Mountain View 14 Report post Posted January 30, 2006 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. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FullBlast 14 Report post Posted January 30, 2006 You got to lay a little out to make a little... When I first started I borrowed around $5-7k Then when I decided to get into it for good I borrowed $200+k All depends on what you want to do!!! Will help any way I can!! Good Luck!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pivster29 14 Report post Posted January 30, 2006 purchased my first machine and trailer, insurance and anything else you could think of for bout 10,000. My dad helped me out with that. A year later and today I just purchased my 2nd machine. Spent about 7,000. If you finance it I would. Good tax write off and if you plan on quitting your job you need some living cash, I began to see money about 10 months after working for myself. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PressurePros 249 Report post Posted January 30, 2006 The nice thing about this business is you don't need to max out every credit card, take out triple mortgages and sign away your first born to get in. Like any business the more you put in, the more you get out. A mistake I see some new guys making is thinking they have to have the top of the line gear. I would recommend a guy that is starting out to go with a 5 gpm cold machine and spend any money saved on marketing. An 8 gpm hot water machine is something anyone would love to have but until you have so much business that there aren't enough hours in the week it is unneccesary. Of course, if you are doing flatwork, hot is a neccessary evil. Hre is an SBA link to get you started.. unfortunately unless you are a minority or female it's tough to get funding for a start up. http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/startup/guide.html Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mountain View 14 Report post Posted January 30, 2006 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? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PressurePros 249 Report post Posted January 30, 2006 LOL, if you can regenerate platelettes and cells to donate daily you should be ready to start business in 2010. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
John T 744 Report post Posted January 30, 2006 If you have to then finance it..I started 11 yrs ago and I did it on my credit card..Today you can do this to if you can find those credit cards with the 0% interest for the first year..and then try to pay it back before then..or go to a bank and take out a small loan..either way if you don't have the funds ready available and you think you do have what it takes to make it in this business..then just finance it and write it off at tax time. The season for Powerwashing here in the northeast is around late March to late October. I don't know what it would be in you area but the sooner you get your equipment and yourself situated the sooner you can start going out there to make the money... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ron Musgraves 240 Report post Posted January 30, 2006 22 years later and now I answer this question very different as many veterans with multiple crews would answer. I think you could take a slow approach and start with little invested and make little profit and numbers. You could start quickly and spend more money to start up. (Obviously you would make more money) What do you consider start up? Equipment, insurance, marketing plan and all the time it takes to get started. For most businesses pressure cleaning is a low cost as far as equipment purchase. You could spend as little as 3000.00 and as much 150 thousand. Marketing the first year if you want a business that will make a quarter million a year will cost around 50 to 75 G’s for the cost of marketing material and help. Keep in mind even if you do things yourself your time is worth something. I would not try to start a pressure cleaning business on a shoe string unless you wanted to remain part time or just want to go slow because you felt you didn’t have enough knowledge. Bank roll the start up properly so that you don’t need to lower prices to eat. Watch your cost weekly and don’t be afraid to hire help and train the help so you can build your business. I can’t tell you how many folks go out of business and I get the call Ron I can’t build my business because I’m to broke to hire anyone and I don’t have time to handle sales and customer service problems. Make a plan and figure what you’re doing and set goals to be achieved and then make sure you can achieve these goals. Decide how you’re going to start and no matter what some here argue and say, if you want a strong business and want to make real money and not just a living then be ready to spend a little money. Maybe 50 g’s would be a real number. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ron Musgraves 240 Report post Posted January 30, 2006 I was writing mine when you posted. Its a different opinion 11 years later. funny how some still have the same opinion. