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John Rossiter is the co-founder of Zolato, a new CRM built specifically for home service businesses with a pretty unusual offer: the core platform is free. In this episode, John joins Colby and Dave to explain why the team decided to build Zolato, what they think is broken about traditional CRM pricing, and why contractors shouldn’t necessarily have to pay dramatically more just because they hire more employees or need additional features. We talk about Zolato’s free-forever model, optional texting and calling features, AI employees, customer-driven product development, CRM migration, automation, lead management, and the challenge of building software that works for everyone from a brand-new operator to a much larger home service company. John also shares some of his entrepreneurial background and the long-term vision for Zolato: creating an operating system for home service businesses that eventually helps with everything from sales and operations to marketing, finance, and strategy. A great conversation about where home service software is headed and what AI may actually look like inside the day-to-day operation of a service business. CONNECT WITH CLEAN FOR PROFIT 👥 Join the Facebook group Connect with other exterior cleaning business owners, ask questions, and share what’s working. We’re building profitable businesses that give us more freedom, and you’re invited. https://www.facebook.com/groups/2956557481359526 💻 Need a better website for your cleaning business? I help exterior cleaning businesses get their web presence dialed in so potential customers can find them, trust them, and take the next step. Learn more: https://cleanforprofit.com/scorecard 🎙️ Enjoying the podcast? Follow Clean for Profit so you don’t miss an episode. If it’s helped you, leave a rating or review and share an episode with another business owner.

Last birthday, I was cleaning windows. This birthday, my business is doing roughly twice the revenue for the day, and I’m not in the field. That shift didn’t happen by accident. In this solo episode of Clean for Profit, I’m reflecting on what’s changed over the last year and why your cleaning business deserves to be treated like an asset you’re intentionally building. We’re on pace for about $25,000 in revenue this month, and I’ve personally produced about $3,500 of it. I still clean windows once or twice a week, but the business is becoming less dependent on me doing every job. I break down: • Why you don’t need a $10 million company to start buying back your time. • How finding a dependable technician creates room for you to step out of the field. • Why I’m working backward from the goal of helping my brother earn $100,000 in a bigger leadership role. • How investing in your people, your skills, and your business can expand what you think is possible. • Why active income deserves more attention when you’re still building. If you started cleaning windows to escape a nine-to-five, this is a reminder to think about what you want the business to become next. Join the Clean for Profit Facebook group to connect with other cleaning business owners and keep the conversation going: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2956557481359526 See how your business shows up online with the Local Visibility Scorecard: https://cleanforprofit.com/scorecard Subscribe to Clean for Profit for more conversations about building a profitable cleaning business that gives you more freedom.

Is window cleaning still a good business to start... and how much can you realistically make doing it? Submit your question for a future episode: cleanforprofit.com/ask In our first Clean for Profit Q&A, we break down the real opportunity in window cleaning, what a motivated owner-operator can earn, and how to ask happy customers for Google reviews without making it awkward. We get into the low barrier to entry, the difference between creating a job and building a business, what actually determines your income, and why consistently collecting reviews matters more than finding the perfect way to ask. If you’re thinking about starting a window cleaning company or trying to gain traction with the one you already have, this episode is for you. CONNECT WITH CLEAN FOR PROFIT 👥 Join the Facebook group Connect with other exterior cleaning business owners, ask questions, and share what’s working. We’re building profitable businesses that give us more freedom, and you’re invited. https://www.facebook.com/groups/2956557481359526 💻 Need a better website for your cleaning business? I help exterior cleaning businesses get their web presence dialed in so potential customers can find them, trust them, and take the next step. Learn more: https://cleanforprofit.com/scorecard 🎙️ Enjoying the podcast? Follow Clean for Profit so you don’t miss an episode. If it’s helped you, leave a rating or review and share an episode with another business owner.

