Couldn’t the OP have a chance by finding a used hot pw and doing fast food restaurants? Not great money, but for what he needs may be doable until busy season? If pw is anything like window cleaning, some guys disappear in the cold and then you can come take their accounts.
He doesn’t even have the basics down, so hot water and restaurants might be a steep learning curve.
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I didn’t see a surface cleaner on that list. If your going to be doing drives I reccomend getting a whisper wash 16”. Also would reccomend an x-jet for pre/post treating. Xjet can also be used to apply chems for a house wash. We use them but be careful not to get too close with it.
As for your pump I think you will struggle to get decent psi with that 13HP predator I’d reccomend a 5 gpm or 5.5 as a 6.3 will really struggle with dirty flatwork. Also reccomend picking up A drainzit oil drain hose which will Make your oil changing much easier.
As for your monthly expenses, you will need to factor in gas and bleach costs (I’d estimate $100-200 a mo. While ur slow) as well as an advertising budget of $200-300 at least. Also need to account for LLC liscense and be putting away 25% of your total income for tax time and any emergencies.
Also highly highly highly reccomend a CRM, me and @TexasPressureWashing love markate and it isn’t too expensive and looks professional.
Other than that Read, Read and read! This forum has everything you need to know if you look for it, I reccomend the pressure washing 101 guide as a start and go from there. If you want to do it right you are in the right place my man!
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Also don’t be afraid to shop around for deals on Facebook or craigslist in your local area. Now is the time where a lot of guys get discouraged and sell off their equipment and you can pick up some deals
I don’t have any issues with the GX390 (11HP) 5.5GPM @ 2500 PSI on flatwork.
I think 6.3 may be pushing it a bit tho. Would def run a 5.5 well. My 5.5 struggles a bit with dirtier flatwork though
Depends on what PSI he sets the unloader to. Flow will reduce if the engine cannot provide the PSI and GPM based on what the unloader is set to.
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Getting back on topic with it being December I think you’re going to have limited customers with the holidays approaching. Spending changes dramatically for consumers this month.
Next is weather. That will play a factor. Your climate seems like it’s possible to wash year round - you’ll have cold days and bad weather like normal.
I expect January to be slow for me as customers are recovering financially from the holiday spending. I’ve spoken with several other companies and their metrics support that theory. December averages 10-15 jobs for companies, January 5-7, February 7-12, and March was 60+ for established companies.
Focusing on driveways would be my goal. Relatively low cost for the customer but a big impact. You can always upsell other services.
Good luck!
Florida must do things different, I have 10 jobs next week alone 
I agree though Jan and part of feb were super slow for me last year
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You’re also not starting out. Once you get the ball rolling it’s easier. Starting in December? Rough.
Yeah. I started Sept. last year. Was def pretty slow in dec, probably made 1000-1500 for the month with almost nothing for an advertising budget
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I would get a bigger used trailer for that $800 if I where are you. Something that will allow you to bolts things down, expanded metal is not so great for that propose and will afford you room to grow.
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I’ll take some razzing for this tip, but when I started out I received most of my work from HomeAdvisor. NOW, you won’t make much money chasing down their leads and that comes with more that it’s share of aggravation, but you WILL get lots of experience. Experience (and 5 star reviews) may be the most important things you can collect your first year.
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You know I love you, but don’t screw with the new guys like that
Hey! I’m 18 and live in Chesapeake and getting into the business. Funny seeing you here, I was making my website yesterday and came across yours as #1 ranked on google in the area while learning SEO work. Nice job! If your still willing I’d definitely like to tag along for a few days and see what I could learn sometime 
HomeAdvisor should be considered a move of last resort. Increasingly poor quality leads, many anecdotes of fraudulent leads/clicks, slimy sales & SEO tactics… the list goes on and on. You’re paying them to compete directly with your own organic search results.
And once you grow to the point of no longer wanting to be in bed with them and you shutdown your account, all those reviews you worked so hard for disappear.
Ask me how I know 
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Couldn’t agree more. The absolute slime of the contractor world. Unfortunately there’s tons of newbies for them to take advantage of
Having used HA for 2 years, I’ll chime in. In a nutshell I love them and also I can’t wait to not need them. Over 2 years my return is $8 for every $1 I spend on HA. And some of my biggest jobs come with HA. Not to mention the jobs you get just from being around other neighbors. The downsides are obvious…bum leads, the challenge that comes with competing with 3-5 other contractors who get the same lead, etc. At this point, I only have a couple upper income zip codes turned on. I use HA like a water faucet…when I’m financially thirsty I turn it on. When I don’t need them I turn it off. It’s like ANY other marketing strategy or lead resource…you will find people that hate it and other that swear by it.
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I can’t argue with the other assertions except the reviews thing. Had you and I known that they’d just make all those hard earned reviews disappear, we would have directed them to Google. Nevertheless, nobody new HAS any organic search results. He may need HomeAdvisor: to get those people who are more interested in getting the cheapest price than relying on the quality of an operator like you or me who has worked his ■■■ off to earn all of those 5 star reviews and who knows what is required to truly prosper (HINT TO NEWCOMERS: $99 housewashes will starve you, and the people who seek out the cheapest price don’t care about your prosperity.) Having said that, IMHO the most important two things a 1st year operator can get under his belt are 5 star reviews AND experience. HomeAdvisor has low entry cost and LOTS of activity. It may be the best place to earn these two elements
I look at it like this: an education costs a lot of money these days. HA will cost you WAY less than a sheepskin and give you what a college can’t give you: real experience. Besides, the greatest enemy to a new business is too much time to second guess the decision to go into business, with the lack of sales proof that you had no business going into business in the first place.
A move of last resort? Maybe. But seriously, if you were starting out in December knowing what you know: the good, the bad, and the ugly, would you go back to HA? Today I command the job site with a depth of knowledge that few of my competitors possess thanks to you, @Racer, @Innocentbystander, @squidskc, and too many other teachers here to mention. I have tons of experience (not all of it good and eaten my share of crap from HA) and more 5 star reviews than most in my market. Without all of that under my belt, knowing all the crap that HA will shovel my way for that first year or two I stand by my original statement.
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