Self employed pressure washing business - aiming at niches?

[Syd]

Morning all, long story short, I'm 36 and after a few failed attempts at being self employed I am considering starting up a pressure washing business. To answer any "why have you failed" thoughts, I've tried loads of businesses ranging from a boxing glove brand, used car sales, hand sanitiser brand (I know I know) and most recently an epoxy resin flooring business. My main issue is I overthink everything which causes problems and I just can't find something that just pays me a decent wage every month, I don't want to earn thousands, I just want to work for myself and earn a living wage.

For example, my latest venture of decorative epoxy resin flooring, it's an expensive product which limits the market massively. So far since going live in June I've sent out 17 quotes and heard back of not one, all because I imagine they see the price and fall over, it's not consistent enough. OK if you land a job with more than 20m2 the profit can be fantastic but I can't just hang around hoping I land a job every week or month.

My reasoning for starting up pressure washing is low start-up costs, it's easy, there's a few sectors to aim at, I can work alone and I don't need any special qualifications or training. I have researched the job, the market and local competitors and I believe there is an opportunity to aim at the farming industry. My question is do you think this strategy would work? of course I could offer pressure washing to the whole market however I prefer to stick to niches and make that sector mine.

 

[MarkOnline]

By the sound of it you're "chasing" anything where you see a chance at earning The problem is, every business out there can give you a good living if you do it right. The point is " that doing it right" is the key to success and having a realistic idea of the path you need to follow (over a reasonable period of time- not zero to hero in 6 months) and seeing it through will probably ensure your success more than the niche you target.
This may seem like a negative post, but as a younger man there was no bigger "chaser" than me, the businesses I picked were good. my approach and mindset were extremely poor. I wanted instant success but wasnt prepared for the long hard slog that reaching success entails.
Get your mindset right first before you throw your time, effort and available money at yet another "easy" endevour. They are only easy once you have put the time and graft in ( along with working smart and within your means.
Good luck moving forward but work out why you keep failing and dont blame the customer or the price.

 

[Financial-Modeller]

Not trying to sound flippant, but if you want a decent wage every month, you want a job!

Then learn how the trade works until you can do it on a self-employed basis. You're doing it back-to-front and will continue to struggle.

 

[Syd]

I couldn't agree more @MarkOnline @Financial-Modeller thank you

 

[AllUpHere]

Was it you who recently asked for a website review for an epoxy flooring company site? If so, it's not the business idea that's wrong, it's how you are going about it.

 

[Syd]

Was it you who recently asked for a website review for an epoxy flooring company site? If so, it's not the business idea that's wrong, it's how you are going about it.

Yep, again I completely agree @AllUpHere

 

[IanSuth]

Morning all, long story short, I'm 36 and after a few failed attempts at being self employed I am considering starting up a pressure washing business. To answer any "why have you failed" thoughts, I've tried loads of businesses ranging from a boxing glove brand, used car sales, hand sanitiser brand (I know I know) and most recently an epoxy resin flooring business. My main issue is I overthink everything which causes problems and I just can't find something that just pays me a decent wage every month, I don't want to earn thousands, I just want to work for myself and earn a living wage.

For example, my latest venture of decorative epoxy resin flooring, it's an expensive product which limits the market massively. So far since going live in June I've sent out 17 quotes and heard back of not one, all because I imagine they see the price and fall over, it's not consistent enough. OK if you land a job with more than 20m2 the profit can be fantastic but I can't just hang around hoping I land a job every week or month.

My reasoning for starting up pressure washing is low start-up costs, it's easy, there's a few sectors to aim at, I can work alone and I don't need any special qualifications or training. I have researched the job, the market and local competitors and I believe there is an opportunity to aim at the farming industry. My question is do you think this strategy would work? of course I could offer pressure washing to the whole market however I prefer to stick to niches and make that sector mine.

Having grown up on up on a farm I have to ask what part of farming do you think will pay you to pressure wash ? If they need it most farmers will have their own pressure washer (we did) and farmers are renowned for spending as little as they can on day to day stuff (witness the number of trailers held together by baler twine). The only exception being the horsey set which isnt really farming

Also most types of farming are seasonal so if they are your total market you will not be getting steady money over the year you will have mad periods and fallow periods

 

[Syd]

Having grown up on up on a farm I have to ask what part of farming do you think will pay you to pressure wash ? If they need it most farmers will have their own pressure washer (we did) and farmers are renowned for spending as little as they can on day to day stuff (witness the number of trailers held together by baler twine). The only exception being the horsey set which isnt really farming

Also most types of farming are seasonal so if they are your total market you will not be getting steady money over the year you will have mad periods and fallow periods

Well that's what I need to find out, I have already asked the question on various farming forums, one forum has advised it's a service popular with pig and poultry houses but not general farming as you have said as it's an additional expense

 

[Syd]

Well that's what I need to find out, I have already asked the question on various farming forums, one forum has advised it's a service popular with pig and poultry houses but not general farming as you have said as it's an additional expense

Here's one bit of feedback; "We used to get a lad do just that. He had all his kit in a van, and washed out our slatted shed every second year. He put in long hours and did an excellent job . With nobody having as much or any staff, I think it would be a great service to offer . Good luck !

