One Rig, 2-Man Crew... What's your avg. gross?

[Craig 111]

Operating a one-rig, 2-Man crew, what are most of you averaging per month?

What was your all-time best?

[A and J POWERWASHING 64]

we are part time

[Thomas 14]

550 a month advertising. And my dumb ass missed the phone books so im stil not in them. This year is bad. LEt me say that again This year is baaaaad.

we can do 3 nice sized homes a day. If I had the work I could do 3 roofs a day. Did 3 roofs in one day last week. We average around 250 a house exterior without cage drive or roof.

[awshucks 14]

Hey folks, newbie question here...what are some of your average daily mileages and fuel costs? Just trying to wrap my mind around 35 to 50 percent combined expenses with such relatively low capital investment and no consumables other than water,a little chemical, and fuel. Am I oversimplifying? I see margins better than that in excavation, and pay scale for operators/mechanics/parts is through the roof.

[PressurePros 249]

Hey folks, newbie question here...what are some of your average daily mileages and fuel costs? Just trying to wrap my mind around 35 to 50 percent combined expenses with such relatively low capital investment and no consumables other than water,a little chemical, and fuel. Am I oversimplifying? I see margins better than that in excavation, and pay scale for operators/mechanics/parts is through the roof.

Low (initial) capital investment does two things. One, it allows non-business people to enter the market and drive down pricing. On the other hand it lowers amortized equipment costs. Also keep in mind a two-man crew can do 2-3 jobs per day bringing overhead percentages down.

Here is an example of a typical deck job 500 s/f of floor measurement. Cost to customer $1,100:

Billable man hours: 14 (Seven hours total project time)

Labor cost per hr with workman's comp, disability insurance, health insurance and comp time: $23 (x 14= $322)

Fuel: $5

Chemical: $35

Sealer: $150

Expenses such as legal, accounting, liability insurance, marketing etc: $75 per job

Equipment depreciation: $15 per job

Total costs: $602.00

Now take into consideration there are guys on this board will charge $600 total for that job. They don't have the labor tab I do. They also will still be a one-man show ten years from now owning a job versus owning a business. No thank you.

Worse yet are lowballers who might charge $400 for that job. Their expenses are $5 worth of bleach and $110 in sealer.. no insurance, splash and dash. If they do seven jobs per month they make a couple grand. Not bad for working 14 half days with no education and total investment of maybe $700 for a Home Cheapo machine, some brushes and a pump up sprayer. Meanwhile customer gets a half assed job and by the time word gets out that this guy is an idiot he has already moved on to his next hair brained adventure. The following year I get that customer and have to explain to him why my cost is nearly TRIPLE what the last guy charged. Nevermind that his work looked like crap and he is nowhere to be found.

Now for any homeowner reading this and thinking.. $500 "profit" for a day isn't bad. With rain days and winter weather one may do 115 of these per year. Woohoo, a pre-tax profit of $57,500. Call the travel agent! If I couldn't blend my margins with higher priced work I would be out of this business in a minute.

[Mike Williamson 198]

Hey folks, newbie question here...what are some of your average daily mileages and fuel costs? Just trying to wrap my mind around 35 to 50 percent combined expenses with such relatively low capital investment and no consumables other than water,a little chemical, and fuel. Am I oversimplifying? I see margins better than that in excavation, and pay scale for operators/mechanics/parts is through the roof.

Water, chemicals, fuel, maintenance, labor, insurance (vehicle, WC, Liability, Health), phones, advertising, vehicles, repairs, taxes, and a million other small expenses that add up.

Yeah, it's easy to look at a job and say "Hey, I charged $600.00 for that job, and it only cost me $10.00 in soap and chlorine, and $30.00 in fuel for the machine and the truck! Wow, Imade $560.00 in profit! Problem is, that's misleading, and causes a lot of guys to undercharge thinking they are making good money, only to find after a few months that the money they think they're making isn't going quite as far as they thought it would...

