PressurePros

The only factor that would come into play would be the cost per gallon. The one day deck would be a superior marketing tool. This can definitely be an industry changer for us. More decks per season, quicker payoffs, and the ability the advertise a one day deck transformation. Many homeownerr/DIY'ers I have spoken with have told me by the time they strip, clean, sand and seal (on weekends) they wait 3-4 weeks to see the finished product. Cabot's is advertising 36-48 months between reseals using their highest pigmented sealer. They are usually fairly conservative, and their R&D is extensive. I am excited about the prospect of these products.

For me, the estimate won't change much. Even on a large deck using tens of gallons the fact that I can return and finish the deck the next day and schedule my work (as opposed to letting it schedule me) will make up for any loss in additional product. But your question poses a good one.. is a customer willing to pay more for a deck that can be done start to finish in 24 hrs? The only problem I foresee is that Cabot's recommends two coats for maximum durability with a dry time of a few hours between coats. This is usually not a problem if deck is big enough as by the time you finish sealing the deck the beginning parts will be ready for recoating. Celeste, how soon can you walk on the Flood product? Are these penetrating or film forming?

This guy came up on google. Some decent looking sites if you click on testimonials there are direct links to his designs. There is also a package for about $550 bucks that would seem to be good for our business. http://www.a1co.com/webdesign/ I am not into flash or pizzazz as it just loads down the browser. What do you guys/gals think?

You guys are right on target. In and of itself, without promotion, a website will do donkey. Nothing. But go to a home show, put up an eight foot banner with just your web address, put it on your trucks, your business cards, your brochures etc. Advertise it in the paper, on a cable TV commercial, postcards for direct mail..the list goes on and on. Whenever I see an advertisement for something that interests me I immediately look for a URL. Having a company website is almost as commonly expected as having a phone number these days. With that being said, I better get my butt in gear and get mine up and running.

Here is where you definitely get what you pay for. I have seen all the websites of various pressure washing companies around the net. Some of them look very good and are quite impressive. With that being said and cutting to the chase, most do not look as good as one done by a professional design company. I'm talking about something that goes for at least 3-5 grand though. Most would not deem that worthwhile in terms of the outlay. But I am getting more and more convinced that a properly designed website with easy navigation, a ton of pictures and nice custom artwork and logos is the key to winning someone over and letting them know you are a true exterior cleaning contractor, not a hack with a pressure washer. If you are just starting out, you can get a decent design for about $750 bucks. It will be better than having nothing at all. The WYSIWYG editors like Frontpage, Coffee Cup, and Dreamweaver are all very good programs. You can actually design a nice site yourself but be prepared to spend alot of hours to make something look good. There is a learning curve with all of them. --Ken

Home units = Homeowners light duty (with some grades a little better than others) Skid Units = Serious Contractors If you can repair small engines, pumps, unloaders, drives etc then maybe you can get by with something from Le Depot de la Maison or Sears until you can afford better, but if you are looking for something reliable and you are not a mechanic (me) I would steer clear. How worth it would it be to save $1500 and be down for a day that you have $800 worth of work scheduled? The customers and all his neighbors instantly get a bad taste in their mouth. Just my thoughts..

For the pressure washing end of PressurePros, Inc its two crews of two guys doing restaurants. (I hate that end of the business and am weeding myself out of it) I keep busy doing Comcast Cable collections until the weather breaks. With other business interests included we employ 10 full time, 6 part time.

Now that looks slippery. We have the opposite problem where I live. Last Saturday it snowed three inches per hour and we ended up with 13" very rapidly.. visibility was zero and the airport shut down. Then when you would watch the news reports and see what looked like rush hour traffic at every intersection. Umm, hello, the airport closes for a storm once every ten years, stay the hell home, people! Don't get me started on the clowns with the SUV's that forget its the braking and turning that their oversize, super heavy vehicles have a problem with. I saw many of them in a postion a lot like the photo above.

This may be a little lazy but I am too tired to look for the answer... up to what gpm is an X-Jet rated? Has anyone tried using one with say an 8 gpm machine?

thanks guys

Hmmm, when I bought one I didn't think sizes (especially psi ratings) were a factor. How can you determine which one you have? I get maybe 25 ft of effective spray height. I get a mist of chemical at 40 ft but I always thought when people have said they get 40ft they were full of it. Perhaps I have the wrong size? The X-J is used currently on a 5.5 gpm/3500 psi machine

PA is about $150 per commercial vehicle, $35 per passenger car.

YES! Finally. E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES!

You're right, experience is big. But with experience can come a certain degree of complacency. That's what I'm counting on as the Patriots downfall. The Eagles are hungry and full of heart. It wouldn't be the first time a hungry underdog pulled one off. No matter what happens I'm just glad the birds finally made it to a bowl.

