I’m working with a 2.5 GPM Honda motor, a car that I don’t have money to fix, in early recovery from almost a decade of substance abuse and living out in the woods with neighbors who I don’t know, and best precaution is probably to not go walking into anybody’s yard. I have the occasional friends who usually have small jobs that they’ll pay decent money for what it is, but nothing to get moving towards a place where I’m supporting myself and actually starting to live my adult life at 28.
I have no plans of giving up just because right now it sucks and I see no way of making it work with my situation. But I need to figure out how to get the word out to just my neighbors for right now. And how to get everything I need to do whatever work I might get to where I need to take it. Honestly don’t even really know what all I need advice on. Just want advice from anybody who started from the ground up. Wether you had more, same as, or less when you started; if you have any experience that you would tell anybody starting out, regardless of circumstances, I’m more than happy to hear it.
But do you have any experience with washing? There’s nothing wrong with trying new things to gain experience, but, you don’t want to take a risk on trying something new or that you have little/no experience with when dealing with someone’s home. You may be looking to make a quick $100 or so but end up causing thousands of dollars worth of damage if you do something incorrectly. And I promise you that’s not the way to start off a new business venture.
What are you trying/hoping to wash? Some people just do house siding, some do fences/decks, others do just concrete, but lots do all of them and more. With 2.5 gpm, you’ll have a harder time doing any of them, but it doesn’t mean that it’s impossible.
If you don’t have a vehicle that works, what’s your plan to move the equipment from job to job? If you are literally just trying to get your immediate neighbors and can drag the equipment by hand or on the back of a riding mower then that drastically changes how you are going to “market” yourself. If trying to gain business from 10 immediate neighbors, either knock on their doors and introduce yourself and what you are offering, or type up a letter and mail it/drop it off in their mailboxes. If your community has all of their mailboxes grouped together in a common area then consider posting a flyer with your name on it there if you can. There are of course rules about touching/opening people’s mailboxes so just be careful if that’s the way you decide to go.
Depending on your geographical area, are you able to wash this time of year? Or are you planning to start up in the spring?
My advice would be to save up like $200 for bare basic window cleaning setup too. You can raise your average ticket and also earn more jobs. Also more recurring work with windows.
Squeegees, pole, bucket, towels, soap, steel wool and some CLR from your nearest Home Depot or Lowe’s.
Then if you pound the pavement with pressure washing and window cleaning you will be rewarded! Best of luck
I think the window cleaning start is the way to go, inexpensive and much harder to mess up. Get a clean pair of clothes and some business cards, knock on every business door that has windows, retail and restaurants are good places to start. Walk in and present a business card, ask: “may I speak to the owner, manager or whoever is in charge of making sure the windows are clean”, if they say they will give them your card smile and say “if possible I would like to introduce myself personally, nobody can sell (or represent) me like me”. Carry a notepad, write down everything/anything that is important, above all else be prepared if they say yes. Carry a tape measure, if you can’t think of a price you can figure it out while you’re measuring. Number 1 rule of sales, stop selling when they say yes, get whatever information you need and leave. Last, never give up, God will see you through. One of my family member was in your exact situation about 6 years ago, she now owns a house cleaning company with 3 employees.
I have been a window cleaner since 1996 but when everyone started asking if I “do pressure washing too” I bought a used homeowner 2.3gpm washer and cleaned a NASTY wood deck for $600.
I took that and invested in bigger machines and despite drawing the ire of the veteran washers on here for a couple years, the advice given was invaluable to get me set up with a proper trailer and (fairly) decent knowledge how to use it. I’m still learning though.
I will say that once you start becoming a valid company, insurance is a MUST along with proper tax reporting. Sometimes I question if PW is really worth the government and insurance headache.
I’ve been applying everywhere for every kind of job for a year, and I haven’t had any call backs or anything. This idea came to me because I realized I’m not getting any less broke, so I gotta do something. But, there is some potential work that if it pans out could make getting my life on track a less difficult process.
Professional washing? No. But I’ve done pressure washing different things for years. I wouldn’t sell myself as a top level pressure washer, but I’ve done enough to know what not to do. But there’s still for sure alot to learn. I’ve pressure washed a couple houses recently for friends and they were pretty happy with the end results. I also do cars, sheds, and stuff like that. Tomorrow I have a job where I’m gonna be doing some work for someone who may be a potential business partner. He’s restarting his cleaning company, and wants to add pressure washing to services he offers, but doesn’t have a pressure washer of his own. Also said he’ll sell me his car depending on how some personal things he’s got going on in his personal life play out.
This industry’s great redeeming feature is that for somebody willing to work and learn, there is just so much opportunity regardless of background. When you’re outside getting dirty and getting the job done well, people generally don’t care who you are or what your background is.
In my opinion, that changes with window cleaning, whereas (I think?) you may necessarily have to be inside people’s homes. That leaves anyone open to the possibility of being accused of stealing things or damaging items, and in that situation your background may work against you. For that reason, I do work strictly outdoors and perhaps you might decide that’s best for you, too.
It’s never a bad idea to start by working for somebody else’s cleaning business… get paid to learn! Short of that, start with hard surfaces at ground level (concrete, synthetic decking…) and slowly advance in height and complexity. Hard surfaces are generally easier to clean and more difficult to damage than softer surfaces. There are no shortages of YouTube videos showing how to clean anything under the sun. But like throwing a curveball, it’s one thing to see how it’s done and another to be able to do it yourself. Churches can sometimes be a source of good practice work: You’ll clean their concrete walkway or bluestone steps for free, get some learning and confidence under your belt, and then the congregation members will ask Who Did That?.. and then you may get some calls for similar but paying work from them.
Since you’re the “little guy,” you can likely make some money on jobs that the big guys don’t want to be bothered with. Perhaps reach out to bigger, established cleaners in your area and introduce yourself. Some may be dicky and that’s their own problem but others might be happy to have somebody local to send those “pesky” little jobs to.
The vast majority of this industry is little owner/operator businesses, and the vast majority of those started out with almost nothing.
