PressurePros

One day to clean, one day to stain. We'll have the whole house washed in one day. They aren't asking you hours, they want to know when they can expect results. The biggest dilemma in the contractort versus homeowner saga is often the completion date. Answer with one of the above and it is unlikely they will question further.

Do test spots on the verticals. That's whats going to kill you if the stain won't budge. Don't use anything with methylene chloride unless you like pain. It can go either way. Sometimes its a mildly difficult strip sometimes its: http://www.thegrimescene.com/forums/wood-cleaning-restoration-decks-fences-etc/5021-acrylic-nightmare-kids-don-t-try-home.html On that one we actually had to use methylene chloride in some spots.

Mad, please feel free to make your points. I think you hit the nail on the head. The smart people know that if it sounds to good to be true, it is. There is a reason someone lives in trailer park versus living in a $700,000 home. that's not meant as disrespect, it just is what it is. People need to be able to afford the luxury of peace of mind that I provide to them. Kevin, by undercharging I mean offering a service at a price that will not sustain their business. These guys sell on price hoping to get volume. The problem is volume means advertising. When they realize they are not the big business mogul and they have worked hard and made no money they either cut corners and eliminate insurance, chemicals and quality control or they go out of business. Either or, both are a detriment to the industry.

Dan, the majority of my customer database has at least one car in the driveway that I know would cost $1000+ per month to lease. They aren't afraid to spend money. The only difference is they won't spend that money on someone they don't trust to deliver the goods. If you walk in with a $250 housewash mentality, that's what you are going to get. In fact, if your esteem is low and you think that's all your service is worth, you may not get hired at all. That's not because, contrary to popular opinion, you're priced too high. It's because you created a conflict in the mind of the homeowner. How can this guy be saying licensed, insured and tout high quality yet be so cheap? Talk to guys that are finally breaking into the $400+ range for house washing and ask them about their closing ratio.

We are in the process of domain transfer for the ***** website to a new server. Once I get the files successfully uploaded, we are adding a message board and chat room to that site. Ironically, chat rooms seem to be the flavor of the week so the timing is perfect. We will be announcing the formal dates for a three night chat where contractors will have the opportunity to speak out on the issues that concern them. These chats will absolutely determine the direction of the ***** and begin the focus for our formalized business plan so everyone is welcome to attend and speak their peace. This topic is obviously a hot one so bring your agenda and we'll all discuss an effective strategy for making some real strides.

Dan, I can't put a time frame on the demise of the industry but one only has to look at the industries of painting and lawn care. It really depends upon exactly what has been said above. You have to set yourself apart. If I do splash and dash apartment repaints or focus my business around grass cutting. Yeah, I'm doomed. Same story if I focus my business around driveway cleaning or quick housewashes sold for a couple hundred bucks. Ron mentions a 400% growth expectation in PW'ing. The majority of that growth will probably come from homeowners hiring cleaning contractors. That will quickly create supply and demand issues. Depending upon your business model that can be your demise or become a cash cow. There will always be the hacks that see the market as a big one but get into it as cheaply as possible with no real business sense. These guys will sell on the Walmart dream of high volume. This is why I constantly stress chasing the higher end of the market. The Florida guys speak loudest about the lowballers and complain about losing bids to hacks. Why? They put themselves in the fray of competing with those guys. Yet you have guys like Don Phelps that stay successful. I'm sure Don loses some bids to idiots but by the same token, one doesn't expand their company and spend thousands of dollars on a vehicle wrap if they aren't making money.

