luca71

no problem sealing is a great add on as was pw to my sealing biz any questions you have just ask be happy to help.

john that would be great sometime next week i will acually be up there in that area .Im sure you could show me tons too i know i still have alot to learn about this biz and just so knowone gets the wrong idea i learned it all here from the mechanics to the equiptment to chems and some of the funny stuff and some advertising advise i owe it to the scene i have read a ton of your posts too.I just get mad when it doesnt sound like someone wants to hustle for there biz and then they give ill advise on top of it .I wasnt hand the biz book of knowledge as im sure most of us werent.But im not affraid to give someone an idea that worked for me even if its my competition ,competition breeds sales.

And im sure john you are going to give me hell for working in your back yard right?

5 and i have 8 that seal coat .

no dan thats not the case , this year i will top out around 620 k for pw not including my sealcoating my point is there is no one business model that is better than another one i just happened to find my niche in a bad economy .The model i use is take customers out of the market same as a car dealer you guys may not like it because in the long run i will come out on top and you will have to lower your prices to compete or to just stay in business. I approach things with a big biz box store mentality and it seems to be working im not saying it will work for all but i do know im already booked through april and may of 2010 for pw and sealcoating .

And with that attitude you will soon be out of business,1 Free time means your not doing work your looking for it,2 waiting for the phone to ring telling people your minimum price so the can shop you with the next phone call is retarded no salesmanship involved there . So lets go back to the beginning with all the (joe girards) out there again that think they have this figured out.Im not sure what calculating method your using I know what my insurancee cost is ,i know what my truck payment is , i know how much i need to make to cover my 5k mortgage is and still eat take trips and pay for the escalade the wife drives and at $99 a house for the old folks i somehow manage to get it done and still add too my investments so im im not seeing the logic i may have to do a few more houses and driveways a year to do it but my equiptment isnt sitting in my yard waiting for the phone to ring so my lazy but can give them a price that they can shop me on.It makes me happy knowing the guys in my area wont get out of bed for less than 150 per hour ,it makes my marketing easier my closing percentage higher.there is an old addage from the car biz that i didnt believe until i did it, gross profit follows units not the other way around.

i agree and i didnt mean to be a bone head with my first reply ever .I do almost nothing but retirement communities because know one wants to do them .I also sealcoat driveways so pressure washing was a great addition to that biz because if there is even the slightest chance of rain there is no sealing.I have seen guys cringe at the thought of a $99 house wash but look at the big picture.These retired folks have nothing else to do but take care of there homes and they all try to keep up with the joneses.When I get a call to do 1 sealcoat job in there i bring alot of extra sealer because i end up doing at least 5 more while im there .The same with washing I go to do 1 house in there and end up getting at least 2 more every time with out fail. these home are mostly new construction single story vinly sided boxes that only take an hour tops downstreming with low pressure.Plus i get the driveways for the seal coating every season so i practically own these developments because the old folks love me and i dont try to kill them with my pricing.By the way in my area ther are 20 of these developments and i do some work in all of them and in the 2 years ive been doing it my income has doubled because as the clients begin to trust your work the neighbors are soon to follow.

i know i need to go back and do my signature ,but just logged on and read this and had to respond.One of you guys had brought up the car salesman annalogie and it cracks me up i had been in the car biz for 18 years before i started this biz and some of you seem to think that you are joe girard (look the name up) when it comes to selling these jobs now i consider myself a pretty good closer and have the awards and documentation to prove it ,but there are alot of wash crews in my are of new jersey and i always see the same rigs parked in the same driveways so either your making enough money off of the one job a month your getting and spilling ill advise or do not have a clue.This economy is still in sad shape and people are going to shop and hock you for every nickle the can weather they can afford your premier service or not.Yes there are jobs i will not do because i cant even break even on the job (including my salary)not just chems and time. But before i turn down any job i will always try to make it work out ,even in pressure washing there is always a way to make a deal .And if you want to call me a low baller thats cool but while im eating steak and your trying to figure out how to come up with gas money to run your rig maybe you will think about your pricing .