Any $99 guys out there, need feedback

$99 Housewash is definitely a market driven choice. It’s not necessary in most areas. I feel it is is mine though.
Proof if that to me is confirmed every day. Every neighborhood I pull into is covered in bandit signs.
Last one I noticed and chuckled at said HOUSEWASH starting at $279 . I’m sure that sounds normal and reasonable to most guys .
But here’s the difference
I’m booked out two months
I don’t advertise
No website no social media no mailer no signs no flyers . Literally nothing but phone number on the trucks. .
The $279 guys is out trying to find work and spending money doing it.

You can say a million different ways you advertise but in reality your just buying customers.
When you figure in the cost of that the profit is much closer than you would assume.

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Humm , like us washing 20,30 trucks for $100 a piece in one parking lot all day.
And we never see a soul or roll up our hose’s.

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I think you are describing 2 different groups of people in your post. The first group is the people who do not know the true costs of running a business(because they haven’t yet :slight_smile: ), the second group is the people that lack the intelligence to comprehend their true cost(time+money) to run a business and the basic math to compare that to their revenue. Sometimes those groups would overlap, but not always, not necessarily.

The first group shouldn’t be building a clientele of $99 customers when starting out, raise your price you lose them, keep your price you limit yourself to future growth because of what you have attracted. It’s easier to come down in price than it is to raise it.

The second group shouldn’t be in business. 1+1 must equal more than 2 in business.

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I’m currently visiting my mother who lives in Tampa, FL while my business is operated in Delaware the difference in the areas is vast. So many different variables down here compared to Delaware from the price of SH, size of neighborhoods, to the home building materials… it’s no wonder why we use different pricing models. For those of you getting into the house washing business I’d suggest examining these factors to better understand which model you should take. I don’t advertise a starting price… yes I do have a undisclosed minimum, but if the first question a client asks me on the phone is “what’s your price to wash -insert generic item-.” I know their top priority is price and odds I will get them as a customer are about 50% or may be less. Id hate advertising a price of $99 and then ending up-charging someone to $250 for a service they thought was going to be less. Finally, the less I concern myself about other people’s pricing and the more I focus on operating a decent company the more success I stumble into so “for that reason “I’m out.”

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@florida_condo_cleani is just upselling like most of us do. That’s just a good business model. If I’m there washing the house and I ask the customer, “Would you like the driveway cleaned, too?” They can say yes or no. But if they say “yes,” then the final ticket is going to be more than the original price. But that shouldn’t surprise anyone.

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The math doesn’t make sense to me but I don’t operate on that business model so I can’t speak to it. I respect his success in this industry.

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I’m being serious, not trying to be rude…Do you not upsell? If not, what is your business model?

I didn’t upsell much last year but being on this forum, I realized I was missing out. And I am no salesman. I simply ask people if they want additional services done. Sometimes they say yes, sometimes they say no, and sometimes they ask me before I even offer!

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We’re alike in that way then. I don’t push up-selling, I give the customer what they want, and make sure they’re aware of every service we offer. I admit I could be a little more pushy, but I’m happy to not have to helicopter a spoon in front of my customers mouth to make them bite

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I slept on it and woke up to the realization that regardless of my opinion, I am not running a successful business, and shouldn’t be commenting in this thread.

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We actually never try and upsell the customer.
If the customer want something else done we will . We always do a walk around with the customer before we leave and they usually notice something else. If there home . I’m not a fan of asking the customer for work .

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I thought you charged $150/house for that kind of work?

I do. I was using the $99 as a generality. My $150 is probably someone else’s $99, and vicey versey.

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This is very true. I’m one of the few here in California and with personal bills pushing $9,000 a month for a family of 4, and higher overhead for business costs I guess the $99 guy here would be $299. Also, people don’t have their houses washed out of necessity to kill green mold they do it because they already bought everything they have ever wanted and just want to keep their nice house clean. That’s why it takes me at least 3-4 hours to clean the houses. Also the houses I clean are much bigger and more elaborate than the basic houses I’m guessing takes most guys 30 minutes. I do full details which includes: Soft wash entire house. Bag off all electrical including: exterior outlets, PG&E meter, breaker panel, door bell and constant power lights (I.E motion detection fixtures). Full detail includes outside of gutters and downspouts, under eves, walls, trim, windows, window tracks, window frames, screens, doors, garage door, foundation and hand washing of the front door. Then usually add window detail with the waterfed pole and DI water. When you guys wash houses do you do all those things or just spray the siding down? I’m also guessing vinyl is much faster than stucco or even hardiboard? I’ve never seen a vinyl siding house before.

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Looking to get into this part time but I am in Los Angeles and it does seem like a lot of the information that can be found isn’t necessarily applicable to washing in CA. Same concepts but different steps, materials and demand. Been trying to read up as much as possible though. Once I get a bit further down the road I would love to pick your brain Sean.

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Do all of us a favor that work in this field…Go mow yards! You create more issues than help!

Well hello to you also. Who are you referring to and how about an introduction

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@Innocentbystander forget the $99 guy, how about the read 13 minutes guy since 2017 lol (arrow up)

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I’m curious how you even stumble upon this specific posts 3 years after you made an account and then somehow remember your login details

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