John T

I like the old look better . This one is to light on my eyes. I know I could change it from that other post explaining how to do so but I'll leave it to see if I can grow into it....

$2 million which is what my commerical work usually calls for.

It supposed to hit a high of 40 by the end of the week so maybe some of this close to a foot of snow will start to melt. My bucket truck is buried and I need to get it inspected some time next week and I'm to lazy to dig out the snow that now is hard as ice.... Just the other day when I was heading home at 7 am it was 1 degree. Now that just aint right.............

Jump in and join the fun like Mike said. Ask questions and you shall recieve. Answer some questions and feel the reward of helping to make someone's day that much easier...So jump right in and enjoy...

I voted above that a partimer is one who works on average less then 40 hrs a week. Actually I would say less then 30 hrs a week. I'm sure that there are some fulltimers in the powerwashing field that might have that weekend job to help make ends meet or to get some other benefit which wouldn't make them a partimer. Right now My business is completely shut down do to the bad weather here. I am going to add Gutter cleaning/gutter leaf filters to my business this year. I hope to add another guy or two to help with the cleaning and installations. This will give my company 5-6 employees for the upcoming year. Still for most I would still be considered partime..with a fulltime attitude. :)

Since my favorite team the Jets once again letting down there fans I would say that the 2 best teams made it to the big dance. It would be nice to see McNabb and the Eagles win "The big one" but if the game went off on even money I would pick the Patriots. Bill Belicheck is the number one brain when it comes to Parity football and he has the Partiots once again running on all cylinders. As for Tom Brady--He doesn't have the best arm, He doesn't have the best running ability. Of a matter of fact he doesn't have the best anything..except for winning. I believe since yesterdays crushing of the Steelers Brady is now the "Alltime" Consecutive game winner in the History of the NFL playoffs and he never even lost a playoff game. He also won the most consecutive games in the history of the NFL during the regular season-21. Dislike this guy..call him stuck up...call him anything.....But boy can that guy win. I wish my team the Jets had that problem................

Mathew, That is an intersting point that you bring up there about being an independent contractor that you don't have to follow OSHA's rules and reg's. I was always under the impression that especially when doing Commercial work the OSHA rules apply but your advise there is a good one by just giving them a call. As far as causing a Hazerdous condition once again I would think you can be held liable if someone was to get hurt because of that and if the weather for the day you were powerwashing was under freezing and that could be proven then I would guess that you can be in some type of trouble. I would second Mathew's advise about calling OSHA direct and ask them.

I'm motivated by 2 things which are being my own boss and more importantly $$$$$$$$$$$. You can be my boss but I want the big bucks :)

Ken, I'm going to talk with Tom Vogel from you state Tomorrow to see if he's interested in hosting a roundtable maybe next month in your state. I'll keep your guys posted on what happens.

Carlos, I think your thoughts here are right on. $195 is not a whole heck of alot of money and to be honest if the organization was able to make it $50 a year for membership there will be people saying that why not make it $25 etc. etc. This is how these conversations end up going all the time which is why you see alot of PWNA members no longer addressing this like I am now. Anyway what was the Roundtable question again :)

There are many things you can get out of an ORganization that will one day lead to more money in your pocket such as the way I did this past summer when I got 3-4 jobs just for being a member of PWNA. You will see alot of very successful companies also belong to1,2,3 or more orgnizations so that alone has to tell you something. One of my good friends here has a swimming pool installation company that also does weekly cleanings etc. He has a store and on his store window he advertises the fact that he is a paying member of his org www.nspf.com because as he puts it, it gives his company more credibility which means more sales=more profit=more$$$. SO yes marketing is a huge reason to join a reputable ORGANIZATION. So many people just don't understand this and they always look at it in initial monetary values such as if it cost me $195 to join I should get back more then what I invested in cash. And they also take the attitude that ORGANIZATIONS promote that if you arent a member that your not a top of the line professional etc. etc. etc. These people are either A-are missing the point of what an Organization stands for: B-Have there minds closed on these issues: C-They just don't like organizations: D-They are convinced that an organization will not help them where there business is at today: and many other reasons. Some of there reasons make sense to me and some of them don't but to each his own. Its up to each and every person to investigate on there own whether they can see an Organization can help them. If the least in the PWNA its so cheap to join for a contractor such as myself $195/yr in which I get a subscription to "Cleaner Times" Magazine which years ago I use to pay for myself $36 value and the price of membership is a write off. So in the end it probably cost at most $100 out of pocket and you can advertise the PWNA in with your company. It doesn't get much cheaper then this as far as Organizations go but no matter what You just can't please everybody.......

