So You Want to Clean Windows for a Living? A No-Bullsh*t Guide to Starting a Window Cleaning Business in Australia
The guide that tells you what the shiny brochures won't.
Let's get something straight from the jump: window cleaning is one of the best small business opportunities in Australia right now. Low startup costs (relatively speaking), recurring revenue, and a market full of dirty glass waiting for someone with the right gear and the right attitude to show up. People will always need their windows cleaned — offices, apartments, retail shops, homes with sea views that cost more than your soul — and most of them would rather pay someone else to do it than drag a ladder out of the shed on a Saturday morning.
But here's the dark truth that nobody puts in their "Top 10 Side Hustles!" listicle: most people who try to start a window cleaning business fail not because the work is hard, but because they didn't think it through properly before spending their savings on gear and business cards. They underestimate the grind of getting clients, they under-price themselves into poverty, and they forget that running a business means doing admin at 10pm after a full day on the tools.
This guide isn't going to sugarcoat it. We're going to talk about everything — the equipment, the legal stuff, the pricing, the marketing, the cash flow nightmares, and yes, the flyscreen situation that'll make you question every life choice you've made. By the end of it, you'll either be fired up and ready to go, or you'll have wisely reconsidered. Either outcome is a win.
Let's get into it.
Step One: Know What Kind of Business You're Actually Starting
Before you rush out and buy a water fed pole (WFP) and slap a magnet on the side of your ute, you need to figure out what kind of window cleaning operation you're actually building. Because "window cleaning" covers a massive range of work, and the business model, the equipment, the insurance, and the clients are completely different depending on which end of the spectrum you're playing in.
Residential window cleaning is your bread-and-butter territory — houses, townhouses, apartments up to a few storeys. It's the most accessible entry point. You don't need a crew, you don't need rope access qualifications, and you can be operational within a few weeks. The downside? Individual jobs are smaller, so you need volume, and you'll spend a lot of time chasing repeat bookings and moving between suburbs.
Commercial low-rise window cleaning — small offices, retail shops, cafes, ground-floor shopfronts — is a natural step up. The jobs are often bigger, clients want regular cleans on a schedule, and once you're in, you're in. A cafe that books you fortnightly is worth more than ten one-off house jobs. This is where building relationships with property managers and strata companies starts to pay off.
High-rise and rope access window cleaning is a completely different beast. We're talking commercial buildings, apartment towers, and anything requiring abseiling or industrial rope access. This requires IRATA (Industrial Rope Access Trade Association) qualifications, specialist equipment costing tens of thousands of dollars, serious insurance, bespoke risk assessments for every job, and — critically — the kind of experience that takes years, not weeks, to build. If this is your goal, brilliant. But if you're starting from scratch, treat it as a long-term destination, not a starting point.
The actionable takeaway: Pick your lane. Most successful window cleaning businesses in Australia start residential, build a client base, reinvest in better equipment, and naturally progress into commercial as their reputation grows. Don't try to do everything from day one — it's a great way to do nothing well.
Step Two: Sort Out the Legal Stuff (Yes, Before You Start)
Nobody gets into window cleaning because they love paperwork, but ignoring the legal foundation of your business is the kind of shortcut that'll catch up with you at the worst possible time — usually when something goes wrong and you need insurance to cover you.
Here's what you need to do, in plain English:
Get your ABN. An Australian Business Number is non-negotiable. It's free, takes about ten minutes at business.gov.au, and you need it to invoice clients, register for GST, and basically exist as a business in this country. If you're trading under a name that isn't your own personal name — say, "Streak-Free Solutions" rather than "Dave Smith Cleaning" — you also need to register that business name with ASIC, which costs around $44 for one year or $102 for three years.
GST registration. Once your annual turnover hits $75,000, you're legally required to register for GST and add it to your invoices. When you're starting out you might be under that threshold, but if things go well (and they will), get your head around it early. The ATO's myGov portal is where you manage this.
