#and i have my schedules for the next 4ish weeks and i dont have to work until 2 or 3 most days and no sundays

[muirneach]

whew i work an entire 9.5 hours next week…. i am so ready to reenter my employment era

[topicprinter]

Hi guys. It's been a while since I've given an update (lazy).​Quick back story for those that dont know. The last week of Jan 2017 I found out that my corporate job of 10 yers was being eliminated. On a whim I decided to start a window cleaning business to pay the bills until I figured out what I wanted to do. My son (17 at the time) wanted to start the business with me so we went in as partners. Around August of 2017 we added pressure washing to our business. We closed out right at 140k in revenue in 2017.​This years goal is $400,000 in revenue. We are currently setting at $222,812 of completed or scheduled work which puts us 16k behind pace to achieve our 2018 goal. October, November and December are the big months in my area so we have a reasonable chance at still achieving this.​For the last 4ish months I have been almost completely out of the field as my son is the crew leader of our truck with a tech working with him. This has allowed me to focus on sales and also building systems to help us grow/scale.​Aside from the day to day marketing/sales efforts my time over the last 45 days has been focused on creating technician training systems. I'm documenting everything that I can think of: how to turn our equipment on, how to do preventative maintenance, how to perform the services that we offer.... I've also been creating training videos and uploading them to a learning management system (Talent LMS for those curious). I think that technician training systems is my current most important system to be working on as it will be my biggest issue for the next two years of growth as most of my staff will consist of technicians. This area will be an ongoing effort.​I just extended an offer to a new tech that will be our tech staffing to a total of three. This will have our second truck on the road sometime next month. I am currently recruiting for my 4th technician with the goal of finding the right fit by the second week of September.​After MUCH time spent dragging my feet I have finally found a commercial real estate agent to get me a commercial space. We have submitted a LOI for a location and expect to be able to be in it in the next 30-45 days (fingers crossed).​I've mentioned many times in my previous posts that accounting and bookkeeping are my biggest weakness. I'm ashamed to admit that I have done such a poor job in this department. Early this month I hired a full service accountant/bookkeeper. He has already 'slapped me on the wrist' but said that all is well and that all lose ends will be tied up shortly. This is a HUGE relief to finally have under control.​Biggest challenges currently:Cash Flow. I've spent a lot of money on equipment (truck for cash, skids, machines...). I only pay myself a salary of $50,000 but its still a big drag especially considering that we are just now finishing up our slow months of summer (the summer was tough);Obviously finding good employees is difficult. I'm having success with this but it takes a lot of time to weed out the bad ones;Just growing in general. I could put a lot more money in my pocket if I wasn't putting it towards future growth.​Best things that I've done to date:implement an automated followup system with email, voicemail and post card automation. I didnt get this in place until a year ago this week. It has paid off already but is starting to get me even more repeat customers now that some time has passed;Creating and implementing a google review system. We have almost 5 times the amount of reviews (almost 150 google reviews) as the second place company in my area and then there is a drastic drop off after those guys. This generates a lot of calls for us and gives us credibility. On a regular basis I am told "We usually get multiple quotes but since your reviews are so great we are just getting one from you". The reviews make a bigger impact for our target customers (high end, expensive homes) as they are more concerned with the overall experience than just price;Being purposeful and consistent with my inbound calls script and my sales appointment script.​​The past 19 months have been an adventure. My life has changed in so many ways for the best. I've had some dark moments but I would not change anything because I love who I'm becoming and I am very excited about what the future holds for my family and me. We have plotted out our revenue goals through 2020: 2019 goal is $800,000 and 2020 goal is $1,100,000. I'm not positive that I am going to achieve my $400,000 goal this year but that is not changing our goals for 2019 and 2020.​As always, thanks to the members of this sub for the moral support that you have given.​​I have been documenting my journey on youtube from the very beginning. You can follow along here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTS3WLs0t2stlWFaqTzP2mQ​​