When do you understand that you “have arrived”, so to speak, in your profession? For me, it was a large-scale commercial window cleaning I took a couple of years ago. It showed me that I could take on any hygienic challenge, and I could trust my team, skills, and equipment.
I had been in the window cleaning industry for three years, mainly serving homeowners and a few small local businesses. I had settled in a good daily routine, taking no more than 3-4 jobs per day, which allowed me to earn more than I had expected in the beginning. I was in my comfort zone – working good, sleeping better, having no worries for the future.
Then one day, I received the fateful call from a large company that was planning to renovate one of the abandoned factory buildings in the area and turn it into small workshops. They had inspected the premises and found out they were in good enough condition not to bulldoze them away.
The company was looking for a local-based window cleaner who would polish all intact windows and wash the new ones after they had been installed. As the conversation progressed, I understood that the property management would consider a long-term contract if the initial performance was impressive enough.
It was the chance of a lifetime, the kind of jackpot many window cleaners never hit in their life. I had never taken a job anywhere near such a scale. But my cousin was already working part-time for me, and I had a couple of other experienced cleaners I could count on.
Do not expect me to tell you that it was all glamour and roses. It was not – this might have been the most stressful and exhausting week of my life. It was also the most rewarding. Three cleaners worked non-stop for 12 hours – three days straight. But at the end of it, hundreds of square feet of glass were shining like a Christmas tree.
It was the end of me as a local window cleaner and the beginning of a successful enterprise that has grown ever since!