Licences — what do you actually need? Here's where it gets a bit state-specific, so pay attention. For basic residential window cleaning, there is no mandatory cleaning licence across Australia. However:
- In NSW, if you're doing any work on residential or commercial buildings valued at over $5,000 in labour and materials (including GST), you need a contractor licence — specifically a minor maintenance and cleaning licence from Service NSW. Don't assume you're under the threshold if you're doing regular commercial work — it adds up fast.
- In Victoria, commercial cleaning businesses with employees need to hold a labour hire licence.
- For high-rise work anywhere in Australia, you'll need a high-risk work licence from the regulatory body in your state or territory. High-rise rope access requires IRATA certification, which is the industry gold standard. IRATA has three levels: Level 1 (supervised rope access technician), Level 2 (unsupervised), and Level 3 (supervisor and rescue capability). If you're aiming for commercial rope access work, get the qualifications before you try to land the contracts — not after.
A Certificate II in Cleaning Operations isn't mandatory, but it does add credibility with commercial clients and covers you better on the insurance front. Think of it as a signal to clients that you actually know what you're doing.
The actionable takeaway: Check your state's specific requirements at your state fair trading or licensing body website. Don't skip this step on the assumption that "it's just window cleaning." The wrong job without the right licence can land you in serious legal trouble, and no contract is worth that.
Step Three: Get Your Insurance Sorted (This Is Not Optional)
Let's say you're cleaning a second-storey window at a client's house. Your ladder slips. You go through the glass. Or worse — a piece of equipment falls and lands on someone's $90,000 BMW. Or a passing pedestrian. Without the right insurance, you're personally liable for everything that follows, and "everything" in those scenarios can include legal fees, medical costs, and compensation claims that'll make you want to emigrate.
Here's the insurance stack every window cleaner in Australia needs to be thinking about:
Public Liability Insurance is the absolute minimum. This covers you if you cause damage to property or injury to a third party while doing your work. For a sole trader just starting out, you're looking at roughly $500–$1,500 per year depending on your turnover and the type of work you do. Compare quotes at providers like BizCover or upcover — both have online quotes you can get in minutes.
Workers' Compensation is mandatory if you have employees. Full stop. If someone working for you gets injured on the job, you need this cover. The specifics vary by state — check your state's workers' compensation authority for the requirements.
Tools and Equipment Insurance (sometimes called General Property cover) protects your gear if it gets stolen from your van or damaged on the job. When your WFP setup, pure water system, and van full of equipment represents $10,000–$30,000+ in assets, this starts to look pretty important.
Personal Accident and Illness Insurance is worth considering if you're a sole trader with no sick leave, because if you can't work, you don't get paid. Simple as that.
For rope access commercial work, you'll need significantly more comprehensive coverage — often $5–20 million in public liability — and management companies will check your certificates of currency before they'll let you anywhere near a tender. Get this sorted before you try to pitch for commercial contracts, not after.
The actionable takeaway: Call a business insurance broker or use an online comparison tool and sort this out before you do your first job. Don't do a single paid job without at least public liability cover in place. The peace of mind alone is worth it, and you simply cannot afford not to have it.
Step Four: The Gear — What You Actually Need to Get Started
Here's where a lot of aspiring window cleaners either massively over-invest (buying gear they don't need yet) or under-invest (turning up with a bucket and a squeegee from Bunnings and wondering why they can't get to the second storey). Let's break this down sensibly.
The Residential Starter Kit
For residential work — ground floor and low-rise — you can get started without bankrupting yourself. The modern way to clean residential windows in Australia is the Water Fed Pole (WFP) system, and it's transformed the industry. Here's how it works: purified water is pumped from a tank through a telescopic pole to a brush head that scrubs the glass. Because the water is pure (all the dissolved solids removed), it dries without spotting or streaking. No squeegee, no chamois, no ladder for most jobs. It's faster, safer, and produces great results.
