Making Transition From Pressure Wash Employee To Owner Operator

I have worked for a Pressure Wash Company for about 3.5 years, and I am starting to feel I have the experience and knowledge to make the leap. During peak season I by myself with no helper knock out 7 to 8 two story Vinyl houses a day. In my career I have received less than 5 or 6 complaints or call backs to re-rinse out of approximately 2000+ homes washed. I live and breathe pressure washing, I have never been more in love and passionate about anything in my life. Being outdoors, just me and my machine, knowing exactly what steps need to be executed and being free to flow through those steps until the job is complete. Every minute pressure washing is a good one. I am trying to take in as much knowledge I can and would love more than anything if someone had advice for me. I spend hours researching marketing and all the threads on this site… What I truly am asking for is do you guys think I have what it takes and any information you think would help me find jobs. I am prepared to spend 20 years building a customer base one customer at a time. I just need the chance to show customers I am passionate and do Quality work that can compete with the best. Just give me whatever information you believe I should hear and help someone out that loves and respects the industry as much as all you. any likes to my page are greatly appreciated.

Any vinyl home $74.99???

I am in and out in no more than an hour, I also throw on 100sqft concrete for free. Mind you I normally wash 8 a day during peak season for 79.95 with patio included and im only seeing a percentage of that. I am not greedy, or looking to get rich. There is plenty left on the bone and it feels that much better when I am making all the profit. Now if its a mansion that isnt going to fly, we are talking subdivision regular two story and one story vinyl homes. And i do exceptional work.

I only request that they like my facebook page and leave a review to be locked in at that introductory price.

Where are you located?

Help me understand this, please.

You’re not greedy, you’re not interested in getting rich, why dont you continue as an employee and not deal with
business licenses
insurance
workers comp ins.
advertising
marketing
stressed out from not enough work
stressed out from to much work
stressed out by not enough time in the day or week to do both the washing and the managing of this business
finding time to return phone calls
stressed out from spending every waking moment dealing with one aspect of this business or another
stressed out from not having any free time to spend with family or friends
stressed out because at the end of the day/week/month/year, you realize you did a great job washing, all your customers love you but at $79.95 per wash, you’re still FLAT BROKE

Anyone can drag a hose and wash a house, most people can start a business and more importantly, most people will loose their business within the first few years because they have no clue how to run a business…

And the funny thing is now you come here and ask for free help

Spending hours researching?? Come back after you’ve spent months researching and experimenting with different forms of marketing.

At this point in time, you DO NOT have what it takes to start a successful business. Continue searching this forum and PT State, read some books (EMyth revisited)

Why not ask your current employer for the info you are asking us for?

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Okay a couple things:

First, congratulations on making the leap to full-time pressure washing! I’m about to make that jump too after I buy an additional rig so that I can run 2 crews.

Second, your logo needs some work. I recommend Anya over at Ambidextrous to do your logo for $300 and it will come in all of the formats you need. She is currently working on my website and the previews have been amazing.

Third, why would you under-price yourself? There’s a lot of money that you are leaving on the table. I have an MBA, so I understand psychological pricing. What happens when you price significantly below the big guys in your neighborhood is that you create a perception that you do lesser-quality work. I’m not saying that you do terrible work, but when you tell a customer that you’ll do the job for a third of the price, it leaves them wondering “what’s the catch?” or they just assume that your work isn’t as good as your competition. You will probably get business, but most likely from clients that are only looking for the lowest price. Typically a best practice is to have a standard rate that is equal to or slightly less than the big guys but not significantly lower (or higher). Once you start to understand the cost of doing business (insurance, taxes, gas, materials, marketing, etc.), you will start to realize that there is a reason that the more established companies charge what they do and you will better understand the prices that you need to charge to remain profitable.

Lastly, regarding marketing, I recommend getting a website rolling as a first priority. Once again, ambidextrous services does great work. They also give discounts to PWRA members.

Another thing… before you quit, I would go ahead and purchase all of the marketing materials that you need so that it doesn’t come from your profit when you are relying on your business to pay your bills. Here’s a list of things to consider purchasing: clothing with your logo, couple thousand door hangers, business cards (with new logo), yard signs, banner to put on your trailer, magnets for your car (until you can get a wrap), and a PWRA membership (which will save you on your website design).

The logo, website, and other marketing materials aren’t cheap, but they will help you to get more business. Altogether, you are looking at as little as $3,000 for the list I mentioned above.

Best of luck and God bless man,
Rich

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No clue if you have what it takes. Do you want to think about work constantly or do you like going home and just relaxing?

Agreed with many things above, website should be a priority as well as increasing that price.

