The modern Window Cleaner has access to a wealth of information and equipment. With a little time & research, adding additional revenue streams could allow you to diversify your business.
In sales and marketing, the term 'lifetime value' is often used to indicate the amount of money a single customer spends with a business. As it is often more difficult and costly to acquire new customers, offering alternative products and services to existing customers is a means to increase a business's revenue, without acquiring a single additional customer.
In fact, many large online retail stores look only to break even on the first purchase a customer makes, in the hope that building trust and rapport with the customer might lead to further purchases.
Increasing the amount each customer spends is a benefit to any business, but particularly to cleaning and property maintenance, where building trust and rapport between yourself and the customer goes a very long way.
As an example, a Window Cleaning customer pays £20.00 per clean and has the windows cleaned monthly. this customer is a reliable payer and never cancels.
This customer is worth £240.00 per year to the Window Cleaner (£20.00 per month x 12 months).
Now imagine this same customer has the windows cleaned monthly, and the gutters cleaned & cleared once per year for £120.00.
This customer is now worth £360.00 (£20.00 per month x 12 months, + £120 once per year).
The same customer now brings in 50% more money to the Window Cleaner.
Finding ways to increase your customer spend with you each year is one way to increase your turnover and may even be easier, less time consuming, and less costly than bringing in new customers.
If you are looking to really ramp up your turnover, combining efforts to increase customer spend, whilst also attracting new customers can bring some brilliant results (not sure how to do this? take a look at our article on Marketing Your Window Cleaning Business).
Some examples of additional revenue streams that go hand-in-hand with Window cleaning are:
- Gutter Cleaning / Clearing
- Conservatory (and other plastics/ uPVC).
- Roof Cleaning/ Scraping
- Soft-washing / Other External Cleaning
The additional revenue that these bring in through the autumn could compensate for a quieter winter, offer opportunity whilst adverse weather stops you Window Cleaning, or simply allow you to build your business all year round.
Adding another revenue stream does require some planning, here is a list of steps you may wish to take, to ensure you are prepared.
Equipment Required
Make a list of what exactly you require, where you can purchase it, and how much it is going to cost. If you're unsure, call and speak to somebody in the industry. If it's anything cleaning related, feel free to contact us and we can point you in the right direction.
Technique
If your chosen add on is something completely new to you, be sure to utilise online videos to help you learn the techniques. there will be a YouTube tutorial for pretty much anything you can think of. Use Facebook to search for groups of people within the same niche, those groups can be a goldmine for hints and tips and techniques.
Accreditation & Licensing
Most exterior cleaning work does not require specific qualifications or accreditation, however, it will likely vary from one location to the next, research what you require in order to offer your chosen service, this may also include necessary insurance or even generic health and safety certifications.
Marketing & Market Research
Having the ability to fulfill the work is only useful if there is work to be fulfilled!
Asking potential customers if the additional revenue stream is something they would consider is a good way to gauge demand for it in your community. If you believe there is a demand - you will need to plan how you are going to raise awareness of your offer.
You can do this through up-sells to your current customer base, or any of the marketing strategies outlined in our Marketing Your Business article
Okay, You're All Set
Adding additional revenue streams can be a great opportunity, but it does require time, effort & planning. By following the guidance above you can quickly be on the way to growing your Window Cleaning business!
Don't forget to check out the UK's resident Window Cleaner, Mr Trad-man, as he discusses add-on services to a Window Cleaning business.
Head to our Starting a Window Cleaning Business Hub for more helpful guides
