Henry B.

Where can you get simple green from? I've heard of it numerous times but I've never tried it out yet. I'm always looking for the best chemical that can work on numerous applications without killing me, the guys that work for me, or the customers plants.

as an employer, my employee's are labeled sub contractors, and must carry the appropriate protection, insurance etc.. I am in no way shape or form liable for anything that happens to them while they perform work for my customers, Uh Rob, The sub contractors your referring to just became your employees. I'd be careful with any comments regarding them as anything other than Sub contractors. We all know what a pain in the as the IRS can be and the state boards can be difficult also. Just flippantly calling them your employess may stand up in court if it ever happens. Expecially as close as labor laws can be examined.

I have used "actual" subcontractors in the past but they just didn't work out for me very well at all. In fact, my most used subcontractor was a company my dad started so that he could legally sub jobs from me. Everything was completly legal and well checked out with the irs, cpa and tax accountant of course. The problem was, I wasn't happy with the quality of his work and his constantly trying to change his pricing structure. I know subs can charge whatever but their work has to be worth the price. I ended up having to fire him a couple years ago. Now I use strictly employees and his company is going down hill so fast that it's running away from him. I've tried giving him advice but so far he's not listening.

I'd scan a copy of my advertising bill but some of you may have weak hearts...lol Hey Beth, tell them how much one of our ads run around here. Henry

Community newspapers also work well for some folks. A 1" x 2" ad in the service section of these papers will run about $100 per month (depending on distribution size and frequency). Good Luck! Man, I wish I lived in your area.. Service ads in our community papers can run almost 1,000 a month depending on where you list it and your size. My 2*3 add is close to that and I usually have a least two ads running at once.

Make your own window cleaner using ammonia, 2 drops of any dish soap and a bit of vinager. I used to use those squirt spray bottles or sometimes a pump up sprayer with an old towel. I charged $6pw in/out without storms for residential. I just got tired of climbing ladders all the time.

I've got two ford cargo vans that I bought new from the dealership. Ive used many used vans in the past but I got tired of them breaking down all the time. We usually average about 100 miles a day on each of them but we do more than just pressure washing so we travel around the county every day. That's why I bought them new. Henry

our biggest gain has come from realizing which jobs are profitable and which ones we turn down. i hope this is only the beginning of a new era. Hey Tim, In my opinion this is one of the most important things to learn. We have all had our share of free or almost free jobs as we learned the biz. The best thing I can tell you is to offer as many services as you can when you first start out. Then as you grow and don't have the time for so many types of work slowly fade them out. If you have any questions let me know, I would be happy to help you out, just give me a call on my cell phone. 240 273 0300 Henry

