2010! The economy IS recovering!

Russ Spence

Russ Spence

Commercial Pressure Wash Expert
Wow I just looked at the books, we have been busy but I never realized how good business has actually been until today. I am sorry but I had to share this, we have done YTD double where we were this time last year already and last years first quater was a record as was the entire year and we are just now about to start the busy part of our commercial shopping centers.

Keep plugging away folks, get your name out there anyway you can, pound it in their heads.:smilewinkgrin:
 
Its funny Russ, Celeste and I were looking at our numbers yesterday and realized the same thing. We are right at double where we were this time last year. Seems to be like that just about everywhere.

its gonna be a GREAT year!
 
That's great news Russ, it's very nice to hear the positives :)

It is especially nice to hear the trends in the South as you have a bit of a jump on us in the North. You're like a crystal ball!
 
Glad to hear the positive trends. When we finish up the first quarter 2010 (I am booked 9 of the last 12 days), our revenues will be slightly over half what we did the entire 2009! I am now considering buying a second rig or at the very least, a second machine for my current rig and adding my first employee. I had a feeling this year was going to be a break-out year for my young company, especially after all the marketing we did last year.
 
we had bad cold weather , but with in the last week it has turn the everything around and we are back ahead of last year and booked till april
 
Russ Spence said:
Wow I just looked at the books, we have been busy but I never realized how good business has actually been until today. I am sorry but I had to share this, we have done YTD double where we were this time last year already and last years first quater was a record as was the entire year and we are just now about to start the busy part of our commercial shopping centers.

Keep plugging away folks, get your name out there anyway you can, pound it in their heads.:smilewinkgrin:
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Congrats...I love seeing people suceed.
That is great that you are way up....I really didnt see the econmy hurting us, we lost some lower paying customers and added alot of more niche' customer, more specialized work, the kind of the thing that others cant do.

One of large national customer had us out to clean part of thier building, while we were there the asked me about steam cleaning a deep freezer floor, this national company look all over the USA for someone to do this, and bam!! There ya go they will be 50% of our gross this year.

You need to think outside the box, and it will pay off, sidewalks , buildings and parking garages are great but really think hard about different services that you can compliment your core bussiness with, there is money to be made out there you just need to look at things from multiple perspectives.

Good luck and UP SELL!!!!!

Hopefully this time next year we will a few milionaires on the board.:neo:
 
swrest said:
Congrats...I love seeing people suceed.
That is great that you are way up....I really didnt see the econmy hurting us, we lost some lower paying customers and added alot of more niche' customer, more specialized work, the kind of the thing that others cant do.

One of large national customer had us out to clean part of thier building, while we were there the asked me about steam cleaning a deep freezer floor, this national company look all over the USA for someone to do this, and bam!! There ya go they will be 50% of our gross this year.

You need to think outside the box, and it will pay off, sidewalks , buildings and parking garages are great but really think hard about different services that you can compliment your core bussiness with, there is money to be made out there you just need to look at things from multiple perspectives.

Good luck and UP SELL!!!!!

Hopefully this time next year we will a few milionaires on the board.:neo:
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that's great Joe!!

your niche is obviously paying off - hope it continues on the up and up! :dance:
 
We are the same as last year. Unemployment is at 13% officially (the second highest on record - ever) The REAL numbers (which include those who have quit searching after a year or so) is over 21%

One in 8 homeowners in Las Vegas received a foreclosure notice in 2009. Thats more than 6 times the national rate.

As 1/5th of the population are now jobless there are vacant shopping centers, car dealerships, office buildings, etc all over the place. The ones that are left are struggling to stay open. Commercial leases are being reduced by half and I have seen one property manager who has allowed a business to stay open that only made 3 monthly payments during 2009.

About a year ago I asked about the thought of lowering prices on one of these boards and was crucified by the residential contractors for even suggesting it.

In boom times keeping prices higher would be the right move. Today, I'm not so sure.

Last month in scheduled work we lost:
1) $10,000 in annual coil cleaning (property manager giving the responsibility over to the tenants)
2) $100.00/month in filter service (from a 5 yr customer - a bar - going under financially - ALL of his surrounding bars/restaurants CLOSED months ago)
3) $1,300 in annual coil cleaning from a small manufacturer (closed it's doors after 15 yrs in business)
4) $370 bimonthly filter service (Saturn out of business)

That was just February. All this has to be made up in new sales. And those new sales have to be made with a SHARP pencil!!!!! If this happened every month I'd have to make about 150k in new sales this year just to break even! Fortunately we have been flexible enough to take on SOME commerical/residential work and got a call this month informing us that an annual residential property manager coil cleaning account was increasing from $2,500/yr to $12,500 yr and we can start on them right away. So we are treading water.

But, it is, in fact, much better than last year! Last year we were losing accounts so fast we didn't know if we were going to survive the year. I kept thinking that some of those accounts were going to come back, but none of them have resurfaced. Many have moved back home to Peoria or wherever they came from to move back in with Momma.

Thanks to PWI and Ron's and others advice in sales we are filling the gaps pretty well. Two days ago I bid on a job that we will most surely get that will make up for all the losses in January and February. I had to do it with a sharp pencil, but so are my competitors. It's sharpen or die in this economy. The HVAC companies are charging FAR less than they were two years ago. Last month I went to 25 more companies to solicit coil cleaning business and almost 1/2 of them were closed or evicted. This is just a purging of the market.

Only the flexible, well-funded, organized and efficient will survive in this market. We intend to be that survivor. We have all the necessary elements in place to rise to the top of the heap.

Welcome 2010! I'm glad to see 2009 behind us!
 
I have had to stop marketing and selling for awhile, I am up to 154 locations now. I'm just getting started with a new account that has 135 locations. We have only done 3 jobs for them so far, so i'm not sure how many of those 135 we'll get this year. I'm learning how to be efficient and productive with what I have before I go after any more business. The economy has definately improved for me. I think about May first I will start selling again.
 
Chris know what you are talking about , We are get 8-12 calls a day
 
Last year was a tough year, lots of business just people going BK and others Slow Pay.

We have not stopped selling or marketing, is it as good as I want? Well if you asked my staff it never is.

I'm very happy with all the results thus far, still shaky with customer finance problems.

I think you need to be cautious and check customer money issues before jumping in head first.

Just a smart piece of advice so we dont get hurt.
 
Danny Bates said:
I have had to stop marketing and selling for awhile, I am up to 154 locations now. I'm just getting started with a new account that has 135 locations. We have only done 3 jobs for them so far, so i'm not sure how many of those 135 we'll get this year. I'm learning how to be efficient and productive with what I have before I go after any more business. The economy has definitely improved for me. I think about May first I will start selling again.
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Smart move Danny. The only thing worse than no business can be too much. It's been the death of many small business. Controlled growth will take you far. Great job getting out there and selling.

Things are tough everywhere. The Midwest is really bad. I'll guarantee unemployment here is at least 15% not the 9.9% they say. There is business out there. Figuring out where to focus your marketing efforts seems to be the tough part. Luckily this business allows some flexibility.
 
A AND J POWERWASHING said:
Chris know what you are talking about , We are get 8-12 calls a day
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8/12 calls a day? I had a 1/2 page add running me $850.00 a month and the only calls I got were people looking for a job, or my competition asking me how to P/W.

If you are getting that many calls then you are one of the lucky ones, everyone that i know that has used them had NO Calls.
 
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