I'm on the fence. Licensing will only work with tough enforcement and more than a smack on the wrist for violation. That's where the issues arise. A crooked business owner is going to weigh his averages. Here are the facts: • A company is breaking a federal law to send water down storm drains. Thousands of companies do it everyday and will continue to do so. The fine is steep but again it doesn't stop a person that doesn't care and figures he will slip through the cracks. • You risk a raid by the DOL and INS if you if you hire illegal aliens. I read an article that mentioned a number of 15 million ilegals working in the US every day. Wow! Here is an old article about Walmart hiring cleaning contractors that employed ilegals: Wal-Mart Raids by U.S. Aimed at Illegal Immigrants STEVEN GREENHOUSE / NY Times 24oct03 Scan the article and take notice of this: "This is the result of almost a four-year investigation. We're a law enforcement agency, and we're going to enforce the laws." Four years? More proof that our government is not the most efficient machine in the world. Here was a large scale operation that probably cost taxpayers hunreds of millions of dollars. Is it unrealistic to think the government can make a dent in this epidemic? They certainly aren't going to waste resources tracking down small companies that hire ten illegals to cut grass or pressure wash residences. Again, I am on the fence with the issue. I look at PW licensing in the same vein as gun control. The only people that comply are the honest ones. Without enforcement the end result could very well be that we get what we wish for and add more operational expense. This just makes it harder for us to compete with companies that ignore silly little federal laws like the Clean Water Act (CWA) and The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA). Those guys will now laugh their way into the hearts of the homeowner because they now have even less overhead and can continuously undercut a legitimately operating company. I am more with Jim on this and favor certification. (Jim, mark your calendar) I understand what the goal of everyone that strongly favors licensing. I believe there is a different route to take than letting the government have another finger in our business. I think we all agree that the government can pass laws. I think we can also agree that the government cannot enforce those laws with diligence. So what can be done? Food for thought. Licensing does not mean a company is qualified to perform the work they sell. Lets face facts. Guys have been writing "licensed and insured" on their trucks and print materials for decades. Do you know how many homeowners ask me if I have a license to operate or ask to see my insurance certificates? Almost zero. Yet, there are a million articles/check lists out there that tell consumers what to look for before hiring a contractor and one of them is always to check license and insurance. Why does no one do that? (PS: PA requires no state licensing but I spend nearly $700 per year on municipality/city licenses) This makes every license I have to operate nothing more than a tax. A national agenda can be undertaken to combat this situation via a marketing campaign. Huh? Let me explain. Whenever a person has a problem, you first get to the core of it. Why do we want licensing? My answer: Because I want to ebb the tide of hacks that undercharge and vandalize properties. I think that's what we are discussing right? I tend to go by real world business models. Licensing: not really working. Many states already require PW'ing companies to be licensed. Has it changed anything in your area? Telling people to ask for insurance certs and licensing: not really working. Here's the whopper: Check to see if the BBB (Better Business Bureau) has given the company a good rating. Well blow me down, people do this every day by the millions. Your feelings about the BBB as a business owner are irrelevant. People think the BBB is a government watchdog agency. They trust the BBB. Why? Because the BBB has marketed themsleves that way. Period. I'm going to stop there as I have ideas that I am not ready to expose that I think will accomplish more in one maneuver than we could spend the next five years discussing the merits of licensing.

Tim, neither hold up well. Of the two I would choose Messmer's because it finishes nicely.

Good stuff guys. Mike, thats the perfect way to follow up with a customer. I can't meet with everyone especially where my business is at today. The only reason I have a decent closing ratio when I leave an estimate is because of the follow up call. You lead in with asking them if they have any questions and it usually turns into a conversation. This is an important tool for guys that don't like doing face-to face sales. You'll close at least a third to a half of your quotes with a follow up call. You are right, Mike, it shows you care about the customer and parlays to the customer that you are a real business person.

Greenbacks show appreciation better than hugs.

LOL.. you geek. I'm a bigger geek for laughing. Its so true though.

Pete, TheProSealerStore You'll get it fast (probably this week) and packaged well. TPSS is a vendor member here. Check to make sure they carry that particular product though.

Jamie, I would check with that Pierce guy at Ready Seal to make sure the products can survive the freeze/thaw cycles it has probably gone through.

If you call the toll free number (I don't know it offhand) you should reach Suzi in the office. If I were you and had a job booked, I'd order another tub from Scott over the weekend. You should have it by Weds depending on where you are located. When you get a hold of Suzi have her refund your payment.

Dan, those stats are important. You know my thoughts.. everything you do that pertains to your business has to be measured in ROI. You have a young company so you can afford the drive times perhaps. I'm at the point now, anything over 30 minutes away I turn down or refer out. As you grow in volume you will want to do the same, I'm sure. The only thing I wil hit the road for is an ipe deck and those average in the $2000 range.

That's typical for aussie oil. EFC should take it off but sometimes the tung oil in ATO is a difficult strip. Have HD-80 on hand.

Andrew, goin well here. Glad to be through the winter. How about yourself?

The search function will tell you all you need to know, guys.

Wow, you weren't kidding.. awesome.

Sometimes the stripper will sit on the surface of a multiple layer or acrylic containing coating. After a quick pressure wash, there may still be some residual coating and that remaining stripper is just enough to continue emulsification. If that makes sense.

I was just teasing Ron.. looks like fun. I just went in there and saw you and plain there but no discussion.

Somebody should let Bob know his company has a chat now :winking:

Filled all of my tanks this morning at $2.38. Hoo-rah. That sure beats the $3.15 I was paying six weeks ago. What are some of the average prices around the country you guys are paying? The season is slowly drawing to an end for us. Eight more PW'ing jobs booked and 2 call for estimates this week. It looks like I am going to be a little off for September but my YTD is up. I have to do a numbers analysis to see what is going on at the bottom line as I did have to increase marketing dollars a bit this past season. How is everyone doing when compared to previous years?