 

[MBE2017]

Here's one bit of feedback; "We used to get a lad do just that. He had all his kit in a van, and washed out our slatted shed every second year. He put in long hours and did an excellent job . With nobody having as much or any staff, I think it would be a great service to offer . Good luck !

So 5 jobs in a decade from that customer, working long and hard, meaning very cheap, you need to work out your costs.

ANY of the businesses you have looked at can work if done correctly, slow down, work on a business plan. You need to work out your costs, equipment, insurance, marketing, cash flow, expected sales.

Then double your costs and halve your sales, since everyone tends to be over optimistic. You also need to decide what clients you want, sell cheap and you tend to be a busy fool, you will rarely work everyday throughout the year, allow for holidays, depreciation, savings etc.

Create a road map and once happy stick to it. One word of caution, anything not needing decent investment or skills means you could see a lot of competition, something to consider. Good earnings tend to come down to being well established, a great reputation, a good skill set.

 

[IanSuth]

Well that's what I need to find out, I have already asked the question on various farming forums, one forum has advised it's a service popular with pig and poultry houses but not general farming as you have said as it's an additional expense

Pig and Poultry you better have good insurance - they will need the sheds cleaning between sets of birds or piglets to minimise infection risk and if you get it wrong you may find yourself with a hefty bill (think swine flu or biird flu)

Here is a bit of useful info for you from Farmers Weekly - https://www.fwi.co.uk/livestock/poultry/a-step-by-step-guide-to-cleaning-your-poultry-shed

If you are going to do it properly then great but that does not fit with " don't need any special qualifications or training." when you are talking animal and human health

 

[Syd]

Pig and Poultry you better have good insurance - they will need the sheds cleaning between sets of birds or piglets to minimise infection risk and if you get it wrong you may find yourself with a hefty bill (think swine flu or biird flu)

Here is a bit of useful info for you from Farmers Weekly - https://www.fwi.co.uk/livestock/poultry/a-step-by-step-guide-to-cleaning-your-poultry-shed

If you are going to do it properly then great but that does not fit with " don't need any special qualifications or training." when you are talking animal and human health

My initial post was more along the lines of domestic cleaning such as driveways etc however if I were to enter into such cleaning then of course I'd do it with the correct requirements

 

[BusterBloodvessel]

You stated you "just want something that pays you a decent wage". That's easy - get a job!!

If it was so simple "just to work for a living wage" but enjoying all the (perceived) benefits of self employment (flexibility, choose your own hours, set your own charges, etc etc) then, well, everyone would be doing it! Why would anyone get a job if it was as easy to earn a living wage working for themselves.

If you've started your latest venture in June and you're giving up by July then something is very wrong, and to be honest would imply that you really can't be arsed to work at it, and/or your product/pricing/service is wrong. How have you received the enquiries for these 17 quotes? Are they actually serious ones in the first place? How did you quote for them? Did you sell the benefits and value in the product? Did you make personal visits or phone calls especially if this is a high value investment for people? Have you followed up since to ask what they thought or if there's any more you can do? At the very least find out why none of them have proceeded, if they all say the same thing then that's going to tell you what you need to fix (if it can be fixed).

It's honestly not easy just to fall into these things and make a living. As much as people say "christ I've just been charged £100 for half a day jetwashing my drive, I could do that and make an easy living" or "£15 an hour for a cleaner? if I can just clean 2 houses a day I'll make £300 a week" etc etc - it all seems so easy until it comes down to it!

And finally, if you can, find something that you're good at or at least interested in! Picking jetwashing at randon might not be such a wise idea.

If you do go ahead with jet washing, why not look at a regular service which nobody seems to offer. I posted this on a thread a few months ago - it baffles me that people will pay £150 or £200 to have a years worth of algae and crap blasted off their decking and stonework, only to let it build up for another year or 2 and then do it all again. I think there would potentially be merit in say a quarterly visit, £30 a time (for example) just to "keep on top" of things with a quick blast over rather than spending hours trying to remove a couple of years worth of crud. Might mean you can build a regular recurring bank of work.

