Cleaning shopfronts and offices before opening hours

Shops want clean glass before the doors open: how window cleaners can set early-morning commercial slots, weekly rounds and access for business customers.

6 min read

Put commercial work in its own services and its own hours: early-morning slots before shops open, repeated weekly on the day you cover each street, with regular shops booked in for the weeks ahead. A shopfront that is cleaned at 7am doesn't disturb customers, and the owner sees the result when they open the shutter. Keep one booking per site, with access details in the note, and handle invoices the way your business customers expect, outside Book.

Separate commercial from residential

Shopfronts, offices and restaurants don't work like houses. They want the glass done before opening or after closing, on a fixed day, every week or every fortnight. Houses fit in the middle of the day. On Book, each service has a name, a price and an optional description shown on your public page, and each slot belongs to one service with its own start and end. Two sets of services keep the two kinds of work apart:

ServiceExample slotExample priceWhen
Shopfront, ground floor20 min€15Weekly, 6:30am–9am
Shopfront with signage and door frames30 min€25Weekly, 6:30am–9am
Office windows, small office60 min€60Before opening or evenings
Restaurant front and terrace screens45 min€40Mornings, before service

Lengths and prices are examples: set your own, and say in each description what's included and whether you use a pole system or ladders.

A weekly early round

  1. Choose the day you cover each shopping street.
  2. Create back-to-back early slots under the shopfront service, one per shop, with a minute or two to move along the street.
  3. Repeat them on that weekday until an end date, a few months ahead.
  4. Book each regular shop into its weekly slot from your calendar.

Book repeats slots weekly on the weekdays you choose. For shops you clean every two weeks, book them into every other week's slot and leave the weeks between free for other shops, or create those slots by date. Once a slot is booked, it's full and no longer shows on your public page; the free ones stay visible for new shops in the street.

Booking a regular shop

When you book a shop from your calendar, first and last name are required: use the manager's name, and put the shop's name in the note, since that's what you'll look for on the day. Email and phone are optional; if you enter the email, the manager gets a confirmation and a calendar file for each visit.

Access, keys and opening hours

Early work depends on access. Ask new business customers to write in the booking note what you need: whether the shutter will be up, where to get water, whether you need to go inside for the door glass, and who to call if something's wrong. Keep keys and alarm codes out of the note, since it appears in the calendar file the customer receives; agree on those directly.

The public booking form asks for first name, last name, email and phone, all required, plus the optional note. A new shop can book its first clean online; after that, book its regular visits yourself.

Invoices and payment

A business customer may need an invoice for each visit or once a month. Book doesn't take payments or issue invoices, so handle billing the way you already do, and say in the commercial service descriptions how you invoice. Your bookings list shows which shops you visited each week, which helps when you prepare a monthly invoice.

Bad weather and closures

If rain or frost stops a round, or a shop is closed for a holiday, move or cancel the bookings from your list and tell the managers yourself: Book doesn't email customers about changes. Book costs €5/month, everything included: unlimited services and bookings, no commission, no contract.

Can I run a weekly shopfront round on Book?
Yes. Create early slots on that weekday, repeat them until an end date, and book each regular shop into its slot.
What about shops cleaned every two weeks?
Book them into every other week's slot, or create those slots by date. Book's repeat is weekly only.
Can new shops book online?
Yes. Free early slots stay visible on your page; a new shop books its first clean and you book the following visits.
Should I put alarm codes in the booking note?
No. The note appears in the calendar file the customer receives; agree on keys and codes directly.
Does Book send invoices?
No. Book doesn't take payments or issue invoices; bill business customers the way you already do.

Guides for window cleaners