My Business is ran out of my house so I use my house address. If I ever grow to where I will have an office outside the home then I will use that office address. I always like to deal with companies that have a real address instead of a P.O Box because I am more comfortable knowing where they are and they are truly legit. Its just my personal feeling on this even though I know the percentage of companies that use a PO Box is high. If someone decided that they want to break into my home office then they can say hello to me and "Smith $ Wesson" and a few of my other friends that could be hiding there :)

Carlos, The Chapter rules have been changed a few times as we go along. Today it might be 3 times or so that someone can go to one of these before they have to decide whether they want to join or not. When time permits I'm going to look into other organizations such as IWCA org. (Window Cleaners) www.iwca.org , NSPF Org.(Swimming pools) www.nspf.org which have over 5000 members who pay a minimum of $500/member/yr, and see how they tick and what makes them so successful. There's so much uncharted water out there that needs to be explored so we can come up with some more ideas and answers.

Celeste, It seems that most bb's discourage the practice of lifting a thread from there bb and putting it on another bb to get more answers to it. I did personally ask Everett to respond here to Mike's post since Everett probably has the most knowledge on how these roundtables/Chapter meetings work. I also thanked him personally for adding some valuable imput to this thread. The hard questions were being asked here so I went right to the source who could probably answer them best and that would be Everett.

Mathew, First off There's a very good chance that I will be hosting a roundtable meeting on long Island NY at a Powerwashing distributer's shop. The owner and I are still working out the details on this. If all goes well the date should be somewhere around February 19(Saturday around 12-4). I'm just now trying to line up a few speakers for this roundtable such as a Vendor who does websites, Maybe a Representative for Benjamin Moore stains etc. If I can arrange this I hope you can make it. I will be sending out a combination of emails, maybe some snail mail and possibly a few phone calls as well to get people to attend. On top of this I hope to have one under way for the state of PA. I'm just waiting on a phone call from a Powerwasher/vendor who may have an interest in doing this for the PWNA members and non members in his area. Anyone from any state can attend any Roundtable. I've been to a few in New Jersey where Everett does his. They are excellent by the way. I will be charging all PWNA members $15 and non members $25 each. I have to do this because that will cover the food, beer and Soda for everyone that attends. IF there is any Money left over I will forward it to Headquarters so they can deposit it. Most of the time these Roundtables don't generate any Money and that is not the purpose of them anyway. There purpose is to get us the Powerwashers and Venders to unite within the PWNA organization so we can keep builiding in members which = Strength= benefits back to the members. Also at these meetings we can learn from each other and support each other. We are all here for each other. Strength is in the numbers game this is one of the reasons why I support Organizations. I wish the PWNA didn't have to charge anyone to be at these things but the PWNA doesn't have that much $$$ to support these things on there own and its not fair to have the host such as myself pay for everybody to be at these and to eat etc. So we have to charge something which pretty much pays for the food/drink and maybe a few other odds and ends. As for Chapter meetings they are really the next step above the Roundtables. Another words the roundtable's are stepping stones to the Chapter meetings. It would be great to keep both the roundtables and the Chapter meetings going thru as many states as possible. For now I am going to start one in my state with a Roundtable first since that is an easier route to take at this time. There could be Roundtable and Chapter meetings held anywhere in each state and they could even go down at the same time. Whatever anyone can set up in the area then thats great. So now to dive into your questions------------------------- --First question: Are the chaper meetings similar to the round tables that I have heard so much about: What is the difference? Chapter meetings are more for PWNA members like the way a local Union would be its members. --Next Question- How many state chapters are there? There's probably between 3-5 states that have them now. Everett's state of NJ had one yesterday Jan.11 at 6:30 pm --Next Question- Have you or anyone downstate looked at forming a NYS chapter: Not yet but it could happen in the not so distant future. --Next Question- I see that there are fee's associated with holding the chapter meetings (25.00 meeting charge) payable to the PWNA. What is this for? I somewhat answered this question in my narrative above. Let me just add this here. If you ever heard of www.boma.org just to belong to this Organization is around $1000/yr and to go to there Monthly meetings its $250/person I hear this is a great organization if you want to get into Commercial cleaning and there are many contacts at there meetings...so they can charge that price. The PWNA is a small Org with around 450 members so we are trying to find ways to get to the next levels and this is why they might charge some here. Also again at these meetings the food is usually supplied so really there is not much if any money to be made at these. ITs once again a way for Members to support each other on a LOCAL level. --I see that as a member of the PWNA, I am entitled to pay a reduced rate for attending the State PWNA chapter meeting. How much is this per meeting and why is there a fee? I don't understand why I would pay additional dues while donating time to promote the National Organization? Once again it is because the PWNA doesn't have a pocket full of money but we as a group don't want to see members lose out on not having local chapters because of that. If you run a roundtable you shouldn't have to pay anything but you will need the others to spend a little like I stated above. --I don't understand this process. If a local chapter raises money to promote the PWNA, why does it all have to be turned into the HQ. Should part of it not be used to promote the profession at our state level? Great point. The only thing I can add here is that the chapter meetings are in there infancy stage so we are going to hit a few bumps along the way before we get into full stride and somewhere in between that your above excellent point will be addressed I would hope. Great point once again!! --I would love to see a NYS chapter started but my concern is this... I still havent been able to clearly distinguish what is on the agenda for the PWNA for 2005. I will help them meet thier agenda but I have questions like; What is the one / three / five year plan 1) for membership growth, 2) for fiscal growth, 3) for promoting the organization 4) for the PWNA to meet thier mission statement and organizational objectives. Mathew I love what your saying here and I could not even think about how I can answer you here without going into great length. Some of what your stating above I can't even pretend to know because I am not to sure at this time so I won't lead you on with an untrue answer. I like the way your mind is working here because it spills out PLAN PLAN PLAN. Come to my roundtable and together maybe we can address this issue a little bit further. --I would be willing to donate time to work on a local chapter but here is the quandry; I will not donate time and pay additional dues or fees to promote the organization. I don't understand this process, Please explain. IF you organize one in your area you should make sure you don't have to pay a cent. Once again these Chapter meetings are in there infancy stage where there not even a year old yet of if they are..just barely. We need people like you to add some imput like your doing here to square away some rock solid idea's on chapter meetings and other PWNA matters. We need creative people to help us along because one thing about the PWNA is that we never pretend to have all the answers and we can use any positive help that we can get. Our doors are always open to idea's and suggestions. Its like that Movie that came out in the late 70's called "Norma Ray" starring Sally field whose character Norma Ray jumped up on that table in the factory and started saying Union Union Union....That character put it all on the line to organize....Thats what we are trying to do as an ORganization but maybe we don't have that type "Norma Ray" yet but he/she could be out there somewhere.................................... Side bar note on that movie "Norma Ray"...This is the first Movie that Sally field won an Oscar for and in her excepting speach she tells the Audience at the Academy Awards..."You people really like me..You really do" or something along those lines. I loved that..........

