Where are we heading ?

I just picked up the Sunday Tampa Tribune because I am looking at buying a new truck.
I looked in the Trade classifieds, and they are advertising House Washes from 59.95!

Of course, when you call, that is for a "small house"
But, even a small house is 1100 sq ft, so for an average 2200 sq ft house, that's around 100 bucks!

They LIE about being licensed and Insured, fake references, and lie about having good equipment, and experience.

The customer can not tell the difference between them and us.

I shopped one of these low ball artists, and I THOUGHT I was talking to myself !

IMHO, this is NOT, nor is it ever going to be, the business it once was.

We will survive because of our many repeat customers.

But I honestly do not know if even I could build a business today, in this market.

No one else has even picked up on the 2 year drought here in Florida.

Not only will that make less total mildew and algae to clean, but IF water restrictions hit, WATCH OUT.

Water Restrictions HURT business , we have been through them before.

Water Restrictions are almost a certainty, ONLY a couple tropical systems COULD have saved us, and it ain't happening.
 
PowerWash Pros said:
We have water restrictions - and it doesnt hurt business. But we dont have the humidity, mold and algea that you guys have in the south.
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It really hurt us before.

The customer PERCEIVES he "Can not" get his house or roof washed, because he can not use any extra water.

They just do not call as much when Water restrictions are in place Nichole.

At least in Residential here in Florida.
 
Ken - I though you were suppose to buy my equipment this year, because I was going to be out of business, but I guess you were wrong and It just goes to show...I am am not one of the piles of dog**** that you speak of.


My husband and I are in this business because we love it and we are good at it. We have a large client base and we are very proud of how we have grown, not from anyone's hard work but OUR own. We have poured ourself into this business and have given it everything that we possibly could. We know our quality and service are better than anyones in the area. We take PRIDE in our company and we will NEVER insult ourselves by succombing to anyone or anything.

We started long ago with a walmart machine in the back of our beater ford ranger, we didnt get our first trailer mounted machine until last summer and we were ****s and giggles when we got it. It felt like we had started our business all over again = it was a new beginning. 2007 Income is 5 times the 2006 income.....and we are still going so get out of my way!
 
Apple Roof Cleaning said:
It really hurt us before.

The customer PERCEIVES he "Can not" get his house or roof washed, because he can not use any extra water.

They just do not call as much when Water restrictions are in place Nichole.

At least in Residential here in Florida.
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Can you pull from a hydrandt? Like a city fire hydrandt? Maybe you could use this as a marketing opportunity.

Water Restrictions Got you down? We wash your house and SUPPLY the water???/
 
We have been under water restriction for over a year. Pw'ng as a homeowner is not allowed atm.

I can remember my neighbor asking me if it hurt business. He showed me the article in the newspaper about 6mnths ago.

KF..

I agree with you. That was the point of my post. This is a very low startup industry and having the correct eqpt and knowing how to use it is not even half of the battle. Which solidifies my points even further, which in a nutshell is....

If you want to teach and plug your website with links post something that the industry will benifit from. POST ON HOW TO CONDUCT BUSINESS. Arming half the town with the correct eqpt in exchange for more website traffic is selfish and is doing nothing to benifit the industry. It is promoting and making it easier for BUSINESS IGNORANT entities to get going. This means that you will have more folks lowballing you. The point in being a "teacher" is to educate your audience and help them with the information you know they need to succeed.

These self appointed "teachers" could really give a shiot about their "students", they want the linkbacks and traffic. If you think I am wrong go and look at some posts of people claiming to have made x amount of $$$ from posting on forums. If they wanted to help the noobie they would be handing out info that would actually help them, not spamming just eqpt/methods threads. This actually speeds up the failing process and floods our already easily accessible industry with more BUSINESS IGNORANT co's. The established co's are not really going to feel the landrush of noobies, another reason why I am glad I do so much commercial.

I do not feel a union or org will help us. In fact I am totally against big gubment. YOU have to step up and take control of your own future. If you see somebody spamming crap, let em know it! This is the true industry of autonomy IMO.


Back to work...we are utterly slammed with work. I have been sun up to sundown the last two weeks and only worked a .5 day yesterday (sunday) and am enjoying a great breakfast morning with my wife and boy this morning. This is starting to become redundant and I am losing interest in these whorums once again. I must get to work now, and will most likely be mia to forums once again due to working!

Good luck to all, and IT IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT!
-Thomas
 
part timers

i was reading a post about where this industry is heading. and i think Chris hit it right on the head. The only ones that will survive are the old timers close to retirement or the part timers with good jobs that work a 4 day week, off 3 ,and could call in sick the next 2, that use this industry to buy crap they dont need, while the full timers have to pay bills. i also belive that the resdential area is plauge with guys with no ins. no licence. but the people dont care. they have 250,000$ homes but will pay you 99.00 to hack it up. So in my opinion residential is fare game. but for us part timers, Stay Out Of full timers commercial work. Ask the full timer if you could work for him for 5 cents a sq. ft. thats what you was gonna cut his throat for anyway. you have to earn your stripes, you just dont take them.
 
