For those of you who have been growing ever more concerned about our price increases, I’d like to provide you some background about what has been going on from our end. 

This business has grown almost solely by referral and I really appreciate you all for that. As a result, however, it’s grown beyond what I’ve been able to keep up with. I first expanded with two family members that I was able to make partners. We added our first employee in 2016 – and lost money for our efforts. In 2017 both the family partners split with the business, making a significant amount of work dependent on employees I hadn’t yet figured out how to afford.

So why do employees make things so difficult? Employees add a new layer of financial burden for which I really wasn’t prepared. In addition to multiplying commute time, supplies, liability insurances, and the time it takes to manage and train them, all employees require expenses my partners did not. State Disability Insurance (1%), Unemployment Insurance (3.4%), Social Security (6.2%), and workers compensation, which costs the business a staggering 30% of their wages! And there is no way around it. Because we work on ladders so often, State Fund is the only provider that will insure us, and that’s the rate we’re stuck with.

When you really go by the numbers, the business advice I had previously thought of as exploitive practice – that “employees need to be bringing in twice their wages” – now seems pretty close to the practical reality of running a business that plays by the rules.

With minimum wage quickly approaching $15 an hour, that means that a new, minimum wage employee, will cost my customer about $30/hr. And that’s just minimum wage! How much will it cost my clients to bring them seasoned employees who can provide them with the same quality of service as I myself strive to provide?

This opens the door to a rather unsettling question – will my clients be willing to pay what it takes to build a window washing team that can keep up with demand? I honestly have no idea. But if not, there is another harsh truth awaiting – I estimate that without employees, I would only be able to maintain about 40% of my current clientele. Unfortunately, I really don’t see any easy way to address this. A gradual price increase and continued efforts with employees is the best I’ve been able to come up with.

I hope to retain as many of you as I can, but also want you to know I completely understand if you would like to explore cheaper alternatives (sole proprietors with the freedom to value their time as they wish.) Whether that is the case or not, there will be no hard feelings. I am grateful for ALL my clients, past and future.

Thank you!

~ Colin