Hey pressure washing community, I’m new to the industry and trying to get started with little to no luck. I have done a good amount of free jobs which has given me before and after pics, started a facebook business page and have handed out flyers. I would like to make some money doing this first before I start applying for licenses, insurance and start an LLC. I feel having a business plan will somewhat help and part of that is market research. My question is, what are some tools or resources that will give me that information? Checking competitor web sites? Any recommendations would be awesome.
Thank you from Texas!
Ryan
Welcome! There’s a massive amount of great info on here for people starting up. Read, read, read.
Do not do this. For your client’s sake and your own, absolutely do not wash anyone’s house without insurance.
Other than that, I’m of firm belief that a business plan is a healthy way to start. Don’t get lazy when you’re looking at your target market and how many competitors you have. It’s sucky and tedious, but it helps you figure out how to leverage your strengths against your weaknesses. Do an honest SWOT/TOWS analysis, figure out what you need to bankroll your first year, and go make money.
I uploaded my entire business plan on here somewhere, as did a couple of others. Read through those for a good start.
But seriously, don’t wash houses without insurance. That’s about the lowest thing you can do
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What he said ^. If it’s worth doing then it’s worth doing right.
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Yeah the last thing you want is to be finished before you even start
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Thank you for the feed back! What is SWOT/WOTS?
Start your LLC, no license needed in Texas. Obtain a federal employer identification number. Obtain a state tax ID.
Grind. This seems self explanatory but really it’s not. You’ve got to want to win. That means the drive to educate yourself, learn, grow, and become more efficient.
Sales, marketing, advertising, digital media, social media are all extremely relevant for our industry. Tracking your metrics will show you what is effective and what is worth your time with regards to ROI (return on investment).
Where in Texas are you?
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SWOT is strengths/weaknesses/opportunities/threats.
TOWS is the opposite, it lays out in a grid so you can see how to best leverage yourself in your area.
Here’s the SWOT/TOWS that I did when making my plan. It requires truthfulness with yourself and research
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I am in the Austin area (Hutto)
The internet is a great resource like this form which you already did. Also, YouTube is great for visual learners as there are PLENTY of pressure washing companies building a fan base on that platform, they usually target other pressure washer guys so you can learn for them. Make a separate YT account for your pressure washing business and only subscribe to pressure washing channels (once signed in you can easily switch between your personal YT channel and business channel) I recommend and Kyle Maguire’s channel SOFTWASH TV - YouTube great guy to learn from.
Just curious, how did your flyers marketing go? I just handed out 250 for a sale I have this week.
I’m not sure a business plan will make the phone ring it will just get your mind straight. Boots on the ground, grind it out for a couple of years or paid advertisement. Either one will drain a few dollars out of your pocket in the early stages until the repeat customers start calling again, rinse and repeat. Every guy on YouTube seems to be a huge success making 60k a month solo in there first year lol, and they’ve got time to make videos daily, very blessed bunch I tell ya.
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Hey Ryan,
I think you’re doing all the right things here. It’s is called a Lean Startup. Sure it’s a risk to clean someone’s home without insurance but if you’re cleaning it for free then you’re not in business. You’re doing a favor for a friend and their homeowners insurance should cover any damages. Having said that, I’m sure you’re done doing jobs for free. You’re going to have to take that leap of faith and invest in your business before getting serious. Investing isn’t a guarantee and yes it’s risky but you are doing the right things. Your market research needs to ensure you have a customer segment looking for your services and willing to pay your price and brings you a profit. Have you talked to any competitors in your area? Perhaps the reason your response is small may be that you’re trying to get business during a slow period. Where I live, things don’t start to get busy until probably late March. The catch is that once the phone begins to ring you need to be able to capitalize on that business. That means having your business up and running when it does. I’m going to share a link to a YouTube video you might find interesting. It’s about a college kid who turned a summer PW business into a $1,000,000 business. His company is out of Atlanta and I think he’s running 3 or 4 rigs now. The narrator isn’t that great (PW’s aren’t natural TV hosts, lol) but the kid’s story is inspiring.
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I greatly appreciate your response. My mindset since starting has been very similar to what you expressed here. I have not talked to any competitors in my area, but will definitely reach out. Thanks for the video as well, I have watched some of this guys other videos and they’re very informative(although he may be hard to listen to lol). Again, thank you for your response.
