Local youth opens window cleaning business

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A local university student is hoping to learn valuable skills running a window cleaning business this summer in North Grenville, Merrickville and Smiths Falls.

A biology student at Queens University, 19-year-old Liam Duff spent last summer working for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency in their seed lab. Although he loved the fieldwork that was part of his position, he also spent a good portion of the summer tucked away in a lab. “It wasn’t the most fun thing, so I figured I wanted to have a bit of a change up this summer,” he says.

Going into second year, Liam decided he wanted to diversify his studies and started taking business courses as part of his degree. He took his first one at the beginning of this year and found that it was right up his alley. “It was a switch up from all my normal science courses,” he says. “It was really nice to be in all those kinds of classes where I get to work in a team and work with other people.”

At Christmas Liam decided he wanted to do something in the business realm this summer, and after applying to a few marketing internships and jobs, he found College Pro, a company that offers the opportunity for college and university students to run their own window cleaning business while they aren’t in school. “I thought it was a really cool opportunity,” he says. “It obviously gives me the chance to run a business, and I knew it was going to be really stressful and all of that, but it just seemed like such a cool opportunity. I didn’t really want to pass up on it.”

Liam has been working since February to build his team and get his business out there. He currently has three people on his marketing team, and another three ready to do exterior and interior window cleaning, eaves trough cleaning, siding cleaning, and power washing once the business officially launches on May 10. Liam says the most difficult part so far has been getting the word out there as they haven’t been able to go door to door, which would be their normal way of getting clients. “It’s a lot of transitioning into digital marketing and trying to get referrals, and seeing those other alternatives to get customers.”

Liam is looking forward to learning as much as he can about running his own business this summer. He hopes to use the skills he learns to help open up his own veterinary clinic one day. So far, he is loving the experience of being his own boss. “I’ve definitely never had this many responsibilities to myself,” he says. “It’s something that I care about so much now just because everything relies on me, and I actually really like that because it makes me feel in control.”

As a native of Burritts Rapids, Liam is excited to become a valued part of the North Grenville business community this summer. He has always been passionate about giving back to the community and volunteered coaching a U11 and U12 girls development soccer team over two summers before the COVID-19 pandemic. He is hoping that his business will not only help him pay for his university tuition, but also provide a great service to the community. “My goal for the community would be to just really give back and do a good job of that over the summer,” he says. To get in touch with Liam and his College Pro business, you can phone him at 613-315-8118 or email him at liamduff@collegepro.com. You can also find him on Facebook under Liam Duff Local Window Cleaner.

 

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