Cleaning windows was once a chore for David Kunz. Now it’s a full time-job.
Starting in June, Kunz, 20, went all in on Coastal Clarity, a start-up business that offers window and solar cleaning, as well as power washing. With almost a year of full-time work under his belt and the of his older brother and co-owner Chris, 25, he hopes to further expand the business and create a solid workflow.
David Kunz first began cleaning windows during his freshman year of high school in Redding in Shasta County after his father noticed their windows were dirty and needed weekly attention. He grew to like it and started offering cleaning services beyond his home. He connected with a local window cleaner, Nick Faulkner of Divine Shine.
While working with Faulkner for two years, Kunz learned more about the business of window cleaning and discovered it could be a career path for him.
Chris Kunz helped David with developing a business strategy, bookkeeping and “other back-end stuff.” The UC San Diego graduate also encouraged David to move from Redding to San Diego in 2022 to establish a permanent home for his business and broaden its scope.
After a year and a half of working at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club and cleaning windows as a side gig, David went into his business full time.
“I know it’s weird as a 20-year-old, but I truly do enjoy cleaning windows,” David said by phone recently as he cleaned a home in La Jolla’s Village. “And you get to look at how you did and you get an instant loop for how good of work you did. It’s glass, so if you don’t do a good job, it’ll tell you pretty easily.”
“I enjoy being outside,” he added. “I’ve always been pretty active, so the aspect of being outside pretty much the whole time I’m working and being out in the sun but not waking up the next day sore was also a great thing.”
In October, Coastal Clarity’s full-time workforce doubled when Chris officially became a co-owner. Earlier that month, Chris was laid off by a local start-up tech company as it moved to Florida and cut its workforce in San Diego.
“As I was looking at the options, I knew the business model that David was growing … and I knew I had a lot of complementary skills to David,” Chris said.
“We got along really well and we still love each other as brothers.”
Chris brings his business experience to Coastal Clarity, including istrative duties, web design, marketing and sales calls. Meanwhile, David is the lead technician, or as they call it, “the squeegee master.”
Chris’ expanded involvement is a welcome addition, David said. Though they’ve been in the slow season recently, they’ve stayed busy with one or two jobs a day and have a more streamlined way of tracking their work, David said.
“Before Chris … I was not very organized with my clients,” he said. “All of my stuff I worked out of my notes app, and I was a 19- to 20-year-old who was just excited that I was getting clients. … Chris has brought a lot of clarity and structure to finances, management and the design.”
The amount of Chris’ person-to-person interaction with clients is in stark contrast with his previous job, where he never got to personally connect with customers. Placing client relationships at the forefront is one of the brothers’ goals — enabling them to develop connections with repeat customers and gain referrals.
“We’re a local-based service, Chris said. “So the trust of someone locally doing the job and doing it well — knowing they’re a face you can trust — is really important. So our best jobs have come from referrals from past clients, friends and family [and] relationships that we’ve been able to create, living in San Diego.”
Coastal Clarity’s clients extend as far as Solana Beach and Rancho Santa Fe, but most of its customers are in La Jolla. As the brothers expand their services, they aim to create programs that incentivize referrals, including possible gift card giveaways, other gifts and pop-up events.
Down the line, David and Chris hope to make Coastal Clarity even more of a family business. Their next recruit could be their younger brother, Joshua, who’s currently in seventh grade. Chris said they will try to persuade him to visit over the summer so they can teach him about window cleaning.
“If he wants to come and do that after high school, we’d accept him and teach him whatever area of the business he wants to grow in,” Chris said.
For more about Coastal Clarity, visit coastalclarity.net. ♦
Other local business news:
La Jolla Business Roundup: Organic food, cancer services, workspace, French treats
Breakfast Republic closing La Jolla location at end of the week
