Hey everyone, thanks for having me. Newbie on the forum and I am in the process of starting a small residential pressure wash business.
I recently sold my SUV and aqcuired a small pick up truck. I am on a tight budget.
-Services provided will be the soft or pressure wash of homes, cleaning house roofs, clean out gutters, window washing and any floor surface needed cleaning. Keeping things residential for now. I currently work for a big power washing company in the north east. My partner has almost 15 yrs in the industry so I’ll lean on him for most of the actual services we’ll provide.
Name of company= Total Home Enhancers???
My marketing plan with me paying a marketing guy to set us up on social media and with our own website. We’ll also be passing out flyers, and a heavy dose of door to door at various neighborhood. Mostly targeting homes that could use our service. We’ll try to keep the prices low and maybe even offer 1st time customers something free like gutters.
Even an idea of working with real estate agents to wash the homes their selling at no cost until the home is sold, is one I learned here today.
Because of the pandemic I figure majority of people don’t want a stranger knocking at their door so I was thinking of just coming up with a reasonable price from whatever I can see from the front of the house and listing it for them in a personalized pamphlet or flyer. I can just leave it at their door and when they see it and they can afford it, I feel like I’m ahead of the curve. I’m not in a rush to turn a profit so the first few months will be focused on building a likeable rep and good references. I read.many different.ways to generate business and I’ not shy.
Getting business cards along with company magnet signs for my truck doors and one sign on the back.
Below are the 3 main pieces of equipment I’m investing in. Pressure Washer/soft wash/Surface cleaner. I also do have some of the accessories needed such as a couple pf extensions for the wand, an extra 100ft of pressure hose, O rings, general soap and roof soaps, and a X Jet for soaping.
Not planning to have a water tank until things work out.
Pushing for a goal of 10 jobs per week after the first month, and 15 after the 3rd month.
If things go right, I’ll eventually invest in a trailer set up so that I can free up my truck.
That’s everything I think. What ya.think? Anything I’m missing or I don’t need??
Before purchasing equipment I would start reading through old threads on here. There’s much better equipment to be had for not much more money. Stay out of big box stores and away from Northern Tool for most stuff. That soft wash setup won’t be worth a crap. There was just a thread the other day about a guy who has one and only gets like 15’ distant. Most of us use a 5.5 gpm or 7 gpm at 60 or 100 psi and can get over 30’. That keeps you from having to get on a roof and you can shoot from the ladder at the gutter line. You’ll also want at least a 50-65 gallon mix tank for roofs unless you want to worry about mixing new batches during the job.
Some of the best advice ever is do not go into business with someone else. Your both better off starting your own business and helping each other out if need be. Most people who go into business with someone else not only lose their friend but sometimes even he business.
Great advice brotha. I’m definitely considering the whole partner thing.
What machines or set up would you say is better for washing?
I guess I’ll build my own cart soft washer. Tbh, I’m cutting corners just to just started so if that means mixing during the job, I’m good with it.
I’m pretty much getting all the equipment and set up, and kinda wanted my partner there because of his knowledge but i can always just hire him to work for me and pay him handsomely so he still feels like he’s winning. Thanks!
Tbh, only reason I’m leaning home depot is because I have a home depot credit card and can finance most of what I need from there, as opposed to waiting til I build up the cash to afford it.
It would be better to finance directly with some of the sellers out there than go with a home depot machine in my personal opinion. You’d make your money back in 3-4 jobs if you’re pricing correctly.
I can see you’re trying to be quick about this but I think you should really spend some time on here to influence your equipment buying choices. Much like buying a car you should do research except about 100 times as much (personal opinion) to improve your knowledge of the industry which will help you understand why most pros here will recommend a 5.5GPM machine as a starting point if you’re choosing your machine.
I understand the desire but research and increasing your knowledge will save you money immediately by not wishing you’d learned more and bought different equipment. Buying a 5.5GPM will allow you to rinse faster which lets you clean more homes and earn more money. You don’t need 4000PSI to clean driveways as that will damage most driveways. Most guys use around 2000-2500PSI to clean driveways/sidewalks/patios (called flatwork).
The more you learn will help prevent making mistakes such as damaging someones driveway, home siding, roof, and vegetation which will cost big money and be an insurance claim in some cases.
Are you insured? Do you have your LLC formed? What are you paying the marketing guy if you’re on a tight budget it might be better to do it yourself until you’re bringing in money.
Oh boy… yes. The pump determines the GPM. The engine can only drive a pump to certain specs.
Example: a GX390 will power a 5.5 GPM to around 2500 PSI and a GX690 will power an 8GPM pump to around 3000 (everyone advertises 3500psi for those fyi)
That statement alone is the reason you need to read on here and research for about a month before spending money. Do not rely on your partner and his experience for this. Be able to make this business succeed on your own at all times.
One thing to keep in mind about going up to a 5.5 gpm pump is you really need to use a buffer tank unless the water supply in the area is really good. Even if a house puts out 8 gpm if they start the washing machine and maybe take a shower it could starve your pump. I can’t imagine not having a buffer tank though. It would drive me nuts always having to make sure I squeeze the trigger every 30 seconds to keep the pump from overheating. You never know when you might have to run back to the truck for something. I’d hate to have to drag my gun and hose with me just so I could give it a squeeze if need be.
Anyways, a 4 gpm will keep you from having to worry about water supply issues if not using a buffer tank but I wouldn’t want to drag a machine around or not have a buffer tank.
I get you’re on a budget, and so was I back in 2018. Went through a couple machines before getting my 4gpm/4k and used that for a few months. It’s not horrible, but you’ll at a very minimum want to get a belt drive. Don’t get a direct drive. Please, ask me how I know.
Small 25 gallon buffer tank, then go wash some houses. Skip roof cleaning for now, insurance is cray-z. Don’t even worry about concrete yet until you work up to a 8gpm.
