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Chicago, IL, United States (AHN) – An elderly Chicago woman shot a boy in the arm allegedly after repeated harassment and a brick being thrown through her window.

Margaret Matthews, 68, shot the 12-year-old boy Tuesday night and the one facing charges is the boy. Authorities have charged him and another adolescent with misdemeanor aggravated assault to a senior citizen.

Neighbors of Matthews say she was the victim of incessant harassment by a group of neighborhood kids and the gunshot victim was their ringleader. They allegedly vandalized her home, broke items in her shed and once set her garbage on fire.

Matthews was known in the neighborhood for living alone and being no nonsense.

After calling police and reporting bricks being thrown her window, the boy and another child returned to her home after police left.

That’s when the shooting occurred. Witnesses say Matthews was an “emotional wreck” after the incident; and she didn’t intend to hit anyone, only scare the boys. He has been released from the hospital and is back with his parents.

After a brief detainment by authorities, Matthews was released from police custody on the grounds that she acted in self defense.

Some in the neighborhood are disputing the accounts of the events. The boy’s grandmother, Donna Virges, contends the two adolescents were simply “walking down the street, and they saw a window broken at a woman’s house and as they passed by, they said she came out shooting.”

If convicted on the charges, the 12-year-old could be placed in juvenile detention for up to a year.

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Most people have something they’d rather do than deal with dirt and grime like earning a living, spending time with their children, enjoying themselves.

This is where a great business opportunity presents itself – several profitable opportunities, in fact – for anyone who doesn’t find cleaning quite so offensive.

WHAT THE BUSINESS INVOLVES

As you’d expect, this section deals with several money-making opportunities some part-time; others full-time; some where you do the work yourself, others where you have less direct contact with end-users. You might, for example, start your own

- Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Service

- Window Cleaning Round

- House and Flat Cleaning Service

- Contract Cleaning Service

A few ideas might tempt you. Further information, technical knowledge and support is offered through franchise companies, machinery suppliers and most materials manufacturers.

How you operate depends not on the business itself but on what role you choose. A sole trader might do everything from advertising to cleaning, invoicing and submitting end-of-year accounts. As a partner you might do the cleaning while another person tackles administrative and managerial matters. Alternatively, you might join up with a specialist franchise cleaning agency, where most managerial aspects are handled by the parent company, and local matters, like cleaning, are left to you.

ASPECTS OF THE CLEANING BUSINESS

* Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Service

All business thrives on a professional image and most organisations choose good carpeting and quality upholstery, representing a major investment. These things have to last, so regular, professional cleaning is vital.

Most organisations employ staff for day-to-day cleaning and vacuuming, with responsibility for shampooing and special treatments contracted outside.

Look in any local daily newspaper and you’ll find a selection of small businesses, usually one-man (or woman) operations, offering to clean carpets and upholstery for private and business clients. A satisfied customer is a regular customer and this is a business where repeat custom and word-of-mouth recommendation can generate the bulk of your earnings.

No special experience or qualifications are needed to run a small carpet/upholstery cleaning business, even to highly professional standards. Machinery and cleaning materials are the greatest investment and most suppliers offer training and ongoing support.

First impressions are important. A custom-made machine and your name on the side of your van speak volumes about the quality and reliability of your service. So too does your own appearance and attitude to business. Look smart, try to keep appointments and act like a professional always.

Your equipment should also look good, be regularly maintained and operating properly.

It isn’t just business customers you will be dealing with. Homeowners are another source of regular business and a valuable fund of free advertising through referrals and recommendations.

Earnings can be high, even for small businesses running with one man and one machine. The main problem you will encounter is talkative clients, people who might make you late for your next appointment and reduce the number of calls you make in a day. Be friendly but diplomatic. Time is money.

It’s a good idea to study established firms before starting your own business, even if this means having your own carpets and upholstery cleaned by someone whose advertisement has appeared for some time. Alternatively, ask discretely at pubs, showrooms, hotels and restaurants about which cleaners they use and how satisfied they are with the service.

