PressurePros

Carlos, what are your thoughts on, and definition of, leadership? This may be a cynical standpoint but when grouped and organized into hierchy, groups are highly subject to corruption and personalized agendas. My feeling is that individual leaders will always rise to the top. I have a pretty good idea of whom on these boards is capable of leadership (ie whom I would follow). Do I feel that a message board can be an industry leader? That would depend upon its ownership and again the definition of what constitutes a "leader". I don't think a BBS can, in and of itself, be a leader but its owners may be the type that can move forward with a unified goal of advancing an industry. A BBS may at best be a gathering place of present and future leaders.

If you decide to finish the job yourself, there are consumer friendly deck products, landscape friendly deck strippers and deck cleaning techniques given on my website.

People spend an average of 1% (of the car's value) annually maintaining their car's cleanliness. Apply that to a home worth $200,000. That's $2000. That to me is the FMV of a housewash. Factoring in diminishing margin because of the high dollar lets say we drop the average one should spend to .25% (yes, one quarter of one percent of the value of their house). That's still starting at $500. Are we talking about running something coated with many layers of acrylic paint and clear coat through a 60 second wash machine? Hell no. A housewash should be done by a professional that has experience and higher dollar machinery. I'm sorry, my service has value. If people want to roll the dice (another gambling reference) with their largest investment with some hack based on price, then that's their choice. They will never be my customer. Why bend to their demand because you believe yourself not worthy of the right money. Making $100/hr, $200/hr, $500/hr has NOTHING to do with anything. Its not real anyway once you realize what it truly costs to stay in business and how much money you have at the end of a season. Don't fall into that trap. The next time you are in a sale and the customer starts balking on price ask them if you could instead be their investment banker. They will likely stare at you like you have three heads or ask you what the hell you are talking about. Lead the conversation into making them understand that they wouldn't trust their money with someone that has no clue how to invest properly.. Why would they take their $200,000 home and put it into someone's hands with just as little experience or know-how?

No way, Larry. You know I don't let you off that easy. You guys are assuming no one advertises in my area for $250 housewashes and that everyone makes $40 per hour being a working stiff. Look up Philadelphia demographics and compare them to your metropolis. Look up townships like Upper Providence, Haverford and Newtown Square and compare those to your more affluent 'burbs. A McDonald's manager makes $30K-$35 here just like he/she does anywhere else. I don't live in some magical area where everyone gets dreamy when I walk in the door and says "whatever you want to charge us is fine". --------------------------------------------------------------- From Wikipedia when Google'ing Philadelphia median income: The median income for a household in the city was $30,746, and the median income for a family was $37,036. Males had a median income of $34,199 versus $28,477 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,509. About 18.4% of families and 22.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 31.3% of those under age 18 and 16.9% of those age 65 or over. --------------------------------------------------------------- Doesn't sound like a wealth center to me. Here is Myrtle Beach: --------------------------------------------------------------- The median income for a household in the city was $38,787, and the median income for a family was $46,052. Males had a median income of $30,189 versus $22,119 for females. The per capita income for the city was $27,006. About 5.1% of families and 8.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.8% of those under age 18 and 4.8% of those age 65 or over. --------------------------------------------------------------- Looked up some homes in Myrtle Beach: MYRTLE BEACH Real Estate , Myrtle Beach 29th Ave N to 48th Ave N Property Listings - Presented By Weichert, Realtors - Southern Coast - Plantation Point - MB all the way up to: MYRTLE BEACH Real Estate , Myrtle Beach 79th Ave N to Dunes Cove Property Listings - Presented By Weichert, Realtors - Southern Coast - Grande Dunes Jeff, you are not marketing to the right people. You are not selling the value of your service. Period. Lets put together a wager. I'll come down and spend a week with you. If, out of ten sales calls I don't sell at least one housewash at triple what you normally charge and two houses at double, I'll incur all my own charges. If I do succeed, you pay all of my travel expenses and give me my fee for the week of training ($3000) Since you are relatively certain that you cannot charge much more for a housewash and I am a yankee selling in a southern market, it should be a sure thing. Larry this line tells me a lot: That homeowner and his wife might earn $50,000 annually combined, so $500 is a lot of money to them for about an hour of work That's your guilt talking. Thats you selling with your wallet not the value of the service. Just because you wouldn't spend that much for a house wash (a car, a new set of speakers, a dress shirt) doesn't mean there aren't people that will. You wanna be around in five years to be able to wash their house for them right? It costs a ton of money to stay in business that long (if you don't wanna stay just owner/operator) You owe it to your customers to make this profitable enough not only to stay afloat but to be able to raise your family in the same type of comfort those that are hiring you do. Read the next post....

