Daily Inspiration: Meet Chris Deulen

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Deulen.

Hi Chris, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
When my pregnant wife and I left Colorado in 2007 we never thought we’d return. We chased a dream of owning some land and starting an organic farm, that lead us from Hawaii, to Minnesota, to Maine, to Kansas, the last place of which I started my first window cleaning business, Green Team Window Cleaning, out of Kansas City. Being a rock climber (and climbing in all the mentioned locations), I took a trip back to Colorado in 2013, 6 years later, with a friend for a weekend of climbing. In Kansas, I volunteered at the local climbing gym, setting routes and problems, and even had a mini-wall in my living room I had built at our in-laws house, where we had taken refuge for 3 years. I was starting to go crazy away from any kind of mountains.

While taking a trip to visit my father in California for the holidays 5 months later in 2013, we stopped in Colorado for a Solstice Party, and coincidently met Shawn Gavin, owner of Tucker USA, which makes window cleaning equipment. “You should move out here, there’s a wide open market!” he told me. While that might not be the case today 10 years later (there are probably over 50 window cleaning companies in Denver at any given time), at the time I couldn’t think of a better option in life. We returned to our beloved state 4 months later, starting Outshine Cleaning Services, Inc with a partner in Shawn, in Castle Rock.

Later that year, Shawn’s business continued growing rapidly, and with the time constraints, gave me his share of Outshine. I paid off the rest of our equipment to him, and continued growing my new window cleaning business. While 99.9% of my KC clientele had been residential homes, the commercial market opened up for us in Colorado, and we garnered many buildings, including the State Capitol Complex contract 4 months into the new business. This contract led to Buckley Space Force Base, Adams County, and many other large commercial projects. I was overwhelmed at first, and had to adjust to the nuances on cleaning entire buildings rather than homes all the time.

I had a new weapon in my arsenal to help me though, one that Shawn had been developing as well as other competitors, which was the Water Fed Pole System (WFP). The pole, made from stiff carbon fiber with a large brush on the end similar to a broom’s to scrub the glass, lifted a hose to spray pure water (a very effective cleaner) over the brush up to 60′ or more! Because it was 100% purified water, it lacked the normal minerals and dissolved solids that eventually stain the glass, instead simply evaporating, leaving the glass shining and streak free! Ladders became a rarity, and my wrists didn’t hurt as much from turning a squeegee over the glass. I could at times also go much faster and do a more efficient job, getting all the frames and ledges as well, all from the ground!

Given I had to sub out some of the jobs on the Capitol Complex due to the fact that I didn’t know how to perform high rise work (the WFP only got so high), I decided to learn the trade myself. Early in 2015 I looked up a rope access class that took place in Colorado Springs and cost $1600. After going through the 40 hour class and passing the final tests, I became “SPRAT Certified” (Society of Professional Rope Access Technicians) Level 1, and was able to do high rise work safely thereafter. I purchased a new harness, ropes, descent gear, and much more to help me tackle these jobs.

Years later, I have since completed my SPRAT Level 2 Course, hired 3 workers and an office manager, and now train all my technicians using the safety methods I have learned. We have also moved north, expanding service to the entire metro region, and have done jobs from San Francisco (the Veterans Memorial Hospital) to Durango (another hospital) to Ft Collins (Woodsmen Facility), and continue to provide 5 star service to Centennial (our 3rd office location) and the entire Denver Metro region. I will also often personally handle jobs in the mountains, as it affords me a chance to climb after! We also now offer gutter cleaning, pressure washing, house washing, screen repair, holiday lighting, building sealing, snow removal and any general height related needs.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road of an entrepreneur is always rocky! The industry in general seems pretty cutthroat, with competitors racing to the bottom of a price to get a job, sometimes by over half of our price, which makes it seem as though we were gouging. The truth is that these competitors are desperate, and will eventually flatline from not enough revenue. We charge what we charge because the overhead is quite large for a small business. High rise work is very dangerous and therefore requires not only special training, but special business insurance which can be triple what other companies pay, in addition to a huge Workers Comp policy (17% of every dollar paid to a tech is assessed). Some of our partners have demanded more insurance, and we’ve had to upgrade to a $5 million umbrella policy at times.

Additionally, window cleaning is very seasonal, and the culture in Denver generally likes to wait until May to have us out to start cleaning the glass. I’ve had to expand our services to include winter time work to be able to hold onto workers and help them provide for themselves and their families.

Last year we had the catalytic converter stolen from one of our vans (in an open parking lot at our office). We filed a report, then 2 days later the thieves returned to steal the other one! The year before that, 2 different employees wrecked both of our vans, so we fought insurance claims all year trying to recover in rental vehicles. I’ve just about seen it all, from workers stealing from me, fighting with strangers, calls from prison from one, shaking a billionaire’s hand before cleaning their home, being gifted wine and other treats from customers, etc, it’s been a wild ride!

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’ve always been a curious person, and in the latter half of my life have lived up to the title of “polymath,” or, a person of great and varied learning. While I graduated college with a degree in English, I never put it to much use other than penning my business origin story for small local magazines. But my curiosity has lead me to many places; I’ve built 5 gardens from scratch, raised chickens, converted 2 vehicles to run on waste vegetable oil, taken a course in cybersecurity, raised 2 daughters, built websites, built various structures (climbing walls, children’s play cubes, a kids play kitchen set, finished a basement, etc.) and continue to be curious about many things! I switched from Republican to Democrat to somewhere in the middle, read many books on many different topics, listened to innumerable podcasts, and can chat on nearly any topic. I still climb regularly and have taught countless people how to safely scale rock (including many employees). Every year my father (now 67) visits Colorado and we go ice climbing. I also love to cook, longboard, work on my truck, and take care of my 2 cats who don’t get along.

How do you think about happiness?
Hanging out with my teenagers, climbing and camping with my friends, good food, honest money!

Pricing:

• Most prices can be found on our webisite!
• Gutters $269
• Windows $189
• Holiday Lights $499
• Pressure Washing $199

Contact Info:

• Website: outshineservices.com
• Instagram: snagged.orange.hose
• Facebook: facebook.com/outshineservices
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/outshine-cleaning-services-inc
• Youtube: youtube.com/outshineservices
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/outshine-cleaning-services-denver