A quality entry-level WFP setup for residential work will run you somewhere in the range of $1,500–$4,000 AUD depending on the pole length, purification system, and tank size. Australian suppliers to check out include Window Cleaning Online, Window Cleaning World, and PowerVac — all stock Australian-appropriate gear.
Here's the catch that our UK friends (rightly) pointed out: fly screens. Australia is absolutely lousy with fly screens, and they're not a thing in the UK, which is why WFP is so much simpler over there. In Australia, you'll need to factor in removing and replacing fly screens on many residential jobs, which adds time and means you can't always do the fully hands-off WFP approach. Budget extra time per window when quoting, and consider charging a small add-on fee for screen removal and reinstallation.
Beyond the WFP, your basic kit should include:
- A squeegee and handle (18"–22" for larger panes) — brands like Unger or Ettore are the industry standard. Your local window cleaning supplies shop will have what you need.
- Scrubbers/T-bars and sleeves for the scrubbing/wetting stage
- Microfibre cloths (a lot of them — buy in bulk)
- Buckets (obvious, but the right size matters)
- A squeegee holster and belt so you're not bending over to pick things up a hundred times a day
- Extension poles (telescopic, 1.2m–3.6m) for interior windows and frames
- Basic ladder (3.6m minimum) for situations where you can't avoid it
- PPE: non-slip footwear, gloves, sunscreen (you're in Australia, you muppet)
- A TDS meter to test your pure water quality — non-negotiable for WFP work
For transport, you need a vehicle. A ute or van is ideal. A van with your business name and logo on the side is basically a moving billboard, and it's one of the most effective forms of advertising you'll ever do. Even a simple magnetic sign set will do while you're getting started.
The actionable takeaway: Don't buy everything at once. Start with a solid WFP setup, squeegee kit, and a decent vehicle. That's your MVP (minimum viable product). As you earn money, reinvest in better equipment. You don't need a $30,000 van-mounted pure water system on day one.
For Rope Access / Commercial High-Rise
If you're heading into rope access territory, the kit list is much more serious and much more expensive. You're looking at:
- Full rope access kit (ropes, descenders, ascenders, harnesses, helmets)
- Rescue kit (a second, independent system — not optional)
- Rigging kit (A-frames, anchor systems, edge protection)
- Window cleaning equipment designed for rope work
- A van big enough to move all of it
Before you even think about the kit, get the IRATA Level 1 qualification as a minimum, and aim for Level 3 before you try to run your own operation. The reason is simple: you cannot price, plan, or manage rope access jobs safely without understanding every aspect of the work. As the experienced operator in the source document put it — there are too many "handrail polishers" out there who can't actually do the job. Don't be one of them.
Step Five: Pricing Your Work — The Number That'll Make or Break You
Pricing is where most new window cleaners stuff it up royally. They either race to the bottom to get jobs ("I'll do it cheaper than anyone!") and destroy their margin, or they guess at a price based on nothing and end up working for below-minimum wage once you factor in travel, admin, and unpaid time.
Let's look at what the market actually looks like in Australia right now.
Residential Pricing
Residential window cleaning jobs in Australia typically range from $150 to $330 per job, with hourly rates of around $30 to $55. On a per-pane basis, residential homes in Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast are typically priced at around $12–$15 per window pane.
In practice, most experienced window cleaners work to a house type pricing model — a 3-bedroom brick home might be $150–$180 for exterior only, $220–$280 for inside and out. A larger 4–5 bedroom home with lots of glass could be $250–$400+. This model lets you quote quickly without visiting every site, which protects your time.
The key pricing principles that actually make you money:
Price for repeat business, not one-offs. The real money in residential window cleaning is the customer who books every 6–8 weeks like clockwork. Offer a small discount (10–15%) for customers who commit to a regular schedule. You get predictable income; they get a better rate. Everyone wins.
