Anyone can start a window cleaning business

[earth]

Requirements:

A healthy person who has spare time
A squeegee
A ladder
A bucket
A mobile phone
Transport an advantage but not essential to start with (Something like a shopping trolley can work in the short term)
Business cards can be designed on the internet but are not essential

Steps:

Purchase what is necessary if you don't already have it
Practice on your own house
It's usually best to set your prices low to start with to beat the opposition and cope well in the current economic climate (prices can be changed later if necessary and should be adjusted to match the amount of windows the house has)
Decide what you are going to say for example: "Hiya, I've just started my own window cleaning business and was wondering if you would be interested in having all of your windows cleaned for just $6?". If they say no it's best to give them a business card because some people want to get rid of you but may change their minds once they realise you've just offered to do their windows really cheap.
Knock on all of the houses close by, taking note of all the houses that don't answer so you can go back and knock again.
If they are not in when you come back to clean their windows leave a note saying you've cleaned them and will come back to collect the money at a certain time/date. If they are in, ask them if they want you to come back at certain intervals.

When you have enough custom, train somebody reliable who needs a low paid job to do the window cleaning while you go out looking for new business.

Rinse and repeat until rich.

[Beuford]

This reminds me of how I was wondering how much money you could make in one day by walking around and offering to mow people's lawns.

[earth]

Originally Posted by Beuford

This reminds me of how I was wondering how much money you could make in one day by walking around and offering to mow people's lawns.

Yeah, that follows the same principle. When I was young, me and a mate went around the street offering to clean peoples cars for whatever money they thought the job was worth, everybody paid us reasonably and we made a lot of money. Starting a good business is easier than people think.