Water Restrictions in Houston may affect your window cleaning business

Businesses Fear Further Water Restrictions: MyFoxHOUSTON.com

HOUSTON - Houston is in Stage 2 water restrictions, limiting the hours and days on which residents can irrigate their lawns.

But if the water shortage gets worse, some local businesses are worried about being shut down.

Under Houston city ordinance, during Stage 2 restrictions, companies that use water for their “primary business practices” are exempt from prosecution. That would include car washes and pressure washers.

But that protection disappears if we enter Stage 3 water restrictions, even though many such businesses claim to be more efficient than a homeowner trying to accomplish the same task.

Don Palmour owns Clean Car Turnpike in northwest Houston.

His car wash uses about 80-gallons of water per car. But most of that water is recycled onsite, he says. Only about 10 gallons of fresh water is required, each time.

And Palmour says, for economic and environmental reasons, water recycling is becoming the industry standard.

“I would guess that in car washes like this,” Palmour estimates, “well over 50-percent would be recycling their water.”

Another local company that puts its wastewater to good use is commercial pressure washer Environmental Magic.

“We recover, recycle and reuse the water during our process,” says CEO Patrick Kramer. “So we actually use a lot less water than a regular pressure washer, say, that people go buy at Home Depot.”

Kramer doesn’t like for his company to be lumped in with other pressure washing outfits that don’t recycle water.

But when water is scarce, any company that uses it conspicuously is vulnerable.

Houston’s Public Works department was not willing to discuss what might happen under Stage 3 or Stage 4 water restrictions.

But FOX 26 Legal Analyst Chris Tritico analyzed the city’s water shortage ordinance at our request.

“Once we hit Stage 3,” says Tritico, “the way I read this ordinance, it's going to be unlawful to run a car wash, to run a window washing business, to run a building-washing or sidewalk-washing business. Because you're not allowed to use that water.”

Read more: http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/110816-businesses-fear-further-water-restrictions#ixzz1VWVfIhNp

Walking window washer finds business success in Bedford

When a job search did not yield results, Bobby Patterson decided to open his own business washing windows, painting fences and doing other odd jobs in Bedford.

Use Coupons To Help Your Window Cleaning Business

One sunny afternoon as I was standing outside a movie theater, a man in an apron came passing around coupons for his small ice cream shop across the street – A free scoop of ice cream when you buy two scoops at the regular store price. I immediately knew I was going to pay them a visit when the movie was over (true story).

That coupon for a free scoop of ice cream brought me into their ice cream shop for the very first time (and it definitely wasn’t the last). So what does this have to do with your window cleaning business? Coupons are a excellent way of attracting new AND life-time customers! They’re very practical because of being cheap to print and easy to distribute. If your not thinking of going all out you can print them on your own computer at home, maybe even pay to have them put in your local newspaper or the penny saver. You can have them delivered to local (high end) households through the post office. Put them under windshield wipers of parked cars (although this might seem annoying at times it’s good for local promotion), or pass them out to local storefronts.

Passing out coupons is one thing, but making a coupon that ACTUALLY WORKS is another. Before you start ordering coupons or using up all your printer ink think of an appealing offer. Why should they call you? What benefits come from having their windows cleaned? You DON’T want a coupon that just tells the public what you do for a living, you want a coupon that will give them a reason to pick up there phone and call you. Make your add stand out from the competition. For example almost all Temecula window cleaners in my area offer free screen washing, who REALLY cares? You’re trying to STAND OUT and be noticed (don’t get me wrong free screen cleaning is a good bait, BUT you have to admit its getting old), how about free hard water removal? Obviously not on all the windows, but why not the first one or two? How many window cleaners do you know of that make that kind of offer?? EXACTLY… You might have lost the twenty/maybe thirty dollars clearing up hard water spots on two windows but what could you have gained? The profit from the rest of the house? A referral from a very happy customer? A LIFE-LONG customer?

Don’t trick yourself into thinking the only way you’ll make money is to be stingy with your pricing, offers, and coupons. Think outside the box with your offers, and you’ll end up with a foot in over all your commercial window cleaning competition.

Source:http://www.articlesbook.com/use-coupons-to-help-your-window-cleaning-business/

ABM Industries' Undercover Boss, Henrik Slipsager, Revisits 9/11

By Lisa Johnson Mandell, Posted Dec 3rd 2010 @ 4:04PM

There are not many adults in the United States who can't recall exactly where they were when the planes flew into the World Trade Center on 9/11. President and CEO of ABM Industries Henrik Slipsager, this week's Undercover Boss, was in San Francisco, desperately trying to contact his family at home in New York. Two of the workers who participated with him in an 'Undercover Boss' segment were at Ground Zero.