Don't compete on price alone — compete on reliability. The window cleaning market in Australia is riddled with operators who don't show up, don't answer their phones, and do a half-arsed job. Being the reliable, professional option with a proper business setup is worth a premium in almost every suburb.
Account for your actual costs before quoting. Your hourly rate needs to cover: your wage (don't forget to pay yourself), insurance, fuel, equipment wear and depreciation, vehicle running costs, and the time you spend on admin, quoting, and driving between jobs. If you're charging $40/hour and it takes you 25 minutes to drive to a job and 45 minutes to do it, your effective rate on that job is around $27/hour before costs. Work backwards from what you need to earn.
Commercial Pricing
Commercial window cleaning in Australia typically starts from around $12 per square metre, with professional hourly rates generally ranging from $45 to $60 per hour. High-rise cleaning, which requires specialised equipment and additional insurance, commands higher rates still.
For commercial quoting, the inputs you need before pricing any job are:
- Total glass area (all elevations)
- Access method required (WFP? Boom lift? Rope access?)
- Frequency of clean
- Site-specific complications (traffic management? Public protection? Building access restrictions?)
- What PPE and exclusion zones are required?
- Where's the water source?
- Where do you park?
- Who's the first aider on site?
Get to the site. Walk it. Take photos of every elevation and the roof. You cannot price commercial work accurately from a description alone, and under-quoting a commercial contract is a very expensive mistake.
For rope access commercial work, the experienced approach is: work out your total daily cost for a 2-man team (wages, insurance proration, equipment, vehicle, overheads) and use that as your floor. Your quote needs to cover that cost AND make a margin. If a job doesn't hit your minimum day rate, you don't take it. There is no formula that replaces this calculation.
One more pricing principle worth drilling into your skull: do not quote without knowing your minimum charge. Set it before you start taking calls. For most residential operators starting out in a capital city, a $120–$150 minimum is reasonable — anything under that and you're working for near nothing once you factor in travel and setup time. Stick to it. The clients who want a quote to clean a single window on the ground floor of their studio apartment are not your clients.
Weekend and after-hours cleans? Charge a premium — 25–30% is not unreasonable given you're giving up your personal time. Some clients will baulk; let them. The ones who want the convenience will pay for it, and they tend to be more loyal customers too.
The actionable takeaway: Build a simple spreadsheet with your fixed and variable costs before you quote your first job. Know your break-even hourly rate. Know your minimum job charge. Never guess. Sites like Airtasker can give you a ballpark of what clients expect to pay, but use those as a sanity check, not a pricing guide.
Step Six: Getting Your First Clients (Without Embarrassing Yourself)
Getting your first ten clients is the hardest part of this business. Your second ten are easier. Your hundredth is almost automatic. The grind at the start is real, and you need to be mentally prepared for rejection, silence, and the crushing experience of sending 100 flyers and getting two calls. It's not failure — it's just how the early days work.
Here's what actually moves the needle:
Flyer Drops
Old school, but it works. Window cleaning is a hyperlocal business — you want clients in a tight geographic cluster so you're not spending half your day driving. Pick a suburb close to home, design a clean, professional flyer with your phone number and price guide, and letterbox drop the area. Then do the same streets again in a month. And the month after that.
The real move is to drop flyers to neighbours while you're already doing a job. If you're cleaning a house on Monday and you've got time, knock on a few nearby doors or drop a card in the letterbox saying "I just cleaned your neighbour's place — I'll be back in the area next week if you'd like me to do yours." This works because it's social proof delivered in person, and it dramatically increases conversion compared to a cold flyer.
Build Referral Networks
This is the highest-ROI thing you can do early on, and almost nobody does it properly. Find businesses that serve the same clients as you but aren't in competition with you, and propose a referral arrangement. The best targets:
- Domestic cleaning companies: They're already in homes, already trusted by the client, and 99% of them don't clean windows. Approach them and offer to be their recommended window cleaner. Give them a referral fee — 10% of the first job is a good starting offer.
