No; I get it. And maybe I just need to get over the fear of someone trying to steal something that I’ve put so much effort into. And I do understand that there are a bunch of hacks trying to sell their newfangled gizmos that, like you said, don’t do what they say they do (or fail shortly after the warranty period ends; like my samsung dryer…the part for which is backordered and won’t get delivered until may).
But I’m not there yet, I’m not trying to “sell” this. I’m still building it. I want a select number of professionals, who are open to trying something new, so that I can get the feedback I need to build you guys EXACTLY what you want. I’m not housecall pro, I’m not responsibid, but I am an extremely passionate engineer (decently skilled I’d like to think as well), and committed to building this thing out specifically for this group.
I sincerely apologize if I came off as “sales-ey”, or snake oily, that was certainly not my intention. I’m not even set up to accept payments yet, so I couldn’t sell it even if you wanted to buy it. Instead, I’m giving it away for free in the hopes that, in return, I get the feedback I need to make this perfect (or as close as I can get). Thank you all for all of the feedback, and for the people I’ve demoed this to, thank you so much for your time, it means everything to me!
No need to apologize. Completely understandable to want to protect your investment. All’s I’m saying is we want to know more and, like the game of telephone, stuff gets muddled the more mouths it passes through. A short (and private, good call @BobsPressureWashing) video would be immensely helpful for people who may be on the fence to sign up and demo it. This community is pretty incredible at supporting our own. There are multiple members here that have brought things to market in this industry and received love and support from the forum members. You’re in the right place. Just maybe give us a couple sips off the mason jar to whet the appetite.
Braden brings up a good starting point. I’m assuming (here we go) that it emphasizes up selling based on the few context clues you’ve mentioned. How exactly does it promote that? Or am I completely off base?
I think, as an engineer, I didn’t accurately describe what I was looking for. Like I said, I’m not a sales guy (clearly haha). I saw a problem, and I resolved to solve it. My wife can corroborate, but I tend to go a little far when i get into something, and this is no exception. My idea has evolved and changed over time, and I’ve found the pressure washing industry to be “the thing” that for some reason, I can’t stop thinking about. So here’s where I am. I have a core product which I think solves a unique problem, that I don’t think anybody else has developed a good solution for. But it can be better, and ultimately, I’m working hard to build a package around it that offers the things that you guys need. I am just looking to distill all of the needs/wants into a core package, in order to solve the ultimate problem of having to use (and pay for) 17 pieces of individual software, none of which were developed specifically for the pressure washing industry.
Maybe I should have just started a complaining thread about all of the biggest issues you have with all of your software. I won’t be able to fix everything, but I should be able to see some patterns. What are your core needs? What are “nice to haves”? What things do you wish you could change? That’s what I really want to know. I’ve never run a pressure washing business, and everybody has their own unique pet-peeves and challenges. Again, not trying to put anyone out, and I don’t expect people to be flocking here to help me. But if I get good input, in the end, I’ll be able to build something specifically for this group. As you pointed out, there’s a lot of experience here. So even if you guys don’t want it, if I build it to your specs, somebody will, and that will satisfy my obsession, and I’ll finally be able to sleep again haha.
Another wall of text with no useful content reiterating whats already been said… yup you are definitely an engineer. I’m just dying to know what problem you, who has never worked in the pressure washing business, has come across in the industry that nobody else (according to you) has solved in one form or another… So let’s start all over… don’t tell us how you are solving the problem, but tell us what you think this unique problem is. Maybe if you do that we can tell you if you wasted your time or give you more input.
I think the issue is, and you readily admit, you are being a bit over-protective of every tidbit of information, including the problem that you sought to solve (which is the most basic of information relevant to this situation). I get it, but the reality is, there is no problem in that space that hasn’t been identified before. The problem isn’t a “secret”, even if you may have undertaken a different solution of tact to solve it. That would be the better case, the worse being that it isn’t really a “problem” that anyone cares about, and thus why there is no solution. As I tell folks who see a neighborhood where every house needs a wash and thinks they found a goldmine… “if every house is dirty, no one cares and your service isn’t needed”. Ultimately, if it really is something of unique use, it will be essentially replicated by other larger players (and usually second and third iterations actually improve upon a unique concept).
Let’s be fair, if that were all it were about, there would be zero secrecy called for.