(That is a very simple idea and would take some number crunching but might be something to explore. Also one person did reply that there may be issues with jet washing decking too regularly so something else to look into but it's just a thought).

 

[MBE2017]

My initial post was more along the lines of domestic cleaning such as driveways etc however if I were to enter into such cleaning then of course I'd do it with the correct requirements

So from this, decide how much per week you need to earn, decide on the average cost in your area, ie £4 per square metre, and how many “average driveways” you will need to clean to achieve it. So if you wanted £1000 per week, divide by say 20 sq m per drive at £4 sq m, you need 13 driveways.

However, that doesn’t allow for marketing, tax, holidays, depreciation, illness, quiet periods and tax. So 20 per week is more realistic, and you need to do that day in day out, plus marketing. Nothing is easy.

 

[bodgitt&scarperLTD]

Pig and poultry housing is indeed a niche, but setup costs will be five figures and without taking on staff you will be doing a lot of hours for not much actual profit.

Why not start as a bit of an 'odd job' man? You can't get a tradesman for love nor money currently. Buy a pressure washer, buy a hedgecutter, start advertising. Anybody, and I mean ANYBODY can make a living doing that kind of thing for themselves. Once you've done a few dozen jobs, you'll work out what's most profitable or enjoyable for you and start to find a niche.

 

[japancool]

So you went live in June, and one month later, you're giving up. Did you expect that getting sales would be easy?

Your problem is not that you overthink things, it's that you have unrealistic expectations and don't seem to be willing to put in the sustained effort that you need to in order to make your business a success.

Those of us who have done it know how bloody hard it is to get a business to the point where it breaks even, never mind makes enogh to earn a living from. When i started my last business, it took me 2 weeks to get my first order, and in the first month, I took the princely sum of £114.

 

[AllUpHere]

The problem is, it seems like you are trying to start businesses in a desperate attempt to provide yourself with an income. The problem with doing things that any idiot can do, it that there are already thousands of idiots doing it.

What skills do you have? What have you done before? What do you really want to do?

The epoxy business is a good one, and one in which you can make very good money. It's infinitely more lucrative than buying a pressure washer and trying to compete in that market.
If you think of an idea that's incredibly easy to do, you will be competing with people for whom doing stuff that's easy is the only option; it's a race to the bottom.

 

[fisicx]

Nothing wrong with your resipro business. It has huge potential. Your problem was you ware marketing on the cheap with a pretty naff website. If you had fixed the website and paid for some marketing help you could already be earning money. More than if you set up as a pressure washing business.

 

[Stas Lawicki]

From the very little i have played around with epoxy, it's blooming difficult to get right - I don't have the skill or patience to ever consider doing a table top, let alone a floor - ! I would have thought this could be a good little business if you're skilled at it.

I worked with a company recently who said exactly the same thing as you did 'I didn't hear back' so rather than dish out 17 quotes (which seems quite a lot to me) and do nothing in response, contact each and every one of them and find out what is stopping them appointing you. Was it the cost, detail, look and presentation of the quote, was it the decision maker hasn't seen it, did they actually receive it, what were they expecting etc etc... you've got to fight for people's business and adapt accordingly. The great thing is you seem to have found some people to quote - were these proper requests or friends and fam feigning interest?

As it happens, I was chatting to my FIL and my father about pressure washers this week. I've got one, in fact, we all have one, but my FIL paid a man and a high powered washer to tend to his patio and drive way borders - he did a great job. Apparently taking him 5 hours! Not sure how much fuel the man used (it was a petrol sprayer) but the result was worth it by all accounts. You'll be up against all sorts of Garys and their washers, and Mr Smiths with his Karcher K2 (which is rubbish btw). What's better about you?

Nothing is easy, sure, some get lucky and make it look easy, but the more you put out, the luckier you get. I would get back in touch with those flooring quotes...

 

[japancool]

And if you got 17 leads, you're doing something right.

If you got 0 responses from those 17 leads, you're doing something wrong.

 

[AllUpHere]

And if you got 17 leads, you're doing something right.

If you got 0 responses from those 17 leads, you're doing something wrong.

The mistake people make is they think that if they get leads, their marketing is working; the truth is the exact opposite.

