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One day or day one

             It was 2018 and I was just fired from a job literally 3 months after being named the "employee of the month". They tried saying I was making "technical mistakes", but the truth was I was being led by a great leader, and now the new boss had no experience at being a leader. She decided to push instead of pull, and make demands instead of serving. If you've ever had a "boss" who's never been a leader, or if you've ever been held to new guidelines you didn't even know existed then you know the feeling. Being fired was the best blessing in my career so far! Had that not happened then I may be stuck in the "employee mindset" my whole career instead of starting my own business. 

         Most people start a business to replace their 9-5 job, or to chase money as hard as they can non-stop. I started Window Cleaners of Brandon (WCB) in March of 2019 as a way to do something I enjoy part-time while my kids are at school.  This only works for my family because my amazing wife Rose works a fulltime job. We tried the scenario of both working fulltime and paying for daycare, but the kids weren't happy and it didn't financially make sense. If you've ever paid for two kids in daycare then you already know it's hard to pay for on a "normal income". 

       That "safe" job I was fired from after almost 5 years took me off guard, and even though I now know it was a blessing to be let go; it sure didn't feel like it in the moment. I stayed home a good 4-5 months before I started renewing my mind. If you're mindset is ever down then the worst thing to do is soak in that. I started picking up books like "Rich dad poor dad", "profit first", "e-myth", and "entreleadership". I had enough inspiration to feel ready to tackle the world, but inspiration without action doesn't do anything! After reading some books, and listening to hours of podcast I finally heard something that provoked action! One Day or Day one?

     This stuck with me, and I decided that was day one of starting my own business! I didn't know what I was doing, but if it matters you'll find a way, and if not you'll find an excuse! This mattered to me because it wasn't about chasing money anymore! It was about being my own leader, being a great Father, husband, and still bringing in enough to meet our financial goals. My boys aren't going to remember that time Dad made 30% more money than the year before, but they will remember that summer Dad took off of work to be with them. They will remember the Father who was there each day after school! 

       If you're already a regular customer then I want to say THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. Starting a business isn't easy at all, and starting in 2019 didn't help either! If you're reading this as someone who may want to start your own business then let me say this. If you're worried about the price of "success" then you won't like the bill you have to pay called "regret". Both success and failure are hard things so choose your hard. To make it in this world of entrepreneurship you need a growth mindset. One that views failures as stepping stones, and learning opportunities instead of reasons to stop going. Don't make the mistake of going all in on business, and neglecting the things that actually matter in the process. Go all in on what matters, and make your business fit around that! 



Chess and business

       Those who know me best know that I enjoy playing chess, and even watching the big chess tournaments. I realizing a lot of people who may read this won't have any interest in chess, but hopefully by making 4 simple comparisons you may pick up something of value to use in your personal or business life. The thing about chess is there's really no luck in the game unless your opponent accidentally moves a wrong piece or simply isn't paying attention. You both have the same 16 pieces to start out with, and nothing is left up to dice or the "luck of the draw" like in other games. I believe chess and business have a lot in common because the possibilities are endless and you're only limited by your mindset, and willingness to keep going. In the chess world I'm currently ranked #18,441 in the world which chess.com calls 99.9% percentile. This may sound really impressive, but I'm really far behind those we call grand masters, and I had to lose over 15,000 games along the way. 


              Newer chess players will only plan 1-2 moves ahead, and won't even think much about where their opponent may move. In business it's super important to cast a vision of where you're headed! If you're an owner, CEO, or even a manager, then everyone looks to you as the captain of the ship. If that captain doesn't know where they're headed then the crew may not want to stay on this ship that has no purpose. As an employee it may be OK to only think about making it to Friday, but as the captain you better have an idea of the end goal. This doesn't have to be something super big and complicated either. Sometimes people planning ahead because they were told the goal had to be so big that they would never acheive it. Make the goal realistic, and the next 5 steps simple for everyone to understand.

         In chess you only get to control half of the pieces on the board, and you have no clue what move will be on the board when it's your turn again. This means you have to plan for things that are simply out of your control, and control only your pieces. In business you also have a lot of moving pieces which are out of your control, but the good news is you still control how to react. If you've been in business more than a year you already know things will come up that will try to stress you out, and make you want to quit. You didn't control those things, but you did decide how to react to them and make corrections so you're ready next time. It's so important to plan for the unplanned events by building systems to quickly replace people, having retained earnings of 3-6 months of business expenses, avoiding debts (risk), and not getting greedy during the "good months". 


