10 4, appreciate the reply
Good news, I got my first request for an estimate today! Bad news, it’s a doozy: two metal roof cleanings and softwash job for a 1 year old pool deck that’s been etched by the home owner 
. I definitely under bid too. But, I’m not gonna fret too hard about it. He’s a disabled vet after all and I’d like to get some more experience anyways. If I land the job I’ll let yall know how it goes.
Update Customer declined the estimate, they went with someone else. Didn’t say how much the other guy was, but I was charging $810 for a 1000 sqft shed roof and 3000 sqft house roof plus a softwash for the pool deck (normally I would charge $1200). Good learning moment. No point in stooping down to be more “affordable,” there’s ALWAYS going be someone more “affordable.” I’m just gonna charge what I charge and maybe I’ll hook someone who prefers quality soon. Thanks for all yalls tips and advice
Setting improper expectations will always cost you more money than a low bid… that said, also let him know that you cut him a break so you don’t get passed around town as the cheap guy… Good luck!
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Appreciate the tip. I’m pretty sure the guy is price shopping so I prolly won’t get the job anyways. He’s looked my estimate 5 different times since I sent it. I bid for $900 with a 10% discount, so $810. I’m sure there’s a cheapo around who will do it for half that or less. Either way I’m still thrilled I got a call, all my jobs have been for friends and family. Gives me hope for somemore calls.
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At that rate, I’d figure you were doing 1 of those roofs for free… he must really be price shopping 
Yeah. I think a lot of it is my neighborhood, which is where this job is. A lot of people around here are older and diy a lot, and those that don’t do that are always “ISO” someone who can walk on water and perform miracles at an “affordable price.” Lol.
Everyone seems to think their neighborhood/area is the toughest to get paid in. I hear it from people in the lighting business too. It might be true in the short-term, but feeding into it locks you into that spiral for the long haul (well, maybe other than in FL where there are 3 guys per block…but I still know people there who don’t buy the nonsense)
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Best advice I’ve seen is to price for what YOUR company needs to profit and don’t worry about “the other guys”. It is slow to start in this business, no doubt. I’m only in my second year and learned alot here on this forum, also learned some things the hard way - Good news, both ways are effective. Always search for your questions here, you’ll most likely find a reasonable solution, if you don’t then ask. Make sure you’re getting reviews from your customers, mine rarely do and not sure why. Anyway research what you’re doing and always set clear expectations. Making a good reputation trumps a good profit in the beginning.
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If you’re not already, send them a link to leave a review on google after you ask. It makes it easier for them.
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Isn’t there a way to do that even if they do not have a google account?
You can text them a link or have your crm set up to do it automatically after your invoice is paid. The customer can not leave a review unless they have a google account.
Appreciate it! I was thinking there was a way to do it, but I was never really clear about it. 
Hey everyone, just a newbie who decided to go and get the money instead of making someone else rich. I have been researching through youtube from guys like MIKEV, southeast softwash, forever self employed, etc. I appreciate their advice but it always felt more like a “buy my course so I can teach you the basics that you can learn on your own”. I wanted to actually do some research and so I stumbled upon here and haven’t looked back. Although I barely have any reading time I can say that I have learned exponentially faster through the experts here than sifting through youtube videos that all repeat the same things.
I’m located in SoCal, specifically the Inland Empire, and man stucco is abundant here and not a lot of mildew on houses. Unfortunately, I bought my simpson powershot 4400 psi 4 gallon pressure washer before I researched on here so that’s rookie mistake #1. #2 was buying a downstream injector thinking it was going to clean stucco fast “like the pros” so I recently got an xjet. I have a 16" surface cleaner, 100ft flexzilla, 50ft pressure hose, Jrod, 10% SH, 5 gal bucket, ball valve, and short gun 10.5 gpm gun.
I feel like I’m rambling too long so I’ll wait for replies if anyone wants to ask anything. Looking forward to learning and hopefully giving back when I have enough experience!
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Welcome….this is the place to be to learn. Much success!
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Appreciate it, hoping to sponge it all in for a cool minute.
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digging the candy cane wrap!
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Well that was one of my winter projects, I guess candy canes work.
The bigger point is that I got most of this set-up from IBS. Have not had a single issue, except the RC quit working for my DS …. Head scratcher
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I may have to bookmark these pics, since I got one of his trailers to rebuild our old Powerline setup on…
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Very nice! In the future, always surface clean horizontal to the line of sight. Makes an immense difference.
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