I agree with this. Even though some of them leave stripes like you say the homeowner doesn’t care. I just invested in a website & have realized that I have to start finishing the job i.e sealing the pavers, concrete, not leave money on the table. I’ve noticed that people in my area want everything from start to finish including clean any grease or oil off their driveway. Same with wood cleaning they want it sealed/stained. Otherwise they think their handyman can do it for a couple bucks/hour.
I read your first post. That’s where I got that info. If you’re normal rate is $200 for a job that should take 30 minutes with commercial equipment I figured that’s 400 an hour.
We’re probably booking at about $300/hour-ish. If a crew isn’t putting out $2000 a day, we’ve got a problem (like, can’t pay the bills kind of problem). Granted, we’re way overloaded with overhead in growth mode right now. But with quality rigs, insurance, etc…there’s a lot of money in that, and it can’t just be viewed a “sunk cost” and $100 buys dinner. That’s how the kids with dad’s Ryobi are looking at it…“2 driveways = beer and pizza all weekend”.
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2000 sq. ft. of residential concrete. Rolling out the hoses + your pretreatment takes at least 30 minutes. And if you have 8-10 GPM you have to fill up the tanks it’s still a couple hours total w/post treatment unless I’m missing something.
Rolling out hoses should be about one minute. Pretreat the you early up the driveway carrying the surface cleaner. You need to fire some guys or get more efficient. And lower your prices. Or, keep wondering why you aren’t getting any work. You got choices.
Moving faster; lowering a more than reasonable price is not going to change the cost of insurance, chemical, equipment, maintenance, gas, & advertising.
I don’t think you have a grasp on the business end. If you work faster you can charge less, make more money and pay your bills. If you charge more than others, work slower, or have no work, you can’t make money and pay your bills. Most of the guys here that have come and goneare the ones that buy into the charge more than anyone else philosophy, or my truck won’t leave the shop for less than $250. Don’t be those guys.
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Works for some 
But everyone has their niche in the marketplace. You just have to find/figure out yours, and roll with it.
Slightly different perspective:
I do this part time, I don’t need the income, but I’m frugal so I won’t leave the house unless I’m making enough money to get my fat butt off the puter chair. Time is not an issue for me, I have plenty of it as I am retired. If I spend 2 hours or 4 hours on your house it makes no difference to me. I’m the type of contractor that costs you jobs.
You used the terms cheap cockroaches or landscapers with ryobis. I take issue with that. This brings about the ire of the community here, but the “legal and insured” $99 guy can make money doing this job.
Furthermore, the guy who works hard at the local mill for 15 bucks an hour would love to spray someone’s concrete driveway for $100 cash and be done in 5 hours. I worked in the trades before, we all side hustled and did jobs outside our areas of expertise to make side loot. My buddy sell firearms, he just washed someone’s roof off for them with a harry the homeowner PW for $150. I wasn’t touching it. Did he do it the way we would? Nope. Were the homeowners happy? Yep. Did he potentially damage their roof? Possibly. He got paid cash and smiled at me, called me lazy. Were still buddies.
Can I wash a house and driveway cheaper than you and make money? Yep. Is my profit margin as high as yours? Doubtful. Without being some kind of smart guy here, is your washing and my washing worth 100-150 dollars of difference in the majority of cases, probably not to the avg homeowner. I’m about .10 a sq ft on all concrete, it’s just time and the homeowners water for the most part, plus a little bit of gas and wear and tear. I charge more for steps, I live in the mountains and some places have lots of steps. I almost never pre and post treat. I HW mix it, let it sit while washing the house, then clean it, turbo the corners and done. If it looks less than optimal I will likely go over it again. Like I said, just time, homeowners water, and gas.
Do I make money doing this job? Not at all and I file my taxes that way too. 
Like I said, different perspective from an old fat guy.
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It’s where everyone fits in the market, again. We don’t sell “wash your house.” We sell worry-free experience, sales & service. We have people book with us when they have 2 prices that don’t add up to ours combined, because of their “experience with our sales staff and impressive reputation.” One recently had a crew leave them with a result not up to our standards…we’ll be back when we get a warm day, and if they still aren’t happy with paying double, we’ll give them a full-refund. No one books with us for a higher price because we’re better at spraying water, there’s no doubt about that.
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I charge approximately .10 a sq. ft. for concrete if I am fortunate enough to get an inquiry. I am less than part time as I work a similar job to your above example) & I try to book something on a day ‘off’. I don’t expect anybody to roll out a red carpet for me. But you do need a license (for roofs), insurance & registered LLC for any type of business in my area. And if someone is going by a different set of rules then I am then undercutting me & anyone else trying to be legitimate then they are exactly what I called 'em. And I really have no respect for the people that hire them. Because they know better and definitely can afford a legitimate provider. Despite this, however, one thing I am learning here is that perhaps there is a difference between being affordable and being the cheap guy. Because I have been told never be the cheap guy.
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Epic quote to remember
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NOt trying to argue with you, just giving a different perspective to you. If the old lady wants her sidewalk done by her house, and it’s small, i just eat it. It’s just a little time and gas to me. If they are getting the house done, have a small sidewalk and a small driveway, I really don’t raise the price that much. I can’t leave a house looking like it is clean with filthy concrete left behind. Makes me look bad. I didn’t say I do it for free, but I also don’t calculate it at .10 sq ft. In my mind the 15 minutes spent on that sidewalk is worth more than 100 in advertising. It also gives the biggest wow factor to homeowners, unless their house was green to start with.
Just one guys .02 and worth everything you paid for it. I also quote people who are closer to me less than people farther away. I tell them this. Less drive time, less gas spent, less money wasted.
I understand what you are saying. You are being realistic & or reasonable rather than dealing with absolutes.
When a client balks at your price try this close: Feel Felt Found. “I understand how you Feel. I have felt that way when pricing uncommon things or services. But I have found that I need to study the issues carefully before making a final decision.”
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Pricing can certainly be a pain. After researching this site and other places, I decided to quote flat work at 12.5 cents per sq.ft. (a little more if real dirty or other time issues like bad driveway pitch, etc.). That seems to be close to the going rate in my area, although I am thinking of going up a little. I’m just a one man show so it works for me for now. No minimum job either as you never know what one small job can lead to.
So if they just want the 10x10 back patio cleaned, you’re showing up for $12.50?
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I don’t know anyone on this site that does it that cheap
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at least not that still does it…they’re out of business
For something that small and simple I’d charge a little more but yes, even though it would be more work than return, I’d do them the favor because I’d be looking at getting them as a long term customer as a result of it (of course I’d try to upsell them on other PW work while I’m there). And then of course, there’s the word of mouth to their friends that goes with it. Plus I see that little job as something that helps fill my gas cans😂. Again, I’m just a small one man show so something like that works for me but perhaps doesn’t for others.