There is no denying the Eagles have their work cut out for them and it is going to take their best game mixed with a bit of luck to pull it off. Here is an excerpt from a good article that sums it up.. The Eagles have an outstanding football team, led by their quarterback, Donovan McNabb. Brian Westbrook is a resourceful, nifty running back. Their defense is excellent, with strength up front, good linebackers and three Pro Bowl players in the secondary, and their kicker, David Akers, is one of the NFL's best. New England can match Philadelphia almost everywhere, except in the defensive secondary. Their backfield is patched up with second-stringers and a wide receiver, Troy Brown, who plays as an extra defensive back in passing situations. The Eagles have three Pro Bowl players -- cornerback Lito Sheppard and the two safeties, Brian Dawkins and Michael Lewis. While the Eagles were trying to knock down the door of frustration from their three straight losses in the NFC championship game, the Patriots have been racing to the threshold of immortality. There's a difference -- a big difference. The Eagles killed their ghosts. The Patriots are looking to be compared with the great football teams of all time -- Vince Lombardi's old Green Bay Packers of the 1960's, the Steelers, who had four teams in the 1970's who won four Super Bowls, the San Francisco 49ers of the 1980's, and the Cowboys, who won three Super Bowls in four years in the '90s. Philadelphia comes out ahead in some matchups. If there was a common draft, I'd take McNabb over Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. But the problem there is, Brady is good enough that it doesn't really make a difference. Brady has been the triggerman on these great teams, and he's at his best in the clutch. He was the MVP of the Patriots' two Super Bowl champions, and he is leading them again this season. The wide receivers, if Terrell Owens comes back, go to Philadelphia by a slight margin. Both offensive lines are good. Brian Westbrook is a nifty back with great receiving ability for the Eagles. But Corey Dillon rushed for more than 1,600 yards in the regular season, and he came up with big plays in the playoffs. Maybe the Eagles win some individual matchups on the front seven on defense, but no defense plays better together than New England's. It stumbled a few times against the Steelers Sunday night, but it made the plays that had to be made -- a goal-line stand in the fourth quarter to force a field goal, and an interception on the next play. Yes, Akers is an exceptional kicker. But Adam Vinatieri has won two Super Bowls with field goals on the Patriots' last play. Here's another way to separate Philadelphia and New England. It's what they did to get to the Super Bowl. Philadelphia beat two flawed teams -- Minnesota in the divisional round and Atlanta Sunday in the NFC championship game. The Vikings had Daunte Culpepper and not much else. They couldn't even run a fake field goal because Randy Moss, their best receiver, had to run off the field when somebody noticed there were 12 men on the field. The Falcons ought to be renamed the Michael Vicks. No team in the NFL depends more on one player than the Falcons do on Vick. Meanwhile, the Patriots reduced Colts quarterback Peyton Manning to an ineffective shell in the divisional round. On Sunday, they faced down the Steelers -- whose 16-1 record was the league's best -- in a hostile environment in Pittsburgh. The Patriots start every game with a three-point advantage because of Coach Bill Belichick. He's the best there is at any sport in this era.

That is not allowed anymore. There is a federal law on the books prohibiting using the post office adress. You can thank the con artists post "911" for that. I'm not saying it is enforced everywhere but in my township it is.

Great post, Rod. I found your information very useful. I am in the tentative stage of having one here. I'm not 100% certain yet and it will depend upon interest. If I do decide to get one together, you know you're phone will be ringing. It's not in my nature to do anything half way so I would want to put together something interesting, entertaining and informative. Do vendors attend these things? I was thinking maybe something along the lines of a three day weekend with events for the family as well as demonstrations and vendor booths. Is this too large of a scale for a roundtable? I know this sounds more like a convention but as I have never attended an organised meting I have many questions.

Beth had mentioned something in a previous thread about motivation. What are your goals for your business? What made you decide to venture into owning a company? I will start things off by defining my own motivations. As I have previously mentioned, I was very disenchanted with corporate life. I don't enjoy paper work nor the depersonalization of doing things by phone. I also like working with my hands. This industry, with its relatively low startup, possible customer base and repeat business potential held much appeal. I keep my business plan realistic and for the time being I make enough to pay the bills. I aspire to become someone that can contribute positively to the business and marketing ends of this business. I don't put a cap on either earnings or growth. I would like to eventually become a household name in exterior cleaning. I also realize that priorities change and at some point I may be satisfied with where I am financially. My number one priority at this point is to maintain a satisfied customer base. I have reviewed franchising but that is a long way down the pike after I have gained the knowlege and credibility to offer someone a profitable turnkey business. I keep God in my life and try to live right. If He sees fit for me to attain my goals, I am willing to do the footwork.

