TikTok inspired southwest suburban teen to wash windows as a side hustle
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A young man in the southwest suburbs is dedicated to making the most of his time this summer, and word of Jonathan Martinez's work ethic while washing windows has been making the round on Facebook
As is typical for a 16-year-old, he said the idea for his business came from social media.
"My friends sent me a TikTok, and I saw that they sent me a TikTok of all these side hustles to do in the summer," he said. "I saw window cleaning popped up."
Jonathan said he was nervous at first to knock on people's doors to offer to wash their windows, but after he gave it a shot with some friends, all that nervousness went away.
"Then, as soon as I started developing my skills, developing my pitch, it started getting easier and easier," he said.
He charges $4 for the outsides of each window, and $6 for both the outside and inside.
Jonathan also had some advice for those who don't have someone like him to wash windows for them.
"For my solution that I put on windows, I use Dawn dish soap, vinegar, and water. I just mix those up, I scrub the windows down, and then I squeegee them," he said. "After I'm done squeegeeing them, I look at the window, see if it's all good, and then I detail the edges with a microfiber towel, and that usually gets the job done."
If needed, he repeats the process.
He doesn't have any big plans for the money he's making.
"I'm pocketing it, but I do realize my brother's going to college soon, and I do realize his tuition costs a lot," he said. "I'm thinking about putting that toward my future tuition, because all the money I'm getting, my parents are kind of struggling to pay for his college, so I think I'm just going to use the money toward that, or just save it."
If you live in Plainfield, Naperville, or the surrounding areas, keep an eye out for Jonathan knocking at your door. Jonathan said, when school starts, he'll downgrade his workload to only weekends.
