Three Window Cleaners For Monday

“Just like with almost anything, you get what you pay for,” Frei said. “Once I do a job, the results speak for themselves. It’s a professional result and the client can see the difference.”

Frei describes being an entrepreneur at heart - It’s often been said that entrepreneurs are born, not raised. While there may be disagreements on that particular theory, it’s clear that the enterprising bug is certainly more prevalent in some than others. Meet Jessie Frei. Originally a native of Port Orchard, Washington, Frei was serving on a church mission in Georgia from 2005 to 2007, when he ultimately met his future wife, Janna. For Frei, that’s all it took for him to relocate. 

Now as a husband and father of two, he currently works 40 hours a week as an aviation mechanic for one of the biggest airlines based out of Atlanta. For many, this seems like an ideal scenario – a steady job with a large company, equipped with a skill set that allows him to work almost anywhere in the aviation field. But for Frei, he felt like there was a missing piece of the puzzle. While he thoroughly enjoyed his work and family life, Frei still longed for the independent spirit that running a small business provides. 

After careful consideration regarding overhead, costs, and inventory, the answer to his question came when he decided to form Clear Window Cleaning LLC. One might ask what would inspire an airplane mechanic to venture into such a specific line of work. His answer is just as pragmatic as the business itself. “I’m an entrepreneur at heart,” Frei said. “I just enjoy working – the feeling of building something from nothing. It’s something I’ve always held a fondness for.” Even while Frei maintained a healthy schedule between his full-time job and his family, that didn’t mean his own part-time job would reflect a drop in expectations or quality. 

Starting from the ground up in a new place is not always the easiest thing to do. When you have a standard of professionalism and attention to detail that Frei embodies, it can be even harder. While many in his industry can provide a cheaper price, he doesn’t feel the need to compete. Frei affectionately defines an amateur window cleaner as a “Bucket Bob” – someone who will undercut the cost of a job so dramatically, he doesn’t even feel that they are in the same league as what his Clear Window Cleaning has to offer. “Just like with almost anything, you get what you pay for,” Frei said. “Once I do a job, the results speak for themselves. It’s a professional result and the client can see the difference.” 

The reaction he gets from customers is just another reason why Frei enjoys running his own business. As the owner, Frei believes that it is imperative that his work reflects the standard that he has set for himself and the company. For him, it’s not just a side job to make a little extra money. It’s a part-time job that runs on a professional level. “A lot of those ‘Bucket Bob’ guys aren’t licensed, they aren’t insured – and with workers comp, that’s a huge gamble for customers,” Frei said. “If anything goes wrong, the homeowner is on the hook. So when people wonder why these individuals can bid out jobs for so little, that’s the reason why.” 

Frei jokes that the first warning sign of an amateur window cleaner is the presence of Windex. “I don’t know of a single professional company that has ever implemented Windex,” Frei said. “We use a standard, professional grade cleaner and surgical towels. They’re lint free.” As a small business owner, Frei understands the power of brand name and reputation. Upon acquiring his business licence and insurance, he began canvassing neighborhoods and businesses to inquire about their window cleaning needs. The customers who were using the Bucket Bob variety quickly saw the discernible difference in Frei’s work, and through his tireless work ethic and concrete results, word quickly spread about Clear Window Cleaning. 

While his company services the entire metro-Atlanta area and beyond, Frei still experiences a great flexibility in terms of setting his own schedule. And even though the business is growing at a pace that Frei feels comfortable with, staying debt-free remains one his greatest priorities. “The most common question I get from clients is about pressure washing,” he said. “There is always a huge demand for it. Having a pressure washer would definitely be a blessing, but one of my core rules is to never spend money that I don’t have. While I could probably buy one on credit and have it paid for after a few jobs, I just wouldn’t feel comfortable doing it that way.” 

As long as he continues to enjoy what he’s doing, Frei sees no reason to stop. While he may cite the ups and downs of the aviation industry, one can’t help but feel he enjoys having his own business regardless of the economic climate. “When your work has a reward that you can see with your own eyes at the end of a job, it just further solidifies my feeling that I love what I do.”

