How long have you been in business?

innovativewash

innovativewash

New member
Here is a good question. How long have you been in the business full time?
We have been doing business since 1992.
Lets here how long!!!
 
innovativewash said:
Here is a good question. How long have you been in the business full time?
We have been doing business since 1992.
Lets here how long!!!
Click to expand...

Oh, And give some stories how you got started.
 
Started in Feb of 2006. Lost the job I had worked in for 18 years and started this up. Been full time since day one.
 
Started in 2008 off the cuff. I had a good job at the time. I gave notice left work and had to create an income immediately. Doing decent to my standards now after going from car lots to flatwork and added fleetwashing this year.
 
Chris Tharpe said:
Started in 2008 off the cuff. I had a good job at the time. I gave notice left work and had to create an income immediately. Doing decent to my standards now after going from car lots to flatwork and added fleetwashing this year.
Click to expand...

Awsome!
You making a good living?
 
innovativewash said:
Awsome!
You making a good living?
Click to expand...

Heres my story!
I was doing painting work back in the 80s and accidendally spilled paint on a customers deck. Borrowed a power washer from a friend and cleaned it off. Ended up doing the entire deck then staining it. There neigbor liked what I did and hired me to clean his. That started Innovative Deck Care. I ended up selling that company 10 years later to one of the guys who worked for me the entire time and to this day is still doing very, very well.The last year in that business we cleaned just under 1000 decks!! I wanted to wash just residential homes thats it but in 2008 we started to get in the commercial cleaning. We have an array of commercial accounts that we serve in our area now and love every minute of it all. We only have seven employees and most likely will only get to ten. I dont want to get any larger than that. This has been such a great ride on this roller coaster I wouldnt have changed it for the world!!!

Whatever you do in life just enjoy the people around you. Have faith! The rest will come.
 
20 years, Worked part time the first six years. Started detailing cars. I was not a very good detailer. Lost my job due to huge cutbacks, and was off a year. Did not know how to focus to get accounts. After a year, when the golden handshake was done, I got a night job, with the understanding that I was going to keep washing fleets. I was there 5 years and got promoted to management. I had 150 truck drivers and over 2000 accounts that I was responsible for. I had a friend come looking for a cast off truck driver, since the company he was working for just lost theirs. That night, I came home, and my little boy did not recognize me, and started crying when I picked him up. I took the job, and quit the next day. As I was walking to my car, after turning in my notice, my wife called saying that we got a contract that made up for the pay cut I just took. It worked out really well. I worked at the job I took for a year, because I gave them a verbal commitment of a year, and built the business in my spare time. I quit, and have been full time ever since. I do not run a huge operation. There are a lot of people on here who are bigger. I do run a very profitable operation and have an excellent reputation around town, with lots of referral work. I pick and choose, probably more then my wife would like.
 
I started in 96 to pick up my wifes lost income because she wanted to stay home raising babies. She had an excellent job with alot of responsibilites. The company she worked for is called Estee Lauder. My wife did so well there that they really didnt want her to leave. I told her the decision is hers. I don't mind working two jobs the rest of my life if it was to make her happy. So she quit her job and they did her a super solid. They ended her position so she could get time off to have a Baby and then full blown unemployment because they elliminated her job.

With that being said My first year Powerwashing I made $12,000 along with my cop salary. Today I gross in the 6 digits the last 8-9 yrs if not longer doing Powerwashing while still holding down my cop job. The last couple of years we were over $200,000 Gross with one year being about $240,000. This year we just missed the $200,000 barrier and it was because I got slowed to a crawl all of a sudden with so many accounts we had booked. Including cancelations of to Jobs that were combined over $100,000. This was a wacked out year. If these signed jobs come back to me then 2011 will be a great year.

And all along I still have my "Other Job". So am I a Fulltime??I say I'm an entrepreneur :grin-loving::grin-loving:
 
That's great I've been in bis 2 yrs at part time status still waiting to land more solid work so that I can jump in full time :)
 
I started in 2007 for extra money on the weekends. I went out bought a commercial unit put it on a trailer and before I knew it I was making more money pw'ing on the weekends than at my full time job. Economy colapsed so I figured id better focus on my ft job because of the steady paycheck and benefits. My wife got laid off so I focused even more on my job and kinda let pw'ing slide away. Then we started getting paycuts and increased benifet costs while the onwer was still rolling up in new range rovers and trading in his 55' viking for a 65' viking. Needless to say I was pissed. So after ten years with the company I told them some choice words and got laid off in sept 2010. I. Took a week off to ponder what to do next. After thinking ab out it I went outside and dusted of ye old pressure washer and have have done really well. I am expecting that 2011 will be spectacular!!!
 