Sorry about the delayed response was out of town for a couple nights. I'll break down my numbers. You probably won't believe it but I'll write the numbers anyway. Let me preface by saying housewashing is not a commonality here. I have had to gear my marketing efforts and target campaigns for this arena. With that being said, I get maybe 15 calls per week for housewashes. My closing rate for housewashes is 80%. If I followed my own advice I would raise prices but the money is there and I do need the volume to keep payroll sustained. The key to housewash selling (like anything else but moreso) is to sell value and to upsell. Also so you understand what $850 might entail that would be washing everyting that won't fall apart with a little pressure (not the roof though). That may include 1200 s/f of driveway, pool aprons. patios etc. It also includes using specialty cleaners on foundation rust stains and removing small areas of effloresence. The wax polymer application is not something we throw in the housewash. Its applied via separate process. The mid level plan also includes a separate chem downstreamed on windows to make them sparkle (please don't ask what this is or what wax I use.. I have to keep some secrets) I won't get into a detailed analysis because a) I have already done it (on here) numerous times and b) well, I have already done it numerous times. If one understands numbers they will also understand that by charging triple what I see many guys charge I only have to land one fourth of the work (if all other expenses were equal) The guys can do a housewash from the silver plan in about 1.5 hrs (our house are bigger and higher than many) to 5-6 hours for a larger job. Do I feel guilty about charging $300/hr for a housewash? Nope. • My payroll exceeds $75K (officer distributions not included) • I replace anything that is damaged (its rare but it happens) • It rains • We can only work 7 months per year. • Customers houses are worth $500K to $10,000,0000. Are they willing to play Russian Roulette with that investment. I don't know what anyone would consider being rich but this is not the end of the business that will get me to what I would consider rich. Sell VALUE. Stop selling what you think you are worth because for most they are too humble. One day one of you guys are going to call me to come show you everything I have learned over the years in business. Its going to cost you a good amount of moolah but you will then be here in my place talking about how you cannot believe guys sell service for what they do when there is so much more money to be had. PS: I hope this forum is already private to non members.

New siding for that house would be $15,000. I'll never understand why guys are charging $150-$300 for a housewash. But, thats another 100 threads........

$450 for silver plan soap on/soap off. $585 for Gold plan which would include a wax/polymer and manual gutter brushing via extension pole. Anywhere up to $850 to include walkways, driveways, anything that can be washed.

In the famous words of that great statesman, Nelson Muntz

Thanks for the suggestions and opportunities, Beth.

Hmmmm... one of the enticements for posting (for me) is the Google ranking. What prompted your decision?

hydrochloric acid and Dawn

Stucco houses are common around here. We do a good amount of them and we charge double to triple what a normal housewash costs because of high concentrations of chems/hot water/ higher pressure needed. Tom M, what you have still looks like mold to me (as evidenced by the greenish shadowing that also remains). Stucco is capillary. Water gets down pretty far and so does mold. How strong did you take the sodium hypo? Did you try a hot water rinse? I have done stucco houses where I needed to X-Jet straight 12%, sodium metasilicate and TSP. Its a nasty combination that kills grass and etches glass. Be careful. But, the stucco comes up clean. Pump water from your tank and have a helper standing right next to you with a garden hose wetting everything down. Any stains that remains after that GSR from Eaco will remove. Tom D, Safe Restore or GSR should take care of that .

Long live WoodZotic !! Looks great Rick. Is the homeowner happy?

Nah everybbody thinks it uncool to post on TGS. I could care less and post where I feel like it. Let me be the first to congratulate you on your metamorphosis from self employment to business owner ! Good post, Adrian.