Talking to them about their experiences on that fateful day was the hardest part of Slipsager's 'Undercover Boss' experience. "No matter who you are, it's in your system," he said. "It's digging deep, and it hurts. The most difficult part was not being able to reveal my identity and ask them the questions I really wanted to ask."

A total of 17 ABM employees died on 9/11. Hundreds worked at the World Trade Center when the towers fell, but many were on different shifts.

Recovery time

The employees who were there were given time to recover from the experience, and when they were ready, ABM found them work in other buildings. Slipsager worked with a freight elevator operator who had been with ABM for 26 years, and was cleaning outside the World Trade Center when the planes hit. He said he was grateful for how they were treated by ABM during such a difficult and emotional time.

Maria, another employee with whom Slipsager worked on janitorial duties, lost her 27-year-old nephew on 9/11. He was a foreman for ABM and was working on the 96th floor of one of the towers. Although Slipsager was not great at cleaning the toilets and glass walls under her supervision, he found great dignity and commitment in the way his employees performed their housekeeping duties.

"My goal for being an Undercover Boss, although I'm quite shy, was to show how proud and focused our employees are, and what a good job they're doing," he said. "I believe we accomplished that."

So what, exactly is ABM?

ABM may not be a household name, but chances are you've been in a building that's been serviced by them. ABM stands for American Building Maintenance, which was founded more than 100 years ago and has over 90,000 employees. It's one of the nation's largest facilities services contractors, offering janitorial, engineering, parking and security services for thousands of clients. Slipsager, a Danish immigrant, has been President and CEO since the year 2000.

His cover was that he was an immigrant from Holland or the Czech Republic (let's face it, few Americans can identify a Danish accent) competing with another, younger candidate for a job in the United States. His disguise left a lasting impression: He had "virgin" hair that had never been dyed before, and when he tried to wash the color out, it remained orange for months.

Slipsager's first job for the 'Undercover Boss' episode was at the Tampa airport, working as shuttle operator for Ampco System Parking, a division of ABM. He was too slow at helping people with their luggage, and too fast driving. When he cursed his own ineptitude, that was the final straw for Kenny, the driver who was training him. Slipsager was promptly relieved of his duties. "It was brutal," he said. "But Kenny is such a good kid."

The most dangerous job to date

Next up was the most dangerous job an Undercover Boss has had to do yet. Slipsager worked with a commercial window washing supervisor, a Polish immigrant from Krakow, who required him to attach scaffold cables to the top of a building and wear a harness to go up many floors to clean windows. This was one of Slipsager's worst nightmares, since he's afraid of heights. "If you look closely, you'll see my left hand squeezing the scaffold -- it was cramping I was holding on so tight," he said. When the supervisor told him they had to go higher, Slipsager said he'd had enough and ended that assignment right then and there.

Slipsager is sure that when people see how brave, dedicated and proud ABM workers are, they will have a newfound respect and appreciation of the janitors, cleaners and other service workers that make their lives more comfortable on a daily basis. "People's perception changes when they see these people have interesting lives and names," he said. "'Undercover Boss' gave me the opportunity to show this."

AOL Jobs Asks
Undercover Boss Henrik Slipsager
5 Quick Questions

1. What was your first job? Summer landscaping at age 14.
2. What inspires you? Anything to do with tomorrow.
3. What is the most important trait needed to succeed? Pride in what you do.
4. What is your biggest challenge? Balancing home life with work.
5. What is the best career advice you ever received? Take it! (offered by a colleague when Slipsager had just settled with his family back in Denmark, and he was offered the ABM job, which would require a move back to New York.)

http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2010/12/03/abm-industries-undercover-boss-henrik-slipsager-revisits-9-11/

Nicholas Genovese Window Washer Doing Well (Survives 33K Volt Shock (video)

Nicholas Genovese sat in his hospital room, his hands and feet still bandaged, and called his survival a "miracle."

"I am not the best Catholic," the Staten Island window washer admitted.  "But I am going to start going to church again this Sunday."

Genovese, 58, survived a jolt of thirty-three thousand volts of electricity while cleaning the windows of a Lynbrook office building Saturday.

He and partner Alan Weinberg, 64, of Long Beach, apparently lost control of their forty feet long cleaning pole in the high winds, according to Lynbrook fire department spokesman Steve Grogan.

Both window washers were on the sidewalk outside the building, maneuvering the aluminum instrument toward the windows above, when it was blown onto high tension wires near the building.

