Do you like it? or feel like if you’re not there supervising they won’t do as good a job? I’m currently on my 3rd year, I have part time helpers but still working towards being able to hire full time employees and let them run jobs; however I do feel like my end goal is to have 2-3 two man crews and for myself to focus on bidding, marketing, maintenance, etc… So when I look at some of the vets on here that still go out and wash I wonder if there’s something I’m not thinking off that doesn’t allow owner to separate from the washing aspect of the business.
I wash because it’s the only part of the job that I like. I typically work alone so it isn’t that I’m checking up on crews or supervising.
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I recall reading one of your comments before that it is the only part of the business that you actually enjoy. I figure it’s probably the same for the other guys as well. I personally have a hate/love relationship with washing. Sidings? happy as a clam - Driveways and ground work? bored out of my mind - nothing bores me more than doing driveways and sidewalks
We have two machines, 1 truck and trailer,but I wash trucks. Reason I do this ? I get to watch and control everything on site, 1 truck 1 trailer = 1 truck and trailer insurance. Also I can get my wash done in 2/3 the time running 2 machines at the same time. Don’t know about ya’ll, but rinsing is my main time sucker …
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Don’t do driveways then. I don’t. Fortunately, this is a business that requires little to no advertising and in a year or two you can turn down as much as you want to and keep only gravy work.
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Agree with @Innocentbystander
The key to be able to run crews and step away soon as possible is limiting the services you offer.
Vinyl siding, exterior windows, and sidewalks is about as easy as they come and profitable. Some disagree on the windows.
You start doing decks, roofs, etc your adding another layer to be able to step away.
I’ve been contiplating roofs for a while and made up my mind this weekend that I’m going to drop it as a service. Can’t find a way to scale it while it’s not me on the roof or ladder.
Last year our only call backs were for roofs, only issues with vegetation was from roofs, and it only accounted for 7% of our total sales.
That 7% can easily be picked up with house washes we lost out on because schedule was to far out.
Anyways, stick to the easy stuff, find a niche and then you can decide personally if you want to wash still or not.
My goal is to put the washer down by June and have two trucks 4 guys going.
Second full timer starts tommorow, guess we will see.
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Sorry fellas, I put that in the wrong topic. DUH.
I’ve been running 2 crews for a couple of yrs now. We only offer roofs,houses,deck cleanings and flat work. I wrote an sop for each service and my guys follow it. We run 2 man crews and I take care of the behind the scenes stuff. All calls and estimates and any customer concerns that my guys cannot address. We also offer exterior windows too but only when paired with a house wash.
I only go out and wash when i have too much work booked up. I will be out 2 days this week to get things done.
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I agree with patriot. If I ever plan on being the manager not laborer I would have to drop roof cleaning . Unfortunately for me that’s half my income. So I’ll be cleaning roofs till I’m to old to do it I guess. Hopefully by that time i will be making enough to drop that service.
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that makes sense, I feel like even when I have full time crew I’m probably still going to go out and wash if I can just because I’ll feel like I’ll be leaving money on the table if I don’t - it’s a catch 22
Yeah, I’m starting to get closer to that point. This year has been my first year to turn down a lot of work that I normally would have done before (such as decks and fences). I gotta keep on working hard to get to the point where I just do what I want.
Yup, because of this forum and everything I read everyday I’m never going to do roofs, it’s just not worth it for me. I understand someone like @florida_condo_cleani that can potentially lose an entire huge bid or contract if he doesn’t do roofs with it, but personally I don’t ever want to pursue it. I’ve built most of my business targeting sidings, I’ve focused on 3-4 story town homes (mainly stucco and hardy plank) that almost always have algae on them - I really want to keep my business simple as you said - spray on, spray off, collect.
@florida_condo_cleani -you don’t think you could train one of your best guys well enough to take over the roofs for you? I remember you’ve mentioned that it would increase insurance significantly but wouldn’t you still come out on top by a good percentage at the end of the day?
It would increase my insurance $33000 a year.
Meaning I wouldn’t even break even until $50000 ish . That’s more roof cleaning than most roof cleaning companies even do in a year. Just not worth it .
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yeah… that’s pretty steep, I can see why you don’t do it.
