Exploring Life & Business with Sergio Ivan Aleman of Aleman’s Window Cleaning

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sergio Ivan Aleman.

Hi Sergio Ivan, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
Raised on the city’s south side, and attending schools in the Harlandale ISD, I was often asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. But I could never really answer the question, mainly because I was raised to do whatever was necessary. So no, I never thought I would end up becoming a window cleaner, let alone own a window cleaning business.

I ended up where I am today by necessity, thanks to the example my parents set for me, as well as with the help of my lovely wife, LeeAnna. She is my rock, without her by my side, I would not be where I am today. She encourages me every step of the way, she supports all of my dreams and pushes me to do better when I get lazy. Not only does she work alongside me, but she also manages her own business as a Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultant.

As a young boy, I saw my father do whatever he could to make sure we would have basic necessities. He worked on cars, he fixed washing machines, he did maintenance on apartments and even did some window cleaning when asked. I did not have the slightest interest in any of these things, but I would reluctantly help him on some occasions. After I graduated high school, I managed to do several odd jobs. From cutting grass with a friend to the time I sold used clothing at the Mission Flea Market, I even worked as a busser at Paesano’s.

Shortly before my wife and I got married, I started working for a company that would provide maintenance on foreclosed homes. This was a job that I loved and thought I would end up doing for the rest of my life. A few months after we got married, my wife also started working at this company. Together we made a great team with the people we worked with. After about a year, things got difficult and we were both let go. We were left with no job and many bills to pay.

Within a few days, she found a job as a nanny. A friend of mine had recently moved to San Antonio and started cleaning windows. After a few conversations with him about having lost my job, he invited me to tag along with him to learn the trade. Several days later he was helping me to establish my own window cleaning business. Fast forward to today, 7 years later, my wife and I both work together providing window cleaning services to many storefronts and homes here in San Antonio.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It has most definitely not been a smooth road. I had to start from the very bottom, anyone who has been there will tell you it is not easy. Most days I was barely making enough to put food on the table. There was a time when well-intentioned family members kept pushing me to find another job that would help pay the bills while I grew my business. But if I were to do that, I wouldn’t have the flexibility to spend time growing my business. With time I became an Uber driver, this allowed me to have the flexibility to look for new customers, and supplement my income.

Just as things were looking good, my wife, my sister, along two other friends were rear-ended while out in their Christian Ministry. Although everyone walked away with no external injuries, my wife ended up injured from her lower back. This meant that she wouldn’t be able to continue with the job that she had at the time. Which ended up being a blessing in disguise, because it was a few months after this happened that she ended up working with me.

As time went on we came across our next challenge, which not only affected us but many other small businesses. Yes, I’m referring to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The lockdowns forced most of our customers to have to close their doors for a few months, so we were basically out of work for a few months.

And here we are in 2021, things were definitely getting better for us. We had been having our best year ever, despite the ongoing pandemic. In October, I was diagnosed with Testicular Cancer. This all happened so fast, one day I’m feeling great, the next I’m talking to a doctor about a problem I noticed, about a week later I’m getting my diagnosis and scheduling surgery to remove cancer.

Yes, my surgery was a success, but there have been other struggles that have come with it. I have been on medical leave since the surgery, to make sure I recover properly. This means that my wife has been having to take care of our customers during this time by herself.

Although I am now considered to be cancer-free, I will have to be monitored for the rest of my life to make sure it doesn’t come back. The good news is my doctor is confident that I will return to normal, and be able to live a long and normal life. Despite all the different challenges we have faced, we try to stay positive, and as the saying goes we get right back up on that horse.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Aleman’s Window Cleaning?
At Aleman’s Window Cleaning, we provide residential and commercial window cleaning services. We have been servicing windows since early 2014. We service different storefronts around the city and surrounding areas.

If it’s glass we clean it. There are many window cleaners here in our beautiful city. Some do it professionally, others just to make a quick buck. We consider ourselves to be professionals. Over the years not only have we perfected our techniques, but we have been able to acquire all sorts of tools that help make things easier. We mostly use traditional tools, like a scrubber and a squeegee.

But we also have a pure water system that runs the extremely hard water that we have here in San Antonio, and turns it into pure water, using 3 stages of purification. This is much like a water softener for your house. For this, we use a carbon fiber extension pole, a hose that pumps water to the brush head at the top of the pole. This method allows us to reach, and clean windows up to 40 feet high, all from the safety of standing on the ground.

Most of our storefront customers are serviced on a monthly basis, some bi-monthly, and some weekly. We can accommodate the needs of the customer. For example, there is a shop we clean 3 times a week inside North Star Mall.

When it comes to residential window cleaning we offer different packages. We can clean just the windows, or get a little more detailed and clean-out tracks and sills, as well as window screens. Paint overspray removal and hard water stain removal are some of our additional services.

Ultimately, we want our customers to be satisfied with our services. We like to build relationships with our customers. Sometimes that involves us chatting a bit before or after cleaning their windows. We like getting to know the people that we meet. At times we frequent the restaurants, and stores we maintain out of the cleaning cycle. It may be just to pop in and say hello, or grab a bite to eat. We believe that small businesses help other small businesses.

And we can all do that by supporting them in any way that we can. It can be something as simple as following their social media pages and sharing their posts, making a purchase, and when that’s not possible we can all spread the word about these small businesses.

We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
During the Covid-19 crisis, I learned the importance of community with other small businesses.

I believe that small businesses need each other to survive. During the covid lockdowns, most small businesses had to shut their doors. Many small business owners were left with no income coming in, and it was rough. But when small businesses look out for each other, we can help one another to keep the lights on, not only in their place of business but in their homes as well. When we support small businesses, we help make a mortgage/car payment, we help put food on the table.

As I mentioned earlier, we don’t always have to buy something from them, but something as little as following social media pages, and sharing with friends, goes a long way! If we were to all look out for each other the way people did at the start of the pandemic, the world would be a better place.

When things started to open back up, almost all of our customers were waiting for us to come back. Some went the extra mile and would recommend us to either their own customers or friends and family.

Contact Info:

• Email: alemanswindowcleaning@yahoo.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/alemanswindowcleaning
• Facebook: Facebook.com/alemanswindowcleaning