Business stinks!

[johnny]

Will the last guy standing turn out the lights!

Power wash contracting as we know it will have to change. JR Wood got me thinking, truth be told - most guys are just scraping by - thanks to an understanding and supportive partner, AKA wife. What happened to all the BIG money, it just vanished. Sure we made the 6 figure and like most people in this business had to scramble to pay taxes. If it wasn't for a working wife how many guys would have health insurance for the family! The history of power wash contracting is that guys do it for a period of time and then move out to the next thing, selling chemicals and /or equipment to newbies.

Face it, this is a good hobby for guys who like to tinker with machinery, make noise and get dirty. If we want to keep tinkering we need to get parttime jobs, hug our wives and children thank them for their patience and thank God we didn't put them all in the poor house.

 

[jrwem]

I think I will tough it out for another year. Truth be told, my misfortune was also weather related. Last year there was off and on drought restrictions in New jersey, which kept the phones from ringing. Then this spring, we had three years worth of rain in one season. A lot of contractors were sealing a lot of decks that were still wet! That is another problem I have. In a quest to do go the extra mile I leave a Faq with each estimate that clearly says that the deck has to be totally dry before a finish can go on. I lost about 27 decks due to customers who didn't want to wait, or only needed it done for parties and stuff.( weddings, graduations, memorial day and so on.) Good thing last year was a good snowplow year! I would have gone bankrupt.

 

[Clean County]

JR,
If you lost 27 decks that lets say were $400 on average to Powerwash and stain/seal because you wouldn't do it when the customers wanted you to thats $10,000 gone from your pocket.

If the customer just wants it done for parties then I would do it. What they are telling you is that they have money to PISS away and that is what they will do....because they can.

I have had customers who would have sod put down on there property just for parties and then afterwords they would have it removed and then put it down again when the heat of the summer is gone. This is $$$$$ wasted but they have the money to do this.

So my point is why should you care about how they want to spend there money. I have stained decks where it rained a couple of hours later and I did it in this type of weather because my customers demanded it due to parties ar whatever they have coming up.

You may be a perfectionist and I'm sure you do high quality of work but the bottom line here is money and if you are walking away from it it will hurt you in the long run...LIKE NOW!!

Just my opinion and please don't take any offense to what I posted. I'm just trying to offer hopefully some helpful advise.

 

[jrwem]

John T, I understand completely.
27 is the number I had crossed off my list, there was alot more work I turned down because I was sick of going back and recleaning decks, that were already done, because it rained for ten days straight!

 

[Dan S]

I know you were just funnin John ..... ME 2

hey very nice ride you got there . what year is it?

I have always wanted a muscle car ...........whatcha pay for that baby ? Did you get a deal ?

come pick me up I will show you the country side of the US

country living at it's finest.....<<>>

 

[Clean County]

I paid $9200 for the black beauty. Its an 87 Buick Grand National which was the last year made. IT has most of the options and still looks great. The Only draw back is that the engine has a little over 100,000 miles but it still runs fast and sweet. In the future I plan on having it re-built and juiced up a little and then chrome it out some(Need more $$$$ cause now I'm back in the poor house)

If I'm ever up in your neck of the woods I'll fly by and pick you up and we can cruise the Mountain side in style with some speed.

 

[Mike Hughes]

John, Glad to hear you're sticking it out...............weather has hurt us a lot in the last year or so...........its been really tough.

Dan S...........I actually thought the same thing John did about your thoughts on "free" stuff............but I wasn't going to say anything

 

[Dan S]

That crack's me up Mike ........... If you wasnt going to say anything UHHH.....okay then what did you just do? you sound like one of my kids .........

 

[ron]

did you even THINK of switching sealer's?
I know it's prob. not your way of doing thing's but as hard as the weather hit you, i would have had to try bio-wash's ONE DAY DECK.
oNE LAST thing. Ever think about covering the deck's with them big blue roofer's tarp's? No sun or rain to get them messed-up.
Leave an air space and it will still dry.
A co. called WATHER MAX also make's a sealer for wet wood.
any opinion's?

 

[Mike Hughes]

Sorry Dan, couldn't help myself.

 

[Dan S]

No- prob. Mike ................. have a super great day my friend.......

 

[jrwem]

Originally posted by ron
ever think about covering the deck's with them big blue roofer's tarp's? No sun or rain to get them messed-up.
Leave an air space and it will still dry.

Ron I have $300 worth of tarps sitting in my big truck. It is alot easier said than done. After the fifth or sixth time of getting to the job and finding the tarp either blown away or the weight of the rain pulls the bungees in. Oh yeah have YOU ever tried to get a tarp full of water off a deck without getting the deck soaked. I also thought about changing sealers, the only problem is the deck can be wet when you apply the sealer, have you ever seen water based sealer that wasn't dry yet, get rained on?

 

[johnny]

Hi JR,

I hope things have picked up for you. You've been at this game a long time and I admire your professionalism. When you write that business stinks - people ought to sit back and take a long look at their situations. I know you are a serious pro.