You must be kicking butt with that Curves franchise with that many members(700) locked in under contract. Thats about $28,000/month on those contracts alone. I almost bought a Curves last Month for my wife to operate but they weren't honest with me in the total number of contracted members and the owner said she only does at most 10hrs a week when she actually does 25+. I don't want my wife working over 10 hrs a week if she doesn't have to because we have 2 young girls at home. Long story short for 325 contracted members she wanted $175,000 for the franchise. If she had the advertise amount of contracted members that she advertised (425) then I would have possibly bought that franchise. For the amount of members yours has your franchise here would be worth well over $300,000. I'll have to wait for other opportunities to come across my way

Mike, If you call the PWNA headquarters at 703-971-4011 they can e-mail you literature about the roundtables. Here's the info about Chapter meetings which are somewhat related to the roundtables but different. Chapter meetings are a great goal that the PWNA is trying to attain. Everett Abrams has had a few very successful Chapter meetings and Roundtables. You can email him also about this topic since he is the master at organizing these events. PWNA CONNECTIONS PWNA Local Chapters PWNA Connections – Local Chapters Goals 1) To unite contract cleaners/power washers across the country. 2) To bridge a gap between the national organization to contractors and vendors at all levels. 3) To increase the level of knowledge and professionalism in the industry, securing our image as the leader in the industry. 4) To educate through networking. PWNA Connections Local Chapter Guidelines All local chapters will be called "(State Name) PWNA Chapter." There may be more than one chapter in a state, which will mean the city or geographic area will precede the state name. The Board will have the find word in chapter naming. Here are the steps to form a chapter: 1. Submit a letter of request to PWNA headquarters to indicate your intent to form a chapter. 2. Upon receipt of the letter, an application to form a chapter will be sent to you. complete application and return to PWNA headquarters 3. Your application will be reviewed by the PWNA Board of Directors and voted on at its next regular meeting to charter a chapter.. The Chapters are to be run, managed and organized in the model of the National PWNA. Each chapter will be lead by a Chapter Chairperson appointed by the PWNA board. (Beginning in August 2004, only Board members will serve as Chapter Chairs until 5 chapters have been formed and remained a chair for 24 months. All Chapter officers will be approved by the PWNA Board of Directors. Other suggested Chapter officers will be a vice chair for program; a secretary/treasurer; and a chair for promotion/marketing. All officers MUST be members in good standing of PWNA. The overall organization and management of the PWNA Association of Chapters will be coordinated by a Chapter Council (1 representative from each Chapter plus the PWNA Board Executive Committee). This Council will meet at least annually. The meetings are to be conducted by the same guidelines used by the PWNA Board of Directors. The first year a Council moderator will be appointed by the PWNA. After the first year, the Council will elect a moderator for the coming year. The Council moderator will attend PWNA board members as an ex officio member. Chapters should hold at least 5 meetings per year to start. Dates and meetings MUST be cleared by PWNA. For instance, no meetings should be planned on or around the PWNA annual convention or governmental, national or religious holidays. Meetings should follow the guidelines provided by PWNA. After each meeting, the secretary/treasurer will submit a brief of the meeting: 1. Who attended 2. A program summary (maybe photos, too) 3. Fiscal summary of income and expenses. CHAPTER MEETING GUIDELINES PWNA membership information and materials must be at each meeting and be accessible and promoted. Attendance records MUST be maintained – sign-in sheet with name, complete address – and turned into PWNA Headquarters. Suggested meeting agenda/format: Welcome – PWNA membership benefits Introductions Vendor Demo/Speaker Networking Meal Thanks for coming – announce next meeting date There will be charges for the meetings to cover meals, speakers, costs, and a $25 meeting fee to go to PWNA. These charges need to be communicated