jeffex11

I started a new business venture for Jan 09 to generate (hopefuly) some winter income www.ecyclemytv.com I can use the truck and trailer I already have . we'll see .....

I have a lawn maintenance business tht spawned off of my pressure washing business because of the demand for home services I encountered. My pressure washing business developed from when I used to build decks and fences and wanted to move into it because it was new on the scene and not too much competition. I have always remained somewhat diverse with the services I offer but pressure washing is a high profit margin for me and takes priority for my time. When I was building decks I had to compete with pricing by unscrupulous employees of builders who would steal the materials from their employers accounts and just charge labor + a little for the lumber. Thats what helped me decide to not have all my eggs in one basket. Whatever the situation for me this year I am ready to take on the challenge. A few warm days and I will likely get some calls as people realize spring is right around the corner. The tax return helps generate home inprovement work as well. I'm just glad I'm not in California and Kansas where they suspended the tax refunds due by the state!!!!

well I hope your right!!Has your phone been ringing or is that a prediction for the season? my game plan is to stick to my pricing and business plan. My costs have gone up and I can't afford to compete with lower prices. I'll chase the customer who can afford my services and be patient for them to call!!!! I have a diverse selection of home services I provide and can make adjustments to the work I chase !

I rely heavily on repeat customers ,referals and my website for business. Usually by now my customers from 2006 have called to "get on the schedule" but not one call......I have another business that I anticipated more demand for and spent time this winter building a web site and will try and grow that customer base. Pressure washing is IMO a postponable service and things may be slow this year.

I stopped by to check on some prices for 2009 to prep for pricing this year and much to my suprise my deck stain is up $5 per gal from the last purchase i made in 2008 . In a rough economy I don't know how business will be this year and this is tough to absorb. Gas is down but it is not a big expence compared to the stain. I'll hope for a big spring sale and buy in quantity I guess or I will have to raise prices in a tough economy

the only real adjustment I can make as a solo opperator is to raise prices to recover cost increases or take less profit and eat cost increases. I have a lawn business as well and I am going to push sales in that for the first time in many years as pressure washing is a postponable service . I will not panic since my income is diversified but there is apoint where I will sit at home and drink beer rather than work just to break even . I can afford to wait out the economy rather than set my pricing back 10 years. Many of my customers are repeat and call every 2-3 years for deck cleaning . My plan is to stick to my price per square foot of the last 2 years and tack on the additional cost of stain based on my records from their last service.

hyper-inflation is usualy the case after a period of deflation. The thing that is saving us is the global deflation of many economies that depend on the US to buy their stuff. Many other countries held our debt as well and have taken that hit too. I was al little worried last year at this time and had a great year . This year will be a test of our business skills.

My recycler went from free to $25 to recycle a tv...dumped the idea for now .. I'm going to apply for an Obama grant to let the gov. pay me to recycle electronics

usually by now I have some calls from people wanting to be first in the spring for deck cleaning but none so far. they are usually previous customers who know to book early. For the past 4 yrs I have even had some work I couldn't finish before the weather got too cold from the previous year. Not so this year. Not a good sign of things to come but it could turn out to be a great year as well...who knows

i'm going to bid my usual price per sq. ft and add the $5 per gal on the estimate for the # of gallons. I do not itemize on the estimate or bill ..just the final labor and materials price. the simple fact is last years pricing may have been at a peak! I will do what I always do. Let the season and demand dictate my pricing . I may steer towards house washing more if I miss too many bids. there is some wiggle room on my pricing for deck work but at some point I'll just have to concentrate on other work. eating $20 or $25 bucks is not a big deal if I can get last years pricing but all that will remain to be seen! There is more of a threat of lowballers trying to supplement thier incomes and break into the business due to the #'s of layoffs driving prices down.

Olympic stain 3yr or 5yr went up $5 a gallon from last Sept. An average job for me takes 4-5 gallons or so and that has to be passed on to the customer.

I'm sure its across the board due to transport costs and reflective of the price of oil when the stuff was made. I just hope for a sale as I am a litle uneasy about the start of the season as pressure washing is postponable as a service

I just got done checking out the thread on the deck in the bahamas!!! I'm available too! Pay my expences and I'll work for free!!!!!!

I'm startin' to get worried ..no offers yet!

thanks ! nothing ventured , nothing gained !