Started out in high school (1978) working summers/part time during school year for a company in Largo, Fl called Master Kleen. Worked in the warehouse during the day building machines, pouring chems, keeping warehouse cleaned, general all around gopher work. (First time I ever ran a machine on my own, I was told to wash the owners car using a pressure washer and a chem we made called "Red Stuff". Didn't lock the tip in good, pulled the trigger and caused a nice ding in the owners brand new Oldsmobile 98. And I had been warned extensively about this too.)

At night we would go out and clean Florida Power and GTE trucks and also did some parking lot cleaning. No surface srubbers back then.

Ever since then I have always been in the Pressure Washing business either part time to pick up extra money when I had full time jobs or doing it full time in between other jobs. Been at it full time since 1995 both in Clearwater, Fl area and here in Kingwood, Tx. Kingwood, TX the last 8 years.
 
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I started in 2005 on a whim to make some more money while my wife would be taking a year off to be at home with our newborn. Part time weekends and a few nights. It has grown to 3 full time washers, a salesman, and a business partner (who also had a PW company). We now focus mostly on commercial and decks (his strongest segment). I still hold down a full time operations manager position. I work here until about 4pm and then go to the Clean Up Atlanta office and do some paper work and check on things. The full time job is just too easy at this point and I make good money there as well.
 
Great posts! Keep them comming!
 
I was straight out of high school summer of '01. I happened to purchase a small electric pressure washer (like a walmart special) from a pawn shop (about $35) to help my mother clean up the outside of her house. My sister's boyfriend (now my brother-in-law) was working at detailing for one of the largest car lots in town and his boss asked if he knew anyone with a pressure washer. He asked me if I could come pressure wash the cars they detail, about 9-15 cars a day. When I showed up, his boss clarified he meant all the cars on the lot, about 350-400. I had to reschedule for the next day, but I showed up early with 100' of power cord and 75' of garden hose and the 10' or so of 1/4" hose that came with the unit, a chamois and my girlfriend. It took us 16 hours the first time, but worth it. We saved our money and within a month, when the electric machine's pump failed, we had cash to buy a little craftsman from sears. We returned that one within a week (they suck, not that anyone here would need one) and we got the biggest one from the home store, then we added one more. Soon we had a trailer w/ water tank, chem tank, DI softeners, and an 8gal hot water machine, the biggest pressure washer in town. We could clean that same lot in 3 hours, and then make it to about 2/3 of all the lots in town.
When PM's and Fleet managers saw our equipment driving down town, we would get a couple of calls. That got us into Fleet wash and then, we found the industry that was so sick of dealing with incompetence... We went to Hood cleaning. When fleets just wanted cheap, hoods just wanted the work to get done.
 
I was trying to think of a business to start when I joined the army in '88. During basic training my 'battle buddy' told me about how he detailed cars and made $150 each. I thought I can do that so when I got back home I bought out a company that had a mobile van unit.

I started with a few fleet accounts and did some detailing. I quickly discovered I was not a detailer so I stuck with fleets, equipment and flatwork. I continued my job working as a movie theatre manager. At one time I was managing an 8 screen, 1 screen and a 2 screen outdoor theater (the outdoor was a blast) and washing. I did both for several years and I grew the company to the point that I was working all the time. One day a customer showed up an hour late for the show and flipped out on me swearing and acting crazy because I wouldn't sell him a ticket for the movie that had started (company policy, we didn't want the other patrons disturbed by a late arriver, plus the show was almost sold out). I decided I had enough and a few days later I quit and was full time.

From there I grew the business and in a few years I bought a foreclosed 2 bay drive through Truck wash (like blue beacon) and grew that from nothing up over a 5 year period. I grew tired of the employee hassles and having to drive 45 min to get there several times a week so I sold that to a gentleman who took a 300k a year business into nothing in 6 months, it is now a dining hall. Concentrating on the mobile washing I was doing very well and decided to become a distributor for parts and chemical. Now I continue to do both.
 
