School Teacher Looking to Startup a summer business

[Fatdaddy]

Thank you for replying back to me on it… All I see on the left side bottom is Report Post and the right side reads reply reply with quote then a @reply… It might be you have to post so many times until you can edit. Like you cannot post a picture till so many post…
I just don’t see BOLD PENCIL that reads edit. I’m still looking

[Fatdaddy]

GT I like that signature and I bet your card web site is the same… Now that is strong professional looking

[GTRider245]

@Fatdaddy

GT I like that signature and I bet your card web site is the same… Now that is strong professional looking

I appreciate it!

[GTRider245]

@wdc

Hi,

New to the forum and happy to have found it. Would anyone be willing to recommend the bare necessities to provide good quality house washing. I would like to test my market before making a huge investment. I’ve been looking at PowerWashers Direct - they have a Pressure Pro 2700 PSI with 3GMP. Is this enough to get started? I already have a utility trailer. I was thinking of buying two lengths of 50 ft hose (without a reel) the kind that doesn’t mark.

Do I need a telescoping Wand?

Do I need a rotating nozzle?

Thank you!!

I am a fulltime firefighter and part time pressure washer. That being said, to be competitive and not run yourself broke, you will need a budget for startup of more than $1500.

[JCinNJ]

@EcoClean

Fatdaddy - at the bottom of each of your post look for the words in bold. You’ll notice a pencil with the words “Edit Post”. You can click that on any of your post and edit them.

I have been talking with Chris about the edit button for months, I gave up. It did come back for me, maybe its there on some threads, but for the most part, no edit button for me.

@GTRider245

While I understand what you are trying to say here, I don’t think the situation is quite that dramatic. A guy with a 3 GPM pressure washer, 100 ft. of hose and a trailer is not taking money away from me. His customers are not my customers.

I used to feel the same way and they have never been competitors to me, until the economy in my area took a kick to the crotch.

My customer base is getting smaller and smaller which means fewer customers for everyone. So when I hear of someone with a full time “real” job with benefits is PWing on the side, they are taking money away from me and seriously affecting my lifestyle. They dont pay taxes and dont have insurance, they are working for beer money, the next vacation, new toys, whatever.

I’m working to put food on my table, a roof over my head, fuel in my vehicles, retirement, clothing, pay the new health ins. fine, to pay business and personal taxes, and the list goes on and on… If I get sick or injured, I dont get a paid, I dont have sick days. All medical bills are paid out of my pocket because I dont have anyone else paying for medical ins.

Off the top of my head I can say I lost about 10% of my repeat customers last year. I didnt lose them to other PWers, I lost them because the economy so bad they are forced to leave the state. Many of my new customers were people who needed to clean their homes prior to selling because they are leaving the state.

In my area, all home foreclosures go through the courts before the sheriffs sale can take place. As of Aug. last year (prior to 5 casinos closing and the others laying off), the courts are backed up 3-5 YEARS!! Legal action like this needs to be listed in the local paper, this weekend the notices covered 18 pages in the paper.

My customer base is evaporating faster than a glass of water in the Arizona desert. Although it hurts when I lose a bid, I dont mind competing with legitimate businesses because they are struggling just like me. The guys doing it on the side are the ones that get under my skin because they dont need the money and they dont pay taxes or ins. like I do.

[Tim4]

@JCinNJ

I have been talking with Chris about the edit button for months, I gave up. It did come back for me, maybe its there on some threads, but for the most part, no edit button for me.

I used to feel the same way and they have never been competitors to me, until the economy in my area took a kick to the crotch.

My customer base is getting smaller and smaller which means fewer customers for everyone. So when I hear of someone with a full time “real” job with benefits is PWing on the side, they are taking money away from me and seriously affecting my lifestyle. They dont pay taxes and dont have insurance, they are working for beer money, the next vacation, new toys, whatever.

I’m working to put food on my table, a roof over my head, fuel in my vehicles, retirement, clothing, pay the new health ins. fine, to pay business and personal taxes, and the list goes on and on… If I get sick or injured, I dont get a paid, I dont have sick days. All medical bills are paid out of my pocket because I dont have anyone else paying for medical ins.

