Although I am now a Vendor - initially I was an Mobile Washer for many years so I would like to offer my observation about the great opportunity you all have as Professional Mobile Washers.
I am one of the few pioneering companies around who started in the early 70’s at a time when there was no-one to call for answers and no BBS’s to learn from.
There were many times I too shook my head and said “I can’t compete with that,” or “he is a fool to wash for that amount,” or “I’m not telling him any of my secrets,” or “I wish everyone had to have a license,” and everything else you can conjure up to say about the industry in general and why it is so terrible.
The truth of the matter is – anytime you are working in and industry where individuals are performing services with their hands, be it carpentry, painting, auto mechanic – you name it - you will have loose cannons, uninsured people, “low-ballers,” and all the other things you can think of that makes you “scratch you head” at times. For example, one the best carpenters that I know is a “drunk” and one of the best welders I have ever seen is on drugs most of the time but they will always be there doing what they know how to do when they are sober or straight.
You think you have problems now? You do - but they are not unlike the problems of the 70’s & 80’s. It is just another generation creating them. Honestly, as I look back at what I thought were problems I see that, lucky for me, I approached each one of them as a test.. I could sit back and “bellyache” or I could think my way around them and become stronger.
Early on in my career I developed a “mind-set” that helped to make it through the difficult times, which were many, while at the same time helped me to maintain my drive and my sanity. Here are a couple of revelations that helped me to get through.
“Those who want – will. Those who don’t – won’t.” This is a phrase that I actually “coined.” I know, I am the only one who ever uses it but when you stop and think – it really covers just about everything required to stay in business. If you want it bad enough – it will happen. If you don’t - then chances are I’ll be buying my next car from you or my next TV or pair of shoes. Everyone can cry about how cheap the next guy is or how unprofessional he is or he doesn’t have insurance and I can’t compete with him or “this” or “that” when all it really boils down to is this. When you “hit” the “Total Button” on the cash register at the end of the month did…
1. You make a profit
2. You learned something about your equipment and your business and
3. Are you still in business.
The rest will take care of itself so long as every day you are in business you repeat #2 at least once.
And for you house washers – just remember – you don’t have to wash “something” for “nothing” to “go broke.” You can sit at home and do that. At least at home you can watch TV and eat a bologna sandwich while you are doing it. The very minute you “drop your britches” and get down on the “cheap” level just to have some pocket change – you are “out of business” – you just haven’t realized it yet. Hold your prices and remember – encourage all of your competitors to wash as many houses as they can for “nothing.” At least it keeps them off the street and away from the good paying jobs. They can’t wash everything even if they do it for nothing.
A couple of days ago I offered a House Wash Manual that I wrote just as I was selling off my Mobile Wash Business back in the late 80’s – early 90’s. If you would like a copy e-mail me at info@envirospec.com. In reading it remember that the “low-ballers” will never go away so the smart thing to do is to build you presentation around the way they do business. If you make a solid presentation, as outlined in the Manual, one of two things will happen. You will either land the job at good money or if you don’t, no one else will wash the house. Read the manual and you will see what I am talking about.
We can talk about insurance, license, etc. but remember – your presentation, if you do it well, will increase the public awareness, at least for that one individual you are trying to close. Just remember, when you do “close” that deal - then you have to “come to the line and pull the trigger” and if you deliver on your presentation the education and community awareness continues. It continues by that person telling another person about the wonderful experience they just had with a contractor and that person tells another and another.
Always be ready and able to back up what you say because “talk is cheap” and as I tell people who stop by EnviroSpec to fill out employment application – you can be anything you want to be on the application – you can be a NASA Engineer, you can be a Chemist, you can even be Spiderman if you like but if you are hired you are going to have to prove it. So whatever you do – don’t oversell yourself or your capabilities just to land the job. Remember, keep repeating #2 and sooner than you think - you will be the authority in your area.
As I get older, which I thought I never would – but did, I find myself asking what has happened to the younger generation. We have all heard things like “well they had everything handed to them” or “they never had to work for anything” among other things but here is what I believed happened. A while back someone in my generation let these words fall out of their mouth and the rest is history – “I want my child to have it better than I did.” It was at that moment in time when a generation had an excuse why things are so tough and why it was okay not to know anything.
Today, on the end other end of the spectrum – the Vendor side, this is what I see. I see a sizable group who spends more time crying on each other’s shoulder because their machine doesn’t work and there is no-one to tell them why - or somebody is washing houses for $79.95 - or somebody is “hiding behind a tree” trying to steal all their secrets - or somebody doesn’t have insurance when in reality – the only thing that really counts is the question “how well am I doing?” Are my bills getting paid? Am I making a decent profit? Are the members of my family happy with what I am doing and able to provide? Am I learning at least one thing a day about how my equipment works?
