Ok, so I just got off the phone with a guy who’s looking to sell his accounts and get out of the biz. He’s been doing it for over 15 years and focuses on commercial accounts. He mainly does restaurants and uses a hot-water, 5.5 gpm system. He also uses chemicals and only does the building itself, walkways, parking areas and around the dumpsters. He told me my Honda GX 690 8.0 gpm coldwater system wouldn’t be adequate (though I use chemicals too) and that he couldn’t, in good faith, hand me his accounts because he doesn’t believe I would be able to handle them.
I just recently got into the business and I put together a brand new rig. I was actually steered away from buying a hot-water system by the people who put together the rig for various reasons, money not being one of them. Mind you, they’ve been in business as a Pressure Cleaning supply store for over 12 years and ran a Pressure Cleaning business before that so they’ve seen it all.
My question is, was the guy I spoke to correct or am I adequately equipped to handle his accounts or commercial accounts in general without the use of hot water?
Thanks for the response…I won’t even lie, I’m a little discouraged though. When I set up my rig, I wanted to make sure I could take almost any one-man job on and I had faith that the guys at the store were helping me to do that. I’m sitting here wondering why they would steer me away from a hot machine. I can only blame myself because I should have done even more research.
My next question would be, is it a good idea to add a hot unit to my Honda? I called the guys at the store and they told me it’s possible but they wouldn’t recommend it. He wasn’t totally clear why though
Sounds like you need a new supplier. The biggest challenge with adding a hot box is getting enough heat rise. Farley makes probably the best but I’ve heard largo is good also. I wouldn’t even attempt flatwork without hot water especially dumpster pads.
I did commercial last year with a helper and without. It definitely helps to have another set of eyes and ears but it isn’t impossible to do it alone.
@PiscesPressureClean why not add a separate hot water heater? My setup uses a vertical stand alone 12v diesel heater. I don’t know anything about hotboxe to give you advice on.
Since you have a customer base waiting for you, you know you will recoup your investment…but you know best for your circumstances.
Mainly, because of money at the moment. I laid down 10k for the rig and another 3+ getting the business started and legitimate. I have a little more to spend but it’s gonna be more to add a whole new unit. I know it’ll be worth it but truthfully I gotta make some more money before I’m able to do so
Sorry, I’m just realizing what you asked lol. That’s the same question I asked my supplier but he basically told me it’s not a good idea. He was saying all this crap about having to get a generator, how it’ll be inconvenient to mount, that it would be more ideal to just buy a whole unit (pw/heater) etc…like I said, I blame myself for not doing more proper research and trusting so called expert opinions
Why don’t you see what the seller will sell you his equipment for. Looking at the pic you have of your trailer room may be tight. A lot of us have add-on HW heaters, they work great. But they weigh about 400 -500 lbs with fuel. You’ve got a nice looking residential trailer and you could do a lot of commercial, just none that involves grease, which unfortunately for you is main dirt at restaurants.
I already asked the guy about selling his equipment but he plans on holding onto it because he owns rental properties…I’m leaning toward adding a heater but I think what happened today was me being too desperate for business and letting the guy make me feel like I was missing out on something. We had an hour long convo and though he dropped a lot of good info on me, he couldn’t stop talking about how lucrative he is and how easy it is making money just doing restaurants. He kept beating it in my head about how he only works 3-4 hours a day, 4 days a week but he makes b/t $3500 to $5000 a month. He also kept telling me “yea you can make alotta money doing residential but you’re going work yourself to death…commercial is where it’s at. Plus actually getting commercial work is a lot easier” I just feel like I could of went with the hot-water unit, like I originally planned, and been better off. Yea it would have been a little more expensive but I feel like I would have been better off in the long run.
In which case, wouldn’t it be wise to take a no interest credit card to buy a hot box you can pay off over 6 months, cut up the credit card and never use it again?
Something small like this (and it is small if you can recoup it in <2 weeks) when you have a market at your fingertips is worth “financing”.
If someone I could trust said, “hey, I’ll give you $5k a month, but you need to spend $2k one time to get it.” that feels like a no brainer.
Still doesn’t mean he’ll give ME the accounts. Dude doesn’t know me from a can of paint and I feel I messed up being honest and telling him I’m just starting out. I’m getting a vibe he’d rather hand it over to an established company…Either way, I’m gonna eventually get a hot machine. Just wanted know how far my current setup could take me
Idk. His numbers are seriously unimpressive. Maybe with the right equipment and some hustle you could get that hourly up to a respectable range, but I doubt it’ll exceed what you can already make washing houses with your current equipment.
Down here in central Florida that’s not bad. A lot of competition and people are just plain cheap when it comes to outdoor cleaning and restoration work. It’s a lot like the lawn service industry around here but the profit margins are a lot better