👉 Take the Local Visibility Scorecard: cleanforprofit.com/scorecard Chip Powell operates in one of the strangest window-cleaning markets imaginable: a small desert town beside Mammoth Lakes, where many of his best customers are wealthy second homeowners who live hundreds of miles away. By late August, Chip had already matched last year’s roughly $175,000 in revenue—and his postcard strategy is helping push the business beyond $200,000. Instead of mailing the homes he wants to clean, Chip uses county property records to identify second homeowners and sends postcards directly to their primary residences across the country. We also talk about: • Growing from a subcontractor to two full-time technicians • Building relationships with property managers • Breaking into Mammoth’s resorts and commercial properties • Using Google reviews to become the default local company • Rebooking customers before leaving the job • Building a recurring schedule in a seasonal market • Going deep when your market is too small to go wide This is a great look at how smart targeting, strong communication, and consistent follow-up can build a serious window-cleaning business—even in a tiny market. CONNECT WITH CLEAN FOR PROFIT 👥 Join the Facebook group Connect with other exterior cleaning business owners, ask questions, and share what’s working. We’re building profitable businesses that give us more freedom, and you’re invited. https://www.facebook.com/groups/2956557481359526 💻 Need a better website for your cleaning business? I help exterior cleaning businesses get their web presence dialed in so potential customers can find them, trust them, and take the next step. Learn more: https://cleanforprofit.com/scorecard 🎙️ Enjoying the podcast? Follow Clean for Profit so you don’t miss an episode. If it’s helped you, leave a rating or review and share an episode with another business owner.

CONNECT WITH CLEAN FOR PROFIT 👥 Join the Facebook group Connect with other exterior cleaning business owners, ask questions, and share what’s working. We’re building profitable businesses that give us more freedom, and you’re invited. https://www.facebook.com/groups/2956557481359526 💻 Need a better website for your cleaning business? I help exterior cleaning businesses get their web presence dialed in so potential customers can find them, trust them, and take the next step. Learn more: https://cleanforprofit.com/scorecard 🎙️ Enjoying the podcast? Follow Clean for Profit so you don’t miss an episode. If it’s helped you, leave a rating or review and share an episode with another business owner. August 2026 was a slow month for both Sierra Window Cleaning and Glass Therapy Clarksville.  In this episode, Colby and Dave breakdown the numbers behind the month, how paid and organic marketing is faring, and what they're changing in the coming months.  Make sure to follow and review the podcast if it's helpful to you! Thanks so much for listening.  Your brother in suds, Colby

👉 Ask your question for the show: cleanforprofit.com/ask You’ve generated consistent website leads for two years, hired someone to help handle the work—and two weeks before they start, your leads fall off a cliff. Is your website broken? Did your Google Business Profile get suspended? Did your rankings disappear? Or is this simply normal seasonality? Colby and Dave Scribani walk through how they would diagnose the problem, including website forms, indexing, Google Search Console, title tags, expired domains, Google Business Profile issues, and the actual data you need to check before panicking. Then they move into triage: using Meta ads, seasonal services, simple offers, and past-customer reactivation to generate work now—while rebuilding your long-term organic momentum. They also explain why a slowdown might actually be the best time to train a new employee and move yourself toward sales and marketing. Check your web presence: cleanforprofit.com/scorecard Find Dave: Instagram: @d_scribs https://sublimityadvertising.com

👉Take the free Website Assessment Your website might look “good enough”... but is it actually helping you win jobs? In this episode, I break down the biggest mistakes I see on window cleaning websites and what I’d fix first. We cover clear messaging, trust and social proof, mobile usability, strong calls to action, local SEO, and why your website may be making your company look smaller than it really is. If your website isn’t consistently turning visitors into leads, this episode will show you where the gaps are.

Most window cleaning companies obsess over cleaning better. But the truth is, your customer probably can’t tell the difference between a great technician and an excellent one. What they can tell is whether you answered the phone, showed up when you said you would, communicated clearly, looked professional, respected their home, made payment easy, and followed up afterward. In this episode, I break down why great cleaning is only the baseline—and why the companies that win long-term are the ones that create certainty from the first phone call to the final follow-up. If you want more referrals, better reviews, and customers who actually remember your company, the experience matters just as much as the work.

Most home service businesses don’t have a lead problem—they have a follow-up problem. In this episode of Clean for Profit, Colby and Dave break down what actually happens after a lead comes in and how a consistent follow-up process can dramatically increase the value of every lead you generate. They cover the difference between high-intent Google leads and interruption-based Meta leads, why speed-to-lead matters so much, Dave’s five-day follow-up process, using texts, calls, voicemails, and email together, and the automations they use to make sure new leads don’t slip through the cracks. Colby also shares why a surprising number of his bookings happen on the third or fourth call—and the simple “breakup text” he sends as a final attempt to re-engage leads who have gone quiet. If you’re paying for leads, act like it. Call them again. In this episode: Google leads vs. Meta leadsWhy Meta leads require more follow-upSpeed-to-lead and how fast you should callDave’s 25-touch follow-up processAutomating lead notifications and CRM follow-upWhy leads often book after the third or fourth callThe “breakup text” that brings dead leads backFollowing up consistently without letting work take over your life

