PressurePros

I appreciate the input very much. So far the one general consensus is the music is not cutting it. One thing about he pans and transitions is that the Youtube version makes them jumpy. I have some good information to make edits. In the interim, John, see if this page will load for you WoodZotic hardwood deck stain and seal for ipe and exotic wood I threw the video up there in streaming format. It loads in about ten seconds for me and is much smoother. I wonder if that will make any difference in impression.

Most of you woodies probably remember the thread and pictures about the ipe deck builder that tried to prep a deck prior to us coming in to stain it. The cost of our prep was built into the project and the story as to why they ended up doing it without my knowlege is not important. I forgot to post the results. The stain job came out okay and all ended well.. other than the contractor paying me for a sanding and repair job of course. Deck was cleaned with Restore-A-Deck to remove any dirt ground into the ipe deck. Here's the before and after.

Jim just leave my products out of it. Your issue is with Russell and/or ESI. Be a man and take those issues up with him directly.

I must be in the twilight zone. Neither of you have any idea how I run my business nor with certainty whom manufactures my products, and certainly not with any certainty what my formula is. Lastly, it is irrelevant. I stand behind my products 100%. They are delivered on time, they perform exactly as I say they do. I didn't sell this product to three people on the internet. Its gone all over the country. I monitor the feedback and watch things closely. I initiate changes when they are warranted. I don't what type of business you (beth and jim) think I run but it is not the same as the other company in question. Final time I am going to ask to discuss this with me privately. I cannot and will not discuss the inner workings of my business on an open internet forum. I think it shows very poor ettiquette to ask me to do so.

Rod, I definitely want honest thoughts on it. Lady in blue dress is a stock photo. She was $6. This is going to blow you away. All of the deck photos except two of mine and one stock shot at the end were submitted by customers. So the results are very replicable. There are some very talented DIY'ers out there. The music I am still up in the air on. I wanted to create drama and pace but I see what you are saying. That tune may not be the one. I'll substitute other tracks in there and maybe post a new link or two. Thanks Rod. I appreciate you taking the time to check out the vid and responding.

Kevin, if you have questions about my products, where they are manufactured and what formulations are used, please ask me directly. Jim has issues with Russell and for some reason feels the need to vent his frustrations on the internet. I'm not going to get into a tete-a-tete discussion online with him.

Guys and gals. Thank you for some great input.. and Beth thank you for imbedding the vid. I couldn't get that to work. Adrian, we are seeking some bricks and mortar retail outlets. I have a few in place and working to expand to all 48 contiguous states.

Scott, do you think it is too long for the web? Yeah the music I have not purchased for use yet as I was unsure about it. I don't think it connotes or brings to mind porn but if that is your reaction, I definitely want to review that. Thanks for the input!

Jim, to clarify, your experiments were done with a different product and that product was mixed with Ready Seal, right? Please think carefully about your answer. I have never sold you a single gallon of product. I cannot have you disparaging or insinuating otherwise. There are plenty of other threads where you can make your feelings about the other product manufacturer known. I ask you as a fellow professional to keep things on the up and up. Feel free to call me or contact me via print and I'd be happy to clarify any questions you have or share the experiences I have had.

hahahaa, John, thats ironic its not even available down there. I imagine, and this is pure speculation, that there was something uniquely Australian about it when it was first made. Probably like you mentioned, a unique oil.

John D, I hear exactly what you are saying. Recession is a word. Yes it has some economic formulas and indicators that point to it happeneing but my feeling is that recessions happen because of the media. At the very least, the media exacerbates the problem. I just got done watching CBS Money Watch and all they discuss is doom and gloom. The president knee jerk reacts with proposed tax relief/rebate (don't know where that is coming from as the US continuously increases its deficit). The idea of a tax rebate is to put it back into the economy via consumer spending. Not two seconds after the story about Amercian households getting this windfall is an "expert" telling everyone to bank it and not spend it. The more people hear these experts telling them what to do with their money the more cautious they are going to get. The herd will follow and people's wallets snap shut. I will still take no jobs more than 15 miles from my yard, raise my prices this year and probably add 100 new customers and another full time truck. The customers I chase don't just stop maintaining their property because of inflation or a slump in the housing market.

