Fish Window Cleaning - Don Stormoen

Happy 2012! The New Year is a symbol for a new beginning, and often a self-assessment time for our life, personal and career goals. So how are you doing? Are you working on your list of resolutions for the New Year? Did you accomplish some of the resolutions you made for 2011, or did the complications and distractions of life or lack of motivation deter you? Our entrepreneur this month was going through a career transition and was trying to discover a "clear image" of his future, and perhaps a new beginning. As it turns out, providing clear images is his new career. Congratulations Don and welcome to the world of entrepreneurship!

Don Stormoen

I first met Don Stormoen in the fall of 2009 at a job fair. He was 52 at the time and held a degree in Industrial Management. He worked his entire career for one employer, Grede Foundries, holding a variety of positions including Inspection Supervisor, Production Manager, Product Manager and Managing Director. Unfortunately Grede was going through bankruptcy and after 29 years with the same company, Don became a victim of downsizing. Since we met at a job fair, Don was obviously looking for a job. Being self-employed or being a business owner wasn't on the top of his priority list. He wanted a job, wanted to be productive and of course wanted the income to support his family. But he was also smart enough to understand that the job market was tight and that exploring all his options, including self-employment, made sense. So we schedulede a meeting to discuss possibilities. Don recaps our meeting like this: "After losing my job, I thought it would be no problem finding a new one, but I was wrong and after hundreds of resumes and no luck I met Marty at a job fair. I thought what he was offering may be of some interest to me. With no one hiring me I figured I could hire myself if I started my own business." Don is a hands-on, handy, family kind of guy. He's been involved with the Boy Scouts for over 20 years and enjoys spending time with his family at their cottage. Life-work balance was very important to him and he desired to have a business that was 5 days per week, no nights or weekends. This created a real challenge since many businesses today are open 7 days per week. But this was Don's criteria, and finding a business to fit an individual's lifestyle and income needs is what we do at The Entrepreneur's Source. We spent time together discussing Don's concerns and goals and building a profile for this hypothetical business from the ground up. I had Don complete a behavioral profile. There I learned that Don was a very methodical, steady kind of guy and that he was not a big risk taker. He definitely liked people involvement and would be very comfortable leading employees. He also had a technical side which was worth exploring.  We narrowed our discovery to a sign company, window washing business and a solar store. Don did a great job of validating these businesses through our discovery journey together. Talking to owners, people just like you and I, who've invested in these businesses, was educational and eye-opening for him. So which one do you think he chose? Don's technical side would probably make you think he chose the solar store or the sign company which had a manufacturing model. But in the end, Don chose Fishing Window Cleaning, a 38 year old franchise with about 170 franchise office across the country. In Don's words: "At first I was not interested in window cleaning and looked at other opportunities, but Marty encouraged me to give Fish Window Cleaning an equal look and not just write it off. After doing my investigation and due diligence with a number of different opportunities I felt that Fish Window Cleaning would meet all of my requirements of owning and starting a business. Fish Window Cleaning also gave me a good feeling with the systems, training and support they offered." Don liked the idea that it was a service that couldn't be outsourced. It had residential and commercial customers. The commercial accounts would be a continued source of income needing their store windows cleaned weekly or monthly. He adored the fact that this was a 5 day a week business, no nights or weekends, and that he wasn't going to do the window washing. He'd have employees to do the work so that he could concentrate on building his business, scaling it up over time. And that's exactly what Don did. "After getting my office set up and going to St. Louis for training I was ready to start. On my first day I was able to get three customers signed up and I was off and running. After the second week, I hired my first employee and every week after that I was able to see my business grow. What made Fish a good fit for me was the support from the home office and the other Fish franchises that offered assistance whenever I had any questions. Fish seemed more like a big family with everyone willing to help and work together." Now almost two years into his business, he is buying a second territory so that he can continue to grow his income and equity in the business. I see him monthly at my Franchise Owner's Group meeting and he's always smiling and optimistic. He recently described to our group the success he had trying a Groupon to capture new business and he told me, "I am looking forward to 2012 with anticipation for a successful year and continued growth." Fish Window cleaning is the nation's largest cleaners of commercial and residential windows and has been in business for over 30 years. They offer a reliable year-round cleaning schedule, even in the brutal winter months. They are fully trained, insured, uniformed and bonded professionals and are fully compliant with all OSHA safety requirements and guarantee your satisfaction.    If you need your residential, commercial or new construction windows washed, gutters, awning or mirrors cleaned, please contact Fish at www.FishWindowCleaning.com for your closest Fish Window Cleaning franchise location. And if you live in Southeastern Wisconsin, make sure you give Don a call at (414) 235-3357 or visit his website at http://www.fishwindowcleaning.com/663/. Enjoy the beauty of the great outdoors with clean windows. If one of your resolutions for the New Year is to explore or research business ownership as a career option, then write that resolution on the top of your list and takes the steps to start your learning journey. If you need someone to help and hold you accountable, then certainly feel free to contact me by e-mail or phone. I'm always glad to talk to aspiring entrepreneurs.