How A Window Cleaning Business Survives During The Winter
In some parts of the country window cleaners are able to clean commercial and residential windows year round regardless of what month it is, because the seasons in their part of the country are much milder and more constant.
Well that’s great for them, but what about the rest of us? Is the sentiment I hear expressed most often in regards to this topic. But I have good news for you. Just because its winter time doesn’t mean that your income has to die, it just means that you have to adapt and expand on the services you offer.
Before I get into describing some of the various ways a window cleaner can make money during the winter, let me remind you that while the residential market may die down during the winter months, the commercial market still continues to provide stable income. Why? Because commercial businesses need to maintain clean storefronts and office spaces in order to make them inviting for customers. This means that they need your window cleaning services as much if not more during the winter than they do in the summer.
Now on to some different ways you can keep your window cleaning business in profit during the slow winter months. I will share with you several services you can offer, but please don’t let yourself be limited to only these services. Think outside the box and think about what your customers need during the winter months besides window cleaning.
Christmas Light Installation
One of the most profitable services you can offer your existing and potential customers in the winter time is a Christmas light installation service. In this case your customers would pay you to hang up there holiday lights and then come back at the end of the season and take them down. This can be extremely profitable if done right as you charge the customer upfront for both the installation and the removal. This can lead to a nice chunk of change in your hand right before Christmas time. Christmas Light Installation has become such a large part of my winter income that I started another company that only deals with holiday and special events lighting.
Gutter Cleaning
This can be a year round service, but is much more profitable during the fall, and winter months. Gutter cleaning is essentially just using your ladders to reach the gutters of customers homes and then cleaning out all the debris. This is an essential service for many homeowners who live in areas with lots of deciduous vegetation, as leaves, dirt, twigs and other debris can very quickly clog up a homes gutter system. Not only is this debris unsightly, but it also causes a fire hazard as well as prevents the gutters from doing their primary job of shedding water away from the house. Water damage is a very expensive repair and many homeowners are more than happy to pay you to clean out their gutters once or twice a year.
Pressure Washing
This is another service that can be offered year round, but can also be very lucrative in the winter months. Water mixed with dust and dirt makes mud and mud gets everywhere in the wintertime. Especially in areas where the city transportation department spreads dirt over the roads to prevent people from sliding on the ice; that dirt has to go somewhere and a large percentage of it winds up in parking lots and against commercial businesses. These businesses become very excited when you offer a pressure washing service to clean up their sidewalks and walkways.
The services outline above are just but a fraction of the services a window cleaning business can offer its customers during the winter months. This article is not meant to be exhaustive, but rather to help get you thinking about what you can offer your customers to make additional money in the slow season.