[blackjack21 14]

Low (initial) capital investment does two things. One, it allows non-business people to enter the market and drive down pricing. On the other hand it lowers amortized equipment costs. Also keep in mind a two-man crew can do 2-3 jobs per day bringing overhead percentages down.

Here is an example of a typical deck job 500 s/f of floor measurement. Cost to customer $1,100:

Billable man hours: 14 (Seven hours total project time)

Labor cost per hr with workman's comp, disability insurance, health insurance and comp time: $23 (x 14= $322)

Fuel: $5

Chemical: $35

Sealer: $150

Expenses such as legal, accounting, liability insurance, marketing etc: $75 per job

Equipment depreciation: $15 per job

Total costs: $602.00

Now take into consideration there are guys on this board will charge $600 total for that job. They don't have the labor tab I do. They also will still be a one-man show ten years from now owning a job versus owning a business. No thank you.

Worse yet are lowballers who might charge $400 for that job. Their expenses are $5 worth of bleach and $110 in sealer.. no insurance, splash and dash. If they do seven jobs per month they make a couple grand. Not bad for working 14 half days with no education and total investment of maybe $700 for a Home Cheapo machine, some brushes and a pump up sprayer. Meanwhile customer gets a half assed job and by the time word gets out that this guy is an idiot he has already moved on to his next hair brained adventure. The following year I get that customer and have to explain to him why my cost is nearly TRIPLE what the last guy charged. Nevermind that his work looked like crap and he is nowhere to be found.

Now for any homeowner reading this and thinking.. $500 "profit" for a day isn't bad. With rain days and winter weather one may do 115 of these per year. Woohoo, a pre-tax profit of $57,500. Call the travel agent! If I couldn't blend my margins with higher priced work I would be out of this business in a minute.

I am falling out of my chair. THAT....was some good comedy. Especially the part about the idiot moving on to his next "hair brained adventure. So true, so true, so true.

Blackjack21

[plainpainter 217]

Ken - homeowners are so duplicit. Nevermind they would never take the time to actually listen to you explain all the costs, and logistics problems of being in the trades. Heck if it weren't for $500 or even $1,000 days - I'd be out of business too. How about the fact we pay for all our insurances from medical to comp to liability - it's endless. Homeowners just collect a check a the end of the week - without realizing how much of a load they are to the company. And lastly - how do you afford twin mercedes, McMansions, vacations? Most of my customers make $1,000 per day at their jobs. That's a $250,000 salary - which ain't that outrageous among high paid professionals - I mean how else could you afford 800 and 900 grand homes with BMW's in the driveway? Banks say your mortgage on your home is between 1.5 and 2.5 your yearly salary. Take $900,000 divide by 2.5 and that's a $360,000 salary - I know one guy who is a V.P of some storage company and he makes $400,000. I think lots of these homeowners are taking us for a ride making us feel like heels for making sometimes a grand in a day - when they do better at their dayjobs without any hassles of running their own company.

[Mike Williamson 198]

Ken - homeowners are so duplicit. Nevermind they would never take the time to actually listen to you explain all the costs, and logistics problems of being in the trades. Heck if it weren't for $500 or even $1,000 days - I'd be out of business too. How about the fact we pay for all our insurances from medical to comp to liability - it's endless. Homeowners just collect a check a the end of the week - without realizing how much of a load they are to the company. And lastly - how do you afford twin mercedes, McMansions, vacations? Most of my customers make $1,000 per day at their jobs. That's a $250,000 salary - which ain't that outrageous among high paid professionals - I mean how else could you afford 800 and 900 grand homes with BMW's in the driveway? Banks say your mortgage on your home is between 1.5 and 2.5 your yearly salary. Take $900,000 divide by 2.5 and that's a $360,000 salary - I know one guy who is a V.P of some storage company and he makes $400,000. I think lots of these homeowners are taking us for a ride making us feel like heels for making sometimes a grand in a day - when they do better at their dayjobs without any hassles of running their own company.