Ignore comments from the Ron's of this world who have just started a business and write on another site that they are going back to school to get a trade and get out now, because they can't make it. He has a lot of free time on his hands and likes to write stuff on the different boards. He doesn't have a minute of the experience you have. He thinks he's being helpful rewriting somebody else's comments as his own.

Good luck and pray for good weather.

 

[Clean County]

Very unfair slap towards Ron P!!!
If you don't like what he has to say just suck it in and keep it to yourself.

Ron is just trying to help and thats all you can ask for on these bb's. He responds alot to all of the boards and alot of people including myself appreciate any advice that he can give. Guys like him keep these bb's going.

If you were a good guy you would either apologize to him or edit your post. We all make mistakes at one time or another in are re-marks. Its the men in us that are willing to admit to it.

 

[Tim Lynch]

Originally posted by johnny
Hi JR,

I hope things have picked up for you. You've been at this game a long time and I admire your professionalism. When you write that business stinks - people ought to sit back and take a long look at their situations. I know you are a serious pro.

Ignore comments from the Ron's of this world who have just started a business and write on another site that they are going back to school to get a trade and get out now, because they can't make it. He has a lot of free time on his hands and likes to write stuff on the different boards. He doesn't have a minute of the experience you have. He thinks he's being helpful rewriting somebody else's comments as his own.

Good luck and pray for good weather.

Ron has helped me with the surflow sprayers and has a good mind in trying to help folks here. I don't see anything wrong with the trap idea as to his own advice in trying to help. I would not try it but it all depends on location. Here in California the tarps would get wet on the underside from fog and sun.

Remember some think to this as a hobby to keep a cash flow for toys and the likes. Some to pay for the bills others to support a family and still some to just keep from working for the man.

So yeah I think you were a little rough on Ron with your words I would refraze you reply.

This was a nice thread as the economy and weather are a factor to many of us. My september calls are slow but I have a built up base so I will be okay. Even if work is going good calendar wise meaning work is scheluled we all know and go by the phone calls even if we are booked. No calls means something in the economy is going bad not the advertisment. After 11 years going on 12 I keep my call logs and this year not bad but as to the last few years the phone is not doing what it was then to this date. It's not me it is something eles.

I know for instance the phone dies right after school gets out and I get the heebeejeebees but the one week later you have so many calls you can't handle them all and are then 2 months deep on the calendar. And then your worried cuase your turning work away. This year has been one of the weirdest I have seen from my past documents. I allways date my call sheet that come and my past calendar books for things such as rain outs the week I recived no calls and the weeks I recive lots of calls all the way down to the days. Tuesdays being the biggest call days on the chart.


And you know what? They allways line up in fact even the rain delays show a formatt thats true.

Stick with it but again this is a very strange offset year, weather economy and sex had to toss that in to make sure you read the whole boring thing I wrote.

 

[ron]

cant make them all happy.
Just because im going back to school to learn a trade dose'nt mean im giving up pressure washing.
I wash 20 truck's on a sat.
1 helper
$40 per truck.
Started at 8, was home by 3.
Re-writeing something that you have learned and tried, is wrong?
How would anyone learn anything if you did'nt listen?
Yes, i saw someone else post about tarping.
Then i suggested to to mr. wood.
He has kindly pointed out that it is pretty impractical.
Thank's JR
As far as ''just starting''
yes i just started 3 year's ago.
It's not the PW buissness that im worried about. It's the winter month's.
It's just not fun washing truck's in 30 deg weather.
You learn more with your ear's then you ever will with your mouth.

 

[jrwem]

I wasn't bustin' ya' Ron I was just telling you the outcome of your suggestions, for me anyway!

 

[Shadow]

q

 

[ron]

J R
I was commenting on johnny.
One last note on the tarping thing.
If the tarp was big enuff to cover everything and be secured down so it would'nt blow off. I think i would buy a swimming pool cover sump pump.
Now, im not this ambisist. I would look for other work.
I cant believe full time home owner type buissness's that are seasonal can stay in buissness at all.
kudo's to you.
Yesterday, i went to a friend's house because he said'' come on over Ron, you'll love to see this''
His neibour saw my work and wanted a quote on house washing.
I said $150.bla bla bla
He found a guy to do it for $50
lettered trailer,newer pick-up truck.
home depot wash unit and a 100 gal tank.
He used jomax.
3 hrs hand brushing the house.
ladder,mitt's,brush's. Was fun to watch.
my rig parked in front of their house.
Got done collected his money and told customer nothing could remove black from gutter's.
I settled for 2 case's of beer to get the gutter's clean. lol
took less then 10 min.
He will be calling me next year.
It look's pretty bad where i stopped my suface cleaner and his sidewalk start's.

 

[reedsterstl]

That is it in a nut shell Ron, Cheap ass home owners not knowing any better because "all of us PW's do the same thing" mental midget mentalities. Does that sound right??

I flat out tell every customer now, "you will find some who do the job cheaper than I do, and I am not cheap, nor do I do cheap work. Only you can decide what value your money buys" gets my point across and they are willing to wait for me to get to them.

Reed