- Pressure washing businesses: Complementary service, different equipment. Easy mutual referral.
- Gardening/lawn care companies: Same clients, same day, no overlap.
- Real estate agents and property managers: When a property is going to market or being handed over to a new tenant, windows get cleaned. Get on their list of recommended trades. It takes persistence, but one agent with a decent-sized portfolio can keep you busy.
- Strata and body corporate managers: This is the holy grail for low-rise commercial work. Body corporate companies manage everything from small apartment blocks to large complexes, and they need regular window cleans for common areas and building exteriors. Get your name in front of them.
Email Outreach
A well-written, personalised email to property managers and strata companies can produce results. Don't send a mass blast. Write something that demonstrates you know their world — that you understand they deal with multiple properties, tight schedules, and the need for reliable trades. Offer to quote at no obligation. Keep it short. Include your insurances and qualifications in a one-paragraph summary.
Will most of them respond? No. Will some of them? Yes, and one regular commercial client can be worth more than twenty residential jobs. Don't give up after one round — follow up after a month.
Get Online
You need a website. It does not have to be fancy. One page is enough to start with — your name, your services, your service area, your price range, and a way to contact you. Build it yourself using Squarespace or Wix, or use AI tools to help you draft the copy. Register a professional domain name (yourname-windowcleaning.com.au is fine) and create an email address that matches — not a Gmail address. These small details signal professionalism.
Set up a Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business). It's free, it takes about 20 minutes, and it puts you on the map — literally — when people in your area search "window cleaner near me." As you collect reviews, you'll climb the local search results. Getting your first 10 five-star Google reviews should be a goal in your first 3 months. Ask every satisfied client. Most will do it if you ask nicely and give them the link.
Social Media — Be Selective
You don't need to be everywhere. A basic Facebook page and an Instagram account where you post before-and-after shots of your work is enough. Before-and-afters are inherently satisfying content and they act as proof of your quality. You don't need a social media strategy — you just need to be findable and look like a real, active business.
Don't Forget About Add-On Services
One of the fastest ways to increase your average job value without acquiring new clients is to offer complementary services. Solar panel cleaning is the big one right now — Australia has one of the highest rates of rooftop solar adoption in the world, and dirty panels lose efficiency fast. If you're already at a property with a WFP setup, you're two-thirds of the way to offering a solar clean as well. Gutter cleaning is another natural add-on. Screen cleaning (rather than simply removing and replacing) is another upsell that barely costs extra in time. The beauty of add-ons is that the marketing cost is zero — you're already standing in front of a paying customer. A client who books windows plus gutters plus solar panels twice a year is worth dramatically more than a windows-only client, and they're less likely to shop around on price because you're solving multiple problems in a single visit.
The one thing you should NOT do: Door knock cold. As the Q&A in our source material correctly points out, it's inefficient, most people hate it, and it'll wear you down psychologically faster than anything else. Put that energy into flyers, referrals, and follow-up calls to people who've already shown interest.
The actionable takeaway: In your first month, commit to 500 flyers delivered, 5 referral partnerships pursued, a Google Business Profile live, and a basic one-page website up. That's your marketing foundation. Everything else builds on top of it.
Step Seven: The Cash Flow Reality Check (Pay Attention to This One)
This section is specifically for anyone getting into commercial or rope access work, but it's worth everyone reading because cash flow is the number one reason small trades businesses die.
Here's the brutal reality of commercial invoicing: clients don't pay you when you finish the job. Many pay 30 days after your invoice date. Some pay 60 days. Local councils and government bodies can pay at 90 days or more. Which means you can do a $15,000 job in January and not see the money until April. Meanwhile, you still need to pay your staff this week. And your insurance renewal is due. And your van needs a service.
If you cannot bridge the gap between doing the work and getting paid, you cannot operate in commercial window cleaning. Simple as that. A single client refusing to pay — and it happens — shouldn't be enough to sink your operation. If it would be, your cash reserves are not deep enough to be running a commercial crew.