Dan, this is a high sun recieving ipe deck. Maintenance has been arranged annually. Using a product like Cabot's Australian Timber Oil on it, we'd probably be there twice per year.

One coat of WoodZotic, applied by mop and hand rubbed.

I don't understand how it cuts into profit margins. You do like UPS does. You tack on an increase and blame the Arab nations and Katrina. If you are smart, you either raise your prices by 3% every year for COL and inflation or you increase efficiency. Prices go up. I fuel the economy by giving jobs and spending as a consumer. Its not my obligation to eat increases in expenses.

Carlos, great outreach for the new guys. I still have all of the files on my hard drive. The forms and manuals are excellent. Take advantage of this offer guys.

Yes. Ultimately letting something like PTP sit untreated for awhile then cleaning is the best way to get a finish to last and look even. But that is the greater evil as pine and fir are lousy exterior woods. Put a 6' long 2x6 on the top of your truck next to your ladders. After one rain fall and one sunny day, pull it down. Now granted that is unfastened so it will look like it can shoot arrows but it shows how unstable untreated, soft species wood is. Some people would cringe at the term "chemical aging" so its not something you want to use in your marketing or your sales pitch.

Dan, you have been to my RAD board.. you know my thoughts. Lumber can get loaded with mold spores and contaminants during its construction phase. Its not like these steps came pre-assembled from a kiln and your were called a day later to stain. Lumber sits, gots knows where, before it hits a jobsite. There are also often issues with dull tooling equipment at the mills that create glaze. In addition, new lumber will not take stain anywhere near as well as aged lumber. One thing a two step cleaning process will do is eliminate the above mentioned issues as well as chemically age the wood so it characterizes more like an older piece of wood.

Ooops. This is a project we are working on now. Woodies will know exactly what happened.

D, having used all types of sprayers from deckers to industrial airless sprayers you are going to find that the Wagner has about the lowest amount of overspray. Everything goes up from there. That's why you will hear companies mention the "cloud of doom". On a breezy day it can travel a hundred feet. Use the method of tacking a sheet or burlap onto your handrail to catch the overspray.

The step up from the the little Wagner is to go with a Deckster. You get much more versatility as you can adjust your pressure. Upgrade to the adjustable gun with the stainless wand. The plastic one that copmes with it is a toy. Overspray is definitely an issue no matter how you slice it when using a sprayer. The downfalls with the Decksters is tht you will use much more stain until you can dial in your settings and you have to add time at the end of the day to clean out the lines (depending on which staining product you use). The advantage over the Wagner Fine Coat you mentioned.. filling those little cups can be a hassle. Its at best a starter unit to get you used to spraying for a minimal investment. Once you get into really getting more jobs, you need to step up to a professional stain spayer.