Henry when you make money,example profit, you reinvest the money into your business, to create more value for your customers and become more competitive for your competitors and invest in tax deprecative investments,401k,increase your overhead ie new 400k house for home office,you dont stop working because you dont want to pay uncle sam. define what you think is plenty of money. LOL, you sound a lot like I did 10 years ago. Do you ever drive by a dirty house and NOT think, Hey, I should give them an estimate!!!! Okay I guess I should back up my comments a bit. I started in business in 1989 after getting out of the Navy. Now I'm 35 years old, I have over 10,000 commercial and residential clients. Out of the other companies in my area, only 4 I can think of have been around more than 5 years and many of their owners still work every day. I live in a 400k house I drive a minivan (kids) I have 2-3 crews on the road and will start another full time one this spring. I have a $11,000 dual gun hot water rig 8gpm 4 small pull around 4gpm rigs I take about 4 vacations a year. Cruises, beach and just traveling. I own a boat, (small one for fishing in the Chesapeake bay. My guys make about $3 an hour more than any other PW company in the area. They have health benefits, 5 paid off days a year. They also receive commissions on pick up work They can work all year round, not just PW season. We do more than just PW. They have company trucks to take home, if they want. They have company cell phones to take home. They take turns on being on call each week, they usually argue over who "gets" to be on call each week since they make 50% of all emergency service calls. They are well trained professionals that are allowed to manage their own schedules. Me, I work maybe two days a month on special jobs if needed. After paying for all that, my company bills and personal bills, I still have enough money left over to save or play some more. How much is enough? I don't think it's necessary for me to state. As for retirement? My company will always be around and possibly bigger than it is so I can always sell it or just let my kids run it if they want. Either way, the way I believe in running my business I won't have to worry about paying my bills when I'm 95. Lately, I have found myself looking for something else to do since I'm bored. I'm going to volunteer some time for pwna along with all the other volunteer stuff I do now. I go to almost every competition my daughter is in. (she's listed in the top ten in the nation in competitive baton twirling, ages 7-9 I also have a grandchild. (yeh, I know I'm only 35) Den leader/asst cub master for my sons pack. Volunteer as many hours as I want to local stuff. Help other guys out in business all over the place since I put up my web page. Volunteer my companies services to non profit groups or community services. Volunteer at my kids school. Help teach the junior Olympic shooting team. I didn't stop working or growing my business so I would not have to pay uncle Sam. (even though he has proven how well he can spend it on 10,000 hammers and such. I stopped working and expanding because I found that the more I made the more I spent on bills and problems with employees and schedules and all the other problems with being self employed. Sooner or later, most people realize that no matter how much you may you just end up paying more in bills. Most peoples debt income ratios stay the same their whole life. I can afford anything I want I just have to work for it like I have been. Lately, there just isn't anything I really want anymore I already have it all. (Except for one of those plasma TV's. I'm buying one of them in the spring) I know my views Arnet real popular with a lot of other companies out there but let me put it this way. When you have been in business for 15 years, married with kids. Give me a call and tell me a bit about your kids growing up, the travels you have taken and how much you have enjoyed your life. (not how much money you make or how much your company does) Then you may agree that there are other ways to be rich, not just money. I think I've kicked enough butt on my way to where I am now so I'm stepping back out of the rat race and letting others have their turn at it. Run that maze little rats then off to your cage! LOL just kidding. Personally, I think Trump is nothing more than a rich guy that is so wrapped up in making more money that he lives for his company alone. What kind of life is that? Can he spend the billions he has? Can he travel or take time off without some kind of business problem or someone wanting his money following him around all the time? Sometimes I think the best way for people to enjoy life and realize what's passing them by is to Join the navy for a while and get shot at like I did. Maybe that will enable you to see things the way I do. If not, keep kicking butt as long as you want, I just prefer to enjoy all that I have worked for instead. I refuse to hold off enjoying life until I'm 65, too tired to go anywhere and in diapers like many others. There are a lot of dirty houses out there and eventually my company may wash them. I don't have to do it today though! The house will still be there tomorrow. Henry

Your right, this is a rather sensitive topic. Just a suggestion, if your going to post a poll like this don't you think it would be fair to be the first company posting your info?? My answer is, I make enough to pay my bills have a good life and buy toys when I want. Like my boat and guns. Other than that? alot of the money goes to my guys and the IRS of course. I'm really not trying to get rich even though I know that I could break that 500,000 mark. I just don't need to so why work harder than I have to just to give the irs more money for them to waste? My guys make plenty of money to pay their bills, they love their jobs and benifits and can buy their toys if they want. What else do you need? Honestly, I think this poll is something that alot of guys are going to use to measure themselves up to other companies and people. I don't see what other good it may do than inflate egos. Anything you do you can make millions of dollars doing, the question is. How much do you want to work? How long do you want to put your family and other things 2nd to the company? I know plenty of guys that are kicking butt just to save money so they can retire and enjoy the good life when their 65. I'd rather enjoy life now when I can actually walk around and do it. My father for example is 67 and still working every day mainly becouse he always wanted more than what he had. When is it ever enough? I've got a real nice house, A vehicle to drive, A wife and my kids, and enough money to buy or do what I want. Thats all I need. Hank

Hi beth, The trade show is part of the regular registration stuff correct? If not, can you save a pass for me? Hank

Does anyone know if pwna or any other power washing organization offers discounted insurance or any other benefits?