 

[Fagin2021]

I worked with a company recently who said exactly the same thing as you did 'I didn't hear back' so rather than dish out 17 quotes (which seems quite a lot to me) and do nothing in response, contact each and every one of them and find out what is stopping them appointing you. Was it the cost, detail, look and presentation of the quote, was it the decision maker hasn't seen it, did they actually receive it, what were they expecting etc etc... you've got to fight for people's business and adapt accordingly. The great thing is you seem to have found some people to quote - were these proper requests or friends and fam feigning interest?

That's exactly right. Can't fix a problem until you know what it is.

 

[Stas Lawicki]

That's exactly right. Can't fix a problem until you know what it is.

Thanks !

 

[japancool]

The mistake people make is they think that if they get leads, their marketing is working; the truth is the exact opposite.

I'm confused - if you get leads, your marketing isn't working?

 

[AllUpHere]

I'm confused - if you get leads, your marketing isn't working?

If they don't convert into sales, then yes your marketing has gone wrong. Promotional marketing is a tiny part of the marketing strategy. You need to get the rest right, if you want to bring in leads that will actually make money.

 

[japancool]

If they don't convert into sales, then yes your marketing has gone wrong. Promotional marketing is a tiny part of the marketing strategy. You need to get the rest right, if you want to bring in leads that will actually make money.

I agree with that, but even with great quality leads, it could still go wrong later in the process. Hard to tell what the case is here.

 

[AllUpHere]

I agree with that, but even with great quality leads, it could still go wrong later in the process. Hard to tell what the case is here.

Everything that could possibly go wrong, could be sorted by a decent marketing strategy.

 

[Fagin2021]

I'm confused - if you get leads, your marketing isn't working?

If you recall, when Syd asked for a website review, there was some debate over whether he should include an indication of the cost of a garage floor, counter top etc. Not a quote - just an indication. (I for one, had no idea at all of the possible cost).

There were arguments both ways, but one argument was that if people knew the sort of sum they were in for, then they were unlikely to ask for a quote unless they were serious. In other words the leads would be at least partly qualified. Those 17 quotes may have reduced to 5 or 6 (or whatever) and revealed a different problem to simply 'cost'.

 

[japancool]

Everything that could possibly go wrong, could be sorted by a decent marketing strategy.

You never know, he might be putting off prospective customers by sending dirty pictures of himself to them.

 

[japancool]

If you recall, when Syd asked for a website review, there was some debate over whether he should include an indication of the cost of a garage floor, counter top etc. Not a quote - just an indication. (I for one, had no idea at all of the possible cost).

I didn't read the original thread, but fair enough. I agree that would help, but he hasn't tried to gather any feedback from the failed quotes, so its hard to pinpoint exactly what's wrong. Could be a number of things beside this as well.

 

[AllUpHere]

You never know, he might be putting off prospective customers by sending dirty pictures of himself to them.

Yep, but even that would be a marketing based fail. It would take some pretty specific targeting, but even that could be engineered into a marketing strategy.

 

[japancool]

even that could be engineered into a marketing strategy.

I sense your next challenge coming up...

 

[AllUpHere]

I sense your next challenge coming up...

A way to differentiate from the competition is always a good thing. Even being worse can be an effective strategy, as long as you align the whole business to take advantage of the fact.

 

[fisicx]

Even being worse can be an effective strategy, as long as you align the whole business to take advantage of the fact.

Ta Dah!

https://www.lingscars.com/

 

[AllUpHere]

Ta Dah!

https://www.lingscars.com/

Haha, that's an example that's often used, but there are thousands of businesses around the world who are making money being terrible at what they do. The trick is to tailor your strategy to your crappy service. It's an interesting subject actually; Ill think of some examples relevant to this thread and post them tomorrow.

 

[japancool]

Ill think of some examples relevant to this thread and post them tomorrow.

BT?

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

My reasoning for starting up pressure washing is low start-up costs, it's easy,

Easy doing your own Patio. Hard work if you are hanging onto the lance for 40 hours a week!

In your position it sounds like your best bet is to get a part time job that brings in enough for you to survive on, and to use the rest of the week developing the pressure washing business.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

If you struggle with trying to push a new business you will certainly be unhappy getting covered in Pig s€€t all day long

 

[homeriscool]

The problem is, it seems like you are trying to start businesses in a desperate attempt to provide yourself with an income. The problem with doing things that any idiot can do, it that there are already thousands of idiots doing it.

What skills do you have? What have you done before? What do you really want to do?

The epoxy business is a good one, and one in which you can make very good money. It's infinitely more lucrative than buying a pressure washer and trying to compete in that market.
If you think of an idea that's incredibly easy to do, you will be competing with people for whom doing stuff that's easy is the only option; it's a race to the bottom.

ouch!

 

[AllUpHere]

ouch!

Why ouch?