Starting out! Am I prepared?

Newbie Questions
1

Hey there everyone,

Firstly, I just want to say thank you to all of you whom contribute so much information to the rest of the Pressure Washing community. I’ve been a “lurker” for the past few weeks, but I’ve spent many hours searching through various threads to gain as much knowledge about the business as I can. Simply put, I want to go into this with the most knowledge/professionalism as possible.

A bit of my background; I’m currently a professional working in the real estate/banking industry and have for my entire career (about 12 years). I have a business degree in finance and marketing. My career is being thrown upside-down, however, as my beautiful wife is finishing up her PhD and we’re re-locating out-of-state from Michigan to Utah (big change!) which is where she is from.

She already has work lined up, but I will need to find work once we move out there as my current employer won’t let me work remotely. Being that I’ll have the opportunity to “not work” as we can get by with just her income, I thought I’d venture out and start up a business and see how it goes. I’ve dreamed about being self-employed and enjoy doing anything in the real estate industry - even if it means flipping things around and doing more of the labor-intensive work rather than the paper-intensive work I do currently.

I do have a decent budget to get started. We aren’t moving until next year and as such I’m going to hold off on a trailer/truck-bed setup until we’re out west. I’m going to file my LLC paperwork/get small business insurance here in Michigan and start cleaning part-time to make sure I even enjoy the work. As I stated my specialty is in financing/marketing and I’m very comfortable with the margins that this line of work offers and have already drawn up a business/marketing plan.

For starters, I plan on dropping around $1,700.00 on equipment… how does my starting list look?:

o Honda GX390 powered Beltline Pump rated at 4gpm and 4200 PSI
o Downstream Injector
o 100 ft. hose (won’t have a reel set-up until I get a trailer next year)
o 2-story spray nozzle
o Surface Cleaner
o 5-gallon chem bucket (I’ll mix onsite)
o Small business liability insurance/LLC set-up

I plan on using 12.5 bleach in a 80/20 water/bleach mix for starters and down-stream. My idea is to charge $250/house for siding and then add-ons being $125 for a driveway and $50 for sidewalks. I wouldn’t mind getting into window cleaning/gutter cleaning, but I want to keep away from ladders the most I can.

I know a Belt Pump Washer isn’t absolutely necessary starting out, but I’m the type that would rather be safe-than-sorry. My fear is that I’ll encounter well-water/low pressure houses and be SOL and end up buying another pump ($200~) to make a Direct-Drive able to pull water… so why not just buy the Belt-Pump upfront, right? The idea is that I’d have a 35 gallon buffer-tank as a back-up in the event I need to draw from it.

An alternative to this is that I already do have a 2.3 GPM/2600 PSI pressure washer that I could use in the event that a home has low-pressure water coming out… What are your thoughts on this?

If any of you have any tips/advice on my current set-up please let me know! Thank you and best of luck to everyone with their business!

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In no order of importance:

1.I know nothing of Utah - what is the humidity like there? Low humidity = little to no mold/algae. House washes, roofs, even concrete will be a fraction of the work compared to a high humidity area. In my state, Texas, for example - in Houston with very high humidity you have tons of mold/algae related work. You go the Midland, where it is a dessert and you would not stay in business doing that kind of work. I have family that live in the desert and all I saw I could do residential wise was fence cleaning, some driveways and house cleaning would be rinsing off dust. I even entertained the idea of once a month driving out there (5 hour drive) if I was able to book up solid 3 - 12 hour days of work (major oil field boom going on with lots of family in the oil business) and bang out a ton of work, but it would all be commercial with a 8 gpm hot water unit. If it is a low humidity environment, then residential will be limited and you will be looking to do mainly commercial which with your proposed set-up will be challenging as you will have limited options on the commercial side that you would be able to do.
2. What kind of market are you going to try and target? Residential, Commercial or both?
3. What is the population of where you are going? What is the market presence of existing pressure washing operators? Reputations of those operators? Is their room in what you determine to be your service area for another pressure washer (I know this is a loaded question - in any industry, anyone can break in and dominate if they outperform competition). If you are going to a 100,000 cap population with 10 pressure washers already there, be ready for to dig in and really market your company.

