Hi everyone!
I’d love to hear from those of you who have successfully built the commercial side of your cleaning business.
I’m currently trying to grow into commercial cleaning and would really appreciate learning from your experience.
Where do you actually find your commercial clients?
I’m especially interested in:
• Private schools
• Office buildings
• Professional offices
What has worked best for you?
• Cold calling?
• Cold email?
• Networking?
• Property managers?
• Facebook groups?
• Google Ads?
• Referrals?
• Something else?
If you were starting over today, where would you focus your time first?
I’m not looking for shortcuts or secret formulas—just hoping to learn what has actually worked for real business owners.
:
What was the hardest part of getting your first commercial client?
Once you landed your first contract, what helped you keep that client long-term?
If you had to pick only ONE method for finding commercial accounts, which one would you choose and why?
Thank you in advance! I truly appreciate everyone willing to share their experience.

I’m looking to buy a compete water fed pole system and my budget is up to about 4000 what’s you guys advice

I am not a pro. I run an art gallery and we just don't have a budget to higher experts. I bought a kit and was doing pretty well with the squeegee.

Windows look great except there are drips along the very top after I've squeegeed.

Is there an industry trick? Or do I just wait a minute before using the squeegee to make sure I get these too?

Been posting updates on this window cleaning business we started mostly as a test of how far Meta ads could carry a brand new service business ($11 CPL, ~$3K booked off a couple hundred in spend, most of it converting to quarterly plans).

Didn't expect this to be the problem, but it is one: the ads are generating leads faster than the three of us can actually fulfill jobs. We're a tiny crew, still learning the operational side, and we'd rather under-promise on scheduling than start showing up late or rushing jobs to keep up.

Rather than pause the ads and eat the cost of turning off something that's working, figured it makes more sense to pass the overflow to other window cleaning / exterior cleaning companies in the area who actually have the crew capacity to take them on.

If you run a window cleaning business in Orange County (or nearby SoCal) and have room for more jobs, happy to send overflow leads your way. Not trying to build a lead-selling business out of this — just don't want good leads going to waste while we're at capacity.

I’ve tried a couple different methods on these streaks. I’ve done standard dawn/water and window cleaner. What should I try next? Thanks

I live in LA, would window cleaning demand slow down a lot during the winter? What drives people being seasonal for exterior window cleaning? I hear lots of people mention the snow and stuff which makes sense but for an area like mine with no snow/rain and moderate temperatures year round would I not notice much of a dip in the off season?

I'm curious what eats your time

I kind of flew in blind on this one, but thanks to YouTube and digging through this community, I was able to pull off my first real job. Just wanted to drop a quick post to say thank you to everyone here!

Here is the setup I rolled up with:

• 5-gallon Lowe's bucket
• 3-gallon Ettore bucket
• Ettore Backflip (squeegee/scrubber combo)
• Standard microfibers
• #0000 steel wool
• Surgical/medical towels

The Job & The Chaos It was a kids' consignment shop, and man, it was a trip. Ran into a ton of "firsts" I wasn't expecting—super tight corners, plus curtains all over the place that I definitely didn't plan for. To make matters worse, I completely forgot to bring a step stool or a ladder.

I hit the interior first. The owner is actually someone I know personally, so she was extremely thankful I showed up and super happy to hire someone she trusted.

Lessons Learned & Equipment Snafus

• Towel Usage: I had to do a lot of detailing. I burned through 2 microfibers just on the inside alone, and used 1 more for the outside.
• The Backflip Struggle: Midway through, the rubber on the squeegee gave up on me. I tried to flip it to the fresh side, only to realize the hard way that these specific blades aren't really meant to be flipped... live and learn! Managed to get it reassembled and muscled through to the end.

The Final Breakdown

• Time: 2.5 hours **Actaully was 1.5hrs**
• Pay: Averaged out to roughly $24/hr

Definitely learned a ton about what not to do next time, but the customer was thrilled and I officially got my feet wet. **She also gave me lead with her brother that owns a tire shop**Thanks again for all the indirect help, couldn't have done it without the sub!

2 questions:

1. Did i price it right?
2. Should I bite the bullet and get a proper kit and If so what kit should I get?

Has anyone used a WFP to clean a metal roof? It’s about 2k sq ft. I would expect it to be slower than the traditional power wash setup. I got an inquiry for it and I don’t currently offer power washing but have had enough demand that I am open to the idea of it. A metal roof seemed like the only thing I could imagine doing with the WFP.

