Window Cleaners Expanding With Sub Contracting

Aaron Hess grows with sub contractors.

Small home maintenance company strives to grow: Sparks resident, Aaron Hess, owner of Hess Family Companies LLC, faces the challenge of expanding his small business into an established company.

The company has been providing indoor and outdoor home maintenance services to residents in the Reno/Sparks area since 2010. The idea originated from a business called Clean Cut Lawns, which Hess and his brother, Jon, bought in June of 2005 doing lawn maintenance.

In 2010, Hess and his brother decided to split their business. Hess bought a window-cleaning business while his brother continued doing lawns. Hess then extended his own business into full-service maintenance for facility and home, inside and outside. The services include window cleaning, lawn and landscape maintenance, as well as carpet and hardware floor cleaning.

“We strive to take care of our customers and give nothing but the best,” Hess said. “I really don’t know what competition is out there against us, besides just one company for each thing that we do. But not a combined company like ours,” said Hess.

Hess is also thankful he bought the window cleaning business, which provides a higher margin of profit than maintaining lawns or cleaning houses. Since 2010, Hess Family Companies has grown about $30,000 each year in sales and the lawn business has grown 300 percent since it started.

As his business expanded, Hess started using subcontractors to help get his work done. In 2010, he began with just a carpet cleaning crew but this past year, Hess added more subcontractors for landscape and cleaning work because there was so much work to do.

Last year, he also began hiring employees but realized it was too much for him to handle, so he cut back to only having one or two employees. An obstacle for him has been hiring good people to help his company be run the way he wants it to be.

“People gain your trust and obviously, as an owner, they love you because you put everything you have into it. And when you start hiring employees, you start getting complaints, you know. Because people don’t like change. They go from having me to someone else and that’s tough,” said Hess.

The local resident enjoys having subcontractors because they are already established companies with good employees. He said that instead of competing against them, he brings them in to work for him so he doesn’t have to hire people.

Eventually, Hess does want his own employees and to stop using subcontractors. His ultimate goal is to establish his own larger business which will require him to find the right people to hire.

“I could stay small and do it myself or I can keep growing and find the right people,” said Hess.

Since Clean Cut Lawns is a business that originated in Sparks, most of Hess Family Companies’ clientele for lawn maintenance are Sparks residents. The majority of the clientele for indoor home maintenance are Reno residents.

“We enjoy working in both Reno and Sparks equally. They both have positives. In Reno, we get to enjoy mature landscape growth and some bigger upscale properties. Sparks has smaller properties, which are easier to maintain and typically its newer developed communities that we are working in. I believe both areas offer a client worth pursuing,” said Hess.

Windows Clean As A Whistle

Jared Geisick of Blu Sky Window Cleaning cleans the windows of the Nevada County Courthouse.

Windows clean as a whistle: In 2006, when single mom Alissa Cimino went looking for a business to buy, a small ad in the newspaper caught her eye: “Window cleaning business for sale.” Cimino, a Nevada County native, was intrigued. She wanted a job that would allow her some flexibility and give her time with her kids. “I thought to myself, ‘I grew up on a ranch — I’m not afraid of hard work — how hard could it be?’” she said. “But after purchasing the business, I realized there was one thing I hadn’t taken into account — I’m afraid of heights.”

As it turns out, the business of window cleaning routinely involves tall ladders and scaffolding — two things Cimino still does her best to avoid. Yet her fear of heights ending up serving as the motivator to hire a staff that was licensed, bonded, insured and highly trained, which meant she could streamline the job training process. She took the plunge and bought top-notch equipment and a $1 million insurance policy and required her team to have criminal background checks and undergo drug testing — something rarely done in the business. She offered senior discounts, free estimates and included cleaning tracks, sills, screens and frames at no extra charge. It paid off.

Cimino’s business, Blu Sky Window Cleaning, now has more than 220 commercial accounts all over Nevada County. They also service residential and industrial properties in addition to many government buildings, such as the Nevada County Courthouse, the Nevada Irrigation District’s offices and the Public Defender’s Office.

There are now three trucks and five employees, who generally work in teams of two — one cleans inside while the other cleans outside simultaneously, which cuts the cleaning time in half, Cimino said. When needed — such as in homes — the staff uses drop cloths and wears booties so dirt is not left behind.
 

Blu Sky cleans exterior glass with deionized water, which does not cause spotting or a mineral residue. Each truck is equipped with water tanks with sand beds that leach out the minerals. One of the company’s key jobs is removing hard water stains from windows and shower doors.

They buy “huck” towels — which are 100 percent cotton — in 100-pound boxes. “Over the years, glass has become more and more scientifically advanced,” said Cimino. “We have to be sure we’re using the right solution on the right glass. We clean it down to the pore.” Blu Sky is a “green company” and uses no chemicals, Cimino said. If a window is not performing well, Blu Sky will research the warranty, and help clients get a replacement or repair.

The company has also recently teamed up with California Solar Electric Company to clean solar panels, including a free cleaning with installation. If it rains the day after your windows are cleaned and there is new spotting, Blu Sky will fix it at no cost.

Cimino said the rest of her staff are all males because “there just aren’t that many women who are into dirt, webs, lizards and spiders.” When she’s out on a job with her staff, Cimino says it’s not uncommon for clients to assume one of the men is in charge. “My staff always has to gesture toward me,” she said. “They’ll say, ‘Talk to her — she’s the boss.”

