Just to play devil’s advocate I will take that bet. Residential out numbers commercial 10000 to 1… You will work harder on commercial especially if you are dealing with restaraunts which by the way also costs you more in insurance ( cleaning exhausts and roofs) not to mention water reclaimation equipment. And just to further stir the pot, why do you think you need a hot water unit?
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I’m doing 50/50 res/commercial here. A lot of awnings. Apartment buildings. Still only use hot water 3-4 days each month.
I’ve used cold water to clean gum. The only time I use hot water is restaurants for grease, or if I have an entire strip mall to clean gum up. Cuts time in half.
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Bought mine years ago for 100 on sale. Anyways they always have a sale or a 15 percent off coupon… I didnt realize I had to price out every object to the penny when giving free advice… My bad…
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@Greg755 Let me rephrase, I worded that poorly. I figure I can make more money off of commercial projects. The work would be increased, yes, but I’m fine with that. As for the hot water unit, I just want to have it, eventually, to have options. My experience in business and sales is that you don’t tell a client no. If they want something done, you do it. If I have all of the options I need, then I’ll be able to live up to that. Of course, this is in the future. I’m not trying to rush into it. And this is, of course, as long as I have steady enough business. There’s no guarantee that I’ll even get one. I’m still editing my business model and plans on a daily basis. I really appreciate everyone’s advice. Having a forum like this is crucial when you don’t have anyone around you that can mentor you or just offer solid advice. Thanks again.
You will make more money saying no than yes. Pick something and specialize in it. I honestly say no to 75% of my calls. No roofs. No driveways. No decks. Nothing that requires hot water. Fight the battles you want to win. Turn down the low profit or aggravating stuff.
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All of those “NO’s” are fine…as long as there are enough buildings to wash…everywhere does not have a sufficient abundance of apartment buildings, condo’s and houses to turn down all other work.
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Brother, I started with a $15.00 pump up sprayer and a water hose with a good tip I could create a powerful stream of water for rinsing. I am waiting for delivery on july 5th from Amazon my new Simpson 4240 4200 psi 4 gpm pressure washer commercial grade. Honda DX390 eng with AAA triplex pump all paid for with profits from a pump up spray bottle and a water hose. I don’t know what your budget is but advertising is the key not fancy equipment. Ya just gotta hustle, I hope this helps, later
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Start another business then. Every town can’t support a specific industry. I did cover multiple states for a long time though. If your area can’t support easy work, start a carpet cleaning business or something else. Plumbers stay busy year round.
I have not done any washing that is not easy work…folks that think this is hard work, must have lead a charmed life.
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@lacey1948 This is my mindset. I have a marketing background that I hope is going to help me out. Just gotta take the jobs I can do and do them well.
Funny you should say that the plumbing side of the biz went dark for all of Jan Feb and half way into March. A total of 3 calls… Never had that happen before not even when I first opened back in 83… It was the strangest winter for service calls I ever had
Man everyones got toilet problems you should always be busy lol. Sorry business was slow.
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Well crap. We need to create an even better toilet. In the past month I’ve had a water heater, sink and outside faucet replaced. My wife keeps the plumber on speed dial 
lol…
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The new pressure assited toilets with larger traps are the best. Love when people buy the cheaper toilets, plenty of repairs and clogs…
I’ve replaced all three of our toilets. I put cheap one’s in because I thought we might be moving. That was about 10 years ago lol. Been here 16 years and probably not going anywhere any time soon. Come change out my toilets.
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Learning when to say no is important. However I pretty much wash everything except restaurant’s and exhausts . Most of the time when I say no it is because something is in serious need of repair like a wore out roof, or deck that’s rotting or really oxidized aluminum siding… As far as hot water machines, yea they help with grease and gum, but with today’s chemicals its a wash, no pun intended.
The higher initial costs, operating costs, and maintenance don’t cut it for me. Having everything you need to start off with before opening the doors sounds reasonable … Well to a point that’s true, but for the most part you will buy a lot of stuff that you thought would do the job but won’t. You’ll buy stuff for jobs then you won’t get enough of those jobs to justify the cost. Buy the basics in the best size/quality you can afford, then when the business tells you what you need, go out and buy that equipment. We all have bought stuff that sounds good on paper, only to have it sit around and collect dust or realize it won’t do the job as good as we thought it would. We then wind up buying another piece of equipment to get the job done right. I bought 20,000 dollars in sewer cameras. The big one makes a wonderful arm rest in the van. To date I have used them maybe a half dozen times… Are they cool yep. Are they making people money yep… Are they making me money nope… I just assumed everyone would want a photo of thier turds… I assumed wrong.
The rig I told you to build is the rig that has the best ROI In our fleet. Now mine does have a surface cleaner, 2 batteries, electric and air pumps (for soft wash), air compressor and 3 hose reels .But because I bought a used trailer, and built everything my self (except the PW, air compressor and surface cleaner) it kept the costs way down. The only thing I would change is maybe getting a 5.5 PW instead of the 4gpm. All in all it cost half of what the other two trailers cost but is used twice as much as both of them combined. Also it is easy to pull and because it’s enclosed its a great bill board, wether its in my parking lot or in a sub division. If hot water is your thing then just swap out the cold water machine for a hot water one.
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I can do that… no I really can.
