Hi all! First off just want to say how awesome both this forum is and the community surrounding pressure washing, yall are great.
I’m new to the business, but not the job. Ive been the entrepreneurial type for the past 15 years or so: mechanic, welder, fabricator, snow plowing, pressure washing (small scale), vinyl decals, set design, carpentry, renovations, prop construction…and most recently half owner of a professional haunted attraction. If theres a task at hand that i don’t know about, i educate myself on it…my friends all say “if there is a Bill there is a way” haha. So needless to say i never jump in to anything without heavy research, and before i actually made my account on here there was a solid week of 3-4 hours a night reading through the forums. Deciding to go this route as my next en-devour as i get more pleasure out of the “service” industry than dealing with people delivering “goods”. and as im sure many of you can relate there is nothing like working for yourself, even though it involves WAY more work than the standard 9-5.
Long story short (too late)
Ive been a good detective and used the search bar, but only find bits and pieces of my exact situation, which is what im hoping for some guidance in…not so much what should i do as what would you suggest of my options…if that makes any sense lol
Im located in middle TN, about an hour south of Nashville on the outskirts of a rural town with easy access to larger areas. There are a few PW companies around but they all seem to either be full on heavy commercial, or small local guys with box-store machines not doing a lot of marketing that i am seeing. Im going to try and target the up and coming residential areas in the busier parts of rural settings (people who work in the bigger cities but choose to live out in the subdivisions in the country). Im also going to try and go a route i havent seen a lot of talk about, that being through real estate companies and their clients with these mid-higher end houses looking to sell. Going to be offering house washing, driveways, and sidewalks to start…might consider shallow roof washing eventually (heights are not my thing). also figured on up-selling exterior window scrubbing.
I thank you greatly if you’ve made it through all of this pre-cursor to my question, but figured i should put it all out there if im going to be looking for an answer.
Im going up to the power wash store in nashville this week to look at machines and get some pricing. what im looking to buy is a GX390 with a belt drive 5.5gpm CAT or HP 2500psi pump, and a 16" whisper wash classic. Ive heard if im going to spend anything its on a good machine, so figured the few hundred dollar difference from the 4gpm machine would be worth it for either long term or resale if it doesnt work out. i would plan on getting a 50 gallon buffer tank as well. then 2 low-mid end reels, 150’ pressure hose, yada yada another topic.
What i have it my disposal already is either a small 4’x8’ plywood trailer, or a mid size dual axle car trailer with wooden boards. what i do not have is a vehicle. please dont hate me for my idea, but was thinking just to get myself going with the small amount of equipment possibly looking at a newer (08-12) scion xb for the 4x8 trailer…i know, i know…im a mechanic and get it too…but i can get one for around 5k and they look clean. other option would be the bigger trailer, or still the small one, and look for a light duty pickup. i would go the route of using the pickup bed instead of a trailer, but this would also be my daily driver so itd be nice to not have to unload everything if i needed the space. being in the country and starting a new business with not a lot of savings im looking to get the best gas mileage i can for both the business end and my daily driving. im trying to meld the “noob just getting started” outlook with the “clean, right equipment, professional look” mentality. a decent vehicle towing a small but neat trailer, organized with good equipment.
for making it this far i award you this gold sticker 
and ask…what would you suggest out of my options? thanks!
