Hello, I’m looking to get m first good commercial job in the near future. I’ve done 1 prior but it was a very small concrete cleaning in front of a doctors office. As of right now im looking for marketing ideas and would like to know which businesses to target.
First, I was looking to offer quarterly/bi-monthly dumpster pad cleanings to food chains & restaurants.
Second, I planned a list of every daycare, private school, religious school in my area and I am offering playground cleanings for a discounted price in order to break the ice and hopefully do more business with them in the future.
Lastly, I have a website up and running but I know it takes a good few months for your website to really start gaining traction.
What else should I do to try and commercial jobs? What has worked best for you? How can I improve my marketing tactics said above? Thank you for your time.
Commercial work always sounds so easy to get. Walk in, introduce your self, give them a quote and bam, you got the job. But it is rarely like that. Most commercial places already have a management company or something that does power washing. You just have to do lots of boots on the ground work and be realistic with the results.
MY .02, because I’m an opinionated ■■■ with a keyboard and my season is about over (snow next week and freezing weather).
After reading this forum for about a year, experimenting, then starting my business, I thought the commercial stuff would just roll in. It didn’t. I shook lots of hands, forced many smiles, handed out lots of cards, spent a ton in gas money, took a lot of time writing up estimates and sending out follow up emails.
Here is what I found in my area (Your mileage may vary. I live in the boondocks, so there isn’t a fast food joint every .5 miles from me):
The people who run fast food joints tend to pay their workers the lowest wages they can get by with. These same people aren’t about to open their wallet to a contractor if they don’t have to. Many of the places I went to have their own PW on site and pay some Part time minimum wage to wash the sidewalks. Does it look good? Nope. Do they damage the concrete? Yep.
The places that do want a contractor also receive numerous bids. If you aren’t the lowest you are not getting the work.
Some corporate places have their own crews that travel around and do the work 2-4 times a year. Or, surprise surprise, there is already someone doing it (on a semi annual or quarterly schedule). It just looked bad when you were there.
Some commercial gigs want the window and concrete work done together. I’m not doing windows. I went to a window joint to see if we could work together and guess what, they clean concrete too.
The ones that don’t fit the prior descriptions are the only ones I have gotten any work from. It cost me money to drive around and look for commercial gigs, because I live in the boondocks. I kind of stopped doing it. Now it is only if I am in an area already and it looks like someone needs my services.
