This is not legal, tax, or insurance advice. Read the official pages linked here. Partner offers are optional and labeled.
Sell the route you can finish with the pole you have. Residential exteriors, interior glass, and storefronts are three calendars. Pick one for the first month. Add the next when the first has a day that repeats. Say on the page which stories you will not climb.
The state guides under this page cover all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Each one names the filing office and the licensing board we could verify, and it says so when we could not confirm a direct address. City guides cover the metros ServiceBase writes about for this trade, including Austin, TX, Houston, TX, Dallas–Fort Worth, TX, Las Vegas, NV.
High-demand trades with thin local websites are the ones to read first: chimney sweeps and standby generator installation in cold markets, snow removal, and Christmas light installation from November through January, then landscaping, electrical, cleaning, and roofing, in the cities linked below. The steps are the same shape for every trade. The license and the first job are not.
Some boxes are labeled Partner. ServiceBase has not joined those programs. The links go to each company's own homepage, not a tracking link. If a program later approves us, the address will change and we may earn a commission. You can file, insure, and bank anywhere. Official government links are not partner links. Nothing on this page is a discount code.
$500 in free advertising when you launch
Keep the checklist on your account
The guide stays public. An account saves your state, city, and trade, and lets you mark each filing as you go. The advertising credit is reserved when you register. It can be spent after the free website is live.
Pick a name a customer can text without asking how to spell it. Search the state filing office and the city. 'Crystal' and 'sparkle' are crowded. A last name plus 'windows' is enough. Use that spelling on the invoice, the voicemail, and the pole.
02Form an LLC or stay a sole proprietor
A lot of window routes start as a sole proprietorship because the owner is the person on the pole. That can be you, under your own name, with no formation filing. An LLC is a state filing and a separate company on paper. It does not license you, and it does not replace insurance. Form the LLC when you hire, when a storefront wants the company on a certificate, or when you want the bank account in the business name. If you are unsure, ask an accountant before you pay a filing fee. This page is not that advice.
Each state guide links the filing office. Where we could verify an LLC fee from an official page, that guide prints the fee and the source. Everywhere else, the fee stays on the state's site.
An employer identification number is the business tax ID. The IRS issues it online at no charge and says you never have to pay a company to get one. If you form an LLC, file with the state first. The IRS says an EIN application can stall when the state filing is not done. A sole proprietor can often start with a Social Security number and get an EIN when a bank or a hire requires it.
Apply on the IRS page if you want the number yourself. LegalZoom, the partner beside this step, can request it while they form the company. That service is optional. The IRS fee is still zero either way.
House and storefront window cleaning is often a city business license and a tax registration, not a state contractor classification. Confirm that by reading the contractor board, so you are not guessing from a forum. Write down whether the board's list names window cleaning, glass, or a small-job threshold, and read any dollar figure on that page rather than a number you remember. Work from a ladder or a water-fed pole does not, by itself, invent a contractor license. If you add pressure washing, screen repair that changes the frame, or anything you would call construction, read the board again. High-rise or swing-stage work is a different question from a ground-level house route. Ask the city clerk about a business license either way, and ask the revenue department whether the service is taxable.
Read the contractor board far enough to see whether window cleaning is on it, including any project-cost threshold printed there. Then get the city business license and the tax permit the revenue department describes. Adding pressure washing or building repairs is a second read, not a free extra.
05Insure the work
General liability before the pole goes onto someone else's glass. Tell the insurer you do ladders and, if it is true, that you step inside for interior panes. A broken pane and a soaked sill are the claims. Commercial auto if the car or van is how you move between stops, because a personal policy often excludes business use. If anyone else is on a ladder or carrying water, ask about workers' compensation before they start. Do not copy a headcount from another state. Keep a certificate you can send the same day a property manager asks.
Workers' compensation is a state program. Before anyone works with you, including a friend, ask an insurer and the state labor office whether you must carry it. This guide does not quote a headcount, because those rules differ and the state page is the source. The SBA page describes the common policies. It does not sell them. Buy the policy before you work in a house in the city you will serve.
Deposit route money into a business checking account the same week. Window stops pay small amounts, and those amounts vanish in a personal account. Note which address paid. Set tax money aside every Friday, before a good week feels like spending money.
The bank will usually ask for your ID, the EIN or your Social Security number, and the formation papers if you filed an LLC. A checking account and a habit of setting tax money aside are enough at the start.
07Price the real visit
Price the visit from stories, panes or a simple house size, interior versus exterior, and screens. Hard-water removal is its own line if you offer it. A ground-floor exterior and a second-story interior are different jobs. Write both numbers down before you need them in a driveway.
Pollen, salt, construction dust, and stairs change the time. A price copied from an empty suburban photo will lose money in a walk-up. Adjust the numbers after you have timed ten real stops, and tell recurring customers when the price changes.
08Get found, then create the free site
Claim the Google Business Profile in the business name, with hours you actually answer and a service area made of towns you drive. Ask for a review after a clean visit, and ask the customer to name the neighborhood and whether it was exterior, interior, or a storefront. Publish a one-page site that splits those services, and put a form on it that asks for stories, interior or exterior, screens, and a date. ServiceBase does that page and files the requests. It does not get the city license or the insurance.
In your first city, the profile, the reviews, and the site should name the neighborhoods you actually drive. ServiceBase publishes the page and keeps quote requests in a list on your account. No card. It does not file the LLC, get the EIN, or buy the insurance.
Do I need an LLC to start a window cleaning business?
A lot of window routes start as a sole proprietorship because the owner is the person on the pole. That can be you, under your own name, with no formation filing. An LLC is a state filing and a separate company on paper. It does not license you, and it does not replace insurance. Form the LLC when you hire, when a storefront wants the company on a certificate, or when you want the bank account in the business name. If you are unsure, ask an accountant before you pay a filing fee. This page is not that advice. The SBA page linked in the steps explains the structures in general. A lawyer or an accountant can apply them to you. This guide cannot.
Does a window cleaner need a state license?
House and storefront window cleaning is often a city business license and a tax registration, not a state contractor classification. Confirm that by reading the contractor board, so you are not guessing from a forum. Write down whether the board's list names window cleaning, glass, or a small-job threshold, and read any dollar figure on that page rather than a number you remember. Work from a ladder or a water-fed pole does not, by itself, invent a contractor license. If you add pressure washing, screen repair that changes the frame, or anything you would call construction, read the board again. High-rise or swing-stage work is a different question from a ground-level house route. Ask the city clerk about a business license either way, and ask the revenue department whether the service is taxable.
Is an EIN free?
Yes. The IRS issues an employer identification number at no charge and says you never have to pay a fee for one. Use the IRS link in the steps if you want the number yourself. LegalZoom, the partner on that step, can request it while they form the company. That service is optional, and the IRS fee is still zero.
What does the free window cleaning site include?
A public page for your window cleaning business and city, and a list of the quote requests that come from that page. No card. It does not form the company, get the EIN, buy insurance, or replace a license. The website guide for this trade is separate: it is about what the page should say once the company is real.