Maybe that's how it is where you're at. Most of my customers don't make anywhere near that...or live in $900k houses. Most of my customers live in houses between $200 and $400k, and work jobs like the one I left to do washing...Maybe a combined income of $80-100k with both spouses working.

I don't worry about their income, or whether they're "duplicit" (I think you meant duplicitous). I give my price, they either accept it or they don't. I don't ask how much they make, how much their bills are, or any of that. I don't care. They can either afford it, or they can't. If they can, then we have a deal. If they can't, then it doesn't matter what they have to say!

You sound as if your customers are your enemies, that you have contempt for them.

I love my customers...they pay my bills.

[steve r 14]

I stay away from the house washes.I havent been doing much of anything anymore.I averaged around $6000 per month with the wood,this is after all the chems and labor are out.Mind you its around 100 hrs per month .

[tony szabo 14]

Its cool to see the different incomes in different areas of the US

We started 16 years ago with nothing and this is the first business I ever started. I have always held good paying jobs since High School even working at 3M as a chemical operator and also as a car wash executive at the age of 22.

Starting our pressure washing business with $xxxxxxx investment in 1991. We now have 7 to 8 full timers March thru November only, and take the winter months off. We now average $xxxxxxx to $xxxxxxx in sales each month with our residential services and commerical services in year 2006.

Business out look for 2007 even looks better, and ever since 1991 income has always grown and never never has gone south in sales. If you ask me what our expences are we now have accountants counting the money, but I always to try to show a 30% to 70% profit because every job is different. We have employee making $xxxxxx+ in nine months as a crew leader and supervisors making a estimate of $xxxxxx + in nine months.

We are not the only pressure washing company that makes this type of money. You would not even think that there are a ton of guys doing much much better than us. I have a few close collugues that do Millions in a years sales and these companies are all over the US.

So all I can say is do not give up if you have the passion and drive to succeed in this profession. Our business started with a $xxxxxx investment and has worked out well, but my goal is to do a Million dollars in sales in that nine month peroid. Still keeping with the winter month off thing to vacation.

Edited February 2, 2009 by Beth n Rod
requested by Tony

[jnoden 15]

Wow, there are a lot of people making over $15,000 in sales a month from one rig. That gives me a lot of hope. I hired my first FT guy and I am hoping that we can avg 10k a month in sales.

[tony szabo 14]

Jnoden,

Think outside the box! Everytime you leave your home just look around and see what needs to be cleaned. I find Churches, Schools and flat work in my area that need attention and if I had openings to add more work to present them with a proposal and the importance of why to clean and maintain I would.

Or if you are done with a job Don't tunnel vision back to your home, keep a eagle eye on looking of who need your services, then stop and drop of a business card or something to keep your job leads going. If you stop working on job leads (sales) then it will always catch up, then your business will have slow peroids.

Must have the passion and drive!

Another good pratice is to rub shoulders with these people that are extremly successfull. Find out what has worked for them. Eat what they eat, follow the leader type thing If you know what I mean.

[RSuds 24]

Yo Tony

My story sounds just like yours, I started in 1990 and before that I ran the White Glove car washes. (company record 1767 cars in 1 day). We have done ok after 17 years with 6 trucks and all that. We did have a problem in (I think) 1999 and 2002 with some droughts. I also want to get to that 1 Million mark. The 9 months a year are tuff. I Still have a lot to learn, I just found this forum and think it is great. I now think we may add roofs. I think the good money is in commercial work. I will try to get in bed with more management companies.

Brian Wendling

Rolling suds

[k2waterwerx 14]

Hello everyone! Just by reading this thread I hope I can do half of what you guys are doing. This just part-time for me but I am having fun doing it so far. I've only bin doing this for 6 mths.

[anthony szabo 14]

Keith,

I made about $15,000 my first season in 1990. Tough times!

[itswillist 14]

....and if you are the sole provider, or not.....if the wife also makes 50K, no kids, 100K a year for a couple ain't bad.