For sole traders doing residential work, this is less of an acute problem — most residential clients pay on the day. But even here: have clear payment terms on your invoices (7 days net is standard for residential), use a simple invoicing app like Xero or MYOB or even Invoice Ninja (free tier available), and don't let invoices age. Chase them at 7 days, chase them again at 14. Awkward? Yes. Necessary? Absolutely.
The actionable takeaway: Before starting any commercial operation, have at least 3 months of your projected operating costs sitting in a business account as a buffer. If you can't do that yet, stay residential until you can. And always — always — pay your team on time. Your reputation in this industry is your most valuable asset, and word travels fast.
Step Eight: The Paperwork That Protects You
Paperwork isn't glamorous, but it's what separates a professional business from a bloke with a bucket. Here's the minimum documentation you need:
Service Agreements / Client Contracts: A basic agreement that outlines the scope of work, pricing, payment terms, cancellation policy, and liability clauses. For residential clients, this can be as simple as a clear quote document they sign or confirm by email. For commercial clients, you need something more formal. LawPath and Sprintlaw are both good Australian platforms for getting affordable, professionally drafted contracts.
Quoting templates: Develop a consistent quote format so you're not reinventing the wheel every time. Include: site address, scope of work, access method, equipment required, frequency, price (ex GST and inc GST), validity period, and your terms.
Risk Assessments and Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS): For any work at heights — even ladder work — you should have a SWMS. For commercial work, this is usually mandatory. Safe Work Australia has templates and guidance. Tailor each SWMS to the specific job site; a generic one-size-fits-all document is worse than useless and will be spotted immediately by any commercial building manager worth their salt.
For rope access specifically, you'll need bespoke rope access procedures for each job in addition to the SWMS. The IRATA audit checklist is a good framework to benchmark yourself against — download it and honestly assess how many boxes you can tick before you try to land commercial contracts.
The actionable takeaway: Get your contracts done properly from day one. The cost of having a lawyer review a basic service agreement is a few hundred dollars. The cost of a dispute without one is potentially tens of thousands.
Step Nine: Setting Up for Speed and Efficiency
Here's something the romanticised version of small business ownership never tells you: the margin in window cleaning isn't in charging more per job — it's in doing more jobs per day. Speed and efficiency are where the money is.
Every minute you spend fiddling with your equipment, making three trips back to the van, or untangling your hose is money you're leaving on the ground. Here's how to set up for maximum throughput:
Organise your van or ute like it's a surgery. Everything has a place. You should be able to reach in and grab any tool in under ten seconds without moving anything else. This sounds obsessive. It will save you hours every week.
Standardise your process for each property type. Develop a clear sequence — screens off, scrub top to bottom, squeegee, frames, sills, screens on. Same every time, no improvisation. The faster you execute each step, the more houses you can do in a day.
Pre-mix your solutions. Don't be measuring and mixing at each job. Prepare what you need and have it ready to go.
Invest in quality equipment from the start. Cheap squeegees leave streaks. Cheap poles are heavy and flex badly. A professional setup costs more upfront but pays for itself in time saved and rework avoided. Window Cleaning Online is a solid Australian supplier to start with.
Plan your routes. Cluster your jobs geographically so you're not crisscrossing the city. An extra 15 minutes of route planning the night before can save an hour of driving. Driving is dead time — you're spending money on fuel and not earning.
The actionable takeaway: Time yourself doing a standard 3-bedroom house clean. Write it down. Then work on shaving that time by 10% over the next month. Track it. You're essentially running your own lean manufacturing operation, just with more fly screens and less machinery.
Step Ten: The Stuff Nobody Talks About — Builder's Cleans, Client Drama, and Reputation
Let's finish with some hard-won wisdom from people who've actually done this.
