So I’m pretty new to the industry. I’ve washed lots of houses but i’ve noticed the business in my area need a good wash. How do you guys go about getting jobs like at say KFC, drug stores, gas stations, etc. would the manager be the one to go to or would i need to find the building owner or even the corporate office? Thanks!
An overwhelming majority of them are handled by an NSP or a “service provider.” It’s a large company that handles all of the mowing and building maintenance for them. They just sub contract it to guys like us. Unless the manager calls cooperate and they follow through with asking the NSP it will never get done.
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Yes, yes, yes as well as what @SchertzServicesLLC said. It is all over the board. I have 2 restaurants that I deal with the GM, 1 restaurant that I deal with owner, a chain of banks I got by walking in and talking to branch manager that led to their in-house faculties manager calling me and now I do all 24 local branches while a commercial property management company account I got through a direct marketing e-mail to them.
Just walk in and start talking to the head person on site. Learn what the process is for them and pursue it.
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I washed windows for a few KFC’s back in the day. Corporate is notoriously tight and the managers actually paid out of their own pocket as they were frustrated about inspections and didn’t want to rely on higher up’s approving the funds.
I also subbed for a guy that did the janitorial with a couple dozen bank branches. When another bank bought them out, his whole contract got wiped out as they ‘clean house’ when merging.
You’ll make more money washing houses than you will gas stations and fast food restaurants.
I’ve been trying to get CVS’s for a year. They’re all disgusting and it’s a losing battle. They don’t care.
Factories, hotels, apartments, townhome communities, and HOAs. Those are best way to earn $7-$10k+ for 3-4 days of work.
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Before the recession they was a local guy that did all the cvs or Walgreens in the state . Took his crew two months. 4 times a year .they waited until he was done before the told him were broke your not getting paid. Pretty much put him out of business. They were paying $385 at the time. A few years back they were ready to get them cleaned again. After several years . They were cold calling pressure washing companies. Offering $85 
sad thing is they probably found someone. I consider my self to be on the cheaper side compared to others and I couldn’t touch that offer or even twice that .
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Checkers did about the same thing to a local guy . Stiffed him pretty good.
It is a matter of finding the right commercial jobs.
I have one restaurant that takes me 1 hour 30 minutes and I make $350. I have another restaurant that takes me 1 hour 10 minutes and I make $250.
I have some banks that I do the drive-thru lanes only for a flat fee of $100 a branch. Some branches only have 2 lanes some have 6 lanes. Average is 3.5 lanes and takes 1 hour 20 minutes. The reason I continue to do these, is guaranteed money every month and I get quite a bit of side work from them - building washes, parking lot striping/curb painting, etc that does pay well. I balance the good with the bad on this one and it is more good than bad.
I had a Burger King that wanted me to do a two-lane drive-thru (about twice as long as a regular drive-thru) sidewalks, awnings all for $300. It would have taken 4 hours. I walked on it.
Just have to explore, build relationships and see what makes sense for you.
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I couldn’t believe how little CVS cared. Lol I can’t remember the exact wording, but it was essentially “we might just paint over it 10 years.”
Both examples of why you have a contract on commercial jobs. You can always put a lien on them or take them to court to collect.
CVS doesn’t care about a legal contract dispute. They probably settled with the guy for a fifth of what he was owed because he couldn’t afford to fight it.
Contracts mean nothing . No way your lean will stick they way the companies are structured. They know how to protect them selfs. The property/ Buisness/ contractor that hired you are all different corporations.
If they don’t want to pay you you will not get paid .
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I clean the home of a guy the owner 11 checkers and oversees 60. He offered me the stores . Current guy gets $175 
. That’s all they pay he said . Corporate decided that’s all it worth. On the upside they clean them every month.
99% of the time I won’t even hook up the trailer for less than $300. And that’s for no more than 9-noon or 1:00-4:00.
That is a conundrum right there - $175 x 60 locations is $126K a year. Yeah not great per unit price but the entire enchilada is attractive still leaving you time to do other jobs. Just that contract plus other work could put you $175K a year or more. Not bad in my book.
Yeah but you can do that washing houses and be off by 1 PM or two every day +2 decent size commercial jobs per quarter
With zero overnights.
When you focus on the potential income you tend to ignore the potential loss.
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Thanks for all the info guys! There’s more to think about than i thought on this.
I did the math on it back then it was somewhere in the 30k profit range before any parts or equipment get replaced
Wow - from $126K you are only netting $30K? That does not sound right.