16 years of doing pressure washing and I only have a few horror stories. I count my blessings. My time and sanity is worth more than the $125 she ripped me off for. I can appreciate your advice at showing up at her place of work and getting some satisfaction. the satisfction I got was to cash that check and put it out of my mind. Sooner or later it will happen to us all . To me that was a $125 lesson learned about keeping my sanity in the face of ignorant people. I also have a lawn business and I run into people all the time who want me to cut their lawn just one time to get it under control. I tell them they have to pre-pay me and they get defensive. i tell them I'm NOT a creditor and don't want to have to HOPE to get paid just for a few extra bucks. They say I thought you'd need the extra money. I have learned over many years of working many hours that my time away from working and worrying about business is worth something too. I just tell them I just don't want to be wasting my time hoping to get paid and the anger that scene can cause. pay up front or cut ti yourself. They usually pre-pay even after all that. Some would call me a sucker for giving up on the $125 ......I used to see this lady fairly regularly in my area and at the local Panera bread at lunchtime. Not since she ripped me off have I seen her. Is she avoiding me? who knows or cares but when I see her I will wave and smile . She know she ripped me off and I can hold my head high and be the bigger person. that $125 is what heart attacks are made of IMO

The guy is a local cable TV host and I used to watch his program.... used to...I can't help but laugh every time I picture the look on his face as he got bit. I handle some very pickey and demanding customes but arrogant and condecending are out with me! I welcome the pickey but they are at least fair in their critique of my work and most will let you know up front in the negotiation process. Another lady ( realator) had me do her deck every year for 4 years and left her house open on the day I scheduled. I didn't actually meet her until the 4th year . I would do the work and leave a bill . I usually would get it in the mail 3 or 4 days later. She moved to a new house and the deck had coats of awful reddish stain. I gave her a new price and did the work in 2004. 3 years later she called again and our price was $25 more than the last time at $625 . Her nieghbor had gotten a price from me 3 yrs ago but never called. she used a different guy . I got a call from my long time customer stating she didn't think my bill would be so high. I reminded her of our conversation noting that I had price increases on stain and fuel costs. She then told me the neighbor said we were only there a few hours and she didn't think it was worth the money for a few hours. I replied "well , how does your deck look?" she said "it looked good , we always do a good job" whats the problem I said I didn't know we agreed on how long it was supposed to take me. She told me the neighbor got some guy to do hers for $475 and would I match that......I explained to her how would she feel if she were selling me a house and said at settlement time ..oh by the way my friend got the realator fee for less than the 5% they agreed on so I was only going to pay her 4% ....long pause from her and she said she would think about it. She sent me a check for $500 . I cashed it and crossed her off my list. Not worth the effort . Its sad because she used to call me with rush jobs for sellers trying to get their decks done to lock in a sale and I accomidated her. Now the cheaper guy in her area got out of the business. I know this because some other people who left me and went to him called me back because they couldn't reach him any more. I try to leave the door open for customers who price shop to come back. This lady is just one who chose arrogance as a way to deal with me and she's gone as far as I'm concerned.