July was another big month—but this episode is less about chasing revenue and more about figuring out what kind of business is actually worth building. In this monthly Clean for Profit recap, Colby and Dave break down their July 2026 numbers, what they’re seeing in their local markets, and how both businesses are adjusting as the summer rush starts to slow down. Dave shares how Glass Therapy Clarksville grew from roughly $9,600 last July to more than $37,000 this year, while Colby breaks down Sierra Window Cleaning’s $42,833 month and crossing $200,000 in revenue for the year. They also get into the less glamorous side of rapid growth: reactive hiring, shrinking the team back down, switching a technician to revenue-share compensation, seasonal slowdowns, and why building a massive home service company may not actually be the goal. Plus, Colby shares the strategy he’s increasingly focused on for 2027: rebooking customers before leaving the job, building future revenue into the calendar, and using gutter cleaning as a way to generate window cleaning work before spring even arrives. In this episode: July 2026 revenue numbersGrowing from $9K to $37K year over yearCrossing $200K for the first timeWhy summer demand is slowing downThe downside of growing too quicklyCutting back to a leaner teamRevenue-share pay for techniciansWhy bigger isn’t necessarily betterProfitability vs. growth at all costsRebooking customers before leaving the jobBuilding your 2027 schedule nowUsing seasonal services to create future work

Most home-service businesses spend all their energy getting new customers—then complete the job and let those customers disappear. In this episode, I share the simple question we’ve started asking before leaving every job that can turn a one-time customer into years of future revenue. We cover: How to schedule the next service before leaving the propertyThe exact script I’m using with customersWhy this conversation works better than following up months laterHow to create recurring revenue without a formal service planWhat cancellation rate to expect from long-term bookingsHow to move customers between complementary servicesWhy gutter-cleaning customers should receive spring window-cleaning estimatesHow one minute at the job can eliminate hours of future follow-upYou’ve already paid to generate the lead, earned the customer’s trust, and delivered a great result. Don’t leave without answering one important question: When are you coming back? You probably don’t need hundreds of new leads to make more money. You may just need to stop letting the customers you’ve already earned disappear. Subscribe to Clean for Profit for practical strategies on growing a profitable window cleaning or home-service business.

Not every window cleaning business needs to become a massive company. There are four main paths you can take: Stay a solo operatorWork solo with occasional helpersBuild a strong small businessScale into a larger enterpriseEach model offers a different mix of income, freedom, complexity, risk, and responsibility. In this episode, I break down the pros and cons of each path—and why you need to know what kind of business you actually want before you start chasing growth.

What vehicle should you buy for your window cleaning business? In this episode, I break down the cars, trucks, and vans I’ve personally used—or seriously considered—for running a window cleaning company. We’ll look at everything from Subaru Foresters and Toyota Sequoias to Tacomas, Ford Mavericks, city vans, full-size Transits, and the upcoming electric Slate Truck. I cover the pros and cons of each option, including fuel economy, cargo space, appearance, versatility, price, and whether the vehicle actually makes sense for a solo operator or growing crew. You don’t need a dedicated work vehicle to get started. Use what you have, keep your overhead low, and upgrade when the business genuinely demands it.

Starting a window cleaning business is simple. Getting enough consistent customers to create real stability is the hard part. In this episode, I break down exactly how I would start a window cleaning business today and work toward my first $20,000 month. We talk about how much money you should have saved before leaving your job, why burning the boats too early can kill your business, and how to create enough financial runway to give yourself a legitimate chance at succeeding. I also explain my Gold Rush approach to marketing: prospect widely, find the channels producing real results, and then mine those channels as deeply as possible. We cover: • How much money to save before going full time • Why every local market responds differently • Door hangers, postcards, Facebook, Nextdoor, SEO, Google and more • How long to test a marketing strategy before judging it • When to stop experimenting and go 10X on what works • Why Google reviews, your website and strong branding should begin immediately Whether you are still buying equipment, working toward your first few customers or trying to finally build consistent monthly revenue, this episode gives you a practical roadmap for getting your window cleaning business off the ground.

We went from just 18 Google reviews to 191 in two years, and it wasn’t because we got lucky. In this episode, I break down the exact systems, habits, follow-up process, and team expectations that helped us consistently generate more reviews for our local service business. We’ll cover: • When and how we ask customers for reviews • The follow-up process that actually gets responses • How to make asking for reviews effortless • The mistakes that slowed us down • Why reviews matter for trust, conversions, and local SEO Whether you run a window cleaning company, home service business, or local agency, this strategy can help you build a stronger reputation and win more customers. Subscribe for more real-world lessons on growing a service business.