I stole this from another board. Its self explainatory and I have read it six times. Its a perspective we all often forget. ______________________________________________________________ I usually lurk a lot here because I am not technically a contractor in the same field as you, but this thread seems to have some folks struggling and I am hoping it's okay that I logged in. I am a contractor of marketing and communications materials as well as being a home owner having a lot of work done. So maybe I can offer you a perspective to help the discussion. Here's hoping anyway, and if I am out of line, I will understand being deleted. When people use the term 'quality' to sell it comes across as a bit airy fairy except in a few instances. There is an absolute science to how words are used with various customers and you usually won't see the word 'quality' used unless you are talking very high end items with great reputations. It's those reputations that allow them to market as they do because people already know their names and what they do. If one of you comes to my house to quote a job for me and you tell me you offer quality work, I am here to tell you that the last 3 guys said the very same thing. It is a weak selling point because (as already noted) it means different things to different people and no one is going to freely admit they don't do quality work (they'll tell you the other guys don't easily enough though). It's also impossible to quantify. What is the benchmark of quality? That's what the homeowner needs to know. Think how you buy things that you aren't completely familiar with (because you probably are selling to people who are doing things they either have never done before or very infrequently before...your GC's know what they are looking for already and they are a different sell). A computer for instance. Do you go with 'quality' or do you go with whether it suits your use and budget first? Are you even interested in how many gigs it has or more whether it will do all you want it to do? Do you care if it has bluetooth this and that or do you just want to use a wireless keyboard? After you find the benefits you want then you start asking the feature questions to narrow it down. The trick in marketing is selling benefits first. So that's not features because unless someone is really knowledgable, they don't care about the features that much. They care about what it (the feature) means to them. So, instead of telling them you use better paint, you tell them what better paint will do for them. It's more depth of colour, a smoother finish, withstands marks and scuffs or cleaning, takes few coats or whatever it does. That, they understand, but they probably don't understand why Venetian Red in Ralph Lauren is a nightmare compared to the same red in another brand at another price unless someone tells them. They won't understand why they can't get a colour matched in a $20 gallon instead of paying $35...unless they are told how it benefits them. They don't care if it's easier for you, they care you will require less time/cost to finish, will give them a better result, etc. They know they have heard from friends that the cheaper brand works great, you don't need primer, etc. and so on, but until someone points out the difference, they have no scale to measure things with. Just reading the thread, so much of 'features' have been mentioned but it doesn't seem the benefits are being laid out for the HO. Explaining in benefits to them can really help both you and them. If they can afford it, they will pay for something they see as useful or important to them. The ones with some experience may be totally relieved to have all the ups and downs explained because they've already seen what can happen. The newbies deserve the education. Truth be told, between all the TV shows and nightmare stories people have, most are on the defensive when starting any work with contractors they are so afraid of being taken advantage of. Having someone walk in and explain why things are best done a certain way that they can associate with their lives can be a real relief. The drawer glide example was a good one. I have shopped for those lately and had no idea..they are all metal, some are heavier than others, they vary a lot in price. For my silly little house I was thinking of going with the cheaper ones until one salesperson finally pointed out I'd be fighting with the drawer everytime I opened it, they would probably break in no time, harder to install, not worth the frustration. Now that I needed to know. Had he said 'well these aren't as good as those' would have been pretty useless info to me (somewhat effective, but still not very specific). Other times I had looked I was basically told they were pretty much all the same, just priced differently, pick some and lets go ring 'em in. So, from ignorant of what to buy to being completely willing to buy the best without question all because someone had educated me. I would suggest that when you are speaking with potential clients you leave out the 'quality' and tell them why your work/product is going to work better for them. Examples: experience = fewer worries for the customer as you know how to handle the work and any surprises that show up, a track record of happy customers higher price = no surprises at the end, all quotes are in writing so you know what you are paying for with no additional costs unless the scope of the work changes, job gets done right the first time and to their specifications better materials = more professional look/finish, better warranty, less likelihood of problems or breakdowns, better feel (you can actually 'feel' when something is quality other times you only know over time) customer service = jobs are done without hassle, total cleanup, won't take longer than necessary, willingness to communicate with customer professional = on time, on schedule, on budget, fully insured, I hope you get the idea. Figure out why you or your work are better quality but tell the customer in a way that appeals to them. It's called WIIFM (what's in it for me). It's the very first thing all advertising does (well good advertising). It's not look what this car is made of, it's look how cool you look in this car, or how much stuff you can haul that comes first, then they get into the why's/features. I can also tell you from some recent experience getting quotes that one high end (allegedly) place gave me an off the cuff type quote and when I asked what was covered all I got was an attitude of we're good enough that we don't have to explain, you just have to know we are using the best of everything. You know what, they may be, but they aren't doing my house. I'm not stupid. I am not inclined to deal with smug attitudes even if I can afford it. I sure am not giving anyone carte blanche to go work away without telling me what materials I am paying for or how much experience they have. So they say they are quality, but I have no idea if their definition is the same as mine and they are crazy to be using that as their sole selling feature IMO. On the other side was a quote a few years ago from a painter that was obviously out of my league for the job I had. He did get a call though when he was needed as we knew why he was the price he was and it was that expertise that was needed. No surprises, he was more thorough than imagined, and he stated that up front and why he felt it was worth the effort and expense. You don't mind paying more when you have been educated that way. On that note, it isn't very often he would be called for a job that was beneath his level (the first time with me was a complete fluke). He concentrates on the high end. I would suppose if any of you are running into people who are not prepared for the level you offer, then it might be worth asking yourselves why you are being called. Perhaps your ads or cards or something are not reflecting the type of work you want and are attracting customers you probably don't want to be targetting. If you don't want to be wasting a lot of time quoting on jobs you are probably over qualified for, it's something to look into. Okay, back into lurking and learning. I hope you don't mind my cutting in. _____________________________________________________________ This is probably the best post I have read anywhere all year.