* Window Cleaning Round

All premises have windows, some easy to keep clean, others less so. Windows in smaller premises are frequently cleaned by the owner. Larger houses, shops, clubs, pubs, and most businesses depend on regular outside window cleaners. This is another time where repeat business and referrals make regular advertising unnecessary.

No qualifications or experience is necessary to start a window cleaning business and initial outlay is minimal. Ladders, buckets, chamois leathers and cleaning materials are all you need, with some form of transport for larger rounds and others where large distances are involved between calls. Large housing estates and compact shopping centres are prized among window cleaning firms, where little time is involved getting from one call to the next and transport is rarely essential.

Most of the best rounds will already be taken with other firms ready to jump in at a moment’s notice. Nevertheless, you could approach other people’s customers direct to enquire about the service they get and indicate what you can offer at a more competitive price. You only need one or two satisfied customers on a large round to spread the word and attract others.

The business can easily be expanded into other locations or by diversifying into different cleaning options. You could hire staff to work on wider rounds or franchise your business to people wanting to work for themselves.

* House and Flat Cleaning

Here you might handle all aspects of cleaning for private clients, from day-to-day activities such as vacuuming, cleaning baths and toilets, to irregular duties like valeting the car, spring cleaning, sorting out garage and attic, and so on.

Depending on how many hours they work, most single-handed operators find two or three clients a day is all it takes to maintain a profitable business.

Some firms hire others to do the work, meaning client list and profits are greatly increased.

Clients tend to be professionals and high-income families. As for other areas of the cleaning sector, repeat business and word-of-mouth recommendation are common.

* Contract Cleaning

This is where firms accept total responsibility for cleaning clients’ premises, usually larger buildings like shops, offices, factories, blocks of flats and housing complexes.

A sole operator might handle one or two large clients, probably just one, making this a potential business for life, even without advertising.

Author: Avril Harper
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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This article is an extract from the Advanced Window Cleaning eBook. It will attempt to give the budding window cleaner a brief introduction to window cleaning based on experienced professional window cleaners.

You are about to embark on running your own business and being your own boss. You can be up and running within a week with very little capital or even experience. Business name:

Before you start your lucrative new business you’ve got to think of a good business name. You’ll need something you won’t hate a month later after your business cards, stationary, and advertisements are already printed! Been there got the t-shirt.

A lot of new business owners choose their name (i.e. John Smith Window Cleaning Services) which is absolutely fine. As long as it’s memorable and to the point.

Once you’ve chosen a name check with company house to find out if that name is still available at companies house. If it is available, make sure the domain name is also available too at a domain seller (I’ll explain why later).

If you’re based in the UK you’ll want the “.co.uk” as well as the “.com”. Whichever country you live in you’ll need the domain address that corresponds with your local area, i.e. Australia would be “.au”.

Once you’ve purchased your domain name it needs to be hosted.

What is hosting?

Once your website is completed the site must be placed on a web “Server” (a computer which is permanently connected to the Internet). This means that your site can be accessed anywhere around the world at any time.

My favourite company is 1&1, but feel free to use the company of your choice. You may even get hosting from 123 reg too!

There are several different factors that go into the decision making process when deciding on the right name for your business, and no one could ever tell you what’s right for you, that decision is yours only.

The name you eventually decide to use may impact other aspects of your business and your overall marketing plan. For example, where will you will be placed in alphabetical ad listings such as the yellow pages? Most prospective clients don’t call every listing in the book, just one, or two, maybe three, if comparing price quotes and services.

Registering Your Business with Mr Tax Man

Once you’ve found a name for your business and you’ve got the domain name registered it’s time to tell Mr Tax Man than you have now started a business. The reason why you do this straight away is the fact that there are a series of fines for not letting them know.

As a new business, you have the choice of being a sole trader, partnership or limited company. I’ll give you a brief example of the 3.

Sole Trader

Being a sole trader is the simplest and easiest way to get started in business. Once you have informed the government agencies of your intentions to go self-employed, you can start to trade right away (subject to any specific licenses or insurances you might require).

As a sole trader, you can quickly adapt to changes in your business with minimal bureaucratic changes required and you have complete control over your business and accounting affairs. However, a sole trader is also responsible for any liabilities should anything go wrong. This means that any debts that the business has can be seen as your own.