Rob, when you say "50-60%", out of around 200K gross, that is labor as well, correct?? Basically what you are saying is that out of 200K, you "took home" 100K??

Ok, I'm humbled before you guys, because I'm quite new to this business and would love to know (not how to do the work) but how you guys are getting all of this work.. I'd also like to know what you guys spend so much money on ? I only pay 100 / month for insurance, and gas and maintenance is not that expensive on machines, your workers are more assets and not liabilities .. .. i must be missing something.. but then again, I'm new...

[Mac Buhler 14]

I discovered the GrimeScene while Googling for information about the industry. The Forum has been very helpful as I decide how to really approach this business.

I have a pressure washer, have order a Shurflo and am looking forward to learning more by reading every day. Thanks for your willingness to share.

Mac

[Craig 111]

Itswillist-

Your costs will go up as your gross goes up. Just my gas and diesel bill is around $5,000 per month. Overhead is around $25-28 grand. It was just two years ago when I was doing all the work myself and had a gas bill of about $250 a month. Nice and simple. You can grow as much as you put your mind to and your drive let's you.

[PPC 37]

I've been averging almost 12000.00 a month this year been in the business almost 5 years this being my best so far my best month was may of this year with a 30000.00 month.

[anthony szabo 14]

Good help!

If you have employees that are 110% trustworthy and you do not need to tell them what to do, but just direct them. Then you must make certain to keep them long term.

If your business can run itself smoothly with you being absent for a few days then you know you have good help.

You may have a high payroll, but the trade off is over-turn of training and re training of employees all the time.

Its nice to know when all your employees come to work and you give them the work orders for the day and a GPS unit then they are good. I do have a lead employee go back and over see the quality and craftsman of the work they did.

With this type of great employees it gives me the chance to build my business and expand on other new investments to grow and start another business.

[tinsley 14]

my average gross per month is about $25-30,000 and I run my main rig and it will do around $15000 per month with the othes picking up any slack.

[plainpainter 217]

I theorized that I could easily do 3 $350 house washes a day multiply that by 20 working days a month and that's $21,000 per month off of one rig - perhaps that's a wee bit too optimistic? I think the problem is getting that many customers - and again you have to consider the amount of time invested in talking to potential customers. But with weekends - and a strong desire to make money. Why couldn't you work at that rate for 4 months of the year? And retire the rest?

[anthony szabo 14]

All of our services offered are so weather dependent. We do massive direct mails in the spring summer months to promote our services. Its real hard to keep that flow going in the winter months. Lets face it, my customers only think of me when the seasons allow them to be outside enjoying their yards and such, most of them hibernate in the winter seasons.

Its too much effort and too much money spent in the winter months to keep a pressure washing business moving in the winter set States. Unless you focus on inside work of some kind, so because of this we just shut our business down from the first long cold snap until spring just like Dan stated in the above post. Keeping in mind to find some type of work to support the family or make sure your nest egg has plenty of cash in it to float you thru the cold winter season.

[CLASSICPW 14]

Last year I spent over $10K in advertising. It was basically money in the toilet. I don't know about you guys, but people where I live do not take pressure washing seriously. It's a joke business apparently. I have customers(commercial and residential) that owe me money from early Aug. They feel that they can pay whenever they feel like it. I have a parking garage that owes me $6400 from 2 months ago. I don't feel, I KNOW, that if I spent $50,000 next year on advertising and went out every day and sold work I would't even come close to breaking $100,000 in SALES!! and I am a good salesman, I have a background in sales! people don't buy. IE...I sent post cards with a before and after siding photo to a 200 house neighborhood where every single house on the block had dirty green siding on 1 side of the house.......not 1 single phone call. Tony, I'm not calling you a liar, but I find that very hard to believe.

[PressurePros 249]

$120,000 per crew, per season in the northeast is very attainable with a marketing budget of $20,000 if you are a newer company down to under $5000 per working crew if you are established and have a referral program in place. Of course, you also have to be charging right.