 Neil Burton and Marcus Norton of M N Window Cleaning, Long Sutton.

Ex-cop and soldier takes on new beat cleaning windows: When Neil Burton (39) is cleaning windows in Long Sutton, Sutton Bridge and Holbeach, there is no clue of the time he spent in the Army and police force. The father-of-two from Long Sutton spent seven years in the Grenardier Guards before serving as a police officer with Norfolk Constabulary for 15 years. But when long-time friend Marcus Norton (44), also of Long Sutton, offered Neil a chance to work for himself as a franchisee with Marcus’s business M N Window Cleaning, the offer was one that appealed.

Neil said: “I’d known Marcus for 13 years and also known that he’d built up an enviable reputation for reliability and trustworthiness with his firm. “When the opportunity came along earlier this year to become a franchisee with his business, I was interested because I’d be in charge of my own destiny. “It was an interesting prospect to run my own business and over the years I spent in the police and Army, I gained a lot of attributes that have transferred well to what I’m doing now.”

Neil left behind a life that included a role in four Trooping the Colour ceremonies, annually celebrating the Queen’s Official Birthday in June, and a two-year tour of duty in Northern Ireland prior to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 which set up devolved government in the country. Marcus said: “I’m really grateful that Neil came on board with me because I know he’s the right person for the job. “He’s a good worker, a professional person, trustworthy, has common sense, a good eye for detail and is good with people.”

Neil said: “It was monumental for me to change from doing something that people regard as one of the most secure occupation you can have to something that’s insecure. “But I’ve never looked back, I feel good for being outdoors all the time and I’m giving people a service.”

BED VALUE: The window cleaner has sex with her – and charges

Just Jane: My window cleaner lover makes me pay for sex -  I love his touch, but hate the fact that he still charges me for his visits. The problem is that his harridan of a wife runs his bookings and his money.

She knows how many calls he does each day, how long they all take, and how much he should be bringing home each week. He says he’s very sorry, but if he returns home short, then she’ll smell a rat and suspect that something is up. Well, something is up, and it’s happening in my bedroom on the third Wednesday of every month.

He’s booked, officially, to tackle my conservatory. But I fancy him so much that I can’t resist dragging him up to bed every time he calls. There we make passionate love in a frenzy of lust and abandonment. He’s just so hot that I can’t get his clothes off quickly enough. He’s cheeky with a great body and real baby face. All of the women around here fancy him and would love to shimmy with his chamois like I do… He laughs at how hungry and horny I am, but if he had my pathetic life, then he’d be anxious for excitement too. My husband is away all the time and doesn’t even know I exist.

We haven’t slept in the same room together for three years and he never even bothers to ring when he’s away. In contrast, my window cleaner’s wife is on to him like a flea. She rules the roost and he’s so terrified of her that he still charges me – even if he hasn’t got his rag wet. I realise he’s ripping me off and taking the pee, but what can I do when I desire him so much – and he knows it?

Jane says: How can you allow yourself to be used like this? Your cheeky non-window cleaning lover may have the face of angel, but he’s as wily as they come. So his wife is tricky, is she? Well, I bet she’s not half as tricky as he is. I can almost guarantee that you aren’t the only sex-starved woman he’s bedding or ripping off.

He’s clearly got his script off pat: “I’m very sorry, love, you have to pay me or I’ll get into trouble with the wife.” He’s a three-way winner. Not only does he get to bed you – and gets paid for it – but he doesn’t have to bother scrubbing your grubby conservatory either. Result.

Do yourself a favour and switch to a different company. Vow to sort your life out and start again. If things with your errant husband aren’t right then speak to him the next time he’s home and tell him that you can’t – and won’t – go on like this. Can your relationship be saved? Is he willing to talk about your problems and consider relationship counselling? If not, then is there really any point in you and he staying married if all you’re doing is keeping house and going through the motions?