Ron Musgraves said:
Doug you gotta tell your story!!
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Ok here goes. I worked in textiles for about 27 years for several different companies working up to a plant manager for a place here in Georgia. The guy who owned the company sold it after I had been there 16 years and I didn't fit in well with the new owners. Lasted two years with them and was let go in Feb of 06. I had already been thinking about starting a painting business so on the day I was cleaning out my office I was handing out business cards. Power washing seemed like a good fit to go along with the painting.

After my first decent sized house wash I realized there was much more to this than I had thought and I started looking for info on the internet. I came across Sunbrites website and since they were close to home I made a vist there. Got some good tips from Traci and the group there, bought an x-jet, proper cleaners etc and realized that powerwashing was more profitable than painting so I put almost all my effort into the pw side of things. Bought a trailer rig in January of 07. Saw everything go to crap when the drought hit here. Struggled through that and finally had some commercial accounts going when the economy tanked and I lost most of those in the second quarter of 09. In August of 09 my wife of 25 years left and I began to wonder what the heck I was doing. 2010 was a better year. Started pushing the painting work again. I have a few guys who do a lot of the painting work. I still do most of my own washing and did a lot of residential last year. Still do commercial but did not chase as much last year.

I am looking forward to more growth in 2011. Both my kids are married and expecting babies so I am looking forward to being a grandpa. May start after some more commercial again this year.
 
Got in a work accident in 1995 as a union steel painter sandblaster, doing bridges, power plants, towers and tanks. Great job, but almost died so I didnt want to get back into it, that was a tough decision, I really liked the work and $$$. Couldnt use my hand for a couple years due to injury. roamed around for a few years not doing much collecting W/C and then odd jobs. in 2000 moved to Myrtle Beach to be near retired parents, was pretty much broke and living a crazy life when I moved to Myrtle. Worked at a resort afternoons and nights forcheap money but good bennies started washing with a Home Depot 3gpm locally and liked it
Got a couple nice jobs and wanted more. Met my wife and wanted more for both of us so I went after more work and mapped out a plan and got some good jobs lined up for 2003. Quit the resort March 2003 to start first big job 34 2 & 3 story condos, two of my guys quit the day before the job started, called my brother in law to help and hired 2 temp workers ( what a mess I thought) The first day on the job the HOA president came to me and said there's no way you can do these buildings right and on time, he seemed like a cranky mean SOB, within 3 days he cam back and said what a great job we were doing and the property manager called and said the same. We had 3 small 3 & 4 gpm machines and busted our butts and got it done on time.

I loved the work and the big jobs so I just went nuts going after the work and kept asking for more.

My first advertising after that job I used Quality Work, Great Rates & On Time Service, It's still what we offer. I wish I started this years ago, its a great biz
 
jlpressure said:
Got in a work accident in 1995 as a union steel painter sandblaster, doing bridges, power plants, towers and tanks. Great job, but almost died so I didnt want to get back into it, that was a tough decision, I really liked the work and $$$. Couldnt use my hand for a couple years due to injury. roamed around for a few years not doing much collecting W/C and then odd jobs. in 2000 moved to Myrtle Beach to be near retired parents, was pretty much broke and living a crazy life when I moved to Myrtle. Worked at a resort afternoons and nights forcheap money but good bennies started washing with a Home Depot 3gpm locally and liked it
Got a couple nice jobs and wanted more. Met my wife and wanted more for both of us so I went after more work and mapped out a plan and got some good jobs lined up for 2003. Quit the resort March 2003 to start first big job 34 2 & 3 story condos, two of my guys quit the day before the job started, called my brother in law to help and hired 2 temp workers ( what a mess I thought) The first day on the job the HOA president came to me and said there's no way you can do these buildings right and on time, he seemed like a cranky mean SOB, within 3 days he cam back and said what a great job we were doing and the property manager called and said the same. We had 3 small 3 & 4 gpm machines and busted our butts and got it done on time.

I loved the work and the big jobs so I just went nuts going after the work and kept asking for more.

My first advertising after that job I used Quality Work, Great Rates & On Time Service, It's still what we offer. I wish I started this years ago, its a great biz
Click to expand...

These are awsome stories. Lets hear some more.
 
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