Off the top of my head I can say I lost about 10% of my repeat customers last year. I didnt lose them to other PWers, I lost them because the economy so bad they are forced to leave the state. Many of my new customers were people who needed to clean their homes prior to selling because they are leaving the state.

In my area, all home foreclosures go through the courts before the sheriffs sale can take place. As of Aug. last year (prior to 5 casinos closing and the others laying off), the courts are backed up 3-5 YEARS!! Legal action like this needs to be listed in the local paper, this weekend the notices covered 18 pages in the paper.

My customer base is evaporating faster than a glass of water in the Arizona desert. Although it hurts when I lose a bid, I dont mind competing with legitimate businesses because they are struggling just like me. The guys doing it on the side are the ones that get under my skin because they dont need the money and they dont pay taxes or ins. like I do.

Pack 'em up, move 'em out. Just don’t settle in Hagerstown. We have all the over-priced wand slingers we need. Me.

[Fatdaddy]

and JC you just might need to put something else in your bag of tricks… Mowing, landscaping, windows, lot striping, handicap parking paint lay outs
If your washing base is shrinking you got to make up for it somewhere else is what I’m thinking…

[JCinNJ]

[MENTION=444]Tim[/MENTION]
Hagerstown is looking pretty good, can I bunk with you until I get squared away .

Actually I have looked at moving to MD but it did not meet my needs. The Carolinas on the other hand, they’re looking pretty good, especially since so many of my old customers are moving there. I also have a few other irons in the fire and need to see what happens with them before I do anything

[JCinNJ]

@Fatdaddy

and JC you just might need to put something else in your bag of tricks… Mowing, landscaping, windows, lot striping, handicap parking paint lay outs
If your washing base is shrinking you got to make up for it somewhere else is what I’m thinking…

thats part of my job description and I’ve been doing it

[GTRider245]

@JCinNJ

I have been talking with Chris about the edit button for months, I gave up. It did come back for me, maybe its there on some threads, but for the most part, no edit button for me.

I used to feel the same way and they have never been competitors to me, until the economy in my area took a kick to the crotch.

My customer base is getting smaller and smaller which means fewer customers for everyone. So when I hear of someone with a full time “real” job with benefits is PWing on the side, they are taking money away from me and seriously affecting my lifestyle. They dont pay taxes and dont have insurance, they are working for beer money, the next vacation, new toys, whatever.

I’m working to put food on my table, a roof over my head, fuel in my vehicles, retirement, clothing, pay the new health ins. fine, to pay business and personal taxes, and the list goes on and on… If I get sick or injured, I dont get a paid, I dont have sick days. All medical bills are paid out of my pocket because I dont have anyone else paying for medical ins.

Off the top of my head I can say I lost about 10% of my repeat customers last year. I didnt lose them to other PWers, I lost them because the economy so bad they are forced to leave the state. Many of my new customers were people who needed to clean their homes prior to selling because they are leaving the state.

In my area, all home foreclosures go through the courts before the sheriffs sale can take place. As of Aug. last year (prior to 5 casinos closing and the others laying off), the courts are backed up 3-5 YEARS!! Legal action like this needs to be listed in the local paper, this weekend the notices covered 18 pages in the paper.

My customer base is evaporating faster than a glass of water in the Arizona desert. Although it hurts when I lose a bid, I dont mind competing with legitimate businesses because they are struggling just like me. The guys doing it on the side are the ones that get under my skin because they dont need the money and they dont pay taxes or ins. like I do.

I don’t like the option any more than you do, but you have to ask yourself when will the time come that it’s time to find something else to do.

[Infinity]

@JCinNJ

its getting under my skin more recently because its hitting closer to home and will be affecting me directly. For years I had no problem tolerating the part timers because they could not have a serious effect on my business, now they are popping up everyplace, dropping the prices and creating a false “fair” price for PWing. The economy in my area is terrible and getting worse, when more and more people buy into the signs stating “$99 house wash” its getting harder and harder selling my washes for more than three times that amount.

