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bigchaz

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Posts posted by bigchaz

  4. Posted · Report reply

    Charlie,

    I assume your previous post is a response to mine so here goes. You said:

    Yes and No. Depends on perspective. For you being new, I think your mindset and approach is impeccable. After a while, you want to contribute to the betterment of the business. Think about NASCAR for a moment. When I was a kid, car racing was for mechanics. Aside from Indy, car racing was for car mechanics. As that sport slowly gained popularity, good management and PR took it to another level. After that, the marketing pros took over and made it into a national phenomenon.

    PW will never be NASCAR. My point is that by being in this business, you are by default part on this small time fledgling industry.

    You say:

    Wrong, and you may see this in time. Being a contractor involved in this business is by default being part of the PW industry.

    Appreciate the response. I don't mind being a part of an industry, I just consider my business to be controlled by my choices made for the betterment of service for my customers and profitability in my market. We all know PWing and Wood resto differs all through the country so I dont see how this could become some huge national business. I know you do good work for your customers, but do you feel like that contributes to the industry?

    **Edit, although I do do a lot of reading on how all you guys work things in attempt to see what might be best for me. I think its indirectly that we contribute to the industry by helping others succeed and operate professionally

  5. Posted · Report reply

    When you are in this buisness you want to worry about your own image and not everybody else's image.When you are well established and have created your own quality image there should be nothing else to worry about! :cool:

    You have to back up your sales pitch to justify your price and quality of work.

    Thats the way Ive been trying to look at. My work is a reflection on my business and my character, not a reflection on an industry full of people doing the same type of work as me

  6. Posted · Report reply

    Yea I am still really new to this so I may be wrong in my analyses. I just feel like my goal in this business is to be knowledgeable and professional and provide an unmatched quality of work and customer service for my clients. And I agree with all your guys being really good contractors for their business and customers. I guess im either confused or just don't buy into this whole concept of making an image for the industry.

    For instance, everyone seems to be annoyed by this guy doing pressure washing. I think its more of a humor thing, since people like that are always going to be out there. If it makes people look poorly on the industry, it proves importance on the non service side of the business Website, logos, uniform, insurance, proper chems, etc etc. If everyone knew what good wood restoration costs and was willing to pay for it, your going to have the same problems with tons more competition, since all they need to learn how to do is clean and stain some wood.

    For instance, your work is amazing, I love your quality, and your website, and how you run your business. The person that responded to the ad in Craigslist, I would bet isn't your type of customer. Even if they saw your work and ads, the mindset that leads them to respond to the guys craigslist ad, is what would keep them from paying you what you deserve.

    Does that make sense?

  7. Posted · Report reply

    Do guys actually experiance people who as you say have a bad "image" of the PW industry?

    I feel like the majority of the jobs ive done are for people who honestly don't know what the service is supposed to cost. Even those who got their deck done for 100 bucks, something obviously went wrong otherwise they wouldn't be calling me. Plus, someone who actually sees those pics and calls that person expecting a quality job, will never pay what the job is worth, regardless of how strong the industries "image" is

  11. Posted · Report reply

    you can tell that the entire set of pictures at the end is his own house.

    standing on a sawhorse, trashcan on the side of house used for tools, clear trashbags, soda cans on the plastic furniture, red mulch, white rocks, and pictures taken at night????

    No one calls to have their bushes trims, crappy mulch put down, plastic edging installed, and power washing their walkway, and rearrage their plastic furniture.

  12. Posted · Report reply

    Haha thanks guys for voting. I think I realize what you were talking about Anthony. I think I changed my mind 10 times back and forth on some of these logos. At first I really wanted the square one but I ended up going with the circle one. Someone else made a really good point about cutting vinyl and embroidery, which will be much easier with the circle.

    By the way, anyone looking for a great way to professionalize your business, a logo is def great.

    Design Outpost - Graphic Design Firm - Logos, Templates, Print Material, and More is amazing for this. I bid 130 bucks and had probably around 12 different entries. Nothing beats that for the money

    Logoholik is the name of the designer on there who worked with me on a dozen revisions and sent me the files in 10 different formats. I recommend him 100% If you guys want to know more ask me

    Cant wait to get this on biz cards, website, postcards, and apparal!

  13. Posted · Report reply

    If you train them right, two people can do the job in less than half the time of the single person

    IE) One guy starts washing, while one guy is unloading extra stuff and notifying homeowner.

    Then two guys are washing, one guy stops early and starts cleaning up while second person finishing washing. Guy finishing washing while second person is still cleaning up and goes to collect check or depending on nature of job, speak with homeowner about any issues

    One guy alone has to unload, wash full job, clean up, and talk to homeowner.

  24. Posted · Report reply

    Why does everyone assume a spying competitor is a lowballing hacker? It's actually a good idea to know your competition so you can take advantage of their weaknesses. Maybe this person wasn't too good at it and got busted but at least their trying. I have all my competitors written down on a list and I add to it when I see a new company around. I don't have time to sit and watch their techniques or call looking for prices but I'm mostly interested in their advertising methods and areas they target.

    Yea thats a good point. I mean if i was actually experienced to the point where people were calling me for information I'd be glad to help out. Tons of people have been invaluable in giving me information as have all the forums such as this one. But if someone called, Id want them to say they are new and looking for information on starting their business instead of trying to just get prices. Chances are if they are asking for your equipment and pricing, they will just end up lowering everything 5% and go after all your accounts.

    I like the idea of having the competition written down. In fact you might not even consider some of them competition. Like Celeste was saying, if you can develop a good relationship with people in your area they can probably help you out and vise versa. Rodney from this forum contacted me when he saw that I live in his town. Nice guy and I told him right away that doing decks Ive gotten several people ask about house washing. Since i'm specializing in wood care, now that I know Rodney does house washing, I can refer people to him.

    Another idea Ive heard people do, which I imagine is kind of risky if its in your market, is having that new guy come and work a few jobs with you. Might find that they decide the work is too much and they end up not starting a business. Or they see how much work running the business but like the work and you could get a new employee.

  25. Posted · Report reply

    I received a strange phone call for a quote yesterday. A female voice started by asking the standard questions of what I clean, etc. She then started asking me how much I charge to clean driveways, houses, decks, etc. I advised her I would need to see the property to give an exact estimate.

    Frustrated, she then started asking more detailed questions such as my location, what chems I used to clean with, the psi of my machine....and finally GPM(!)...

    Driveways = $20

    Houses = $50

    Decks $49 or 59 if you want top quality thompsons sealer

    Come on you gotta help the competition out!!

    ha

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