OSHA Targets Small Business Owners In Nevada

Brian Retke of Window Masters; "Had I capitulated to OSHA's demands, they would have put me out of business."

OSHA safety police do fine work (John L. Smith): I'm not sure this is what the federal experts had in mind. After being blasted in 2009 by its federal counterpart for doing too little to scrutinize workplace safety even after multiple on-the-job fatalities, the Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration has gotten tough. Really tough. On a zookeeper. On a window washer. On a manufacturer of ice cream, and a maker of dentures.

Those small Nevada operators have found themselves fighting state OSHA after being whacked with thousands of dollars in fines over alleged safety violations that were either easily correctable or arguably inappropriate. It appears to be part of a policy that is bent at least as much on generating income as promoting safety. In recent weeks I've interviewed several longtime small-business owners who have dealt with OSHA over the years. Each stressed a willingness to maintain a safe work environment. But they also say they have noticed a change in OSHA's mission from workplace safety to fine generation, often for such egregious violations as cracked wall plug covers and improperly displayed safety manuals.

Is it a way to make budget, or perhaps an overreaction to its own under performance in addressing far larger safety issues involving, for instance, the "clearly supportable repeat violations" related to the worker deaths at local hotel-casinos? The federal analysis found state OSHA inspectors had an exceedingly light touch when it came to large offenses involving workplace fatalities at big businesses. The safety police couldn't find it in their hearts to pull the trigger and level hefty fines and penalties even in cases in which fatalities had occurred at Strip casino resorts. The lack of fines of more than $45,000 was noted by federal OSHA investigators, who had to narrow their field of inquiry to fines of $15,000 because the state had been so conservative in its charges.

Then there's Brian Retke, who owns the Window Masters commercial window cleaning service. His citations totaled $2,800 over how his high-rise rigs were securing their lines. He thought his troubles were over when he won his appeal in front of an OSHA review board, but then the safety police appealed to District Court. Retke still is fighting more than a year later. "I'm a small-business owner, so I have to do all this myself," Retke says. "I had to put in a huge expense just to fight at the review board. ... I believe that, somewhere along the line, the correct mark was missed by OSHA. Had I capitulated to their demands, they would have put me out of business. What is my recourse? I have to dig deeper into my pockets. I have to wash a lot of windows to pay for this. This is my livelihood. This is how I support my family."

Back in 2009, the federal review called state OSHA's inspectors an overworked bunch, but officials also noted the inspectors were too easy on egregious repeat offenders. And nowhere in that report did federal authorities say state OSHA needed to start terrorizing mom-and-pop operations. Nevada's small-business owners are having enough trouble surviving in this economy. It's time for Nevada's safety police to pick on someone their own size. Full story here.

Craigslist Window Cleaner Tries To Rent Clients Home

Window washer rents house that's not his: Las Vegas, Nevada - A young couple getting a great deal on a rental home felt a little uneasy about the man renting to them. They say they saw it on Craigslist, but when the deal sounded too good to be true they started an online search. What they learned surprised them and the real homeowner. One of the victims says she was blind sided by a man she trusted and was just trying to help out.

When Darlene Rogers wanted the windows of her home washed she went to the Sun City Yellow Pages. Liking his work, she hired the window washer for a property she was trying to rent. "So it was kind of impressive that here was a man out there trying to get a job. I mean working, showing up," says Rogers. But that good impression was short lived. "When did you find out he was more than a window washer," asks Action News reporter Marco Villarreal. "Actually, when I got a call from one of my agents that was advertising the house," says Rogers.

Negotiating with a young couple, Roger Epstein seemed to like the idea of renting out a house that wasn't his. "He had gone out at some point during his window washing and duplicated the keys at one of our local stores here," says Rogers. Eight hundred bucks for the house sounded like a great deal, but when potential renters heard there was no lease to sign, a red flag went up. "They thought it was strange, and the young girl had called her mother and said, 'This is too good to be true.' So these kids were real smart. They googled it. They googled the property and saw that it had been listed," says Rogers.

Epstein was picked up as he tried to deliver house keys for a $500 deposit. What police showed Roger's later left her disturbed. "The officer came in with a block of keys that were on a ring, and they were about 4 to 6 inches thick," she recalls. "It's very easily duplicated and with the vacant houses in this area, it's very simple to set this operation up," says Sgt. Andrew Pennucci. Grateful a scam artist is behind bars, she can't help but wish Epstein had chosen the higher road. "He did a good job on the windows. That's kind of very disappointing because it's hard to find reasonable window cleaner," she says.

Darlene Rogers has alerted police to the possibility the window washer has scammed other communities. Epstein mentioned to Roger's that he's worked in affluent areas like Scottsdale, Arizona, Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, and Laguna Hills. Police are looking into that and seeking anyone else that may have been scammed here in Las Vegas. Roger Allen Epstein is facing several counts of burglary, obtaining money under false pretenses, and possession of burglary tools.

Reno & Tahoe Window Cleaning

Owner Chris Poulin of Reno & Tahoe Window Cleaning in Nevada shows his team out in the cold & with a large variety of window cleaning, scraping & cleaning methods. Enjoy...