Top three tips for Starting a Pressure Washing Business

In this article I am going to share with you my three top tips for starting a pressure washing business. Now keep in mind there are a lot of other tips I could give you as well but we are going to stick to what I feel are the three things that will help you get rolling with your Business.

1. Do your Research

I can not stress enough how important it is to do research. There are plenty of ways to do this. There are paid classes you can take in person and online. One place that comes to mind is PWNA (Pressure Washers North America) they offer all kinds of online training and certifications. There are also places like Doug Ruckers Online School and Powerwash University. I will add links to those at the end of this paragraph.

Other places you can do research and learn a lot of information is by going to Facebook and join some of the Facebook Groups. Ones that come to mind are Pressure Washing Friends, Powerwash Community, and Exterior Cleaning Cowboys Pricing Help. Now keep in mind when you join these groups it is a great idea to read as many posts as you can and utilize the search bar within the group to search topics. I am not one of those people who will scold you for asking a question that has been asked a million times but there are guys in there that will jump all over you.

Pressure Washing Resource is an online forum that has a great community and outstanding content for you to learn from. It is full of great posts and tips and all kinds of information. I will place a link to that forum at the bottom of this section as well!

Finally checkout YouTube! There are all kinds of YouTube channels out there that are full of how to videos and information on Pressure Washing and Softwashing. One of those YouTube Channels is my own channel which I will post a link to at the end of this video. Keep in mind at the time of writing this post my channel is pretty new and there isn’t a whole lot of information posted yet! But there will be!!

LINKS

WWW.PWNA.ORG Pressure Washers North America

WWW.PRESSURECLEANINGSCHOOL.COM Doug Ruckers Cleaning School

WWW.POWERWASHU.COM Powerwash University

WWW.PRESSUREWASHINGRESOURCE.COM Pressure Washing Reasource

My YouTube Channel

2. Be Professional

There is no substitute for Professionalism. When you go into business for yourself you are not only selling your service you are selling yourself. Customers want to know that they can trust you and that they can count on you to do your best work for them every time the call you. Professionalism comes across as your tone when you are speaking to the customer. Your appearance as well as the appearance of your vehicle and equipment can win you a job or cost you a job. Now with that being said I am an Equipment Vendor. If you call me and ask me for a Softwash Skid or a Softwash Trailer Build I will be happy to sell it to you. Do you need one of my skids or trailers to get the job done. No. Will they help you get the job done and look professional and help you make a bunch of money? Yes. Is there anything wrong with starting with whatever you can afford at the time or should you save up and buy big. Well start with what you can afford. If you want to finance equipment that is fine. If you cant finance equipment and can only afford the 2.8 GPM Pressure Washer from Harbor Freight and a downstream injector. Thats fine to. Will it take you a long time to wash the home? Yes. Can you make enough to upgrade if you work hard and hustle with just that equipment? Absolutely. Don’t be afraid to work hard. You have to work hard or you’re probably not going to make it. Also understand that some people will turn you away and not let you clean their home if you don’t have professional looking equipment. I have gone into developments before and done a job for a customer who told me when I was done that several neighbors talked with him prior to my arrival and they said if he looks professional let us know we will hire him too if he does a good job for you. I left that job with 7 referrals and I closed 6. Professionalism sells your services for you! If you would like to look at the equipment we offer for sale you can find that at the link below!

Shop our Equipment Here!!

3. Market, Market, Market

I can not stress enough the importance of Marketing. Facebook ads are a great marketing tool. Nextdoor app, Google Ads, Door Knockers, Direct Mail Flyers, any number of the marketing companies. Before and after pictures are a great tool. Take before and afters of every single surface that you clean everyday. Customers respond well to Before and After Pictures of your work and they will do wonders for your ads. Also short videos a few seconds long they work great on Facebook. Find your target market set it up in your ads and send it. Especially when you first start out keep your foot on that marketing pedal. As you get established after a few years you can ease up a little but you need to stay in front of your potential clients. My first year in business I advertised on Facebook, one month worth of 30 second radio commercials, and in the local paper. The local paper I got zero ROI (return on investment) Facebook I had an outstanding ROI and for the radio commercial its kinda both ways. I had one customer call from the commercial…that one customer sent me a bunch of work and were some of the most outstanding people I have ever met! Find what works in your area and use it until it doesn’t work anymore then tweak it until it works for you again.

In summary I really could have put any number of tips on this post but these are the three that I believe will help you along the way the most in getting started. If you have questions or would like to suggest a topic that we cover in a future post leave them in the comments on this post and we will try to answer you as fast as we can!