The recent questions about going full time, slowing business trends, and mentions of The "E" Myth have spawned this post. I already know its not going to be short, so grab a beer and come back. There are questions you need to ask yourself daily. • Did I start this business for the right reasons? • Did I develop a sound business plan that promoted growth? • Am I sticking to that plan? • Am I enjoying this business or am I consumed by it? Did I start this business for the right reasons? Did you really look at the statistics of business failure rate? Of one thousand Grime Scene members with less than two years on their belt, 40 potentialy will remain in business in ten years. Nine hundred and sixty of you are going to fail ! (I just made a quick sign of the cross for discluding myself) These numbers reflect a national business average. I am willing to bet this profession has an even higher turnover rate. Obviously no one goes into business to fail, but poor planning and undercapitalization are insidious destroyers of a business. What lured you in? Was it the promise of ditching the boss and working for yourself? Was it the promise of making $100/hr? Did it just look easy and like something you would enjoy? These all can play a role in getting you off the pot and making something happen but if any of those are your real reason for starting, all you really did was start your business with one foot in the grave with your other foot on a banana peel. Did I develop a sound business plan that promoted growth? Business plans are obviously crucial. Don't have one? I think you know which corner I am going to point you to. Please go stand with the other 960 candidates. If you have a business plan in your head and 'wing it' as you go. Take one step closer to that morgue-bound crowd. If you do everything you can and project profit by taking "whats left over".. shake hands with the corpse next to you. If you plan on staying laborer, salesman, estimator, bookeeper and secretary.. there is an empty table in the autopsy room with your name on it. Of course, initially, you will have to be all these things but try sustaining that frenetic pace for a long period..won't happen. Did you buy yourself a job? I hear many guys saying its fine to start off with a 2 gpm machine and a shoestring budget. These guys are the classic "technician" (Gerber's term). They work their ****** off for mediocre pay and are worried about "screwing" people. They are classically the nicest guys you wanna meet and they work til they drop. They undersell themselves on profit, defy F.M.V of service, may have one helper and have no plans of growing beyond a comfort zone. I am willing to bet that almost all of these same guys that give the low budget advice are still working in the field eeking out a decent living but not going anywhere (some are happy with that) If I wanted comfort and stagnation I would have stayed in the corporate world. I am not trying to be mean or judge the way anyone runs their business. My goal is to make you ask yourself.. am I a business entrepreneur or a job owner? Entrepreuners continually seek and execute new ways to make more profit. Job owners put their time in, make their living and are uninterested in growth. The problem with a job owner is, all his eggs are in one comfortable basket. If his market sours, his business and liveliehood are in major jeopardy.. Am I sticking to the plan? Are you faithful to the plans you have set? Do you stick to budgets or does the emotional excitement of building a new rig become your controlling source? Does your marketing effort jump haphazardly? Have you faced your weaknesses (mine is paperwork) and set about a plan to compensate for this? A bad salesman will never become a good salesman without guidance. Have you sought that guidance yet? Have you really achieved each level of growth upon which you planned? At the same time are you dynamic enough to respond to changing markets? Can you weather adversity or again, are all your eggs in what you think is a comfortable basket? Am I enjoying this business or Am I consumed by it? Ahh, this one hurts. Business excites me. Sales excites me. Negotiations. Maneuvers. Markets. Numbers. Analysis. Marketing campaigns.. blah blah blah. If you want to talk any of these with me be prepared for long conversation. Sometimes it is hard for me to separate myself because business ownership does not stop at 5 pm every day. I love it. Its probably an addiction becuase it is a constant source of adrenaline. I also face the fact that at the pace I am going right now, I am facing problems that can spiral quickly. I have tried to pull from field work. I have allotted more time with my children and Christine. Though I am enjoying what I am doing and it is for the benfit of my children and personal retirement, knowing when to unplug is the last crucial element of being a successful business owner. This is the one upon which I have to work harder.