      One of the most common chess moves of a chess grandmaster is to move pieces like knights and bishops backwards as needed. They will call it repositioning or un-developing a piece because they're thinking 5-10 moves ahead. Often times when their opponent is trying to be overly aggressive they simply move back and wait for them to be overextended before coming up with their own attack. In business there's a mindset that I believe is mentally unhealthy, and that is that we should all be "winning" and "growing" all the time. The truth is though your business will have good and bad seasons.

         You will have amazing employees, and amazing customers leave you all of a sudden. You will have challenges you didn't plan for, and it's so important to give yourself permission to take a step backwards. It's OK to move backwards because you're seeing 5 moves ahead, and not just living for Friday. It's OK to not hit that big crazy goal you made yourself set or impress people. If your motive for business is to impress others or chase money then you aren't going to enjoy business. Make it be about improving your life, and the life of those around you in some way. 


       In the worlds of chess it's really common for a positional player to sacrifice pieces along the way. This doesn't mean they are just blindly sacrificing everything, but they are calculating how to be in a better position. It doesn't always mean they will get an instant win or checkmate either. They may be simply gaining a strong position hoping it turns into a win at the end. I'm not sure who to credit the saying to, but I've heard it said, "Sacrifice for what you want, or what you want will become the sacrifice". This is SO true in both chess and life. Sometimes if you don't sacrifice a piece then your king will become the sacrifice resulting in a loss.  In business we have to make hard choices which include things like raising prices, letting people go, and having a more narrow focus on what actually keeps us healthy down the road. Business is about sacrificing now so you can be in a better position this time next year, and even in 5 years from now. Listening to so many "successful" business people on podcast etc... I've noticed a common theme of people paying themselves the least amount they could that first year, and truly sacrificing until the foundation was built. They can see 5-10 moves ahead, and even though it hurts in the short term it will be a game changer down the road. 


In Conclusion:

            The reason I wanted to make the 4 broad points of having a vision, planning for the unplanned, not needing to impress anyone, and making sacrifices is to help anyone who needs to hear this today. You may be like I was in my first year of business not knowing what you're doing, and making so many mistakes. You may be just 14,999 losses away from finally catching on. I just hope you're not 14,998 losses away from quitting on yourself. To every business owner reading this I want to encourage you to truly unplug from your business atleast 4 days per month, and 4 weeks per year. I don't want you to count yourself as a failure every time you fall down. The only thing to call failure is not getting back up again. Make it less about money, and more about people. Don't step over your mental health to pick up the next dollar. Make your business fit around your life instead of asking your life to fit around your business. 




All about Window Cleaning


           If you want to learn more about window cleaning then this blog is for you. Before I started learning about professional window cleaning I was just like any typical home owner. We had just bought our first home, and as you know moving it brings a lot of things to do and little chores. I can remember almost having Lowes memorized for what is on what isle. After curtains were hung up, floors were cleaned, and all of our moving boxes were unpacked one thing we noticed was how dirty the windows were. My wife Rose volunteered me for this task so I did what people normally do and sprayed some Windex, and started rubbing it with a paper towel. It seemed like no matter how many times I did that it was still kind of green looking, and the sun was revealing smears so it just wasn't good enough. I then did what most people do next, and started searching online for window cleaning tips which brought a lot of random products up and some video's. One video showed a guy using a squeegee but I wasn't sure what secret solution he had or how to copy his technique but figured I'd try.

         So I bought a squeegee, and figured out dawn soap was supposed to work. The green stuff was coming off, but the end results were still not that great since I didn't understand anything about using abrasives, what rubber to use, and the fanning technique that doesn't leave any streaks. I don't know if any readers can relate to this, but if you've ever tried window cleaning as a DIY then you already know it can feel frustrating, take a long time, and even become a safety risk if you have a two story home. So what do I tell average homeowners to do inbetween cleanings? Honestly, I just tell them to wet a rag with dawn soap and water then take a dry towel that's good for glass like blue huck towels or a linen and gently go in circles to remove the soap. This still won't be perfect, but I've found it's good enough for homeowners who just want to touch up some areas.

       A little bit about Window Cleaners of Brandon before I share more advanced cleaning tips. We started in Brandon Florida in March of 2019, and currently service a lot of surrounding cities like Valrico FL, Tampa FL, Dover FL, Riverview FL, Lithia FL, Fishhawk FL, Ruskin FL, Apollo Beach FL, and basically anywhere that's within 15 miles. Out narrow focus is window cleaning for residential homes that are typically 1-2 stories, and about 15-40 windows. Of course we also provide window cleaning for local store fronts that are close by Brandon FL, and service office buildings that can be bigger (3-4 stories using a waterfed pole). 