"They probably shouldn't have been attempting that in those conditions," Grogan said.

Both window washers were immediately knocked to the ground.

"I blacked out for a second," said Genovese. "Then I felt the electricity run through my body."

Genovese suffered third degree burns on his hands and feet but may have survived, said Grogan, because he did not have a firm grip on the pole.

Weinberg, however, WAS holding it firmly in both hands and was badly injured.

"He had no vital signs for nearly twenty minutes," said Grogan.

Lynbrook volunteer firefighters refused to give up their battle to save him and, with help from Lynbrook and Nassau police officers, finally restored Weinberg's pulse after three jolts from a defibrillator.

Weinberg remains hospitalized in critical but stable condition, according to a spokesperson for Nassau University Medical Center. Both window washers are now being treated there.

Genovese, a father of three, usually serves as a window washer for NYRA; but was on this job as a way to make extra money this holiday season.

He promised to be back out there as soon as he is healed; but will forever count his blessings.

"I am very lucky," Genovese said. "You never expect something like this to happen to you."

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local-beat/SI-Windown-Washer-Survives-Huge-Shock-110984204.html 

 

Nicholas Genovese (Photo/Mona Rivera)

From mzielinska

NEW YORK (1010 WINS/CBS 2) – Staten Island resident Nicholas Genovese says he is happy to be alive after nearly being electrocuted over the weekend.
“I just got the shock of my life,” Genovese said.
1010 WINS’ Mona Rivera reports Genovese and Alan Weinberg, 64, of Long Beach, were preparing to wash the windows at a Bank of America branch on Merrick Road in Lynbrook using a telescoping 40-foot washing pole on Saturday.
Genovese was holding the pole at the top of a ladder while Weinberg stood on the ground holding the bottom of the pole, detectives said. At that time, a gust of wind blew the pole into a power line.
“The voltage went through me and everything went black for a second,” Genovese said. “The next thing I knew I just hit the ground.”
Police said that by the time officers arrived, Weinberg was in cardiac arrest. They performed CPR, and paramedics from the Lynbrook Fire Department continued treatment.
Weinberg was stabilized at South Nassau Communities Hospital and was then transfered to Nassau University Medical Center Burn Unit for treatment of second and third degree burns to his hands and feet. He was in critical condition.
Genovese suffered second and third degree burns on his hands and feet. He was in stable condition at Nassau University Medical Center.
“I thought I got struck by lightning,” Genovese said. “I thought I was dying but thank God I’m still here.”
Genovese said he will keep washing windows but never near power lines. His wife, Joanna, said he will not need skin grafts and will be released from the hospital on Tuesday.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2010/11/29/s-i-window-washer-survives-shock-of-his-life/

Sales Tactics For Small Window Cleaning Companies By David Campbell

Sales tactics for small window cleaning companies can involve many different philosophies. One of the better philosophies is to be honest, work hard, and know your business. However, this may not always be enough. There are some other things that you might wish to try, to increase business.
Diversify
It may not be enough to only clean windows. There may be many other opportunities that can help you diversify your business. If someone needs clean windows, they may also need clean floors or ceilings. This is especially true with business accounts. It is much simpler to hire one service for all of those needs.
This can be a good way to increase your client base. You can sell several services as opposed to one. You may still specialize in windows, but you may pick up more business with other services. This can give you a valuable edge on competing businesses.
Talking to Others
It is hard to increase your business, if you do not get out and talk to others about it. You can only go so far by sitting at home and dreaming. It is important to put action behind those dreams. The more people you meet and talk to, the better your chances for new business are. You have to play the percentages. It is like playing baseball, those that hit the most home runs, also strike out the most. It is the home runs that matter, not the strikeouts.
Be Professional in Your Approach
Always keep an approach that is sincere and professional. You may have the opportunity to receive many business accounts. Professionals like to deal with other professionals. You should spend the extra money for very nice looking business cards. Get a phone number that is only used for your business. Make sure that you have a professional sounding voice mail message too.
Always Treat Other People Well
It costs no time or money to treat people right. When you talk to a customer, listen first. Make sure they have said everything that they have to say. Many people appreciate an audience and may like you. It is common knowledge that people do business with people that they like.
Final thoughts
Consider diversifying with your cleaning business. The more things you do, the more clients you may attract. You may also stay ahead of your competitors, this way. Get out and meet people. Many will say “no”, but some will say “yes”. Always look, act, and dress, professional. Treat people properly and listen to them when they talk. People do business with those people that they like. Remember these sales tactics for small window cleaning companies, and you may improve your business.