Being the owner of Detroit Sponge has given me the opportunity to meet and work with incredible people in the window cleaning industry. It was over a decade, almost 2 decades ago when I first met Keith Kalfas. Keith was looking for a new challenge. While learning different service trades was good, he wanted to start doing his own thing. Somehow, he came across window cleaning and that is when we met.
Keith is very much like other young people that I have met over the years. Having been in the window cleaning supply business since I was thirteen years old, I have had a front row seat to hundred or maybe even thousands of window cleaning small business start-ups. There is something powerful about those first conversations with people that are getting ready to jump into the self-employment game.
For some, they are moving away from something in their life, looking at professional window cleaning to provide a fresh start and a way to make some money without a lot of complications. For others, they are drawn to the idea, the vision, of being self-employed. The concept of basically 100% commission – if your customers are happy, you eat well. If customers are not, you learn to be resourceful!
Those initial conversations with people just starting up are so exciting. There are so many factors and parts of being self-employed. It really is a process that needs to be experienced more than taught. When Keith first got rolling, he wanted to become his “Own Boss.” Keith was looking for a niche service that would provide a profitable experience. By satisfying customers with great service from quality skill with quality tools, Keith knew deep inside that success was there for him to achieve.
And that was where he started. But now, decades later, I think it is fair to say that Keith’s small business has evolved and taken on a different direction from where it started. Often, I answer the phones here at Detroit Sponge. Rarely does a day go by that Keith’s name is not mentioned during a call from a new customer. Keith has transitioned and grown his original idea of providing services to customers into a YouTube and social media presence. It seems to me that Keith has opened his journey to followers across the nation in a way that people have enjoyed. Many have found Keith’s ideas, topics, and energy to be motivational. When you watch Keith, you can see that his path and journey has still been his own. No one else is going to take the same steps, make the same decisions and go in the same direction as Keith has over time. Keith is for sure his own person, he has built a business that he likes and that looks like Keith.
If or when you decide to take that leap and start providing window cleaning as a professional service for customers, remember that you are working to create something new. Like an artist or a builder, you can follow a plan, but the final product will have your finger prints all over it. Keith began in one direction and has built his business in a unique way and you can too! Do not be afraid of letting your business look like you. In our trade of professional window cleaning, of course you will need to provide unbelievable service to your customers and spot free glass and polite and courteous service provided efficiently are absolutely required. But from there, the personality of the business will help to chart your course!
I have had the fortune of meeting many, many window cleaners over the decades of standing at the counter at Detroit Sponge, Keith is one of the guys that I put in the conversation of “I remember when….” Over time, maybe I will share a few more stories of window cleaners that have crossed my path. For sure, one lesson I have learned is that the person makes a HUGE difference in the likelihood of success.
“I remember when Keith Kalfas first called and came in to Detroit Sponge”. Man, what a journey from Keith from there. Let me know how I can help your window cleaning adventure. Keith and I worked together to create window cleaning kits, shop now on our website. For now, watch those Keith videos and keep working hard.