Really easy to start a business and be hungry those first few years. Can you grind through the hard stuff and terrible times…

I am located in South Carolina, houses here need to be washed once a year and a lot of times twice a year. There are subdivisions all over the place, we are right outside of Charleston, SC, and they just built the Boeing plant and now a Google Plant is being built. There are thousands of neighborhoods filled with regular vinyl houses and they say there popping up 3 a month i believe… And the HOA in these neighborhoods are very strict, you have to have your house washed or be fined. I dont want to continue as an employee much longer after this next season because There are other ppl that work for my boss and when work slows down I am the one who goes without rent money. In my County they do not require business licenses or even issue them. Ive looked into the federal part of it and found that it really isnt that expensive and i dont have to really worry about that right now. Also I dont really need insurance right now just yet and its no more than 700 or so a year so if i land a job that requires those things Ill get them. (that wont be a 74.99 job though) I wont need workers comp on these jobs and dont have it working for the company I do and I will be the only employee. Ill only be spending on advertising the money that i have available to spend on it. And Marketing is interesting and fun to learn about. I am stressed out from not enough work at the moment lol… and i hope i eat my words by saying i would love and cant wait to be stressed out from to much work, I look forward to subbing out the work for a nice percentage, GOD WILLING THAT DAY WILL COME. There are plenty of tools available to help manage the company but I doubt i get large enough for that to be a problem. I will have solutions for these problems. What aspects can there be you get a call you enter their name number address email etc into your database, you do the work you get paid then you pay yourself and the business. I dont have any friends, and i dont have a gf or kids. Like i said i dont care about becoming rich I care about doing what I love, whether it takes me 10 or 20 years it doesnt matter. The only way you could be flat broke is if you spent more money than you had to spend and Im not the type of person to buy ■■■■. I dont need a nice house Im happy in a trailer thats paid for, same goes with cars. I respect customers and do good work at a great price, Ill learn the business part as I go just like all of you did. And to end this Id like to say I didnt ask for free help, the free help is posted all over the internet, I just wanted to hear yalls opinions… get yall to talk… Nothing said hasnt already been said so i am glad i didnt pay. I know how to record customer information and put it in a filing system, and i know how to budget money, I even know what time of year is best to send out EDDMs. Trust me I got this. 79.95 is what all the large companys in this area are charging, that is the going rate around here for one and two story vinyl homes, and if you wash the same house every year guess what all u do is spray chemical on and then rinse it right off and its on to the next one. The trick is repeat customers.

Ive worked for multiple of the Pressure Washing Companies in my area over 4 years or more and I have seen first hand all of the marketing they do. I have put rubber bands through holes in post cards and stuck them on mail boxes all through neighborhoods and seen it fail miserably, Ive seen every issue that has ever come up in the past four years, I know how to trouble shoot my machine, i know who to go to to fix it if it comes to that, I know where to buy the chemical, hoses etc… So technically I have spent years researching and studying the top people in my area. And when I said hours researching I mean hours per day for weeks on end, from when I wake up till I go to sleep, I am obsessed with everything that has to do with this business. I have even read a large percentage of the forums on this site before i ever decided to post a thread. Also Why would I need to experiment with different marketing when I have almost unlimited information for free I can learn from before I ever invest a cent. Every cent I spend will be a calculated investment And I wouldnt ask my employer because ive already gotten all the information from him he has to offer over these years, The best thing i learned from him was how to wash a house correctly and how to do it quick.

If i had all the customers I wanted, that would be 8 a day if distance between houses is right, 40 a week for 52 weeks a year. thats 2999.6 a week and 155979.2 a year. Even if half of that goes to expenses Ill be very happy.

My logo is just the first thing i came up with and i like it as of right now, I know it doesnt look professional and I will be upgrading. Just needed a place to start. Also I have not made the jump to full time i am just trying to get work and get through the winter months. I am just developing a starting point to grow on. About the pricing situation, my biggest competitors are washing the same houses I am talking about for 79.95 So my $74.99 Pricing is exactly what you described just a little less than theirs. I know a website is key I have gotten that from my research, looking professional is key, having before an after photos, videos, etc… I am also researching deep into EDDM and SEO… And also plan on investing in marketing websites. I may even take a business class if i ever got the chance, but most likely i will learn from the web like i always have. I am not of average intelligence to say the least, but i also know it isnt just what you know either… I am pretty confident, i have put in 4 years working for other companies learning the business. There are things ive learned on these sites that people around here wouldnt never in a million years think to do, they have all been in business so long and think they know everything there is to know… and im planning a marketing attack… :smiley:

Washing is hard work. But it is the easy part.