        So here's a few more cleaning tips if you want to DIY your own window cleaning instead of paying a company like ours. First, you will need a bucket of dawn soap and water, and then get a squeegee, detailing towel, and superfine grade 0000 steel wool (not to be used on tint or if it's rusted). The easiest way for a homeowner to squeegee a window is to apply the soap with a rag, sponge, or scrubber, and then take the steel wool quickly rub circles around the glass to help agitate and remove some of the deeper dirt/algae that's been there for a while. After that don't do anything fance with the squeegee, but start at the top of the glass and simply pull the rubber from one side to the other side and repeat all the way down (almost like mowing grass type of pattern to keep it simple). Then to avoid the top dripping quickly wipe it with your towel (you should only need 1 finger), and wipe the edges as well. If you do this then you'll professional looking end results. Of course the squeegee takes a little time to get used to because you don't want too much or too little pressure, and the piece of rubber can wear out kind of fast (after 15-20 hours of use). If you have some taller windows then I wouldn't mess with using a pole because the difficulty goes way up, and a ladder isn't always safe if you don't follow proper OSHA guidelines. In that case I would just hire a professional. 


Here's some things about window cleaning you may not realize as a typical home owner...


               Three reasons NOT to hire a window cleaner:


          It may be surprising on a window cleaning page to see the topic of NOT hiring a window cleaner, but to be honest there's time where it doesn't make sense. As a professional window cleaner I've helped a lot of people out, and I've also walked away from potential jobs knowing my service wouldn't really help and just waste their money. I want to share 3 reasons NOT to hire a window cleaner to hopefully help you save money whenever it's not necessary.

       Reason #1: The windows are damaged

           I've shown up to jobs ready to clean the windows and quickly realized they need a lot more than a cleaning. They might have low-e failure, broken seals, hard water issues, and so many other things that cleaning simply won't fix. Since replacing windows is crazy expensive you may still want to pay to clean them and keep them, BUT if you're going to pay hundreds of dollars to properly clean them at least know it won't fix the bigger issues. 

      Reason #2: It's worth it to DIY the project

        If there's no safety risk involved (usually a 1 story home for example), and there's no reason to have professional results (such as selling a home soon) then it might be worth it to clean them yourself. For a lot of people it's not a fun DIY (do it yourself), and the results can feel frustrating with smears or streaks left behind. So it really comes down to opportunity cost, and expectations. If you don't care a lot about "perfect" results and just want them decent, and you'd rather save the money then DIY could be the right way to go. A simple DIY trick is about a teaspoon of dawn soap per 1 gallon of water. Just mix it around apply that to your window with an applicator (towel or scrubber of some type) then us a squeegee or dry towel to remove it. 

      Reason #3: Accessibility issues

      If most of your windows aren't accessible then the window cleaner may end up charging you a lot more or skipping a bunch of windows. For example we've seen lanai areas blocking 2nd floor windows, large bushes or trees literally touching the glass, and situations where a ladder or a pole simply can't access the window. Then on the inside of the homes people may have heavy furniture pushed up against windows like beds, couches, large TV's, and so many other things. I'm not saying every window has to have a perfect 3' clearance, but it needs to be within reason to hire a window cleaner. A simple $400 job can turn into $800 for this reason or even something where the window cleaner decides it's not even worth it. 


How much does window cleaning cost?

           Every business charges a little bit different according to where they live, their overhead, and the goals for that company so you'll notice different prices. With that said, I'll give you a ballpark idea for 2024 of what to expect from most companies including ours. We charge per window, and have 3 different prices according to what you select (Exterior only, regular, or detailed) with prices ranging from $12 per window all the way to $25 each. Some companies charge per pane, and others like to charge per hour. The companies that only clean glass can get away with cheaper rates of maybe $8-$15 per window because they don't clean the frames, tracks, screens, or sills for that price. So with that said lets give you some really generic ballpark prices of what to expect based on 3 examples...

        Example #1: Simple single story home with 15 windows

             Outside only = $125 to $200 

             Inside/out = $250 to $350

       Example #2: Two story home with 20 windows

             Outside only = $200 to $300

             Inside/out = $400 to $500

        Example #3: Large 50 window home 2-3 stories

           Outside only = $700 to $1,000

             Inside/out = $1,400 to $2,000

     There's so many factors that goes into pricing such as the style of the windows, height of the window, how long it's been since they were cleaned, how far is the drive, and how quickly do you need it done by etc... The prices tend to go up each year just like anything else, but I wanted to provide ballpark prices because there's still people assuming it will only be $50 and people surprised it's that "cheap". Since windows are so expensive to replace you're a lot better off having them professionally cleaned and maintained in the long run. We recommend cleaning them every 4-6 months, but some people choose more often and other wait longer which is fine as well.