Builder's cleans: proceed with extreme caution. A builder's clean is when you're brought in to clean up after construction — typically as the building is being handed over. It sounds like good work: big jobs, decent money. The reality? You're cleaning glass that may already be scratched, etched, or damaged from the construction process, and there are at least three parties involved (the glazier, the builder, and the incoming tenant or owner) all looking for someone to blame if anything's wrong. Everything that was already damaged before you got there will suddenly become your problem the moment you put a squeegee near it. Take detailed photos of every pane of glass before you touch it. Have your documentation ironclad. And price builder's cleans at a premium — the politics alone justify it.
Your reputation is the whole game. Window cleaning is a relationship business. Your first 50 clients are your most important 50 clients, not because of the money they represent, but because of the referrals and reviews they'll generate. Do the job properly, be reliable, communicate when you're running late, and deal with complaints professionally. One client who's over the moon about your work will tell five friends. One client who felt ripped off will tell fifteen — and in the age of Google Reviews, they'll tell five thousand strangers too.
Don't compromise on safety. Ever. This one isn't about legal compliance — it's about the fact that people's lives are on the line when you're working at height. Yours, your team's, and any public who might be below you. No contract, no rushed timeline, and no pressure from a client is worth bending on this. If you can't safely do a job the way it needs to be done, you either don't do it or you get proper equipment and training first.
Build slowly and build well. The instinct when you start a business is to take every job you can get. Resist the temptation to expand too fast, hire too many people before you can afford them, or take on work that's beyond your current capability. Organic growth — good work, referrals, repeat business — builds a more resilient business than aggressive expansion fuelled by optimism.
The Quick-Start Checklist
For anyone who's just scrolled to the bottom looking for the summary (no judgment — we're all busy):
Week 1:
- Decide your niche (residential, low-rise commercial, or long-term goal of rope access)
- Register your ABN at business.gov.au
- Register your business name with ASIC if you're trading under a brand
- Get public liability insurance quotes from BizCover or upcover
- Open a dedicated business bank account (separate from personal — this matters at tax time)
Week 2:
- Buy your starter equipment (WFP system, squeegee kit, basic ladder)
- Get a set of branded shirts/polos with your business name
- Register a domain name and set up a professional email
- Build a basic one-page website (Squarespace or Wix)
- Set up a Google Business Profile
Week 3:
- Design and print flyers (keep it clean, professional, include a price range and contact)
- Reach out to 5 domestic cleaning companies about a referral arrangement
- Email 10 property managers or strata companies in your target area
- Do your first 200 flyer drops in a geographically tight area
- Get an invoicing app set up (Xero is excellent, but even a basic one will do)
Ongoing:
- Ask every satisfied client for a Google review
- Track your time on every job and refine your process
- Reinvest a portion of every job into better equipment or marketing
- Build your cash reserve before expanding into commercial work
- Never, ever do a job without your insurance being current
One Last Thing
The person who answered the question that inspired parts of this guide put it better than we could: "Don't fck people over, and work to a high standard and you will grow organically."*
That's the whole business model, right there. The window cleaning industry in Australia is full of unreliable operators, shoddy workmanship, and businesses that disappear between bookings. If you show up when you say you will, do the job properly, communicate like a professional, and charge a fair rate — you will build a business. It takes time. The first few months are brutal. The first year is a rollercoaster.
But there is a reason window cleaning businesses have been quietly making people comfortable livings for decades: clean glass is always in demand, the tools are accessible, and the barrier to entry — while real — isn't insurmountable for someone who's serious about it.
So get your ABN sorted, buy a decent WFP setup, and go drop some flyers. Just watch out for the fly screens.
Further reading and resources:
- Safe Work Australia — Working at Heights
- IRATA — Rope Access Standards and Training
- Australian Business Licence and Information Service (ABLIS) — find all licences and permits required in your state
- ATO — Setting Up Your Business
- Window Cleaning Online Australia — equipment supplier
- r/windowcleaning on Reddit — an active community (predominantly US-based but lots of transferable knowledge)
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