This is an article I wrote for my DIY Chat Forum. I wanted to share it here as not everyone reading here has signed up for the Advanced Business Techniques For Contractors section on the board (its hidden from public view). I think its an important one as we approach the 2008 season. Happy reading! ______________________________________________________ Knowing Your Numbers Numbers analysis is a tricky thing. There are guys that will take up arms when you say their company nets 25%. These are usually one man shows and are indicative of not understanding what each number means. I'm going to show you how raising your prices ten percent will increase your net profit by 40% as well as ultimately increase your volume. What?? Raise prices AND get more work? Read on. Definition of Net Profit: First its important to clarify what net profit is. This is whats left over after ALL expenses. I think where many people get confused is that they add in the amount they take out of the business (salary) as part of the net profits. Net profit is what your company makes at the end of the year, not what you make. If your business is setup properly, you pay yourself a salary. That salary is a constant. Its your compensation for your role in the company (your job). Let's make it simple and say you pay yourself $1,000 per week, every week all year. That's $52 K per year. That's barely enough to support a two kid household with a mortgage unless you have a wife/partner that also makes money. That money disappears from the business every week as an indirect labor expense regardless of whether you do 20 jobs or just one. Understanding the terms overhead, direct costs, indirect costs, depreciation, gross profit and the ilk, I'll leave for another conversation. For now we'll just call them "expenses". Back to the topic at hand. Lets say you billed for $150,000 in 2007. Your "expenses" totalled $115,000. Again that includes materials, owner salary, employee payroll, insurance, , truck payments, equipment depreciation, advertising.. everything. The money left over is 35,000. This is the company's money also known as cash flow or net profit. It represents 23%. Here Is Where One Should Take Notice Now, in 2008 you decide to raise your prices. The first thing you have to do is factor your cost of doing business raise. This compensates for increased gas prices, rising chemical costs etc. I add 3% every year. This is a profit neutral raise. It breaks you even for last year. But lets say you are tired of doing 300 jobs per year to make your gross of $150K. You decide to raise your prices by an additional 10%. Your Housewash goes from $.10 per s/f to $.113 per s/f. Your decks go from $1.50 per s/f to $1.69 per s/f. You think your customers are going to abandon you for that little of an increase? Some may, but so what.. here's why. Scenario One Its unlikely you will lose much business with a 10% increase. To keep things simple to understand in scenario one, we'll say everything stays the same. You still do your 300 jobs. Instead of doing $150K in '08 you'll do $165,000. All your other expenses are also the same (your cost of doing business price raise compensated for any rises in gas etc). Now your company net profit went from $35,000 to $50,000. There's your 40% increase. Guess what you can do with that extra $15,000? First, give yourself a raise of $5,000 per year (try getting that in the corporate world). That means you now have an additional $10,000 sitting in your company coffers. Upgrade your equipment, enhance your image or what I like to do.. invest it in advertising. $10,000 will yield me $100,000 in work. So let me see if I am summing this up correctly. By raising my prices ten percent I can make more money for myself as well as nearly double my volume? Yep. Last Note: Some guys may say "if I raise my prices I will close less sales" Perhaps. But all your other expenses like payroll and materials will also drop so in the worst case scenario, you still get the raise and don't work as hard. I know this sounds too good to be true but it is what it is. Please, ask questions or throw out your thoughts. I am far from the be all end all authority in business. I'd like to hear from you guys. This article © Ken Fenner and PressurePros, Inc. Please do not reproduce without written consent

Ron, yes. For many pressure washing companies I would probably amend my number to zero percent. My net runs at just under 20%. I think Walmart's net runs about 1%. The actual number is not important to this thread. In fact, the lower your net percentage is the higher you will gain when you raise prices. Raising your prices just 5% could double your net profit if your company is making next to nothing.

Ron, the number is usually between 10% and 25%. It depends on how they price and how tight the operation is.

John, you can see why it is difficult assessing a service business's value. I have looked at other PW'ing companies, landscape and painting companies. Not one of them was worth anywhere near what the owner thought it was worth. This is understandable.. these are our babies. I would pay someone three-five times the net earnings of their business if they were taking out a substantial salary and had employees in place (that came with the business) to do everything. If a service companies owner lifts a wand, then you have to factor training, payroll etc. When you factor the shrinking business potential into the equation.. well, thats why you see a number like I posted. I would be the wrong guy for someone to come to approach an offer to buy. I am breeding my guy Jason to take over everything. He is not looking for an investment and will be happy being a working owner until the end. I'll hold the paper in lieu of a higher selling price then I would get on an open market.

Ron, PressurePros, Inc is for sale :lgmoneyey The standard number for a bricks and mortar retail location is three-five times the annual net or I have also heard one time the annual gross. I have never heard anyone paying 5 times the gross of any business. I'd sell everything tommorrow if I could get that. The above numbers are not for service businesses.. those are difficult to sell.