Based on 12 real window cleaning businesses in Canada, including 4 that closed.
✓Your budget should cover this.
Bills run about $420 a month (fuel, insurance, rent, phone). Most owners make a profit after about 3 months. Keep this much aside to pay bills until then.
A general business licence from your city or municipality.
One-day fall protection course. Some provinces require it.
Register with your province (about $60 to $360). Get a free business number from the CRA.
Free to about $15 a month. Keeps business money apart from yours.
Sets up your books and files your first tax return.
Before costs. Busiest April–September.
| Slow | Typical | Strong | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | $1.7k | $3.2k | $5.9k |
| Year 3 | $4.6k | $7.6k | $12.6k |
| Year 5 | $5.8k | $9.9k | $17k |
Slow: 1 in 4 make less than this. Typical: half make more, half make less. Strong: 1 in 4 make more than this.
Brightside grew from 41 customers to about 1,900 homes and 60 commercial sites by keeping rounds dense, billing everyone by direct debit and adding commercial contracts to cover the winter. Revenue is up 20% on last year.
“Every customer pays by direct debit. The van could run the round without me by now.”
$4.6k
about $69k
Starting costs about $64.4k less. Buying costs more, but you earn from the first month and skip the risky early years.
“Salt spray means every beachside house wants us monthly, not quarterly.”