We're figuring 1/3 profit margin, sound right?

Last year, we figured a little over 1/3 profit margin for a condo job and we lost the job because they went with a less expensive competitor. They didn't want to pay for the decks to be stripped either.

It's hard to read these management companies. Sometimes they want the cheapest possible price to get it done (rinse and seal), other times, they want the best available (wash, strip, brighten, seal). I think we often lose to the cheap guy with the $199. pressure washer working out of the family van.

We explain why our costs are a bit higher than the family-van-man, but often it doesn't seem to matter to them.

Things that make ya go 'hmmmmm'.