Business is where men lose their minds and long for simpler times.

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I would wish you good luck, but I don’t want to waste my breath, it doesn’t look like you took any of those answers very seriously.

IMHO it would be better to have no logo than associate the one you have with your business.

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Quick question: How does this (posted by you in 2 other threads) work into your 52 weeks of work per year?

“Is there anything you put in your SH to make it work better in this kind of cold weather or do you just mix in less water making it stronger? I saw the Softwash guy advertising a winterblend that had a component that allowed Bleach to work in temperatures below 41 or so degrees”

“This might have already been said but feburaury isnt a good month, the weather isnt good, its cold outside, people arent outside doing much yard work etc… extirior home improvement isnt really on their minds too much.”

You CAN NOT count on having 40 houses per week 52 weeks per year, and doing it all solo. IT WILL NOT HAPPEN. You will not make it if you don’t factor EVERYTHING into your pricing structure. If we could all make a living at $75 per house, that price would be the industry standard price. Trust me, it would really cut down on wasted trips to tire kickers’ homes, but it cannot realistically work.

Speaking of that, at which point in your 8 house day will you be meeting with 40 homeowners to schedule the next week’s work? When, during those days will you be getting supplies? How much time have you alotted, during those 8-house days, for equipment malfunction/maintenance, etc? When will you be doing all of your office work, solo guy? What about good ol’ Charleston traffic? Etc, etc, etc.

You REALLY have to allow for, and price for, this stuff if you want to make it.

Why not do way fewer houses per week at a price that’s fair to you AND your customers? Then you’ll be able to take the time for all the other necessary parts of running a business without running yourself into the ground.

I had a similar mindset as you when I started. Fortunately, I listened to the experienced guys who knew a whole lot more than I did. I too am a solo guy, and I thought I could make a great living doing 2.3 million houses per week for $0.36 per house. It looked sooo great on paper! But, I quickly learned about all the details I had not considered, and I would have been sunk if I had not listened to the guys here and at PTState who helped me along. I sure hope you listen like I did!

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@Atlas1
You misunderstood, the guy said I would have all the jobs I would ever want with that price and at that price i wouldn’t make enough. So I was saying theoretically I could only see myself doing a max 8 houses a day. Based on the theory that i would have all the work I would ever want… And believe it or not 79.95 is the standard in my area for one and two story vinyl houses, and we charge 10 to 20 extra for excessive mildew and 20 extra for balconies, but if it was my own business i wouldnt charge extra for excessive mildew i would just do it for advertised price because i know they will call me next year and recommend me and when i wash it the year after the house will be easy to wash. I already wash 8 houses a day during peak season for the company i work for and i have to pick up my own chemical and i know how to work on my equipment with extra machines on stand by… The chemical place opens at 8 and im at the first house at 9, and im done by 5, and if im doing 5 houses im done by 2 or 3… You guys just dont understand im knocking these houses out averaging 50 minutes… And you dont have to meet the customer and give quotes when every house is the same price, u answer the phone and ask if its vinyl one or two story , balcony or no balcony, and schedule the wash… and charleston traffic is only bad in the morning and around 5, and only certain roads… Trust me i wouldnt come from nowhere and tell you im going to do something that cant be done, ive been doing it for 4 years only thing is i was only getting a percent. Im sure there is a lot of things ill have to do, but you build your business one customer at a time, my goal is repeat business, eventually some flyers at the right time of year, also EDDM, and a group text to all my customers will be all it will take, how do i know that??? because the company i work for does it…5000 customers built up over years exactly the way i am going to do it. but its going to take awhile to build my business and im prepared for that. Eventually i will have crews that go out and wash my houses using my vehicle and equipment and ill pay them a percentage like my company does me. like ive said in other threads i am prepared to work on it for 20 years or more…

the only “work” involved in the Pressure washing i am referring to is when your setting up your equipment and putting it back up… I understand the business part is hard and thats why i dont have my own business as we speak.

because they dont know the area I live in, and I do… also that really isnt a logo its really just something to take up space.

It sounds like you already have all the answers. Get started and check back with us in a year or two, and let us know how your model worked out!

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Right on, @MaxH

Hashtag: donewiththisthread

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Just using what i learned from someone who is already successful. You must have never washed a regular vinyl house before with the proper equipment.

never said it would be easy… im just saying if you charged anyone more than 80 to a 100 for a one story 1000 to 1400 or so sqft house, your a crook… im there and gone in less than 50 minutes on those houses… anyway im getting off here. You guys know it all. I make 1000 to 1500 a week 9 months out of the year… damn idk how my boss can pay me that much when we only charge 79.95, U would think he would be out of business???