2.3 GPM - walk away and don’t even consider. Yes, you can do work with it (and I have), but you will be absolutely miserable doing it. It will just be slow as molasses. Forget about any flatwork beyond a simple small driveway with that machine (this advice coming from a person who commited to 20K sq ft parking lot with a 2.3 gpm machine. After the first day, I bought a 4 gpm. After the second day, I wished I spent another $500 and got the 5.5 gpm machine. This Sunday I am doing the same job with an 8 gpm and will actually be happy and make money).

  1. Have you done any pressure washing before? Even just your own house?

  2. Do you have a truck to haul your equipment around in? With your described set-up, you will be most likely unloading everything and loading back in for every job. Hand rolling/unrolling hoses, etc. You will probably find it a pita after the first couple of jobs. Can it be done, yes.

If I was in your shoes (which I was at one point), here is what I started with -

2.3 GPM machine (Quickly upgraded to 4 gpm and wished I had 5.5 gpm)
200 ft hose pressure hose - trust me unloading your equipment and hauling all around a site just sucks.
100 ft 3/4 inch garden hose
275 tote (way overkill, but they sell far cheaper around here at least than a 80 gal tank which is more than enough for a 4 gpm machine).
DSI
Chem bucket
Surface cleaner (minimum 4 gpm machine)

With this, you could do residential house washing, residential driveways and sidewalks, even small commercial work such as front door pads or sidewalks, wood work (fences, decks, etc). Keep in mind, it will be slow working, jobs will be harder to do and take longer but you can do it, as I did at one time. You will gain experience and everyday you will be thinking how do I upgrade some part of my rig.

I was you in some ways at one time. Left a high-paying corporate gig, do go do my own thing. I had been power washing for 30 years as a side gig/hobby, so I had workable knowledge, just not a professional rig. For me, I quickly realized that if I was going to make a real attempt at a long-term sustainable business with this, I was going to have to invest in a rig that allowed me to do that. You can start small, and will get work and build your reputation and market but along the way if you are wanting to build a business like most on this board, keep in mind, your set-up and knowledge is going to have to grow as well.

Good luck!

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Good information and advice in this post. Not just for the original poster but damn near everyone starting out.

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Great advice - I appreciate it! Admittedly I’ve yet to study the climate of Utah in particular, but assuming it checks out there wouldn’t be a lack of homeowners as it is in a higher populated area with many close-by rural areas as well.

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Don’t have set prices per jobs. Not all jobs are the same. Lots of variations, main one being size. Do it by sqft. I charge .15 min for exterior and .10 for flat work and based on time it takes to get done, I stay at $100+ an hr 95% of the time. Good luck!

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Hi Nate,

Shoot me an email jordie@windowcleaningresource.com

I’ll help you get set up with equipment when you’re ready.

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JMO But find someone in your area before u move that has been in the business for a while. Preferably with an 8 GPM machine and with a burner would be a plus. Tell them what your plan is and offer to pay or they might even pay u to work. Learn all u can and see if u like the work. Then if you like the work? Keep an eye out on market place and other places for someone selling out. If u have the dough I would go ahead and start with an 8 GPM setup u will be twice as efficient!! Someone is always getting into the business and selling out within a yr. You can probably find a used setup with around 100 hours pretty cheap!! JMO

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Thanks for all of the advice guys! I will be doing a “test-run” this spring/summer with a buddy of mine so we’ll see how things go. I found a 250 gallon buffer tank for only $50.00 on Craigslist (made sure it didn’t contain anything funky in its prior use) which I thought was a steel. I’ll probably pick up the final equipment at the end of this month and begin some light advertising (Facebook/Google Ads/Mailbox flyers) and test things out. We are going to start by doing my house, my buddy’s house, and probably our parents for practice with our new equipment.

As a side note, I have pressure washed siding in the past, but never with the downstream/soft-wash method. It appears to be much, much easier and more efficient.

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Make sure you stay on here and browse old threads. You can learn 95% of what you need to know just by reading old threads. There is so much information.

You mentioned you pressured washed siding in the past. If I had to guess you probably used pressure to wash it which is a big no no and can actually cause damage to the siding. Soft washing isn’t just another method it is the method that should be used on siding. Same goes for other cleaning tasks. It’s all about letting the cleaners and detergents do the work. Sometimes you need some pressure depending on what you’re washing but you have to know how much pressure to use without causing damage. It’s not as simple as just grabbing a pressure washer and going to town. You need different nozzles to adjust your pressure depending on what you’re washing.