Am I the only one that struggles with estimates not coming back the way I’d price them?
I’ve noticed two people can look at the exact same house and come up with completely different prices.

Curious how everyone else handles that

Can anyone recommend a solution for getting dried bee pollen off solar panels. I’m looking for something that quickly breaks this down and allows a clean after with a wfp.

Am I looking for a unicorn here?

Hey fellow window cleaners, I have come to the realization that my life is becoming too busy and there is no way I am going to be able to continue operating this business after next spring. Unless I want to prioritize weekend work which may not be in my best interest.

I am currently a college student and next summer is when my full time internship starts. I’ve been operating my business for a little over 3 years at this point.

This summer was my busiest summer by far and I tripled the amount of people on my client list. I have all the best equipment, no work vehicle (using my own), and I have 2 employees I have do more contract work than anything else.

Is it even possible for me to sell this business and if so how do I go about it?

Have any of you guys bought other window cleaning businesses?

I’m looking for more general advice at this point as this is still a thought in the works.

Thank you in advance!

Got this a few weeks ago just forgot to post. 😅

Hi everyone,

I’m a 24-year-old student from the Netherlands who’s starting a residential window cleaning business.

I’ve already bought some equipment, But honestly, I feel a bit stuck. There’s so much to learn that I’m not sure what I should focus on first.

If you were starting over today, what would be your first few steps? What do you think I should focus on during my first couple of months?

I’m willing to work hard—I just feel like I could use some guidance from people with experience.

Thanks in advance!

Anyone ever have a window crack on them from washing windows with cold water and the hot temperature outside?

It’s going to be extremely hot next upcoming job and the owner expressed to me that she s concerned about her windows cracking as it happened to her before. I ve personally never experienced this but figured I’d ask anyways.

I was practicing with this set...i think im doing something wrong...when i try to use the squeegee it squeeks and jumps and videos...i have my first commercial job tomorrow.

I've seen mixed opinions online. Some successful businesses said yard signs helped them get their first real traction, but others say they don't work at all. Not sure who to believe.

I'm in ontario if that helps?

i'm also wondering whether they're any point now in mid july already? excuse my ignorance

I’ve been running Meta ads for other service businesses for a while, but I’ve never actually owned or operated a service business myself.

Eventually, I figured I should put my money where my mouth is.

So a few friends and I decided to start a window cleaning business in Orange County.

The only problem was that we had:

• No equipment
• No window cleaning experience
• No existing customers
• No real idea how fulfillment would work

I directed a few ads, launched them, and figured we would solve the operational side once leads started coming in.

A few days later, we’re averaging around $20 per lead and have booked more than $2,000 in revenue. Based on what we’ve spent on ads so far, that’s roughly a 10x return.

Obviously, booked revenue isn’t the same as profit, and we still have a lot to learn about actually delivering the service efficiently. But the experience has shown me how powerful customer acquisition can be when the marketing is planned before the business is fully built.

If anyone is interested, these are the types of creatives I ran:

1. Founder story

Explain why you started the company, who you are, and why someone should trust or support you.

People are much more likely to choose a new local company when they understand the people behind it.

2. Offer video

Give people a clear reason to take action now.

The offer doesn’t necessarily need to be a massive discount, but it should feel specific and different from every other window cleaning company in the area.

3. Process video

Show exactly what happens when someone hires you.

What do you clean? What equipment do you use? Do you clean the screens, tracks, interior, and exterior? How long does it take?

This reduces uncertainty and makes the business feel more legitimate.

The idea is that these ads work together.

Someone might first see the founder story and become familiar with the company. Later, they see the offer and become interested. Then they see the process video and finally feel comfortable submitting their information.

Most people aren’t going to fill out a form the first time they see your business. They usually need multiple reasons to trust you before they take action.

I’m still early in the process, so I’m interested to see whether we can turn the initial traction into a real, profitable operation rather than just generating cheap leads.

So it was 100 degree weather and my neighbor decided to turn his sprinkler on and now there’s water spots all over my windows I’ve tried everything to get them off any recommendations before I go insane ?! Thanks in advance