plainpainter

I don't know - an elderly person waving $40 in my face - is kind of like going to the apple orchard after Veryfine Apple Juice has come and gone. Not many apples left to pick.

I won't go on a spending spree, but in fact that's what a good economy depends upon - that people spend their money. It's a slow feedback mechanism when folks start spending, then manufacturing has to increase productivity, which then spurs new job creation, which eventually begets new spending. All I want to see is a 0.2%-0.3% improvement each month. If that happens things will be slamming by next summer.

Apparently you guys don't want help - you want to stick your nose at guys doing $550 house washes and doing 1/2 mil in sales yearly and say they are bad business men.

This is a going out of business attitude - doing what everyone else is doing. Would you jump off a bridge if everyone else was? If an area only warrants $85 house washes - is it your only conclusion that you too must provide an $85 house wash as well? If you could figure a way to knock ten off a day like this - I'd say you've found a way to make money doing them. Personally - it's not my responsibility to meet someone's price goal. Attaching my rig and driving to some residence and spending time and driving back for $85 would bankrupt me. If I averaged my operations cost per customer - it probably costs me over a $100 per customer. So doing $85 washes would cost $15 each time. So if I did a job for $150. I've got $50 leftover for profit and salary, factor in an hours round trip ride, an hour on the job, and an hour prepping in the morning fetching stuff and putting stuff away when you return. And my company profits and salary is $17/hr. Now factor in I don't get 8 hours of work nor drive time each day - nor do I even get 12 months of the year to work - and that goes down to probably in the range of $5-6/hr of company profits and salary per hour. 95% of you guys go out of business, that's a fact. The other 5% have figured out this japanese koan of $85 house washes and found ways to be profitable. I'll let you in on a secret - by not turning the key in the morning waiting for my minimum price has allowed me much free time. And with all this free time I am pursuing other venues of business. Always strive to be in a position of power. If you force yourself to be dependent on pressure washing sales - then of course you will make the costly mistake of doing $85 house washes. Think outside the box. Just think for one little moment that you aren't relying on pressure washing for 100% of your income. Suddenly life is all different - your horizons will expand.

I have never pursued the 'wax' treatments. They have little value in my opinion, but are totally legit in the sense of wanting to provide a 'chi-chi' service. If you have homeowners that want to spend their money - it's a great upsell. It's just I am more focused on getting database of customers for now. Upsells like gutter brushing, wax treatments - I think of them for more down the road upsells to homeowners looking to spend more money in better economic times. Homeowners can only absorb so much education - pressure washing is still in it's infancy. I can provide a slightly better service than my competition - but if I come and provide a 200% better service, it will go over a homeowner's head. Look at landscapers right now - look at the multi-tiered services they now offer - some of these guys have a small fleet of trucks and gross close a million a year now - had they tried to lay all these services on homeowners back in the 80's when things were first starting out - they would have been laughed at. They had to do simple grass cutting and some leaf raking in the fall to get their industry into the 'door'. Now 20 years later - they've been able to educate homeowners on a vast array of services. Now folks feel helpless without their landscaper.

We aren't in business to remove the chalk. That's a restoration service that requires high concentrated ph cleaners, loads of brushing, and loads of high pressure. Softwashing is a way to clean up a structure and not screw with the chalky oxidized surface below. But to think you can remove the oxidation with soft washing methods - that's crazy.

Sounds like the perfect recipe for ***** nation. If Sam Kinison were alive today, I wonder what he would tell us pressure washer that lived in areas like Florida?

Isn't there a bulgarian russian population in springfield/westfield area?

Amen.

You can't squeeze blood from a stone - and there is no law that guarantees your area can support a viable business model. If $45 is the 'going' rate - then I ain't 'going' to open up a business.

I've been analyzing my numbers for the past year and it seems to me that my turn-key minimum is over twice that. I am breaking the rules for gutter cleaning though - I am trying to see if there is an actual business to be built doing them. Is it perhaps a way to get your foot in the proverbial door to upsell future services? On the whole we'll have to see. Yesterday I cleaned this woman's gutters out for the second year in a row - and she knows I have a painting company - and there was a painting company in her home painting the whole place.

You're wasting your time. You were a ***** at $85. I did one two summers ago for $150. And I still feel like a ***** for doing it. You can't squeeze blood from a stone, and you can't build a business from mobile home owners. Next time someone like that calls tell him that you have a 10 mobile home wash minimum and everyone has to pay up front.

I had this experience today where I cleaned this woman's gutters last year twice and washed her deck. And she called me back for her gutters in the past week. I knew her and didn't charge much initially - it was an easy $150 job and I only billed $95 this time. Well I get there - and I see this red van in her driveway, very similar to my next door neighbor's paint contractor that is painting her garage and shop building. I looked inside of the van, and it was a painters van - and lo and behold later find out when I collect the check that he is doing a whole interior repaint. And to boot she sort of scolded me that I only charged her $75 last year. Can you believe it? So there you go - you give customers a favor and they will keep expecting it. And if you think doing the cheap driveway wash will upsell bigger and better things. Well - this woman knows I am a painting contractor even discussed with me last year the potential of bidding some painting - and guess what I didn't even get asked to bid. And the painter has a nice van, but no lettering, New Hampshire license plates and no they're not commercial either. Cheap begets cheap. Oh well, the way I see it - deal from a position of power - find ways to fill my schedule and if it's hard to squeeze this woman in next year - I will be oops sorry, can't do your gutters for less than $150. Kill 'em with kindness. LOL - you should have seen her squirm as I was looking how the furniture in every room was clustered into the middle - and I was like looks like you are moving - she just dodged the issue as we were both inhaling cheap latex paint fumes. People, LOL.

