Craig

I have great health insurance but I don't think they know who I am! Actually I've had a problem with my arm now for 8 weeks. It's not going away, but darnit, I just don't have the time to see a Doc.

Hi Alan, I traded it in for the E-350. I would have kept it if we actually used it for "Family" traveling but since I used it for business it's just not the right vehicle. We still have the Volvo S70 which gets awesome gas mileage (24 to 35mpg) and the MBZ. I'm selling the Benz too so I can get another rig. I guess you could say I'm downsizing my personal life and upsizing my business!

2003 E-350 Extended Passenger Van. I like the room inside, easy to store materials, wands, vacuum hose, chems, lock everything down and it's safely stored inside a lockable van. Also the van is a mobile billboard. I also have a full seat right behind me which is basically a portable office, or I can carry up to 3 more people if needed for a total of 5. I don't prefer the gas 5.4L but the since the diesels run almost 6 grand more it was out of my budget at the time. The gas engine still has no problem pulling my trailer!

Funny, rude, hilarious, scary, LOL, down right mean, how insensitive, funny again, throw up, unbelievable, mean. In that order.

3 and growing. Two great full-time guys do the work. I go and get the jobs, do estimating and check up on them for quality.

and if you can get TWO of them so you have a spare. I'd be hatin' life without my M5.

Same here and I really don't like to use it unless lots of people are watching! LOL. It looks cool in action but man what a heavy pain in the butt. Last time I used mine I was 50 feet up in a boom and had it extended to 20 feet+. Boy was THAT fun. The Corel is on my wish list, but after two phone calls I still don't have my brochure.

I've found there's a solution to everything.. there's gotta be something!

Couldn't agree more with you, Ryan. Desi, I would suggest trying to read up on any type of sales books you can. Salesmanship will play a big role in your success! And for the record, "Stickershock" is not only a good thing, it's necessary! LOL When I meet a customer, I "get into bed with them." By that I mean the number one rule of sales is... Get the customer to "Like, trust and respect you." Find common ground with them. If they like, trust and respect you they will buy from you. Build credibility with them with your brochure, before/after photos, professional looking uniforms, hats and use "tie in and tag on" questions. I typically use "suggestive selling." It works great. Link what you think they might need and use to what you've done for other people. Don't you dare lower your price because you're afraid you'll have to peel them off the roof. :^) When they fall back down just be prepared to catch them and close 'em! LOL Atleast if you start a little higher, even if you say something like "Ok, I'm with you. Let me think a minute. ..pause... I'm just trying to justify in my mind why I should lower my price. I never do, but I'd like to make my services the most cost-effective I can for you. I really don't like it when a customer goes with another contractor to save a couple of bucks and then they have to call me to come in and fix their damage. Listen, here's what we'll do, but you have to promise me something. You have to give me 2 referrals this month and I'll knock 20% off my services, bottom line. (Normally they'll look at you surprised and say OK!) We also have to schedule it on ----- (whatever date is convenient for YOU, DESI). I pretty much overbid everything by 10 to 20%. I don't give breaks, but I do... see what I mean? If I give a break I get what I want anyways. Read up, bid what is fair and don't let the customer control you... get them to like you and you will be in business. Craig

Neat to see all of your backgrounds! I worked at Asst. Superintendant at a Country Club 4 yrs, Superintendant for 2 years. Moved to CA (from Wisconsin) in Dec. 1998. Worked as Manager for Marriott's Desert Springs 3.5 yrs. Owned/Operated photography business 2 years. Internet/Fleet Sales at Palm Springs Motors 3.5 years (Ford, Lincoln & Mercury New Sales). Power Washing business 3 years. Before that: My dad put me to work bucking a chainsaw when I was 8 years old. Bought my first three-wheeler and lawn mower when I was 10. Started lawnmowing business at 10 and made $4000 my first summer!! I was all for the small business after that....

Ken, Great point and I understand your reasoning. Either way leaves you open to criticism. One square that you are cleaning may be dirtier than another. Are you going to charge the same for both squares? If a job I figure will take me 10 days to complete turns into 12 days, then I analytically and logically look at the job and figure out what I could have done to either A) Speed up the process (a little too late though), or B) What I could do differently next time. So far my intuition and better judgement has saved me an incredible amount of time. Time is our most valuable resource. I reinvest it into talking to more customers, networking, selling myself and my business. Sometimes I may be high and sometimes I may be low. I guess it's just the risk I run. But like I said above, if you charge by the square one may take longer than the other. What happens if you spend longer on more squares than you thought? Then your 0.30 cents/square foot just turned into 0.28 cents/ square foot. In my mind it's the same difference. I also see your point in not having a number to give the customer if he askes "what do I charge per square." I can't tell him, nor would I want to or feel I need to. I would simply explain to him that it's really impossible for me to charge by the square. I just cant. One area may require a different cleaning solution than another and different techniques, hence it would take longer or it may go more quickly. I bid my work by the job. I do tests on different areas of the building to see what will work the most efficiently, so I can make your building look sparkling clean and make it the most cost-effective I can for you and your business. Ken... this is just the way I do it. I like to run on intuition and feel. I feel the customer, the job, sell myself and use suggestive selling. I don't have the patience to measure every detail. I did that on a strip mall one time and it took me 6 hours to bid the job. Drove me crazy. After a while I learned what I could clean, how fast it would take me and what our market would bear (pricing). To answer you on training someone to estimate for me- I would hire a salesperson. And a dang good one at that! :^) I think a "nice little business" is one that pays the bills AND puts $10 to $20K in the bank a month.

