The difference is that you are comparing apples to oranges. If ALL you sell is a house wash, then it is only worth $15+/hr (That's what most of us pay our help) However, if you sell customer service, dependability, trustworthiness etc., then that is worth its value to the consumer. Nothing scamming about selling a Valuable service.
Good customer service costs money. Being dependable and on time costs money. Don't think so? We are on time because we left shop early enough to not allow traffic jams get us caught up. We get to shop early to make sure everything is operational before we go out. We finish the day by filling up on fuel to be ready for the next day. We have back-up equipment and vehicles so as not to let our cunsumer down. Thier schedules are as impotant as ours are. All these things cost money. From extra time on the clock for the help to extra expenses having multiple machines/trucks and the extra insurance they bear. It costs money to keep your word and to go back and clean that spot you missed. It costs money to fix a window that got cracked accidently because we're all human.
Knowing these TRUE costs of doing business and pricing accordingly is not a scam. Understanding that there are only a set number of billable hours in a season and knowing what your business goals are (Salaries that support a family and put away for the future and build wealth for our childre) is not a scam.
You think that a consumer doesn't VALUE knowing that the contractor they hired is Insured or has ethics like not pi$$ing in thier bushes and staring at thier 15 yr/old daughter? Think they don't understand that good reliable help Costs money? Think they don't VALUE when a contractor keeps his word and gets the project done on time so that thier Sons wedding can go as planned with the freshly refinished deck as the gathering place for thier guests?
Nothing SCAM about understanding what is really being sold. Customer service is being sold.
Actually it is the Low price guys that are the ones that can't compete. Talk about a scam.... A scam is when the consumer pays $100 for what they believe to be a good service only to find later that the contractor wasn't insured because he can't afford insurance. How is pricing with a knowledge of your true numbers a scam or a reflection that you can't compete?
Now, that said, there IS a niche for all sorts in the marketplace. There is a niche for the basic, nothing fancy house wash. Reason being... there are consumers that don't care if your late. Thier time isn't worth what the Lawyer across towns time is. This consumer gets NO value from what you sell above and beyond JUST a house wash. There are consumers that will smoke a joint with the contractor after the job is done so long as he isn't charged for that time. Some consumers could care less if you show up in unform much less a shirt at all. This is the market that your system would work for. A market that is only concerned with what it is going to cost them. If they make $24/hr at the loacal factory, then they are willing to pay a guy to come out and clean thier vinyl for $20/hr.
Same for the $500/hr Lawyer.... He thinks a guy on time and depedable is a bargain at $300/hr. He feels he saved $200/hr. Like I said.... Niches. Nothing Scam about KNOWING your market and what you're selling. Customer services sells at a higher profit margin than Simple Pressure Cleaning.
Anyhow, I may just be a dumb hick from KY and you all can just ignore me. Like I said earlier, I am usually negative.