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Beth n Rod 1,279 Report post Posted January 30, 2006 We started out slow and I was working pt at nite for the first year in addition to all day each day. As winter drew in, I went back to full time at my regular job and once spring hit again, I gave notice and left my ft job and went ft self-employed. I have never looked back but I have always been looking forward remembering what I went through and kept the pitfalls in mind so I didn't hit them anymore. Beth was not ft either until 2 years into it. The one thing that has been a difficult obstacle has been employees. The amount of time spent interviewing and hiring, training, terminating/releasing has been a tremendous time consumer and is rather disappointing because of all that goes into it just to find one or two people (out of a couple of dozen) but you lose them at the end of the season to school or winter. We are getting ready to launch a new set of job descriptions which includes other managerial/supervisory positions to handle the extra crews. This is going to be a challenge because not many people know much about the pw'ing business to be able to bring much in skill where this is concerned to the table. So it is pretty much on the job training unless we get lucky and find someone who has a 5-7 year background in this field. There is a bright side. Its called critical mass. Its a point at which you have enough of a repeat customer base plus a steady influx of new clients that you reach a point of self sustaining work just for the regular season that simplifies the estimating side of it and allows more latitude for development of other lines of work to keep the winter crews running. More to come on that. ;) Rod!~ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jeff 232 Report post Posted January 31, 2006 Elite, What are your goals for this biz. Do you want to start out slow , residential or commercial or both??? Tell us what your goals are in your head and if you have a plan and we might be able to suggest a way for you to go Ifyou just want to do some residential for extra cash to help raise your family, do you want to work towards fulltime Alot depends on your goals & then you can figure what you need for equipment and what kind of bank roll you'll need Jeff Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Barry M 73 Report post Posted January 31, 2006 I started last last year part time with $4,000. I bought a 4gpm cold belt driven unit, good hoses, a couple wands, an x-jet, some used ladders, a phone line, biz cards, insurance and saved a little for making flyers to mail out. I believe that's about the bare minimum you could start with and still look professional. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JFife 14 Report post Posted January 31, 2006 I think the big thing people starting out take for granted is their vehicle. If you don't have a truck, or if you don't happen to drive around in a big white rape wagon, that is going to be a big expense on top of what 'Barry M' has just stated. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mountain View 14 Report post Posted January 31, 2006 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. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mountain View 14 Report post Posted January 31, 2006 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. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jeff 232 Report post Posted January 31, 2006 If money is the issue, get a small 6x10 trailer a beltdrive cold 4 gpm a good surface cleaner, odds & ends, some real good signage on trailer, practice on yours and families homes and driveways etc. And advertise like crazy, fliers, post cards neighborhood newsletters, newspaper etc I started with less and am doing pretty well Good luck Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mountain View 14 Report post Posted January 31, 2006 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: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ken wiggins 14 Report post Posted January 31, 2006 I am in the start up phase as well. I will have about 12k with insurance, equipment, LLC, etc. I am using a home equity to finance. With this being a relitivly small amount for a start up biz, it seems to be the way to go, as it will help with my taxes. I am not an experienced washer, but I am an experienced business person. Don't go cheap. Have all of your ducks in a row and jump in. No one gets anywhere playing it 100% safe. Work hard, smart, do good work and you have a great chance of making it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mountain View 14 Report post Posted January 31, 2006 Roger that:lgmoneyey Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jeff 232 Report post Posted January 31, 2006 Newbies starting out have to know any biz is hard to get going at first, once you get some experience that of corse helps. But getting the work is the hardest. Wether your a good business man or just a guy like me who wanted to make a biz work and eventually be fulltime self employeed it takes time. You have to spend tons of time getting the work. You may have to send thousands & thousands of post cards fliers etc. My 2nd & 3rd year I sent at least 10,000 fliers & post cards, Got in 5 or 6 newsletters, posted fliers at supermarkets, left biz cards in doctors office on counters at banks and fast food places, asked evey customer to tell others and more etc etc. You can start with the mininuim or a nice new full rig. But you have to get the jobs, work hard, show up on time. It can take 2, 3 years or more just to get enough work to where you think you might be able to make it. You can make it but you always have to work at and dont slack. Sell Sell Sell thats how you make it in this biz Good luck to you guys, I want to hear your success stories in a few years JL Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mountain View 14 Report post Posted January 31, 2006 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: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
