Side Hustle

I want to ask about starting window cleaning not as a full-time business, but a side hustle. I want to make $500 or more a month on the side. It seems like whether it’s a side-hustle OR full-time gig you still have a lot of the same overhead, and same steps…

  1. Come up with business name
  2. Register business = $125 (in Florida)
  3. Insurance = $125 down and $37/month
  4. Get EIN (employer identification number) = Free
  5. Check your county, and city for other license you need
  6. Open business bank account (DBA)
  7. Make basic website yourself = $20/month
  8. Create Logo
  9. Get shirts with logo to look professional = $40?
  10. Business phone number = $25/month
  11. Facebook business page = free
  12. Cards/flyers/door hangers = $160
  13. Start up equipment = $200 ish
  14. Find a good accountant = ?
  15. Have a way to take payments = ?
  16. Use an app for quotes/receipts = $30/month

SO… if the goal is a side hustle, and not really counting on this to pay your normal bills or be your full-time thing I have a couple of questions…

  1. For all of us wanting a side hustle that’s 15-20 hours a week worth of effort… what’s the most profitable strategy? (least overhead and most profit)?

  2. Is it even worth doing as a side-hustle? I’m hoping for flexible scheduling and the ability to make more than a part-time job (above $17/hr for example)?

I’m just going to be honest. Perhaps I have a lot of pride in this industry and what we do. Its seems a bit demeaning when this is watered down to the point of side hustle. This is a trade. If you work 20 hours a week and only making 500 a month you are doing something incredibly wrong. I dont mean to be rude or to shoot this down. This is a forum for professional window cleaners. Not side hustlers…our buisness isnt a hustle…its a buisness.

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Thank you for the fast response! There’s millions of people looking for “side hustles”, and this is why we see SO many youtube videos about making money from home or doing this or that as a side job. Some people work full-time and need to make money on the side, and other people like me might have kids, and want to balance time between raising kids/work.

I was putting my question under the “rookies” category because that felt appropriate. It sounds like you’re saying this is not a good business to do as a “side hustle”. Lots of people cut grass on the side or the may clean a couple of houses on the side. I guess I’m not sure why this would be much different than that? They are all professional industries, and you can work at anything in life part or full-time.

You’re absolutely right. I dont if I’d be much help on this subject but hopefully somebody can!

This can definitely be a great industry to get into, just be sure you take some time to learn and practice before diving in all the way. Like any trade, there is a learning curve, you can’t just get a mop and squeegee and go to work. Do some reading through this forum, watch some YouTube, take notes and learn some stuff. Otherwise, you’ll just end up frustrating yourself.

Hope this helps man!

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I appreciate that! I did the rookie thing of buying a few things and trying to clean my windows plus my parents windows. I quickly learned a few things…

  1. Video’s make a hard job look easy
  2. 20 ft windows using a pole is hard to do (left streaks on my parents windows)
  3. Sills may not ever be “perfect”
  4. French panes are a pain
  5. it’s hard to not spill water
  6. Screens can easily be broken, and hard to put back

I don’t think being a stay at home Dad looking for a side hustle is relatable to most people. I don’t “need” money thanks to my wife making decent coin, and I also don’t want the kids in daycare 8-9 hours per day at the cost of $1,400/month and the cost of someone else basically raising them for me.

I think I can be of assistance here. The thing first thing I would recommend is go to Luke’s channel and watch the videos on why you SHOULDN’T start a window cleaning business & the most recent one regarding myths about window cleaning businesses. Those 2 videos alone answer some of your question. Now next thing, I 100% agree with Luke that this is indeed a business operation and not a side hustle, it depends what your vision is and how you approach your business. So what I would ask you is this… What’s your long term goal? Because believe me once you start doing this and getting good at it and see how profitable it can be your going to want more eventually. Another thing is this, people can tell if your just the “guy” that swings by to do the windows or if your the “business/company” that handles them. Who do you want to be? Yes I understand you want to make an extra income of 500 a month but like I said eventually that will get old and you’ll want to to move forward and if you do then you must be serious. Honestly when we started we never considered it a side hustle, we called ourself a business with no clients! Why? Because we understood the purpose and we wanted to establish a company… fast forward 4 years later and we are bringing in close to $60,000 a year in revenue which isn’t a lot but for being in it 4 years we are very happy with our progress and we continue to scale and grow. Honestly man if your looking for the extra cash then by all means go for it… But if your not serious about this business then I’d think otherwise but again this is my take since i see this a lot on the forum and YouTube. Go check out the 2 videos I strongly recommend on Luke’s channel and after that ask yourself again if you ready to start.

  • speaking of start up costs:

Its a huge misconception that you can start for very little but the reality says otherwise. You listed pretty much all of the things you’ll need to start so whatever you add up is most likely the start up cost but here’s one thing I’d say to you. Its a waste of your money to get all of that if it’s just a side hustle for some extra cash… you only need those things if you want to grow a business.

Hope it helps!

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I think it can be a very good side hustle. In my mind, being professional isn’t how many hours you work but how you work those hours. Have a uniform, professional grade equipment, do a professional job and act like a professional.

I’ve met a lot of so called professionals that smelled of beer when they go into customers homes. Or maybe they left turn marks and drips.

15-20 hours can be very profitable depending on what you want to focus on. Residential is really good money $100+ per hour if you have really good technique but it’s harder to get. Storefront is easy to get but less money $45-75 per hour.

It can be a side hustle that could turn into a full time hustle if you’re willing to work. If you’re not… Then someone will come along and scoop up your clients by being better than you.

But whatever you do don’t cheapen our service. Part of being professional is having professional grade prices.

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100% agree man! I really want to emphasize your last point there… Don’t cheapen your service! I’ve heard a lot of people say that in the beginning you have to take what you can get and lowball your prices to extremely low rates… Not true! The window cleaning trade is already saturated enough so don’t lowball your way in. Be confident in your prices and stay true to them. Part of providing professional service is having professional rates.

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$500 a month? You can make that in one day easily… sometime i get a job that has me clean carpets, upholstery, rugs, tiles, restore showers, and clean windows for $2k-$3k. Usually takes me 2 or 3 days to do it. Maybe i should take rest of month off?

Nah… I rather continue to make $500 a day cause i would be bored otherwise , and could lose exposure for referrals. This is what i do for a living.

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Thanks for the helpful replies. I wouldn’t consider it worth my time to be a “bucket bob” who undercuts pricing. I don’t want to spend all this time learning window cleaning to go make an amazing $20 per job. I’m hoping to land a few store front accounts to generate consistent income, and then focus the remainder of the time on residential. Hopefully this can start as a side hustle for the first year, and next year turn into a full-time business (When both kids are in school). If I can start small, and have just 4-5 jobs a week then that’s a win. It will take about a year for people to know I exist, and to create word of mouth + google reviews.

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