Partnership

A partnership is very similar to being a sole trader. This is the type of business entity in which partners share with each other the profits or losses of the business undertaking in which all have invested. Not only do both parties share the profits, they also share the liabilities too.

Limited Company

Aside from sole trader status, most small businesses set up as Limited Companies. The term ‘limited’ derives from the fact that the company’s finances are distinct from the personal finances of their owners (unlike the sole trader or partnership arrangement).

Shareholders in limited liability companies are not responsible for company debts, although if required, directors may be required to guarantee loans or credit granted to the company. In essence it is a separate entity.

At this point, I’d ask you to speak to an accountant (chapter 3) to see which direction is best for you. Everyone’s circumstances are different. For tax reasons I chose to be registered as “Limited Company”. This may or may not be the best course for you. I’ll let you decide!

Franchise

So what does a franchise give you? A franchise gives you an established name, cooperative marketing with other franchisees, bulk purchasing power, training and management expertise and much much more. There are some early advantages of buying a franchise rather than building your own business from scratch. They’re the types of advantages solo entrepreneurs might reap — if they’re lucky — after years of hard work in the trenches.

Naturally, franchising has its drawbacks, too. Agreements between franchisors and their franchisees can seem a little rigid, especially to eager, innovative self-starters who expect to grow their businesses as they see fit.

One of the other drawbacks is finance. Franchises can be very expensive to purchase ranging from 9,999 for a mama and papa type franchise to 250,000 (minimum) for a McDonald’s fast-food type franchise. Ouch!

Financing Your Business

If you don’t feel that confident venturing out on your own and want to choose either the Franchise or License model, there are few bodies and organisations you can try tapping for financing your new venture.

Listed below: -

Small Firm Loan Guarantee scheme

DTI Grant for Research and Development

Business Link Access to Finance service

Enterprise Grants

Prince’s Trust

Author: Joe Polanski-Smith
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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One could argue without too much difficulty that buying a window cleaning franchise is simply a waste of money, after all you could simply go down to be 99 cents store and by a bucket 3 towels and a squeegee and hey, you are in business right? Well one could argue that, since to really be in business, you probably need to get a business license, insurance, buy some business cards and make a few flyers. Then you need to hit the street and drum up some business, of course this is not too awfully hard, but it is not all that easy either. Over the past two decades I have known many small startup window-cleaning people who have lasted a few months at most.

What I find interesting about it is that every single one comes in with such vigor and excitement ready to take on the world. When they leave and quit business they do so for an array of excuses yet still they will swear that would not have been any different had they bought a window cleaning franchise. My answer to that is hogwash. We take someone who’s been a business 25 years and we show you had a do that business, do you honestly think that you or me or anyone for that matter can go down to the 99 cents store buy a few products of the trade, get some business cards and flyers and do as well as someone with 25-years experience? A franchise can show you a business plan with all of the mistakes that they have made in all those 25 years built out of the business model?

I have heard people argue against franchising and I know little bit about. I have heard people brag to me about how great they are and how they can do anything. I myself have even thought that, but really be honest; fact is that nothing good life is easy, it never has been, it never will be, that is not good or bad it just it is. I applaud the startup entrepreneur, I applaud the street vendor, I applaud Donald Trump in his new reality show for making those contestants go out into the street and sell lemonade. The open market and free enterprise that you’ll learn from doing can not be taught in schools, it often Fries me to listen to M.B.A. students tell me how great they are, greatnesses does not come from saying; it comes from doing, it comes from perseverance dedication commitment and strength of character.

It does not come from reading chapters in paragraphs in textbooks that were written 40 years the prior and re-edited every decade or regurgitated with the latest buzzwords. No my friends you cannot learn about free enterprise by reading the teachings of Karl Marx in Das Capital. Likewise you cannot understand the writings in the novel Fountainhead or when Atlas shrugged or any short story, lecture or novel by Ayn Rand. I do not claim to be a know-it-all in all areas of the free market. I realize there is always more to learn to fully understand free markets; you must participate in them. Elliot Spitzer has no business crying foul over the shenanigans of Martha Stewart, he clearly does not understand. Greenspan on the other hand did participate in free markets after he had finished college.

