What are the size of these trailers? I started with a 6 x 12 enclosed trailer. It was just a single axle. Found out that it was too small for me. I went to an open 7.5 x 16 trailer. I wne from 72 sq. ft to 120 sq. ft. It is a double axle trailer woth a fold down gate in the back. There is a major distribitor of trailers near me. I bought my open trailer brand new for $2000. I added on a top ladder rack to it which is nice for holding laddrers and my extension wands. I can also use it to haul my scaffolding if I need it. I rarely use scaffolding for anything though. I would suggest not even wasting your money on a 2.5 gpm machine. It would be ok if given to you for free but to go out and pay for it would not be a good idea. I would also suggest that when you look into buying hose reels that you get one that can hold 300 feet. The reason for that is if you ever go to hot water your machine is going to stay on your trailer and then you will be using a lot more hose. I would rather have one 300' reel then 2 - 150's. I never like to take my machine off the trailer. But if you are using a supply tank then your machine will have to stay on the trailer and you will be using more the 100' of hose. I run a supply line into my tank and unreel my high psi hose. I carry 3 machines with me. Two I have their bypass hooked into my supply tank and the other one I leave the way it came in case I need to take it off the trailer. Them I don't have to mess with reconnecting the bypass lines. When you start talking about going with tanks 50 or even 100 gallons is awful small. I use a 500 gallon tank. If you are using a 4 gpm machine you will drain a 100 gallon tank in 25 minutes. If you have a standard hose going to an already full tank it might work. I have a 5.5 gpm machine and 2 - 4 gpm machines. I need a lot of water in case someone does not have enough to feed my pw'er. I also like to have tanks in case I have to go away form where they have city water. Then I tell them I charge extra for having to haul water. You do need a full size truck to haul 500 gallons of water. Remember that Delco's guide is not what they may be charging in your area. I have found that near me I can get much higher then those prices.
Here are some things you need to consider when trying to figure out how much you should make.
#1 Your salary(how much do you want to make).
#2 Your payroll tax.
#3 Money you may want to put aside for retirement.
#4 Accounting expenses
#5 Advertising
#6 Equipment depreciation
#7 Equipment replacement
#8 Dues( any pw'ing groups you may pay dues too)
#9 Entertainment(do you take a client out for dinner or send a thank you gift etc)
#10 Insurance(buiness and medical)
#11 Intrest you are paying on laons for your business
#12 Licenses business, contractors etc.
#13 Maintenance on equipment and truck
#14 Office supplies(your estimate sheets reciepts etc.)
#15 Rent and Utilites(if working form a shop)
#16 Repairs to equipment(different then maintence)
#17 Telephone(cell, business, fax)
#18 Shop Supplies(if you have a shop)
#19 Travel(do you go to convetions or meetings)
#20 Uniforms
These are most of your indirect costs. You also have to remember your direct costs.
#1 Your washing labor salary
#2 Payroll taxes for you
#3 Washing materials(chems)
I know that there are two slaries on there. One for direct costs and one for indirect costs. Your washing salary is obvious. Your owners salary is paying you for all your time spent on your business when you are not actually washing. Such as mixing chems, bidding jobs, doing paperwork, doing research such as this board, shopping for supplies, hanging up flyers, going door to door, talking with other business owners, etc. All that counts. I once thought I had no overhead either. It adds up quick. On top of all this you also need to figure in that after all expenses are paid and your salary is paid your company needs to turn a profit. I once thought that what ever is left at the end of the year is mine. You can't do that. Your company is not you. Although you own it, it is it's own entity. Just like you pay yourself a salary you need to pay the company it's own salary too. To some people this sounds crazy. You need to turn a profit. I used to be the guy saying I was just happy paying my bills and getting to do what I love. I realized I was making mediocre money, enough to pay all the bills and take off all winter. I then realized that my company did not make any profit. All the money that was left was my salary and not much was left after I paid all my bills. Your owners salary should be able to cover all your daily living expenses. Then your washing salary should be paying you on top of that. To some that sounds greedy but you are a business owner. Pay yourself as one. I know that for all my daily expneses to be paid, my washing slary to be paid, and the company to turn a good profit I need to make $84 an hour. I have that figured off of a 1000 hour year. That means 1000 billable hours. I can't bill for mixing chems and doing paperwork. That is why my $ per hour must be higher. It has to make up for all the time not actually spent washing. I know I need $84 per hour. If the other guy in town charges $40 an hour and I lower to his prices I will go out of business. I need to stick by my own prices. Alot of $ per hour is how fast you can do the job. The faster you are the more work you can do in a year. I have found out that I have been charging the right prices for most stuff I was just taking too long. That was mostly due to having the wrong chems. There is a lot ot this business if you are taking it on full time. I suggest to most people to start out part time and see how it goes. Equipment can be expensive once you get rolling. With my truck and all equipment and trailers I am at about $27,000. Don't be so quick to throw big jobs to the big guys. Those are where the money is at. I did a school last year for $14,000. I just about past it up because it intimadated me. I ended up spending 4 weeks on it but have since realized things I could have done to trim a week off of that. I made about $90 an hour but could have made around $120 an hour. I didn't have water tanks then and that lost me time since I was running up to 600' of supply hose and wasn't getting proper gpm a minute, that was due to it being new construction and the water wasn't turned on yet to the new part. I had to small of a truck to haul around a construction site and got stuck many times. Too much walking back and forth 600' to turn water on and off. You learn new things every day in this business. I made $90 an hour on that job. I just about gave it away. I am glad I didn't. You will need those big jobs to become successful. If you talk to a lot of these guys on here they will tell you they made most of thier money by getting those big jobs. It is hard to make a lot money washing mobile homes. Commercial work is where the money is. Most everyone wishes they had more of it. If you did a survey here and asked whether people would rather do residential or commercial, most would say commercial. It is hard for me to get my $84 on the residential side. If you want to make more and work less, think about taking some of those big jobs.