well in advance – in any promotional materials, registration forms. Any fees will be collected by the local Chapters at the meetings. Records of the fees and expenses for each chapter meeting will be turned in to Headquarters. Receipts will be given to attendees, if requested. Meetings are open to members and non-members (can attend ONE meeting without having to join PWNA). PWNA members who pay national dues are entitled to pay a lower fee to attend Chapter meetings. Non-members must join PWNA after one meeting to attend additional meetings. It will be the responsibility of the local chapter officers to schedule agendas, speakers and so forth for each meeting. This information must be submitted to the PWNA Headquarters at least 45 days prior to a meeting. Headquarters will provide these supplies for the meeting: Membership Brochures Study Materials Order Form Promotional Items Order Form Door Sign Sign-in Sheets Name Tags Door Prize – PWNA License plate holder Door Prize Tickets (tear in half, give one to each participant and keep other half for drawing) (1 set for each attendee) Disposable Camera Self-Addressed Padded Envelope PWNA Stick Pens Receipt book

Thats above re-mark is to funny

Steve can probably even tell you what chemicals to use and how to clean the Hooters plane if so asked. Steve nickname should be Mr. Hooters :)

Beth, While working along side with you on the board I can attest that your work ethic is outstanding. Your energy levels are off the charts. I was and still am amazed at how much you can do. Between you owning a business(Contracting and Vending), Running your bulletin board, running the PWNA bulletin board and being a Board Secretary There...while taking care of your family and having both of your kids on the honor role just shows what type of person your are. I personally want to thank you for all your valuable time donated toward the betterment of the PWNA. Like I expressed to Mike Hughes, the door is never closed there and I look forward to working with you again there whether it be on a committee, as a Board of Director again or whatever position you may end up with. Thanks again for Volunteering yourself and you will be missed but never forgotten. Godspeed on your recovery with your hand.

Commerical work I should add that I tend to charge by the square footage or by linear footage. Since I am coming up on my 10th year in this business I can pretty much size up the potential residential work before me and give out a price on how much I'll charge without measuring anything. I do this by thinking how long it will take me and then I figure how much an hour I want from this job then I multipy the two. Another reason why I don't measure out the Residential jobs is because its a little time consuming ans with me working 2 jobs most of the year my time is limited.

If I work alone my target is $60-$100(Depends on the job I'm doing) when I work with another person its $90-$125 or so and when I work with both of my guys its $150 plus. A great day for me is whenever I crack a $1000/day like I did a few times cleaning bldgs and a Condo Complex this past summer. But then again I live in one of the most expensive area's where the value of a buck falls thru the floor due to everything being overpriced.

Craig is that really you?? IF so you could play the HULK. I work out in the off season...but I never seem to eat right even though I eat good foods...and alot of it. Another way to feel good when the Powerwashing season starts....Hire workers :)

Mike, Consider this..I am considered part time in this business because I have another fulltime job...and I am on The PWNA BOD and yes I still do have a Home Depot Pressure washer in my arsenal that is a Simpson Belt Driven Model that we use alot. Don't let what your hearing deter you one bit. What upsets alot of people is that when someone advertises that they will wash any house for $79 kind of thing and on top of that this person has no Insurance. This gives the hard working Powerwashers a bad name. That is why you see the posts about the crappy Home Depot pressure washer and the guy doing it for beer money. Just dismiss that because all these guys are doing is venting and when you think about it who can blame them. Just keep moving on with your plans and you'll do fine.

I do exactly the same thing Tony does above. My Local Distributer charges a ton for these small parts and when you can by 4-5 of these parts at Envirospec for the same price then thats what I do.