When I lose a job – do I get mad at my competitor or do I sit down and think about “why” and refine my presentation so I don’t lose the next one? Was my truck the last thing I washed today? These are the things that can make you strong. Or maybe not.
Remember just how fortunate you are. I came from a time, as many of you did, where there were no “800” numbers to call when things went wrong. I had to figure things out for myself and it was usually on the back of a truck at 2 a.m. in freezing weather when I was having to do this “figuring.” There were no chemical companies to call and ask what I should use to clean FRP Body Trailers or sidewalks or decks or school buses, etc. I had to figure it out myself. When the chemical salesman came by claiming to have the greatest chemical in the world I bought it only to find out that it was no better than the last drum I bought.
In summary I feel this industry needs more people to “take charge” of their individual business and educate themselves. They need to know how to work on their equipment. They need to know how to build a presentation. They need to know who their competitors are and have the ability to make their business stronger because of what their competitors are or are not doing.
You will never regulate this industry. Never. You will never get rid of the “low-ballers.” Never. You will never elevate State requirements because you can never elevate local requirements. Never. You can only increase public awareness on a per incident basis – and that is when you are standing in front of a prospective client and the only thing you can hope for is that if you land the job - they remember you the next time the house needs washing. Will they? They will if you have “planted” good seeds.
Above all else become a frequent visitor of BBS’s such as The Pressure Washing Institute, Dave's Pressure Washing Bullletin Board, the PWNA BBS and the many other boards that serve us well. Continue to support your association and the people you help elect to run the association. Remember and appreciate the many contractors who visit and share on the Boards - their time is valuable and they give their knowledge freely. Insist that your association provide a strong educational agenda. And for goodness sakes – if it is “broke” don’t blame someone else. Pick up the pieces and put it back together. When you do you will gain knowledge and knowledge equates to “strength” and strength equates to success.
And now I am tired. I find myself getting this way more often as I get older. So now I will go to bed and dream of – broken “thing-a-ma-gigs” – “worn-out do-hickeys” – “chattering wacha-ma-callits” and all the other thing that are not working properly on my equipment.
Goon night,
I am one of the few pioneering companies around who started in the early 70’s at a time when there was no-one to call for answers and no BBS’s to learn from.
There were many times I too shook my head and said “I can’t compete with that,” or “he is a fool to wash for that amount,” or “I’m not telling him any of my secrets,” or “I wish everyone had to have a license,” and everything else you can conjure up to say about the industry in general and why it is so terrible.
The truth of the matter is – anytime you are working in and industry where individuals are performing services with their hands, be it carpentry, painting, auto mechanic – you name it - you will have loose cannons, uninsured people, “low-ballers,” and all the other things you can think of that makes you “scratch you head” at times. For example, one the best carpenters that I know is a “drunk” and one of the best welders I have ever seen is on drugs most of the time but they will always be there doing what they know how to do when they are sober or straight.
You think you have problems now? You do - but they are not unlike the problems of the 70’s & 80’s. It is just another generation creating them. Honestly, as I look back at what I thought were problems I see that, lucky for me, I approached each one of them as a test.. I could sit back and “bellyache” or I could think my way around them and become stronger.
Early on in my career I developed a “mind-set” that helped to make it through the difficult times, which were many, while at the same time helped me to maintain my drive and my sanity. Here are a couple of revelations that helped me to get through.
“Those who want – will. Those who don’t – won’t.” This is a phrase that I actually “coined.” I know, I am the only one who ever uses it but when you stop and think – it really covers just about everything required to stay in business. If you want it bad enough – it will happen. If you don’t - then chances are I’ll be buying my next car from you or my next TV or pair of shoes. Everyone can cry about how cheap the next guy is or how unprofessional he is or he doesn’t have insurance and I can’t compete with him or “this” or “that” when all it really boils down to is this. When you “hit” the “Total Button” on the cash register at the end of the month did…
1. You make a profit
2. You learned something about your equipment and your business and
3. Are you still in business.
The rest will take care of itself so long as every day you are in business you repeat #2 at least once.