I love getting into these sorts of things. We collaborate with Jobber and ResponsiBid when we find something that we need those to do. I’m way overloaded at the moment to do a demo call, but I’d be glad to offer any insight I can if I free up any time down the road.
I think you’ve got me all wrong. I just didn’t come here to argue. I’m working 18 hour days to try and build something specifically for the pressure washing industry. I came here to ask you guys what you want/need out of it. I’m not selling anything, but I hope to at some point. Like you, my time, energy, and expertise isn’t free. If y’all are too busy to tell me what you want out of a crm (as the input I’ve gathered tells me that my solution would be even better if it were wrapped in its own crm), then that’s all good. Nobody’s forcing you to participate. I just want to know what you guys want, that’s all.
I don’t know if you’ve ever worked on an obsession like I tend to, but here’s an example. I restored a cb750 several years ago. I worked on it all night, often foregoing sleep because I “had to finish this part”. Once it was done, I took a break, caught up on sleep/family time, and felt a sense of “relief”. Did I give it away? Lol. I’m sure you wouldn’t either. I spent the time, energy, and money on it. As far as software goes, my expertise isn’t free. Out in the job market, it’s not even cheap. Of course I’m protective of what I’ve spent so much time and energy into. If I were charging somebody else to build this, they’d probably be in over a hundred grand by this point, and they’d need me on staff to maintain it. That being said, I’m sure you all can appreciate the phase I’m in. I’m sure you washed houses for free/cheap in order to learn and build a customer base. I’m giving away this software for free and in return, I hope to get good feedback so I can continue to improve on and add to it.
Brother, I’m not trying to argue with you at all. I’m trying to get you to feed us something that could entice the masses here. You haven’t told us anything about your product. Nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada.
We just want to know what you’re peddling. How can it help us? How does it differ from what’s already on the market?
We don’t need to know proprietary information but we absolutely need some information.
This whole thread is ridiculous. If you’re interested in some testers, just tell us what it’s suppose to do and why it’s better… We don’t need to know how. If it’s something we’re interested in we’ll bite.
He informed me he was a Nigerian prince and that I too could benefit financially if I played my cards right
I kid I kid.
He was very nice and seems to be above board. We chatted for quite some time. His setup currently is basic but sound. The customer factor is what I use and it has way more functionality at this point versus his, but I’m interested to see how it develops. Theres a few of the main apps but none really get us/me where I would like when it comes to ease of use and overall power of the program/app.
Kevin has looked into pressure washing but not ran a business like this so there are some disconnects but he comes from am an analytics background so the more people from this industry that sit down and share what they are wanting in terms of usability, the better. We are all pressure washers but our markets can be so different. It would be interesting to see where our overlap occurs across the board.
Still testing positive and have been put in quarantine away from children and my 7 month pregnant better half. She has been gracious enough to allow me to come home (staying outside of course) and shovel snow at our house as needed…which has been a lot
My old wrestling coach used to tell us “when you’re sick there’s never a better time to do wind sprints in the cold”. I assume shoveling snow is close enough lol
Sounds like he’s definitely still in the D&D phase. Any idea what the “specific thing” that his system does that others don’t? Getting any sort of info on this one is like pulling a wolverine’s teeth.
My competition I’m friendly with who started the same year bought a plow truck for that winter. Very light snow year and it almost financially crippled him right out of the gate. It cost him at least as much as I put into the business that next summer and both of us were probably more leveraged than we’d like to be.
This next year I’m going to offer snow roof removal and possibly Xmas lights and see how that goes. Ideally if I can make enough to thrive during summer, I’d prefer to work less and be with family more.
It was a method of up selling or offering other services. We chatted about that for a while. It’s definitely offered on other apps. He’s got some gaps with knowledge because he hasnt ran a company, but his knowledge is good and his heart is in the right place. I’m interested to see where it goes.
We don’t get anywhere near the amount of snow that you do, and not nearly in the quantities that you do, and snow removal is a cut throat business around here. Everyone with a truck has a plow and they are doing driveways for like $25 and salting.
Guy I know does a lot of commercial removal. He says that the big lots (plowing) are really tight bids, and that one bad winter will bankrupt the majority of the bidders. They all place their bids then pray it doesn’t snow at all.