Hi Dale, I'm not sure what you mean, I got your email just fine. Thanks for the info and look for my return email. Henry Henry, I tried to email you the information. You mailbox is full. I got it back with a error message saying that its full

I used to make literally thousands of dollars washing windows when I started in business 14 years ago. I quit doing them about 8 years ago due to the amount of time it took versus money I could make doing other easier jobs. Yeh it may sound crazy but after you've done then for 8 years then we'll talk. <G> It's alot harder to do when there are storm windows and all the up and down on ladders and moving ladders all the time. My knees just couldnt take it anymore for the money I made. It can be great money but I mainly got to busy to be able to schedule appointments for the jobs when I could make even more doing other types of work with no appointments or having to worry about employees stealing from the clients. Never happened but its still something to think about.

Our agent explained to us that all insurance was going up across the board. He said to expect rates to go up 30%! Guess what? They did. We are switching from having another company be our agent to having him do it for us for all of our policies. You can save money that way. Beth Hi Beth, Who are you all using for all your insurance stuff? Were going through service magic now and they will give us one bill that covers everything. I personally feel their service for insurance sucks and it seems to expensive to me. I used to use erie but kept having problems with commercial vehicle insurance. What about medical insurance and other stuff. Henry

I had started creating one on a post card and I would be happy to fax you a copy of it or any other forms you want to trade out on. My fax is 301 353 1677

Hey Dale, Okay, I'll jump on the wagon also. Can you email me a copy of it also if its not too late?? henryshousework@comcast.net fax 301 353 1677 If anyone else would like to trade copies of forms, invoices, estimates or anything else send me a copy with your info and I would be happy to send you mine also. Fax would be easier if you have a dedicated fax machine. Henry

I'm not a tax accountant but I have hired an excellent one and he and my wife who is an accountant both told me being an S corp was the best thing for my kind of company. I know neither one of them would give me bad information so that's what I filed as. I will offer you all one HUGE bit of advice. Make sure the IRS recieves and approves your filing of an S corp. Apparently they never settled mine and even after filing as an S corp for 5 years they tried to charge me over 100,000 dollars in back taxes and penalties. Yeh, that was $100,000 dollars no misprint. <G> I hired a tax lawyer for $5,000 and over 6 months he fixed the problem. Since then, I've changed my views on lawyers a bit. Henry

We almost always use pump up sprayers when doing simple jobs that we don't have to worry about product being blown around. The best way to clean up a chemical over spraying is to not have it happen in the first place. We use cardboard or one of the spray sheilds on a stick that we can slide along the edge of the deck next to siding. Then we almost always back brush everything into the wood. No matter what product we use we want to make sure it penetrates. My favorite sprayer is a back pack model I got from northern tool. It holds 4 gallons of sealer and it's handle is right at your left side so you can pump, walk and spray at the same time. I works great on fences and large areas. I also made a flag like tarp in the shape of a T. This can be held on the other side of the railing or fence so it wont spray anything else. We usually start a small spinning sprinkler under the deck to prevent the sealer from hurting the grass and wet down any surface nearby just in case. No matter what you spray with the sealer is still going to be in the air. Be expecially careful of any concete or brickwork under the deck. It will drip between the boards. It's best to protect yourself and anything nearby so take your time setting up and always rinse down anything around the deck once your done.

Here is the legal wording that is on my invoices. My accountant/part time lawyer came up with this and it helps a little bit on the really over due bills. This is for Maryland though and I'm sure each state has different laws. By sending in this form you authorize Henry’s Housework Inc. to provide the requested work during the season that you have requested . Past Dues, or any part thereof, including prior Service Charges, are subject to a 2% per month (24% per annum) Service Charge. Service Charges are computed on an average daily balance. Collection costs and/or reasonable attorney’s fees are the responsibility of the customer/client. All payments received are applied in the order of: collection costs, attorney’s fees, service charges, and past due amounts. Any remaining funds are then applied to current amounts due. I would love to know if anyone has found a collection agency that will do collections on accounts like ours let me know. All of the ones I have checked in to will only go after companies not individuals.