Let’s not be too quick to judge what may appear to be simple, for nothing is simple. Window cleaning or car washing may appear to be very simple procedures and something you can train your third grader to do. I can safely say that that carwash industry, specifically the mobile carwash industry that our company the car wash guys is in seems more like rocket science than the simple business it appears to be. There is no one and no team which has studied the markets, participated in them and continually strives to innovate and build new prototypes to service more niches that our company http://www.CarWashGuys.com. In the window cleaning business the window wash guys http://www.windowwashguys.com has been around some 25 years. You cannot tell me that in 25 years of specializing in a specific niche like that, that someone cannot become excellent at their methods and procedures, marketing and managing, equipment and signage, uniforms and scheduling. Not to mention that the entire time a company like The Window Wash Guys is trying new products, new coatings, new chemicals and new procedures.

For someone to argue to what is why should I buy a franchise? I could start a window cleaning business for $200, why do I need to pay you? Is utterly ridiculous to us and preposterous for us to even bother to explain. If someone cannot see the value and knowledge that one gains from being the best they can be at a specific task for 25 years, then they truly are not smart enough to join our company in the first place.

So if you really think your are so smart and can do it yourself; then by God go get busy and do not waste franchisors time. After all what you are doing is trying to learn on their dime which you have not paid for; isnt that why you really contact the franchise company? That is a chicken crap way to do things. Lying and playing games to steal information; If you are so special and so great and so wonderful that you think that you can understand 25-years of trial and error by going out and doing it yourself, then; go get em big guy? I hope at least you have the smarts enough to by a book about the subject or two from someone who knows what they are doing. Franchisees of strong market player franchisors eat the competition for lunch? The arrogance of some people is just ridiculous? They say things like; Why should I pay you a dime, I can do this on my own? Our answer is simple; if that is true, go do it. Shut up and stop wasting our time. That is what the franchisors think of your petty comments? Loser, Show ME; dont tell me what you are going to do, get busy and do it; Mr. Wonderful! As a franchisor, I get perturbed listening to silly little humans, tell me how great they are and how they can do anything, better than our team within a week or two. You see I have watched thousands of these folks talk a good amount of smack and be here and gone in under 3-months. Grow up.

In my days in motorcycle racing, we use to call these bragging talkers; squids. Newbies, they would be balls to the wall before the race and then end up crashing or in next to last place a few hours later. You cannot be the best by osmosis; it takes hard work, practice and knowledge and of course a few hard knocks. A franchisor in any business has done much of this for you. If you are wise you will listen and not talk so much. Think on this, but do not call us if you are going to play games, we are busy.

Author: Lance Winslow
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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This month, I wanted to talk to you about the benefits of keeping your focus in your window cleaning business.

So what do you say we get right to it? Here we go…

**********************************

The benefits of keeping your Focus

**********************************

Without beating around the bush, I see a lot of window washers trying to either:

1. work other businesses in addition to window washing hoping something clicks.

and/or

2. offer many, multiple services in addition to window washing.

Let’s talk about number 1 first.

1. Working other businesses in addition to window washing hoping something clicks.

This is probably the hardest thing for me to do…keeping focus on one business/one opportunity. Can you relate to that? I think that’s a problem with many people.

I mean there are soooooo many business opportunities out there, and they all sound great when reading
about them. They really do. So what do we do when we’re surrounded by all these supposedly “great” opportunities?

Well…I used to buy into or join lots of them. But I’ll tell you the first thing I did when entering the window washing business. I looked back over the years and analyzed the successes and failures I’ve had. I knew that window washing was the last stop for me, so failure wasn’t an option. The wheels had to stop spinning.

After my little “realty check”, it finally hit me like a ton of bricks…

It simply all boiled down to having too many irons in the fire all the time. It’s tough to spread yourself out among 2 or more businesses. Not only in terms of time, but in terms of deciding which ones to invest in.

Something has to give, so the end result was nothing really took off. In one time period, I was selling asset protection to high income prospects, servicing a bunch of payphones I bought, and talking to day care centers about buying some personalized books for the little kiddies.

