be done
32:37to their home and what we recommend, and let them decide
32:40what's best for their own home.
32:41- Wow, I respect that.
32:42What's your monthly marketing budget for window cleaning?
32:45- Yeah, so we try and not exceed 7% of our revenue
32:49for marketing.
32:50You know, in the beginning, I don't mind
32:52spending a little bit higher,
32:53because you're going to need to get those clients
32:55to grow the business, right?
32:56But once you get to a certain level,
32:57I don't believe that you should really be spending
32:59over 7% of your budget.
33:02- And what is the most effective way
33:04to market a cleaning business?
33:05- Yeah, so I would say when you're starting up,
33:07the most effective way to market your business
33:09is going to be organic marketing, right?
33:11You're going to want to use the time that you have
33:13to go do boots on the ground marketing, okay?
33:16Go talk to neighbors, get in a BNI group,
33:18join the Chamber of Commerce, get your truck wrapped.
33:21- Yeah.
33:21- Those are the things that are going to help
33:23get people looking at your brand, get eyes on your company,
33:26and ultimately help grow your business in the beginning.
33:29- Okay.
33:30You mentioned before that you upsell jobs
33:32and that those are the most profitable.
33:33When did you start implementing that,
33:35and why is that the case?
33:36- Yeah, so last year we actually found out
33:39about this app called CompanyCam.
33:41And what CompanyCam allows you to do
33:43is draw up reports for clients.
33:45So when we go out for an in-person assessment
33:48to go quote a property, we will look at the entire property.
33:52So let's say we got called out just to look at Windows.
33:55Well, we're not just going to look at their windows,
33:56we're going to look at their roof,
33:57we're going to look at their gutters.
33:58We're going to look at their siding.
33:59- Yeah. - And then with that,
34:00we're going to be able to give them recommendations
34:02for other items at their house that they might not know
34:04that they need to get cleaned.
34:05- Okay.
34:06- But from our professional view-
34:07- Yeah. - We realize
34:08that that's a place that we can be cleaning,
34:10and we can be adding more value for that client.
34:13So really, us trying to upsell is making a recommendation
34:16to add more value to that client's experience.
34:18- Okay.
34:19Hey guys, remember that.
34:20When you're at the job site,
34:21don't just quote the one that they asked for.
34:23Go for some extra.
34:24All right, big question.
34:25What is your number one advice
34:27for the new window cleaning business owner?
34:29- Yeah, great question.
34:30The most important thing to do if you're just starting out,
34:33is to not put all your money into your equipment,
34:36but rather put it into your advertising,
34:38put it into your marketing,
34:39and make a fantastic brand that's going
34:41to help drive sales in your business.
34:43If you go out and you buy a $20,000 skid
34:45like that's on the back of our truck right now,
34:47you're going to have no money left over
34:49to find your clients.
34:50You're going to have the equipment to do the job,
34:51but no one to do the job for.
34:52On the other hand, if you can put all of your money
34:54into advertising and actually driving sales,
34:57then the equipment can come after that.
34:59- Guys, remember that.
35:00Customers are way more important than equipment.
35:02And that's a wrap.
35:03I hope you guys enjoyed this episode.
35:05Before you go, make sure you check out our interview
35:07with Chase Lille, who started $144,000 per year
35:11pressure washing business at just 18 years old.
35:14(bright, upbeat music)

About this transcript

This page contains the full transcript of Start a Cleaning Business With $1,000 by UpFlip, generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 7,905 words across 1,057 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.

What you can do with it

Use the transcript to take notes, quote the speaker, build a study guide, generate a summary with ChatGPT or Claude via the YouTube Summary tool, or export it as a timed subtitle file with YouTube to SRT. You can also re-open it in the transcriber to translate the transcript into 100+ languages.

Free YouTube transcript tool

YouTube2Text is a free YouTube transcript generator — no signup, no daily limit. Paste any YouTube link and get the full transcript instantly, with timestamps, click-to-jump, translation to 100+ languages, AI prompts for ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, and exports to TXT, SRT, VTT, or Markdown.