Mountain View

I work for one of the airlines that flies in the N. East. Ain't no flying there this morning for sure! Just looked at current weather for JFK...1/4 mile visibility, heavy snow, blowing snow, freezing fog......sounds lovely!! Oh yeah, and 25 degrees F with 25-30mph winds.

Do you have to have any kind of equipment with you, i.e. portable scanner etc.? I think Nextel has a cell phone/card scanner unit on the market.

I have been reading, studying, working on business plans etc. for several months now. By the way, I want to thank everybody on this and other boards for invaluable information! With all of the expenses of raising a family I am having a tough time saving the money to get "Elite" off the ground. I really hate the idea of financing any of the start up costs for this. My question to all of you is, how many of you financed your start up and , if so, how much did you finance? Did any of you go through the Small Business Administration? Any hints on grants or loans for start up costs. I'm dying to get going on this, I just don't want to start out behind the financial 8-ball to do it. Thanks for any help.

Thanks to everyone for all of the great opinions and advice. I hope to be an active member of this industry for many years to come.:lgkick:

Roger that:lgmoneyey

Thanks Jeff, that's pretty much what I had in mind. Believe me, I've spent many hours planning this. I will be asking for a few "tag alongs" soon.:lgwave:

I already have a 2002 Ram 1500 (Rambo) and plenty of garage space. My goal is to start part time doing residental/house wash and deck/fence work. With my normal work schedule (not giving days away, see above post) I can devote 3 full days a week (I work a scheduled 4 ten hour days). I even have afternoons after about 2pm to do work. I want to progress to the stage where I work for the airline the bare minimum required to maintain insurance and flight benefits (the flight bennies are very good). Realistically, I could do p.w. 4 days per week.

Thanks for all of the helpful advice. A little background on me (I can hear the groans already). I have a degree in Mechanical Engineering and worked in the telecom industry for many years. After three lay offs over a few years, I did a career change in my late 30's. I am now a flight dispatcher for an airline that you would all know, working in the operation center for said airline. In fact, I'm at work now controlling flights ranging from Houston to Buffalo. Anyway, several years ago I took a break from Engineering (one of the lay offs) and ended up selling, installing, and servicing wash water recycling systems for a distributor of equipment manufactured by a Florida firm. I also spent over a year selling pressure washing equipment. I sold seveal turn key trailer units in addition to everything else. Blah, blah, blah. The bottom line is, I have a pretty good knowledge of pressure washers and associated equipment. I'm very fortunate that with my job I can, literally, give away my work days to other dispatchers so I can devote time to my own p.w. business. My wife is 100% behind this and has offered to do all the book work. I've also built and maintained a couple of decks (my own). I get such a buzz everytime I come to one of these boards or think about starting and building "Elite", I can't wait to get started. Now all I need is for my teenage daughters to stop sucking my money into a black hole. Ok, no more life stories.....promise.

My current estimated start up cost is around 8grand. I don't mind investing my own money, just need to get together. Having two daughters in high school doesn't help my cash reserves either. What's the going rate for plasma these days?

What's the best way for one person to use a sureflow to put the stain down and still be able to back brush efficiently. Anyone willing to let me shadow them to see how they do it? I'm in the Ft. Worth area. I'm hoping to start this party Feb 1. Lots of knowledge to get between now and then. Thanks for any help. Pete Elite Powerwash Hurst, TX suffolkyank@yahoo.com P.S. This seems to be the best board out there