My wife Stephanie and I (Andrei), started our business back in 2012. Before we first started thinking of becoming business owners our world was a little different than most at our age. We had our first daughter right out of high school. At that time neither of our parents would let us stay with them in their homes.
We then got an apartment which required us to have jobs obviously to keep up with bills and to just be responsible young adults. As it was hard for my wife to have a job or even go to school she typically stayed home most days but worked down the street at the local laundromat a couple of days a week. While I brought in most of the income we just knew this is not where we want to be the rest of our lives. I had many jobs at different places from being managers or installers for other companies. I even worked at the Ansi Window Cleaning and Squeegee Squad of Geneva. To be honest I was fed up with not being able to see my wife and daughter because of long workdays and overtime needed to support my little family. I’ve always had a passion for wanting to be self-employed, I just had to figure out how to get there.
As I thought back at my previous jobs I knew window cleaning had a low-cost start-up. Me being the manager for both window cleaning companies I basically knew the ins and outs of running the business which includes the money flow, equipment needed, and marketing. So that’s when I said to my wife “this is what I want to do!” As we thought long and hard over business names, the cost of starting up, how to make this a legal business, where to purchase equipment, etc., we finally gathered up what we needed to go out there and perform work with our name we came up with, Soapy Suds Window Cleaning.
Our marketing consisted of door knocking, yard signs, fliers, relatives, friends, and networking. As I still had my 9 am-8 pm full-time job I made window cleaning my side gig. Once I started putting myself out there and the business first, I saw the calls coming in and knew I eventually had to take the chance at becoming a full-time business owner rather than an employee to another company. Knowing this was a huge chance I was willing to take for myself and my family, I was also nervous, scared, unsure, and doubtful to say the least. But with my wife and daughter on my side, they pushed me to overcome my fears and gain success.
Over the years we have grown to have multiple divisions, have franchisees, be financially stable, own a house, own multiple trucks, have two more daughters, travel, stay home on Holidays, have time for my children’s activities, time off when needed, and the list continues. Overall I am more than grateful for every moment of making this business come true! If you would like to learn more about us go to our website at www.soapysudswc.com
