Getting ready to take the plunge(again)

Sal at ESG

New Member
A few years ago, I was gearing up to go into the PW biz, the wife and I had another baby, and decided we didn’t want to put our kids in daycare. I put the PW biz idea on the shelf and retired my Bartending Apron.

I've really enjoyed the last 3 years as a full-time stay at home dad ( I have continued to work, I manage some rental property that I own, but I have great tenants so the property management take very little time/effort )but I'm ready to get out of the house a few days a week and start making a little more money.

I plan on starting by doing only residential. I'm going to see if I can fit into what I see as a niche market here in my area, Docks & Sea walls. Of course as I'm starting out, I don’t plan on turning down any work other than roofs (I understand there is a HUGE market for PWing roofs here, but I'm going to leave that money for someone else ;) ) unless the job is out of my league or the customer tries to rape me on the price of the job.

I've been doing some pressure washing over the last 3 years for friends and family so I know I can do the work and while my equipment isn’t the best, I know that it dose the jobs I want to do. ( 4000 PSI, 4 GPM, Cold Water, 13HP Honda w/ an AR pump-16 inch surface cleaner, NO CHEMS)

If this takes off, I'd like to upgrade to Hot water & a wider surface cleaner.

In the last week or so since I've made the decision that its time to get this going, I've devoured just about everything on line I could find about Pressure Cleaning (firm believer that Knowledge is Power) and I'm looking at several books and tapes on the subject as well.

Would any of you care to offer any advice on which of the books/tapes are worth spending money on?

Also, if someone in the Southeastern US that does lots of Flatwork was interested in receiving a few weeks of FREE labor in exchange for some OJT I would be MOST happy to oblige :D

Sal
 

onecallpowerw

New Member
I have noticed that the market in Florida is saturated with pressure washing companies. Personally, with what I have seen, I would not venture into pressure washing in Florida. Just my 2 cents. I am sure you did your research, but take a good hard look.
 

Sal at ESG

New Member
Onecall, thanks for your reply. While I wouldn’t use the word saturated, there are quite a few people running around down here with pressure washers trying to make money. While some of them are reputable companies, the majority are fly-by-nighters who are not licenced or insured.

I'm incorporated I already have my license, I will have insurance before I start on my marketing campaign, and I think I can carve out a niche for myself in the industry down here.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I already have an income that dosnt require tons of time (and the wife has a decent job as well) so I’m going to be able to start slow. I don’t have to worry about my family starving if I'm not getting X number of jobs per week.

I'm hoping that within 2 months of going live, I can put $1600 a month in my pocket after expenses.

If I make it in the biz, fantastic. If I make a go of it and fail, at least I tried :)

Sal
 

Don.EMS

New Member
Good luck dude, you'll do fine. With a good business plan, hard work and a no fear attatude you'll do fine. It sounds like you've done your home work and know what your getting into.
Just remember that you have to step up to get over the losers, and step up even higher to get over the winners. Dive in and dig out your own. Onecall is right, take a hard look, at where you fit and make it happen.
 

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