5 Steps to Build a Business From Scratch

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Whether you are planning on starting a window cleaning business or any other service type business, there are certain steps you must take in order to get the results you desire. You must have a desire to make an income and take the proper steps that will make that a reality for you.

Step 1: What Value Do You Offer?

What service and/or product are you offering? What is the value of the service/product you are selling? Are you skilled and experienced at doing the service? Do you know what would be a reasonable rate for your service/product? Do you have the tools to do the services you are offering? If not, go get some.

It’s important that you ask yourself the above questions and be sure you are clear about the answers before you proceed to step two.

Step 2: Advertise

Build a Website, Get Business Cards, and Promote Your Services Locally.  This step is an ongoing process that you are always working on. You can always outsource this down the road if you like, yet know that it can be extremely expensive and you won’t have as much creative control if you allow others to do this for you.

Personally, I would recommend being in charge of your marketing and advertising by building your own website. You can get a hosting account here for cheap and start with a WordPress website. There is a wealth of information online about how to start and maintain your own WordPress site.

If you are ever stumped, you can usually find a how to video on nearly any subject or task related to WordPress on YouTube. By the way, if you’re not familiar with what WordPress is, google it. Google anything you don’t know the answer to and you can usually find answers fast.

A website is one of the best ways to start with and can become a major source of clients and income for years to come. (If you do it right and stick with it.) Get a business phone and put it on your website. Create a business email and put it on your website. Create a google form where people can request an estimate and embed it on a page of your website. It is imperative that you make yourself accessible to your potential customers and a website is a powerful way of reaching people.

In my opinion a business and a website is never done. It is always “work in progress.” You need to have a progressive mind set in life and business if you truly want to see results from your work. Always be improving. Always strive to be better at what you do. Keep tweaking and refining your website. You will learn through the process what works and what doesn’t work.

Step 3: Learn about SEO

SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization”. Without going into a long explanation about SEO, it simply is a way of making sure your website shows up in search engines such as google, yahoo, etc.

Without implementing SEO tactics, you may never have a customer find your website and call you, so you have to learn this skill. Once again, there is a ton of free training videos online you can find related to SEO.

It can be easy when you are learning new skills to spend a lot of money for training. Just be careful not to buy everything people are offering or you will go broke and won’t have anything left to start your business. Remember your objective is to make income, not spend all your money online. There is a wealth of FREE training available. All you need to do is type your question in a search engine.

Step 4: Make Appointments

So let’s say you have been doing the first three steps and voila someone calls or emails you asking for an estimate or an appointment. This can be exciting, yet keep calm and know that they may not schedule an appointment for your services.

First, it’s good to always provide an estimate for your services, so your potential client knows your price up front. I recommend always doing this before starting any job so there are no surprises. Your customer will appreciate and know if they want to hire you or not.

Second, let’s say they hire you. Your next step is to book an appointment in your schedule that is a mutually good day and time to perform the service. Remember that you are in charge of your calendar. You set your working hours. If you choose to work only weekdays, do not allow someone to coerce you into working weekends.

Step 4: Go to Work

Always, always, always show up on time (or early) on the day of your appointment and do the best job possible. Make it your aim to do beautiful work and you will never run out of clients.

When you consistently follow through and be a person of honesty and integrity, your business will grow. If you slack off in your work ethic, don’t expect people to hire you.

As you continue to do good work in your community, you will begin to establish a good reputation. More people will begin to contact you and hire you. You will get referrals and repeat customers. Always treat your customers like gold. Treat them like a good friend.

Step 5: Be Consistent + Scale it Up

The more people you help with your services, the more your income will increase. The more value you offer, the more people will be willing to pay you. The more you stick with all of these steps to building your business, the better you will become at it and your business will begin providing you and your family with a healthy income for years to come.

As income comes in, always set aside a percentage to reinvest into your business. You may wish to buy new tools, upgrade your work vehicle, buy new work clothes, and/or purchase business training. As you gradually increase your tools, you will be able to take on larger jobs and charge more for specialty work.

Stick with it. Never give up. Always set goals. Daily, weekly, monthly and yearly goals will help you keep focussed on growing your business. Save money for slower times of year. Plan ahead as best you can for winter. Stay out of debt if you can.

You can do this. I know you can, because I have done it and am continuing to do it. Thanks for reading this post. If you found some value in it, please share it with any of the social buttons below.

William King

William currently lives in the Greater Vancouver area of British Columbia, Canada with his wife Natasha and cat Noah. He has been cleaning windows professionally since 2004. William has worked for multiple window cleaning companies as both an employee and a subcontractor until he committed to building his own business in 2012. His business has grown since to provide a very nice income for the family. Natasha manages the office and accounting of the business as it continues to grow. With 28+ years of experience in the cleaning industry, William's intention with this website is to share his experience and knowledge with people who would like to learn how to create their own window / gutter cleaning service business.

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