From Fastest Employee to €18.500 per month on 21 Hours a Week: Nicolai’s Window-Cleaning Story

Two years ago, Nicolai was the fastest window cleaner in a large company—yet his days were clogged with inefficient processes that wasted time and capped his income. He knew there had to be a smarter way to work.That way revealed itself when he joined Windowcleanerschool. There, he learned the small adjustments that make a big difference: tighter routines, better sequencing, and a method designed for speed and quality. He shaved hours off his workday, streamlined his workflow, and then made the jump to self-employment.Today, Nicolai has built a part-time business that earns €18.500 per month on just 21 hours of work a week.

‍Why He Switched

After national service, Nicolai wanted an unskilled job with high pay. He landed in a big company on piece-rate and quickly became the fastest on the team—but inefficiencies and weak training (from an inexperienced cleaner) held him back. Windowcleanerschool showed him how to cut the fluff and keep what pays. He even cut 3 hours off his workday thanks to the way piece-rate rewards clean, efficient execution.

What Actually Changed

Nicolai’s improvement didn’t come from buying fancy tools; it came from micro-routines:

Preparing gear the same way every time
Minimising dead time between panes and jobs
Sticking to the most efficient client mix (he dropped lower-efficiency customers to protect his hourly rate)

That focus is why he went from €42/hour as an employee to €214/hour as a solo operator. He now looks at volume and route quality with a simple question: “Does this keep my hourly high?”

Results He Can Feel

€18.500 per month in revenue on ~21 hours/week
~€214/hour active rate
~450 customers in his window-cleaning business
Very low churn and strong organic growth
Enough free time to play padel when he’s “off the ladder”

He even talks about saving to buy a €450,000 apartment in cash—a goal that felt unrealistic when he was stuck inside slow, corporate processes.

Mindset and Ambition

Nicolai doesn’t see other window cleaners as competitors. He’s clear: the first million is the hardest, and students from Windowcleanerschool move faster than those who start alone. He’s one of the few highly efficient cleaners who saw the math in investing in learning—and it paid off.

He isn’t interested in bragging about money, and he doesn’t want to clean windows for 50 years. His plan is to build a fully optimised workplace with a small team, and he doesn’t aim to still be a window cleaner at 28. For now, he’s using the craft as a high-earning vehicle, built on repeatable routines and disciplined execution.

A Typical Day (and Why It Works)

His week is short by design. He batches the highest-efficiency jobs, follows the same setup and teardown every time, and keeps admin lightweight. That’s why he can say he’s among the top earners in his age group without spending his life cleaning windows.

Why the School Fit Him

It replaced guesswork with structure—“made it easy,” as he puts it
It highlighted the difference between students following a proven framework and those who try alone

It answered a tough question people ask: How can a window cleaner earn more than a college graduate? By focusing on throughput, subscription-style repeat work, and routine discipline which you all learn to do were well on the Windowcleanerschool

‍

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I build this in any country?

Yes! The program is born global — meaning that if you understand English and like what you’re reading here, then you can build your business anywhere in the world as long that we have windows.

How do I get started building a window cleaning business?

Go to the Learning Hub on the Windowcleanerschool website to learn how everything works. Then, apply to join the next batch. Once accepted, you’ll start learning and building step by step — investing as many hours as you feel comfortable with, we can always adjust as we go. We’re in it for the long term.

Do I need to be physically present in Denmark?

No. Once you become a partner, you’ll be invited to Denmark for in-person training — but that comes later, when your business is up and running and your company can cover travel and accommodation costs. To begin with, everything can be done remotely from your home and then things look different when you have success and are fully flexible as well.