During the spring of 2018 I started playing around with the idea of starting a power washing business to help supplement income for my family on my days off from full time job as a LEO in Charleston, SC. The more I thought about running my own business the excitement grew and I told my wife I was going to buy a pressure washer from Lowe’s and get started on becoming my own boss.
Thank the power washing gods that I found this forum before I bought my first piece of equipment or attempted my first paying job for a complete stranger. I knew I had the drive and motivation to get out there and do the work but what I was lacking was that I had no clue or knowledge on how to properly wash a house, or what chemicals and soaps to use or not use, or even how to educate a customer on what I was about to do their house because I didn’t even know what I was about to do to their house.
I found the forum this past May while searching the internet for tips on how to pressure wash and within the first few minutes of reading post I new I hit a goldmine. However, what I also realized in only a few minutes of reading was there is way more involved in properly washing a house Or even cleaning a driveway than I could ever have imagined.
First, l began using this forum as a cross reference for any piece of equipment I was looking at buying and was able to piece together a trailer that I felt would be able to successfully complete the jobs I wanted to do an be able to make me some money once I got started doing the jobs.
Second, I learned the proper or at a least a proper mixture for my house wash, how to downstream and use low pressure, and how to put a system together on applying my mixture and rinsing without damaging siding, windows, electrical outlets, or plants.
Third, I read and I am continuing to read as much as I can about what grows on and stains siding and driveways so that I can figure out what will clean and remove the substances that the customer is paying me to clean.
Lastely, from this forum and finding a few of yalls YouTube channels I have been able to gain enough knowledge to where I feel comfortable talking to customers about what they want me to clean and informing them on how I am going to clean it and setting expectations with them on what the results are going to be.
I started washing houses and cleaning driveways in the beginning of July and I have gotten and done more work then I could have ever imagined I was going to get starting out. I’m going to continue only offering the same two services of house washes and driveways through 2019 while I continue to get a grasp on the bases of running a business in the services industry.
For those of y’all who are still reading this post, you don’t know how much y’all have helped me get started and the amount of information I have gotten from y’all is truely priceless to me. Thank you and good luck to everyone in 2019!
