Just exterior wood cleaning???

[woodguy1]

Sorry about the last thread guys! I found the search button and spent the last couple hours digging in a gold mine of information. So here is a better question that is not answered over and over in other posts...... Is it possible for somebody to start out in this business just doing wood cleaning and make a reasonable living (50K or better) without doing other types of cleaning (flat work, hoods, house washing)? It would seem to me that there is more money to be made cleaning and sealing wood than in other aspects of using a pressure washer.
I can see some of the questions coming to mind.....Marketing budget, geographical location, population, business experience, etc...
Here's what I have at my disposal:
1. A customer list of 500+ names from my soon to be previous business (carpet cleaning)
2. $10,000 earmarked for advertising
3. I live in Southern Oregon, and was expecting to have a 7 month window, march-october.
4. Within a 1 hour radius of my location there are 84,500 homes that are owned (housing unitsXhomeownership rate, US census). It is probably important to note that almost 10,000 of these homes are located on the coast, where there is a high concentration of shingle siding and decks.
I guess I want a ball park idea of how many jobs I should reasonably expect in my first cleaning season. In my business plan I was hoping for an average of 3.5 jobs per week for 7 months. I apologize for my obvious ignorance in advance. Woodguy1

 

[CaroliProWash]

Your annual goal is definitely do-able. Factors you need to consider in your 3.5 jobs per week is weather. Wood has more weather factors to contend with than other areas of pwing. Depending on what products you will use, you could be forced to wait WEEKS to get stain down after stripping or washing because of intermittent rain showers.

We are considering going strictly wood given the number of clients we picked up this year.

Celeste

 

[budwiser]

Why give up CC, do it in the winter for the holiday rush. It could also be a neat little concept to advertise. Try to sell the whole house clean. Inside and outside. Just thinking out loud.

 

[PressurePros]

Wood can be tough because, like Carolina mentioned, the weather factors in. If you have a ten month (or better season) you can easily gross enough to meet your number (not your first year though)..too much of a learning curve in the beginning.

For PP, hands down, property washing (housewashing) is the most lucrative and the most fun. Decks can be a tough sell sometimes. Depends on your area. I like doing both because anyone that has a deck, has a house. Around here, most people that have a house also have a deck, a pool, flagstone and walkways. I consider it all mine for the taking. If I limit PressurePros to deck cleaning exclusively, I lose the oppurtunity to upsell additional work and lose more money from my pocket because I have to have a higher customer count to keep jobs coming in. Higher customer count means more advertising $$. More advertising dollars + lowered customer count is not a wonderful formula for my company goals.

 

[woodguy1]

Bud........From all I gather, carpet cleaning has the same seasonal issues that wood cleaning would have, except the profit margin is a lot lower. We are dead in the winter, except before the holidays, and absolutly crushed in the spring, summer and fall. The main problem is to do carpet cleaning right you need good equipment, and I've sunk about 45k into my operation. I've been going strong for a coulple of years, and in the summer we do great, except my variable cost goes right up with the amount of revenue that comes in. Kinda depressing! But your thought had crossed my mind, and in fact, that is one thing that I have going for me, a good customer list.

Ken, There are a lot of guys in my world (carpet cleaning) that also do janitorial, window washing, interior tile cleaning, hardwood cleaning, water and fire restoration, and leather cleaning. From a marketing and positioning standpoint, I want to be the wood guy before I branch out into other fields. It seems from your other posts that you are extremly professional so I can safely assume that you have already accomplished that, but in my opinion offering a whole bunch of services to the same customers is the kiss of death for a new business. And from a positioning standpoint, I am no different than anybody else. Woodguy1

 

[PressurePros]

I completely understand where you are coming from, your point is a valid one. Wood restoration is a unique segment that requires a bit more skill and patience than the average P-wash job. To specialize in it streamlines your marketing campaigns and if you're good and stick to being the wood king, after a few years you will be well established. I am a believer in finding niche markets and going after domination in them. For that to hold true, though, either that market has to be in place or you have to establish it. If you determine that your demographic is prime for a 'wood guy' then you are set.

On the flip, I don't believe offering multiple services within realm and reason are a kiss of death for a new business. Consider today's overall consumer buying habits. People like one stop shopping. I do separate marketing campaigns for wood and for property restoration. I may send out deck mailers and when I get to the proposal stage I offer the complete package. Customer: "Oh you guys can take care of that mold on that side of my house too? Great, I thought I was going to have to call someone else to do it"

I'm not saying list fifty services on a business card. I think too many guys do that and it loses effectivenness. My philosophy initially was to learn it all, feel out my market, establish a solid customer base then decide if I wanted to specialize. From what I have seen, diversity is the way to go. The potential to turn a $700 job into a $2500 one is too good to pass up.