Oh it feels good to vent! First of all my horror story doesn't compare to yours because I got paid in full. here goes...This customer came to me on a referral. I gave them a price to wash their large house fall of 06 and all went great. They wanted their deck done the following spring 07. I gave them a price and April 2 we scheduled the work . It snowed that day and we pushed it back a week. I had called them in March to make contact and let them know they would be first on our list weather permitting. "GREAT" see you then she was happy to here from me. April 9 we show up and things began to look bad. She had intertwined a prized rose vine through the railings and pickets on 2 sides just last week. I told my wife to stop unpacking equipment and informed the homeowner we could NOT powerwash he deck and NOT damage the prized rose vine. Now this is a grown woman in her late 40's and she begins to cry and storms in the house. My wife and I are at a loss wondering how supposedly intelligent people believe they can intricately feed a vine through the railings and expect us to wash and stain around it! Just about that time here she comes with a step ladder and some pruning sheers and threatens to cut it all off!!! My much smarter than me wife , signals to me to get the F out of there but NO I had to be the hero. "Wait , Mrs XXXX , let me see if I can un do as much as I can" What an IDIOT I was. She was soooo happy we could do that . My wife shot me a look that would kill but but pitched in and things began to look up. We got the job done and were glad to be done... so we thought. Now some back info... They picked out the color and it was noted on the invoice from the estimate . The base of the prized rose vine was at the base of each 6x6 support of the deck and I said to the lady I thought the stain may kill her plant . She approved my decision to leave a small area unstained at the base of the 6x6 on the plant side . I pushed more dirt up around it to hide the bare spot. It looked great !!!!GREAT!!! SHE SAID and handed us a check... 2 hours later her husband calls and is pizzed!! she had apparently called him at work and told him we had refused to do the deck and he was mad that I had upset her!!!. I paitently listened as he told me it was the wrong color and he demended I stain the small spot behind the rose vine for all the money he had paid. I calmly gave him my version of the days events without accusing his lovely wife of being a F'n lunatic and offered to come out on Sunday to talk it over with him. I showed up on what was Easter Sunday and pushed back the dirt and put a dot of stain on the area behind the root. I made a show of looking things over and he was satisfied. His tone had changed and he was even appologetic for his call and respected me for my composure and calmness. I explained I had been doing this for a long time and I was trying to do the best job I could . The entire time I had his money in my pocket he had paid me and If my very long fuse got lit by this arrogant sole I was going to take great pleasure in throwing it up in the air and yelling "refund " .... didn't happen. The family dog gave me my pleasure for all my BS eating with this guy though... you se the dog was under the deck and he needed to get it out so he could leave and the dog wouldn't budge. He yelled at the dog and reached under the deck and tried to grab it. CHOMP! the dog bit him and I had to turn away so he couldn't see me LMFAO . He ran inside and I called for the dog myself and it came to me. I patted it on the head and ran my a$$ to my truck and bolted. His wife call this year early and left a message for me to do the house again. 2 more calls and my wife picked up the phone and told her I wouldn't be able to do that. I was glad she showed some restraint because she wanted to strangle her if she ever saw her again. Still ..we did get paid but I would have paid $ NOT to eat sooo much sh^%

deckscape is crap! I was a big fan of UV sunblock from sherwin williams its predecessor but the new VOC compliant deckscape lasted only a few months before it faded in my experience. I re coated 3 decks on my own dime to keep good customers. I love my sherwin williams store but I don't use their deck stains any longer !

good yr for me although the TV scared people about the sky is falling economy and it slowed at the end. I did get 2 calls for large jobs but I had work already scheduled and they didn't want to wait for next season. this year I got larger jobs from more affluent people and they don't feel the pinch like others. 2009 should be fun to see where this whole economy thing goes.

April to October for me as well. I did the last deck of the season last monday and it was 87 degrees. Frost this week!

true, oh so true . not everyone has the same weather and socio-economic conditions. For me, i love the GAME of customer relations and selling a service I believe in. The last thing I want to do is try and work in cool or cold weather . I like to make my $ while its warm and shut it down until next season.

I just bid on 2 large jobs today that I recomended they wait for April due to the large scale of the work. I may loose them but the fact is I can't fit them in any way so I was honest with them about my schedule. I have room left in my season for a few smaller jobs but I like to be done by mid Oct. Seems like the last 5 yrs I have been doing this.. selling work for the next season in advance. It helps wondering about the start of next season when you have a few jobs booked already! good business practice my friend

for my pricing plan the product that gives 2-3 yrs of looking good and beading water that is stripable in a water cleanup formula. I would lean towards ease of use as that keeps my per sq. ft price reasonably affordable. The majority of my price is labor & equipment costs. Some of the products that claim longevity can be a bi%c& to strip and that costs money in the long run. Selling deck maintenance is my goal. I like the "3 peat customer".. every 3 years I can count on their call. I already know the sq.ft. age and my log of time on the job and gal. of use so its just a matter of scheduling the work. Slight increases in price to reflect inflation and cost increases are not balked at and its an easy sell!

I like to come here on this site for just the thing Jeff posted about. What is different and what can I sell in my own business. I have not made a nickle proving my methods to a sole on this site. I have however, made a few bucks by learning and adapting techniques and chems to my business plan. This yr. i added HD-80 and somple cherry to my chems . I believe you could do house washes with a good pump to apply chems to house , a few ladders and a extension pole and some brushes. VERY low overhead. some still sell "hand stained " decks. They try and tell a customer it does a better job. Not my cup of tea.. I'm a sprayer ..but if it works for your busines then git er done!!!!