Now this is a book! I am now kicking myself why I didn't get this book sooner, but then again I feel like after taking advice from Ken for the last two years and digesting it while doing my business - I can really appreciate and absorb what I am reading that much more. And having said that - there are so many countless times that Fenner said the same thing over and over again over a multitude of threads that even I didn't get until this morning reading about the prototype of franchising. Like Starbucks, how many times did he talk about it? And after having read this particular chapter, I am like 'duh' - it's not about the coffee. Starbucks is in business to sell Starbucks. I have increased my business tremendously, but now I feel like i have the tools to take it one step further. Now I really understand it when Ken mentions that we aren't in business selling pressure washing. He is sooooo right. Next year - I will analyze everthing I do against a template of my business. I will be selling my business and not pressure washing. I understand that so much better now. I was reading a post last night about how Jeff sells his whole house brushing as professional - and measured up against a template of a prototype franchise, I was just nodding my head back and forth - no no no. So many guys have opinions - but when it comes down to it, who's succesful and what business model did they use? Starbucks, McDonalds, Dunkin' Donuts. None of them are selling coffee, donuts, nor hamburgers - I mean seriously if you consider Dunkin's to be a good quality doughnut - you have never had donut. They are selling themselves; the hamburgers, donuts, and coffee are just by-products not the main selling point.

James, I'll have to come and hang with you or something and see how you approach wood. I am not a big fan of the way readyseal looks, but I also am seeing that a true surface coating doesn't lend itself to maintenance. I love my profit margins with my present deck restorations - but at the same time it just doesn't seem viable to get that kind of money from a homeowner repeatedly. My warrantees are really written as maintenance plans, but that's mostly what I am finding to protect me from folks that want me to come back for a period of 2 years to touch up every little thing under the sun that they would perceive as 'warranty' work for free. But something that was cheaper but yet annual at the same time coupled with an upsell for an entire house wash or gutter cleanings seems to me to be better suited for long term business.

This is absolutely true! Part of my ambivalence this year was the fact that the majority of work done 2 years ago was with woodtux. And every deck I looked at was in horrible condition - one lady I even gave an estimate, but she had fell on hard hard times being in southern nh, where the economy is less than spectacular. I just didn't have the heart to pursue it. At least next year I don't have to fulfill any contractual obligations. I am still leery of how A.C. will perform in the long run? Heck my over-the-counter stain I use to buy for $21/gallon still looks spectacular on spindles after 4 years. After two years woodtux on the spindles really looks old and worn out, and I don't have high hopes for A.C. - I am crossing my fingers.

Deck maintenance is the one thing I haven't gotten any of - people frequently move, or in one instance didn't like my price hike from $750 to $2,440. I have one loyal guy, this spring at the one year mark - I gave a gentle cleaning and did some touch ups for $75. This year should have been my first real big wave of deck customer repeats, but it came and gone. I am hoping I will get maintenance work next season - and part of my plan is to have a mailer designed and ready to go for all those persons. But to be honest Jim, I see most folks - they want their deck/porch stained and they want to forget about it. From the trend I am seeing my average customer will get their deck totally restored like every 4-5 years, and I will keep in contact with those folks. But for the most part that's enough time to watch folks move out of their homes.

I don't want to snow plow - I only have a rear wheel drive vehicle. And snow plowing beats up front suspensions big time. I've found most guys after 5 years give it up, they all say it isn't worth it after all the expenses it creates. Municipal snow plowing is the worst, supposedly, towns will let snow pile and pile before ordering guys out in an attempt to save money - and then it's so deep it really beats up front suspensions. Highway/State/Federal is a different story - it's very systematic, the snow pile doesn't accumulate past a certain point, multiple trucks at once doing just a 'slice' of the road.

I don't have any experience cleaning stucco/dryvit - I hear you guys talk about how hard it is. The one thing I am running into these days that is nearly impossible to clean is Azek material. Especially where the cuts are made and then not sealed - typical examples are corner trim boards with the outward 1" edge along the corner, and the sides of window sills. I really hope this material doesn't take over - as I was experimenting with two stepping with oxalic and simple cherry house wash and then eventually loads of pressure. I only got mediocre results at best - and I live in an area where the siding is mostly painted/stained cedar siding. So I imagine a 'roof' strength cleaner could work well - but would wipe out the surrounding coatings. I see this as a huge problem for the future.

Because of the very dimensional stable qualities of hardiplank - paint jobs last much longer - therefore you will run into more instances of faded paint. If paint doesn't peel or crack - it will just eventually oxidize and fade and if it's a very deep color, it will chaulk as well. Getting it clean is one thing, making it look new is quite another - eventually it will need to be repainted.

The funniest thing happened to me the last few days, I am getting all these jobs left and right. Turns out my competition is flat refusing to do anymore work for the season despite the 60+ degree plus days we are having. Found out that they all go back to 'work' doing their winter gigs and can't go wash. My winter 'gig' will be to work on my marketing and come out even stronger come spring.

I am very concerned about how sales will be the day after thanksgiving. I am crossing my fingers that we'll see some more good news as shoppers start hitting the stores. It should be the real first testimony if this economic recovery is really moving forward or not. As you know the top 10% of household incomes do half, 50%, of all the buying. Realistically, they should not have been affected very much by this recession, except for psychological aspects. Sure the news sounds grim about massive layoffs and what not - but when your stock retirement is more tied into chinese factory output, which had a great month, than it is whether or not the bottom 20% of Americans are doing well. Things shouldn't be so bad, right?

I was washing all day yesterday, today is for licking my wounds.

Yeah heading right out of recession just in the nick of time when the annual recession is just beginning, uggh, winter.

SPF I think stands for job security. They must do all that lab 'aging' and it must favor SPF like gang busters. I guess you can't infer everything from the lab.