Needless to say, bah humbug on that. And the bank account showed it.

But being a “business start up junkie” required some discipline as my window washing business grew. Whenever a business looked appealing or an opportunity arose, my blinders had to come on. Contrary to popular belief, the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence.

After my initial success of capturing window washing customers, I quickly realized that the profit potential in the window washing biz can be absolutely enormous. Why veer off course and dilute that profit by spending time building or doing another business?

One of the reasons I think I was so intent on forming another business is because of the philosophy of “don’t put all your eggs into one basket”.

This was drilled into me from a very young age. But here’s the thing-windows are NOT going anywhere. We’ll have glass forever, and more of it is appearing every day. It’s a business that will never dry up and blow away unless people start living in caves. )

So I encourage you, regardless whether you’re in the window washing biz part-time or full-time, give it 100% part-time or 100% full-time effort. The rewards can be tremendous as I am seeing all across the country from hundreds of my students.

2. Offering many, multiple services in addition to window washing.

This is a killer way to make lots of additional profits on top of window washing profits, but my experience has shown that if you do this BEFORE you’ve established a certain level of trust with the customer, it’ll be much harder for you to accomplish this smorgasboard approach.

At the completion of a window cleaning job is a perfect time to go after the add on business like cleaning ceiling fans and mirrors like I discuss in my manual How to Start Your Own Residential Window Washing Business. But before you even secure them as a customer, it’s way too early to bombard them with lots of other stuff.

Just plant a seed. Be subtle about it. The best way I’ve found to handle it is to use a “leave behind card” after the job is done, and then cement it further throughout the upcoming months, and throughout your entire relationship with that customer by sending out periodic correspondence.

Your little leave behind card could be similar to a tent card that you see in hotels. Inside the card is a listing of your additional services. Or have a flyer made up that details all your additional services and leave that with the customer.

And as far as “future correspondence”, below is a letter you’re more than welcome to use in case you
want to capture additional business besides your window washing jobs:

Dear John and Nancy:

Clearview Window Washing Service

There’s a goldmine sitting with each customer if you stroke ‘em over the years using the above approach vs. using the one time “hit ‘em over the head” approach.

The above letter also serves the dual purpose of keeping your company name in front of your customers, so even if a customer didn’t need any additional work done, you’ll still benefit from the exposure.

Now I talk about customers above, but what about prospects?

Well…when dealing with prospects, the trust factor definitely hasn’t been established yet, so it makes
it an absolute necessity to focus on capturing the window washing job and forgetting about the myriad
of other services you perform.

I mean if you’re marketing for window washing prospects, and they respond to your window washing
advertisement, it only makes sense to hone in on window washing, right?

Yet I see a few folks try the “jack of all trades” approach where if the prospect doesn’t make a decision to get their windows cleaned after the estimate has been presented, the window washer will immediately turn their attention to service #2, service #3, etc.

I know the theory is that if you offer 10 different services, they have to pick one, right?

Not necessarily.

Too much stuff presented can cause confusion and indecision. People really don’t like to make decisions, so too many choices forces them into making a complicated decision. Therefore they don’t make
ANY decision.

If you try and push too much down their throat, they may resist, and then you walk away with zilch, nada,
zippo. A lot of income could be lost over the years as a result.

I’m sure you’ve heard about the saying that goes like this: “Jack of all trades, master of none”. That fit me like a glove for years UNTIL stepping into the window washing biz.

As I mentioned earlier, that’s when I looked back over the years and wised up, and then instead of
“master of none”, it was more like “master of one”. The results were extraordinary.

So try it if you don’t already. Present your window washing estimate, attempt to close the deal, or through your proper follow up strategy get the deal closed for window washing. Turn them from a
window washing prospect into a window washing customer.

THEN step back and watch your relationship with that new customer turn into all kinds of additional services and jobs, in addition to you raking in the profits by regularly cleaning their windows.

In conclusion, resist the distractions and resist the urge to branch out into other “things”. Focus, focus, focus! If you’re in the window cleaning business, then BE in the window cleaning business.

’til next time.

Best Wishes,

Steve

Author: Steve Wright
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