Just imagine if you would have gotten overspray on the crotch region of your pants.

Craig, I hear ya. I like slow, managed growth. There is enough work out there if I expanded my geographic area by 15 miles in all directions i could probably keep 6-7 crews busy. If I can just figure out how to make money in the winter from this business.. Maybe I better sign up.

On another note I have had two high end builders that we do work for mention to me specifically that they cannot find guys to finish/repair/seal/polish their work with natural stone.

Craig, I was just thinking about you last night (I had save an old pm) How's business out there, man? Long time no see.

I think your nozzles need adjusting. Thats what happened to my old Steel Eagle. Don't ask me how to do that or what that entails though. Thats what the maintenance shop told me

Didn't this happen last year too? If memory serves me, you didn't care much about it.

Acrylics suck. On the bright side.. the color held up well. Strip it and start again. Charge the customer whatever your normal maintenance rate is for a clean and recoat. It would be do anyway, right? Or did you guarantee it for two years?

Did you cringe when you read the title of this post? It hurt my fingers to type it. Bankruptcy stares in the face of many business owners. Before you even realize there is a problem you are caught in a drain spin that can jeopardize everything you have worked so hard to achieve. Is there any way you can hedge your bets? Stack the odds in your favor? Yes, there is. Educate yourself. These message boards are the first step. But why not take it to the next level? ATTEND A ROUNDTABLE Unfortunately I cannot make the Michigan R/T but I know the guys that will be there. If any one of them sits with you for ten minutes the price of admission would be worthwhile. You will get so much from this experience. How To Get Leads From The Internet SEO (the way people find you on Google) companies will charge five times the amount Jarrod is humbly asking just to review your site and make some changes. Michael K has a good handle on the topic and he will teach you how to do it for FREE. No extra charge! Bring your notebook. • If you get one extra job this year from what Michael will teach you, you will be way ahead of the game. What Michael taught me at the St Louis Round Table has helped me be the number one listed site in every township in my county as well as first page listing for the state of PA for many keywords. Do It Faster, Do It Better Is there any single way you can make more money? Jarrod will not only tell about how to get faster and more efficient, he will give you hands on training. Jarrod has spent years refining his techniques. His workforce approaches every job with a plan of attack. • Let Jarrod show you that with the right chemicals, you can cut your clean time by as much as 300% • Learn how to do decks, house washes, fleets, roof cleaning. Michigan will have it all! This type of instruction can cut years off your learning curve and start making you more money as soon as you get home. Meet Your Friends, Take Home Prizes, Eat Good Food, MEET BOB ! Our favorite manufacturers will have prizes available. Network with guys you have talked with online or on the phone. Learn secrets from the pros. Win money in the 50/50 drawing. What Else Is Left? How about learning about what can make a business truly dominate a market? • Sales and Marketing Techniques • Pricing Strategies • Contracts and Forms • Analyzing Your Numbers (I am writing a pamphlet that I Will have Jarrod hand out at the meeting) Don't hesitate to sign up NOW. Click MPW RT EVENT to register for this once in a lifetime event.

I think its just staining from the petroleum distillates. Degreaser should get rid of it.

I agree with Terry as far is not generating extra business but I have heard the opposite from other contractors (that offer more expensive services like remodels). I take them via PayPal Pro with virtual terminal (2.3% plus $20 monthly fee). Again Terry hit it when he said it is an added service. Putting the logos on your advertising is a strong way to build credibility. I have yet to see a come-and-go lowballer that takes CC's. Personally I would give more benefit of the doubt to a company that takes them as an established business. An excellent point someone made recently is that by accepting CC's for deposits, you can assure your customer recourse against being taken advantage (of).

Ready Seal.. Maybe 6 decks. Three complaints. Too expensive to use. I'm not into applying four coats of a product for it to look finished. That means, no expert on Ready Schpiel. That's your forte. We should finish the season with between 130-150 decks. (we don't have to wait for dry days and I DO advertise and have multiple guys working at once)Average s/f of wood on each deck comes in about 900. 900 * 130 = 117,000 I'm sorry about that Jim, I meant to type hundreds of thousands. Thank you for pointing out that error.