Just keep reading on here and you’ll figure out a lot of it on your own. The good thing about going back and reading past threads is you’ll learn things you need to know that you had no idea you needed to know. Bookmark posts that have good information or has something you think you might need to look back on. Get a notepad and take notes. If something is confusing ask questions and people here will help.

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The most important thing to realize. :+1:

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That’s exactly it… as I mentioned in my first post you guys are awesome. I had spent a good few weeks doing nothing but research and taking notes.

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Noob question: when you guys talk about soft washers, is it an actual machine or just a tip that you use on a pressure washer?

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Soft washing can mean a couple of things -

  1. Pressure washer - you get the right size tips (nozzles) that allow you to change the PSI of the water coming out. A bigger nozzle = lower pressure. You can look at a nozzle chart and match the machine you have to the desired pressure you want to come out of the gun to see what nozzle size you need. Note - do not mess with your unloader to reduce pressure or throttle down your engine to lower pressure. Both will do that but at a cost of damage to your rig.
  2. 12 v System. Some guys use 12 v pump which generally operate at 70 psi. You can get a 7 gpm pump at 70 PSI and do a lot of “softwashing”.

Funny - it is called pressure washing but in reality rarely do I ever use the full pressure my machine is capable of. 3500 PSI can truly do quite a bit of damage if you are not careful.

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Trying to relay that to the potential customers is a hassle. “Do you power wash?” I soft wash…no real pressure is used.

Oh.

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That is a typical inquiry I get all the time from clients. They simply understand everything we do as “power washing” or “pressure washing”. I find a brief explanation quickly educates them on what it is we do and why some surfaces, “Yes I pressure wash” and on other surfaces “I prefer to soft wash” followed by an explanation of what that is and why I use that method. I am working on a bidding binder, where I include typical before and after pictures of my work as well as examples or poorly done jobs using incorrect equipment, technique, chemicals or processes. I feel it is our job as professionals to educate our potential clients along the way. I also feel, it projects confidence in potential clients that I have an in-depth knowledge level of what it is I do and what not to do. Hopefully they choose to use me, but if they do not, at least they are now more educated to engage with other providers which is good for the entire industry.

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No disrespect @CFH,but that is why I do what I do. I cannot even fathom doing the dog and pony show ,day in and day out.I wouldn’t have one single job ! I’m just not nice …my hat is off to yall.

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@Hotshot That is what makes our industry so varied.

It is funny when newbs come on and start asking questions and get a wide range of answers with some appearing to be conflicting. It is not at all that they are conflicting just that each one of us has developed their unique approach to how they handle sales and/or marketing that works for them. So many variables -

  • The guy doing strictly vinyl sided residential house washing is going to have a different model than the guy doing strictly commercial accounts.
  • The guy pricing the same vinyl only house is going to be priced differently than the guy dealing with limestone houses. Two totally different animals in terms of time and process requirements to achieve the same goal of a clean exterior.
  • Competition
  • What is your desired market? High-end homes is a different beast then say middle class homes. Not that one is better then the other, each takes a different approach in how you price, engage the clients, present yourself, etc.

There is no “one size fits all” when it comes to how to model your business. If your market is full of 600 sq ft driveways, sure you could market a $79 driveway cleaning but, that won’t work in the neighborhood full of 3,000 to 4,000 sq ft driveways. I would do 600 sq ft driveways all day long for $79 and make good money - in and out in 30 minutes max per driveway. I could easily do 10 a day. Now 3,000 sq ft driveway would take me 2 hours each, so no you aint getting that done for $79.

For me, I find more often than not, most people do not truly understand what goes into cleaning to justify the price which is why I drive by homes each and every day that need service. Perhaps it is just a different familiarity in the market population as to what we do between your market and mine? Who knows. I know more often than not, I have to explain the process to people and do so willingly.

It is no different than say restaurants - what works for McDonalds is not going to work for Morton’s Steakhouse. If either used the other’s model that would be out of business in no time.

For newbies reading this - you have to take all the responses into consideration, put into action and find what is going to work for you, your market, your target clients, goals, etc. Be prepared - their is a lot of failure and rejection along the way as you figure out what it is your model looks like and operates for you to be a profitable sustainable business. No one person as the “magic answer” as it does not exist.

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