Part timers have a “real” job and for the most part, they dont “need” the money, they only want extra money for toys or vacations. The guy quoted said he made $90k/year at his real job, there is no reason he could not afford to send his kids to school, especially when his home state is Tenn, with a very low cost of living.

Sorry to hear that, JC. That is frustrating.

[EcoClean]

The Carolinas are becoming the new Florida. This past year I have seen more competition then in the last 5 put together. Most of these guys have decent equipment, decent websites, and portray themselves as professionals but they don’t have the experience do back it up.

Long story short, the Carolinas wouldn’t be my first pick to start a new pressure washing business.

Sent from my iPad using Pressure Washing Resource

[Fatdaddy]

I bet I have 15 forums I go to about every time I’m on… UT Football, Nascar, woodwork, 4x4, horses, gold, on and on.
This the only forum that I have that there is NO EDIT button… Yall now see how my spelling sucks and i like to go back to fix my many mistakes…

[EcoClean]

Ah. I remember there always being a “edit post” button. I believe on some forums, it’s on a timer. Once a certain amount of time has lapsed, your not able to edit your post.

In a way - I kind of see a benefit to not being able to edit a post once it’s posted. This is a big problem on the Facebook groups. Somebody will post a question or a statement, and when it doesn’t go their way, they delete the entire thread. With the click of a mouse dozens of comments that people spent a lot of time on are lost. Thankfully that doesn’t happen here, and post don’t get deleted by the mods.

[ARCPW]

If your interested in starting a business in this industry there is alot more than just asking how to and what do I need. Wait,Research,Study, Attend then Start.
When you wanted to be a teacher you didn’t just say. Im going to be a teacher and start the next day. You got your education and was a Student Teacher then graduated with your degree and then starting teaching.

This is a industry where people can make a pretty dang good living…

So before you buy anything really think about attending this and starting next year. Then you’ll have saved enough money to buy the correct items and have done the research and rubbed elbows with contractors that have been in this industry for a long time.

Click this Link Below
2015 Pressure Washing and Window Cleaning Convention 2015 Pressure Washing & Window Cleaning Convention

[wdc]

Thanks everyone for the comments. I see now that $1500 wasn’t enough. Per advice this is what I’ve bought so far.

1. 4000, 4gpm pressure pro, belt drive
2. 16 inch whirl a way (I followed the advice of 1 gpm per 4 inches I found on this forum)
3. 100 foot no kink hose
4. a trailer
5. 50 ft of high pressure hose (I think I need another 100 ft)
6. I bought a backpack type hand sprayer to put on more concentrated solutions

I think I will start by just cleaning concrete driveways.
I will practice on my own wood deck and fencing (more of a soft wash)- and maybe some neighbors too while I build up confidence.

Thanks again,

Darin

[Tim4]

@wdc

Thanks everyone for the comments. I see now that $1500 wasn’t enough. Per advice this is what I’ve bought so far.

1. 4000, 4gpm pressure pro, belt drive
2. 16 inch whirl a way (I followed the advice of 1 gpm per 4 inches I found on this forum)
3. 100 foot no kink hose
4. a trailer
5. 50 ft of high pressure hose (I think I need another 100 ft)
6. I bought a backpack type hand sprayer to put on more concentrated solutions

I think I will start by just cleaning concrete driveways.
I will practice on my own wood deck and fencing (more of a soft wash)- and maybe some neighbors too while I build up confidence.

Thanks again,

Darin

Use the backpack sprayer for watering your roses. Think it through. It is going to leak. With chems in it, it will leak them in a very chappy part of your body. Your backside. No good.

More pressure hose will come in handy.

Learn to downstream chems on driveways (after the wash in many cases)>

Use a pump up to apply spot degreaser on driveways.

It sounds like you are making good progress so far.

[GTRider245]

Skip the Whirl Away and get a Whisper Wash Ultra. Been there, done that.