I have a 5x10 single axle trailer with gate. I had a box (frame) welded to the front of it to extend it another 12" so I can put 5-5 Gallon buckets for chems. Normally I don't carry water or much for chems because the trailer's GVWR is only 3500 lbs. On the trailer is my pressure washer, 200 gal water tank (holding), water recovery (55 gal wet/vac), generator, water hose on reel, cones and surface cleaner. In my van I have 200ft of 2" hose for recovery, tools, chems (dry), gloves, backpack blower, and tons of cleaning stuff. I bought a bunch of those cheap storage containers from Lowes to organize everything. I was going to get an 8x14 tandem axle trailer but I'm rethinking. The size of my trailer and van setup is perfect for me now.. but my next rig will be on a bigger trailer. Here's a pic. I prefer the van because if my machine goes down I can pick up another one. If my van goes down I can tow the unit with another vehicle. Plus, the van was actually a 12 person passenger van, but I took the back two rows of seats out. The one right behind me I left in there. This way I can take as many as 5 people with me (like to a convention or family trip) and it's pretty versatile. If I don't have passengers I use the seat for computer set-up or to keep organized.

Beth, Good luck with everything. I hope your hand heals well and fast. I have been really impressed with your inputs and insights, not to mention I have no idea how you ever keep up with everything. I wish you the best and a happy, healthy recovery and time off. Craig

Have you considered an E-Series Cargo Van? You can pick them up pretty cheap used. Trucks seem to be a little more but either is a good choice. Jon is right on the money with his trucks. A diesel for you would be awesome but they are not cheap. Even at the auctions right now they are sometimes going for as much as $3,000 over wholesale Blue Book. I wanted to get one pretty bad but couldn't touch one for less than about $17,000. Even a 1998 with 70,000 miles was priced pretty dang high. I looked at a few E-Series Vans and just bought an E-350 Passenger Van. I took the back two rows of seats out (has vinyl floor) and converted it to what I wanted inside. With a van you can atleast lock your things inside and they're covered from the elements. Plus, if you put some graphics or signs on it it's a mobile bill board! I'm going to get mine wrapped as soon as I can afford it.

From everything that I hear and read.. hear and read.... You're supposed to charge by the sq. foot. I agree with John T. I hardly ever charge by the sq. foot. I look at a job as a whole, whether it be a house or a 500,000 sq. ft. building. I look at it in sections, figure out how long it's going to take me, add in my costs (including fixed) and decide how much I want to make per hour. ADD all of those together and you have your bid. In the end it all comes out the same and it took me a lot less time to bid it out.

Alan, A few months ago my parents were coming out to visit. I hadn't seen them for quite a while so my wife took a picture of me in that pose. I loaded it into the computer and played with it in photoshop, then sended it to them. I just made my muscles a "Little" lol bigger to play a prank on them. They didn't know what to think! After a couple of days I had all of my relatives calling me asking me if I was on steroids! Man did I have a good laugh. I should start the new estrength-training program. People send a picture of themselves to me. I make them lose weight and they send their picture to all of their friends. LOL

LOL. I swear it's me. ...with a small bit of photoshop!

Not anymore. I'm a citizen now. :^)

I'm too slow! It's like hiring a brand new employee! LOL

Ken, Is this what you looked like in your twenties? LOL Craig

Ken, I think she was referring to the reels. As far as I know (may be wrong in this) they are pretty much the same-looking (atleast mine are). But the water supply hose reels don't need a swivel that can withstand the temperature and pressure that the high-pressure hose reels need. That's why their a little bit cheaper... sometimes!

LOL. Funny thread. I also work out 3 to 5 days a week. I stretch 20 minutes, do 20-30 minutes of cardio and then high rep/low weight or high weight/low rep workout depending on my cycle. For me personally I realized a long time ago that if I don't take care of my body, my mind will get pissed and shut down. Kind of go into "zombie mode!" ..if you know what I mean. I think that back workout, shoulders, abs and bicep curls are great for this business. Hammer curls is more like it. Unfortunately I still can't get my left arm to keep up with my right yet.. My right forearm is a heck of a lot bigger!

James, I carry WD-40 with me too. I don't mind changing o'rings ("washers?") but the water is extremely hard out here. I don't know if that has anything to do with the rust or not. So far I haven't lost any pressure on my unit but I'm going to descale it anyway... it's due for it's one-year checkup.

The M5 has an adjustable tip. You turn it one way and it behaves more like a 40 degree nozzle... turn it the other way and it behaves more like a zero degree. The benefit is this. When it has the zero degree effect you can use it to fire chemicals and soap up to about 30 feet or so. They claim longer but this is about what I can get. If you're up close to what you need to get chem's onto, twist the nozzle the other way and you have a much softer throw (like a 40 degree tip). Also, I do my rinsing with the M5. It has a valve on it that you turn off the chem's with. I adjust the tip to where I want it (takes about 1.5 seconds) and pressure rinse. It cleans very nicely and works great. The regular X-Jet isn't adjustable. I haven't used one because I made my decision to purchase the M5. I like variety and versatility. With the M5 you have total control.

All I know is that my brass ones are becoming a pain. They're rusting like crazy and when they do, it's a lot harder to change tips etc. Glad this post is here because I wanted to change over too. Any idea when the sales go on? Thanks