One Man Operation

[Wayne Trentacosta]

I would like to know how many of you guys are a one man operation? I am a firefighter and on my days off would like to operate a pressure washing business by myself. Strictly residential. I have been doing research for months now. Everything from equipment to marketing. This forum has helped me tremendously as I have been reading, reading, and reading. I am curious what kind of income that i can generate as a one man show. I can put in 5 days a week. If i go through with this i will purchase a trailer mounted 3000 psi/8 gpm hot water setup w/ all of the accessories that i need to do a professional job. Also plan on getting some hands on training as well. Would love to hear from anyone that works alone. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Thank you all for your time and consideration.

[John Neilson]

Welcome Wayne, Glad to see your here. Im in Deltona Florida.  I am usually a 1 man operation, I do have my part time worker for my KEC jobs and roof jobs.

I would say if you have never Pressure washed before then you will definitely want to continue reading and watching videos.  

http://www.propowerwash.com/board/upload/vbtube.php

       If you have the funds to buy the equipment then go for it. By me there were a lot of guys that purchased big and went out of business. They sold their equipment dirt cheap. It was not because of a lack of work, they did not know how to market themselves. I got a break when I started because the first thing I did was Letter my vehicle. I obtained a 31 building development because of my lettering, I gave them 125% and they gave me a letter of reference that is golden. That reference landed me residential, a couple of banks, and hopefully a sister company of the first (same foot print) with 72 buildings. This company will earn me 45k this upcoming year. I still did not count the roofs. I got some really nice business cards made up and hand them out to everyone, everywhere I go, I spoke to a woman in a paint store one time. turns out she is the supervisor for county 911 dispatch. I got customers from her. Other dispatchers.  

      Another important factor will be your chemicals. ( always say solutions , or wash mix to the customers ) Here in Florida I mostly use liquid  pool chlorine from either pinch a penny or Leslie's. I did find a local distributor that can beat their prices by almost .80 cents a gallon. shop around. Take a class if you can. above all Not a sales pitch. Join the    http://www.uamcc.org/ I am a member and it sure looks good to have your business listed with such a credible organization.plus you get discounts on equipment should you go this route. The free gifts and discounts from the sponsors more than make up for the cost.   plus you will help the industry fade out the low ballers that are working dirt cheap and providing crap work. One customer told me he hired me because , " if you do work for a bank then I know you can be trusted"

Its a small donation with great perks, and a great group of guys and gals here.

     I was in law enforcement 15 years ago. I loved it. It is my passion and still is but The flexibility of self employment out weighs it all. I have 2 boys with Autism and my time with them is very important.

Call me if you need anything 386-956-3406

 

 

 

 

 

[Doug Rucker]

Hey Wayne I am on my iPad and hate typing on this. I will chime in more tomorrow. I was a one man operation for years.

[Rodney brown]

I like working by my self.. Jobs comes out flawless ....

[Doug Rucker]

I would like to know how many of you guys are a one man operation? I am a firefighter and on my days off would like to operate a pressure washing business by myself. Strictly residential. I have been doing research for months now. Everything from equipment to marketing. This forum has helped me tremendously as I have been reading, reading, and reading. I am curious what kind of income that i can generate as a one man show. I can put in 5 days a week. If i go through with this i will purchase a trailer mounted 3000 psi/8 gpm hot water setup w/ all of the accessories that i need to do a professional job. Also plan on getting some hands on training as well. Would love to hear from anyone that works alone. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Thank you all for your time and consideration.

 Wayne, I use to work alone, and did for many years.  Yes it absolutely can be done. However, i just prefer to have a second person with me, or like now, I have two man crews.  The reason is not only from speed and productivity perspective but also from a safety standard.

 

Can't tell you how many times when I was working alone and would be on a roof that my hose would grab the ladder and knock it down, (pre ladder stabilzer days of course), and also just having someone to help with the set up and break down as well as hose managment, property protection etc etc.

 

As for how much INCOME you can make all depends on the amount of business you generate.  When I first started I was happy with at the minimum one house wash or roof cleaning at $400.00 per day.  But now as expenses have increased due to web marketing etc, gas, chems etc I shoot for minimum of "clearing" $1000.00 per day, after labor and costs.

 

As for the good bad and ugly:

 

The good-you get to work alone, you don't have to worry about another person and keeping his income up, everything you do is all you.  

 

the bad and ugly- lot more labor involved in working alone.  You are doing the set up, the cleaning, the break down, EVERYTHING.

 

My suggestion is find someone you can trust that can help you.  there is nothing like pulling up to the job site and while you are visiting w the customer your helper is getting everything set up so all you have to do is clean.  When done he is doing all the break down and load in.  Sure takes a load off, especially on hot weather.

 

hope this helps