And for you house washers – just remember – you don’t have to wash “something” for “nothing” to “go broke.” You can sit at home and do that. At least at home you can watch TV and eat a bologna sandwich while you are doing it. The very minute you “drop your britches” and get down on the “cheap” level just to have some pocket change – you are “out of business” – you just haven’t realized it yet. Hold your prices and remember – encourage all of your competitors to wash as many houses as they can for “nothing.” At least it keeps them off the street and away from the good paying jobs. They can’t wash everything even if they do it for nothing.
A couple of days ago I offered a House Wash Manual that I wrote just as I was selling off my Mobile Wash Business back in the late 80’s – early 90’s. If you would like a copy e-mail me at info@envirospec.com. In reading it remember that the “low-ballers” will never go away so the smart thing to do is to build you presentation around the way they do business. If you make a solid presentation, as outlined in the Manual, one of two things will happen. You will either land the job at good money or if you don’t, no one else will wash the house. Read the manual and you will see what I am talking about.
We can talk about insurance, license, etc. but remember – your presentation, if you do it well, will increase the public awareness, at least for that one individual you are trying to close. Just remember, when you do “close” that deal - then you have to “come to the line and pull the trigger” and if you deliver on your presentation the education and community awareness continues. It continues by that person telling another person about the wonderful experience they just had with a contractor and that person tells another and another.
Always be ready and able to back up what you say because “talk is cheap” and as I tell people who stop by EnviroSpec to fill out employment application – you can be anything you want to be on the application – you can be a NASA Engineer, you can be a Chemist, you can even be Spiderman if you like but if you are hired you are going to have to prove it. So whatever you do – don’t oversell yourself or your capabilities just to land the job. Remember, keep repeating #2 and sooner than you think - you will be the authority in your area.
As I get older, which I thought I never would – but did, I find myself asking what has happened to the younger generation. We have all heard things like “well they had everything handed to them” or “they never had to work for anything” among other things but here is what I believed happened. A while back someone in my generation let these words fall out of their mouth and the rest is history – “I want my child to have it better than I did.” It was at that moment in time when a generation had an excuse why things are so tough and why it was okay not to know anything.
Today, on the end other end of the spectrum – the Vendor side, this is what I see. I see a sizable group who spends more time crying on each other’s shoulder because their machine doesn’t work and there is no-one to tell them why - or somebody is washing houses for $79.95 - or somebody is “hiding behind a tree” trying to steal all their secrets - or somebody doesn’t have insurance when in reality – the only thing that really counts is the question “how well am I doing?” Are my bills getting paid? Am I making a decent profit? Are the members of my family happy with what I am doing and able to provide? Am I learning at least one thing a day about how my equipment works?
When I lose a job – do I get mad at my competitor or do I sit down and think about “why” and refine my presentation so I don’t lose the next one? Was my truck the last thing I washed today? These are the things that can make you strong. Or maybe not.
Remember just how fortunate you are. I came from a time, as many of you did, where there were no “800” numbers to call when things went wrong. I had to figure things out for myself and it was usually on the back of a truck at 2 a.m. in freezing weather when I was having to do this “figuring.” There were no chemical companies to call and ask what I should use to clean FRP Body Trailers or sidewalks or decks or school buses, etc. I had to figure it out myself. When the chemical salesman came by claiming to have the greatest chemical in the world I bought it only to find out that it was no better than the last drum I bought.
In summary I feel this industry needs more people to “take charge” of their individual business and educate themselves. They need to know how to work on their equipment. They need to know how to build a presentation. They need to know who their competitors are and have the ability to make their business stronger because of what their competitors are or are not doing.
You will never regulate this industry. Never. You will never get rid of the “low-ballers.” Never. You will never elevate State requirements because you can never elevate local requirements. Never. You can only increase public awareness on a per incident basis – and that is when you are standing in front of a prospective client and the only thing you can hope for is that if you land the job - they remember you the next time the house needs washing. Will they? They will if you have “planted” good seeds.
Above all else become a frequent visitor of BBS’s such as The Pressure Washing Institute, Dave's Pressure Washing Bullletin Board, the PWNA BBS and the many other boards that serve us well. Continue to support your association and the people you help elect to run the association. Remember and appreciate the many contractors who visit and share on the Boards - their time is valuable and they give their knowledge freely. Insist that your association provide a strong educational agenda. And for goodness sakes – if it is “broke” don’t blame someone else. Pick up the pieces and put it back together. When you do you will gain knowledge and knowledge equates to “strength” and strength equates to success.
And now I am tired. I find myself getting this way more often as I get older. So now I will go to bed and dream of – broken “thing-a-ma-gigs” – “worn-out do-hickeys” – “chattering wacha-ma-callits” and all the other thing that are not working properly on my equipment.
Goon night,