As I said before, I have been cleaning gutters for a loooong time now and I have found that most gutter guards out there just don't work that well. I use a system called permaflow gutter guards now and they seem to work very well. Expcecially when you compare them to the wire or plastic mesh screens. In my area, the heavy snow and ice just crush those types right down to the bottom of the gutter and cause more problems. The leaf stems also constantly get stuck in them and cause further problems. I've decided that no gutter guard is perfect for any condition. Even when you include the helmut gutter guards which are guarranteed for life!. I have seen them cause ice dams and other problems and I have also been contacted to clean out gutters with them installed. Which is almost impossible unless you take off part of the system and use a pw to rinse it out. Helmut gutter guards run about $13 a foot and are just too expensive for most home owners. They all in one gutter/ gutter guard systems just can't handle the amount of water volume we get in storms here in maryland. I've found that Permaflow is the most versatile system in my area and on some houses I won't even reccomend it! My customers consider me an expert in gutter cleaning, instellation and repairs and I have to be honest with them if a gutter guard they want me to install won't work. It's true I may loose some jobs like this but I would rather have a clients trust than their money. Over time, I earn the money honestly and it gives my crews something to work on year round. Gutters arent just for winter work, we do them all year long and if done properly, it works out very well for a new struggling company. There are many ways to enhance your business growth during the slow cold times and maybe one day I'll write a book on it or something. <G> I could easily talk all my clients into installing gutter guards and only offer a one year guarrantee for it and make myself a fortune in one year. But, what do I do next year for work? Sometimes it's better to just take it slow and allow your company to build up over time instead of just jumping in with both feet and going broke. If your in the Montgomery County Maryland area, look in your local Gazette Newspapers for gutter cleaning companies. You may find 5 or even 6 companies in there along with mine. 15 years ago when I started doing gutters there were about 25 of them. Most of them went broke by trying to push too much to fast or just plain old bad business practices. What's the rush for? If your planning on building yourself a good trust worthy company that's going to be around for a while you have to take it slow and easy and keep your over head costs down. If you don't, your just going to be yet another company that got ground out by that slow and easy going company. My suggestion to anyone starting a bussiness is to do it slowly. Get your customers trust and faith instead of just their money. If a job is easier than you thought, consider discounting the job a bit. What better way to earn trust than to say hey, this was a bit easier than I counted on. I'm going to discount it by $5. Not a lot of money to anyone but it does say something really important to your client. WOW, I've never had another company be that honest before. Henry

Ron P, gutters are alot like that here too. Paul B., I concur!!! We pay by check and withold all the required state and federal taxes, social security, etc.... We get copies of two ID's. Everyone who works for us is legal. I have to agree with Beth here, Being legal is the only way to save your own butt. I pay all the taxes ect. run background checks on employees, pay benifits and 5 days off a year. I worked too damn hard to find good employees to putz around with the legal issues and low wages. As for Gutter cleaning. I've been doing them for about 15 years now and I love doing it. It gives us something to do during the winter and it gives our customers something to call us for. Henry

I have no idea where to post this but I'm sure Beth will know. If anyone lives in the Dc area and is looking for tickets to this game I have some that I'm selling below ticket price. 4 tickets in Section 226 Henry

That's a good point Beth. The game is this Wednesday night at the MCI center in Dc. My number is 301 353 9234 Henry Bockman

What I did with my rig was I added two 30 gallon tanks on the back of my rig. One with house wash mix and the other with a deck wash mix. By running a downstreamer on each gun line.(I have a two gun rig) I can just drop in the feed hose into the tank, put on my x-jet and it draws my soap. When I don't need soap anymore I can either disconnect the hose or put on another tip (modified zero degree drilled out) this tip puts out alot of volume but just barely small enough in size so it wont pull soap. I use the same method for decks. Now I just back up to a house start up my rig and run my line out and soap, dwell then rinse. If I need to add bleach to my premixed chemical I add it with the xjet draw line. This mixes up both chemicals and shoots it up about 35'. These tanks also counter balance the weight on the front end of the trailer and make it VERY easy to move around. Here is a link to pictures of my equipment. http://www.henryshousework.com/html/power_washing_equipment.html Henry