Teams of Two or Three?

Hi Steve, 

How are you?  This is Sergio in Canada.  Is it better to have teams of two or three?  If two washers can do the job in lets say three hours, can three washers do it in two, therefore more profit.  What are your thoughts.. 

Best Regards, 

Sergio

My Response:

Hi Sergio:

Good to hear from you.  Doing fine over here.  And how are you? 

I preferred teams of two, but I know some window cleaners have teams of 3.  I just thought that with the responsibilities for each job, two could handle it best.  More than 2 people and we're bumping into each other at times. 

Ex: Assuming me and one other guy.  We arrive at the job.  The other guy immediately removes all equipment from car while I say hello to the homeowner, enter their home, and start removing screens.  Once the other guy has the equipment set up and ready to go, he goes around the house and collects the screens that I'm removing from the inside.  He then focuses on cleaning all screens while I get set up to start cleaning the outside windows.  As soon as he finishes the screens, he joins me cleaning the outside windows and we hopscotch around the house together.  We then repeat the process inside.  When done, the other guy places the now dry screens next to proper window to be put back in and then he would start cleaning up and putting equipment back in car/ladders on roof, etc.  I would put the screens back, present invoice, collect money, and say goodbye to homeowner.

I'm sure we could fit one other guy in the above procedure somewhere.  Like maybe while me and guy #1 are outside cleaning, guy #2 could be inside cleaning.  But I just thought it was more streamlined with 2 people total per crew.  We're not bumping into each other and there's no wasted time.  So overall your profits will be better because you can take this 3rd guy and place him on a new job with one other guy. Repeat the process at house #2 with guy #3 and guy #4 working it, and you're all set.

Hope this helps.  Take care for now.

Regards,

Steve

A follow up:

Thanks Steve, 

I’m doing great.  The business I bought is in full swing and keeping me busy.  My market in Montreal is primarily homes that are like mansions.  Three story homes.  A team of two can take anywhere between 5-7 hours to complete a job.  Some of the windows are old and difficult to remove and stained from the screens.   

The weather in Montreal is harsh and we had a very long winter.  My season is April until the end of October. 

By the way, I registered my company on your listing in 3 Bears… Great job. 

Sergio

My Response:

Hi Sergio:

Great…That sounds super.  The system I described earlier worked for me in my area, but as you mentioned, with your homes being "mansions" and having "old windows", a team of 3 might fit you better.  As long as each person knows what their responsibilities are and there is no overlap, then it'll work for you.  In my market with my homes, I would have had overlap which would have decreased my overall profits. 

Thanks for your comments on 3 Bears Window Cleaning Directory. I'll start doing some search engine optimization work soon to make 3 Bears rank high in the search engines.  For folks like yourself who are listed, they will see results from prospective customers finding their window cleaning businesses in the directory.  Take care for now.

Regards,

Steve