[quote name= Has anyone really paid attention to what they ask at interviews today? A cousin of mine told me that his company takes a potential candidate out to dinner and subtracts points if they salt their food before tasting it....what a joke...I would love to go on such an interview just to fart after dinner and see how many points they take. Andy[/quote] So I guess an appreciative burp and an after dinner cigar or cigarette would be out of the question.

Without being specific there is some misinformation in the above posts. LLC's and S Corps provide the same benefit of pass through taxation. C Corps can get hit with double taxation (unless you drain the entity at the end of the fiscal year). Owners/Shareholders of S corps and LLC's will be held responsible in suit if the business entity is dissolved to escape liabilities (such as being sued for negligence). I preferred to go with an S corp because of the ability to shift shares and ownership without 100 percent shareholder approval. Depending on the state, LLC's also have a limited life span. Some states require an LLC to list a dissolution date in it's articles of organization. I think also if a partner dies in an LLC it can be forced to dissolve. Corporations can be started with one shareholder. Most states require an LLC to have two owners at least. I can't see how having a business entity can help with bad credit (Other than supplying a new credit history I suppose) But initially, credit is just as hard for a business with no history to attain as it is for a person with bad credit to obtain. I'm sure I am missing something here, and I am not the smartest guy when it comes to legal stuff. I looked thorougly into this before starting PressurePros, Inc. Yeah you can go online and file this and that and save a few bucks but if your aspirations are bigger than owning a mom and pop operation you need to consult an attorney. It will cost you about $1200 for an attorney to do all the legwork and write your shareholder agreement and file all necessary paperwork.

With all rails, posts, joists, supports, treads, and risers I am guessing by phto that you have about 3500 sf. The upper deck alone is close to 1000 sf of surface wood if not a little more, not to mention the aggravation factor of working over your head with caustic stripper. To be safe, I would estimate 30 gallons of stain. Here is how I break it down. For a job this size I would discount to $.90/sf + materials. I would then add another $250 for the height and difficulty of top tier. Strip, Ph balance and light sanding $1,550.00 Seal (rails hand rubbed, full prep w/plastic) $1,600.00 Materials $900.00 Extra cost $250 Final cost to customer $4,300. Job would be broken down into 4 days.

Hey John, good morning. The values you mentioned are about right for this area as well. I think the number to look for when buying a Curves is $500 per contracted member. My fiance runs the operation but, if you are willing to run with a little higher payroll, I can't see why your wife couldn't get away with minimal hours away from home and the girls. You were very smart to run away from that deal though. Two lies right out of the bag? Buh bye. We lucked out. The lady that sold us this one was extrememly dedicated and honest. She opened the club in 2000 and really worked the territory. Her client retention rate was phenomenal. We did a very slow and careful transition and she is going to be with us for the next three months as a consultant to keep things smooth. With the current TV advertising and the New Years resolutions we are on target for a thousand member club. If you have any questions about the procedures, corporate policies, etc etc Call me, John. I researched everything to death before venturing into this.

You have to do your homework. I am not a fan of service industry franchises but some franchises are a safer bet. You get instant name recognition, consistency in product quality, unified paper work and often expensive media advertising (all benefits the article outlined as well). As to whether or not you can make money from a franchise after their associated fees... Our Curves franchise has 740 members (700 do automatic withdrawl) with a set monthly operating cost of about $5,500 per month.

Brian, usually you end up getting referred by someone. I just hooked up with a big builder in my area. Funny thing is I called this company and faxed them at least 20 times and never a response. I met up with a painter whom I did some work for, he knew the owner of the company and wham, instant request for a bid from this builder. You have to remember, there are many people that do not venture into this carefuly. They buy a cheap machine and start banging on doors. The building contractors I have built relationships with have all told me their opinion of pressure washing companies is very low. One guy said to me upon first contact, "you guys are a dime a dozen and you never last more than a year" It took awhile before he trusted me enough to say "just do the job and send me the bill" You really have to market yourself in this business. It takes time to have your name known and tossed around with confidence. The first couple of years you barely make enough to pay the bills. Perseverence is the key to making anything work. Don't get discouraged, keep putting your feelers out there. One day you will be turning down jobs and thats a nice feeling.

Add my name to the vote for sales technique. To answer your question, desi, because my costs are amortized per job, the more square footage the cheaper the rate per square foot. I am blessed with working a very desirable area with ridiculous(ly) rising property values. Most homeowner's in this area want quality work and want to feel warm and fuzzy knowing a job was done meticulously. They can get the sticker shock when they shop for the his and her Carrera convertibles.