Trailer Package or build your own package?

Newbie Questions
1

Anyone have any experience with building their own trailer package? Is it cheaper to build your own or buy package out right?

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3

Thanks man!

4

No problem. I have the same trailer and I’ve been taking notes. @Racer knows how to squeeze 10 lbs of stuff into a 5 lb bag for sure.

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5

I’m just now trying to start a business up, I’ve done alot of pressure washing around the house with an ole 2700psi 2.5 gpm. Getting into all these other pressure washers and equipment and set ups are probably about the same as me trying to read Japanese. Lol it gets pretty nerve wrecking

6

There’s no rush. One step at a time. Marketing and customer service are why we’re on pace to do a solid 6 figures in our second year. Not machines.

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Read post above amd take it as serious as a heart atack … all the best machines in the world wont make you suceede if you cant advertise and dont know how… machines make life easier to make quality work etc etc but its not really what brings in clients …

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I’ll have about $15000 to get started with about $3000 for marketing. There’s a small business center in my area that counsels first time small business owners, so I’m in the process to get enrolled in it and learn as much as I can. Won’t actually start till spring of next year. Trying to get everything in order, baby steps. There’s no one in my area that does it that I know of. And I live in a tri city area. Makes me wonder if there’s nobody needing the services or if someone has tried it and didn’t go about it the right way. I’m thinking the latter.

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9

There are a lot more that you don’t know about. Many people do pressure washing who don’t necessarily advertise it. Landscapers, painters, window cleaners, handymen, retired guys, Firefighters, believe me there are a lot more than you think.

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I wish I had $15k to start with! I started with a Ryobi pressure washer and a friend I went to high school with’s dad still liked me enough to give me my first job. I was knocking on doors and hanging door hangers until I found HomeAdvisor and Facebook swap & shops. That’s serious as a heart attack. To this day I still rent the largest machines that I need. I don’t have space nor do I have the desire to drop tens of thousands on things I can rent for a few hundred dollars and price it in.

Today I bought hoses that cost more than that Ryobi pressure washer and it felt like a milestone. Ha!

If I had $18,000 to start with, knowing what I know in two short years… I would’ve reduced my expenses, put it in the bank, went to work for one of the two largest pressure washing companies in my area, worked as often and as many different projects that I could volunteer for 6 months, then I would spend $9000 on marketing and a website with the best SEO person I could find locally, I’d do projects for next to nothing in exchange for reviews on Google, and park the other $9k in the bank until after I evaluated which marketing methods worked the best. Then I’d spend the rest of the money on those and keep on renting machines and trailers.

Renting and leasing machines and equipment is better for tax purposes than buying them outright. At least that’s what my CPA keeps telling me.

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11

Half the guys I see pressure washing stuff around here are advertising window cleaning or have the firefighters Maltese cross on their trucks.

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I’ll have to check into that! I’m only going to be doing it 6 months out of the year. I work on the river, and want to do pressure washing part time with the hopes of hiring people in the future to run it for me

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Correction: The first thing I would’ve bought is insurance. Not that I have needed it, but having liability insurance in itself is a fantastic marketing tool.

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Yea that’s the first thing I’m going to do. I’ve gotten quotes for insurance and so far Joe Walters is the cheapest, and they’ll also bond me which is a plus.

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I had a weird interaction with Joseph Walters agency and not a big fan. If you do a search on here about Joseph D Walters insurance you’ll find one of two answers:

  1. Ewwww
  2. It’s all I could find. (Then you’ll see 100 guys post 100 different insurance companies that would insure them and their equipment for less expensive, but they already have JDW which is liberty mutual actually and don’t want to go through the hassle of getting another insurance policy even though it may cost them half as much for another reputable company.)
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16

JW was actually cheaper for me with an extra 500,000 in coverage than anyone local in my area

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I probably would’ve went with JW if that was the case in my area too. I’m just glad it wasn’t.

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But with that, I’m still searching. They have 3 things they don’t cover. Hood vent washing, sand blasting, and something else can’t recall what it was. And they also don’t offer workmans comp

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I think they told me auto detailing or fleet washing on top of those things. None of that mess I want to do anyway.

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Yea it was fleet washing. Told me could do car detailing but couldn’t move the vehicle