Mario I'll do half a million dollars this year in gross sales from residential work.

Just kidding, I wanted to get Thomas' attention. I for one sleep well with giving out information freely over the internet. I have probably written more articles than anyone on sales, marketing and business. As a business owner I capitalize on what is available within a set of guidelines. Where is the foul? For my links and internet marketing I have probably spent hundreds of hours giving away information that has cost me years and few hundred thousand dollars.

PWP.. great job..keep plugging away. My offer still stands until 2010 if you need to unload some equipment. Maybe by then you will be buying me out (or the Zep company ;-)
 
Russ - I understand that, But what I am asking is if he can pull water from a fire hydrandt.

Although the Denver Metro area is under water restricitons, we as a company have a water permit to pull from the hydrandt, this way WE would supply the water for the homeowner...that way everyone avoids getting nailed by the restricttion.
 
PowerWash Pros said:
Russ - I understand that, But what I am asking is if he can pull water from a fire hydrandt.

Although the Denver Metro area is under water restricitons, we as a company have a water permit to pull from the hydrandt, this way WE would supply the water for the homeowner...that way everyone avoids getting nailed by the restricttion.
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sorry , I misunderstood what you were saying ..... "blonde moment":eek:
 
This is a great thread!! Its discussions like these that are eye openers. I think alot of other contracting fields have similar problems also. The first one that comes to mind is Lawn Maintenance. They are forever dealing with the energetic motivated young teen who cuts grass for half the price of the Landscaping companies charge yet in NY there are some pretty huge landscaping companies that also cut grass.

It comes down to how motivated you are to succeed. If your extremely driven then my guess is you will overcome alot of these "Obstacles" that are in your way.

I know a guy who Cleans windows here. I also know another guy who's company cleans windows and he employees 40+ workers.

Just look at the guy who started this Bulletin Board. Ron Musgraves business is predominately cleaning Flatwork. He has a nice size operation. I also know other guys who do his type of work and there self employed..and content with that.

I really think that if your extremely driven you shall succeed. If your not "Extremely Driven" than you will most likely fail in this business or any business for that matter.
 
I do not fear those that know what it takes to be in business. I can compete with them. I fear those that do not know what it takes. There is no way I can compete with someone that does not understand the costs of doing business.
 
Scott Stone said:
I do not fear those that know what it takes to be in business. I can compete with them. I fear those that do not know what it takes. There is no way I can compete with someone that does not understand the costs of doing business.
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Well stated!
 
pressurepros said:
Mario I'll do half a million dollars this year in gross sales from residential work.

Just kidding, I wanted to get Thomas' attention. I for one sleep well with giving out information freely over the internet. I have probably written more articles than anyone on sales, marketing and business. As a business owner I capitalize on what is available within a set of guidelines. Where is the foul? For my links and internet marketing I have probably spent hundreds of hours giving away information that has cost me years and few hundred thousand dollars.

PWP.. great job..keep plugging away. My offer still stands until 2010 if you need to unload some equipment. Maybe by then you will be buying me out (or the Zep company ;-)
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When I came onto these forums three years ago from an occassional post on Delco, my web site was number one in the world.
We have since DROPPED to number two.
Posting on these forums means little as far as ranking goes.
It MAY help the search engine crawlers find a brand new site a little faster, but as far as improving ranking, that has NOT been my experience.

If ANYTHING, it has hurt me.
I am a roof cleaner, NOT a pressure washer, and these are pressure washing forums.
Yes, there ARE roof cleaning sub forums, but search engines look at the OVERALL web site content in determining relevance.

Search engines are HIP to all the "tricks"

Many people in WAY more competitive fields actually set up PHP Forums to spam "links" in the past.

Just like FFA, bogus "directories" and link farms, Google gives LITTLE "Importance" to these places.

It can actually HURT you.

Once Google classifies you as a "cheater", you are FUNKED

Many are just unwilling or unable to accept the fact that when it comes to a HIGH Ranking in a crowded search field, OLDER URL's win every time, ALL things being equal.

It is pretty easy to rank highly in an uncrowded field, such as a local search in a small emerging market.
But to compete on the world wide stage, you just gotta pay your dues.

And all the posting here and on other forums isn't gonna do much but possibly help your new site get found a little quicker.

For the two successful web sites I have, I have also had some failures.
One BAD mistake I made was downloading Google and Alexa tool bars, and clicking away on my OWN sites, LOL

Google sells advertising based on clicks.
They are SUPER PARANOID about those who phony click on customers ad's.

Get yourself even SUSPECTED of being a Mad Clicker, and your azz will be history!

I flat out LOST two web sites, and had to abandon the URL"s because of this.

One "rule" I have found is no more then 3 clicks a week on your site, and NEVER two days in a row.

They DO keep track of where the clicks come from, UNLESS you have Dynamic ISP, where the URL changes every time you log on.

The days of web ranking manipulation are coming to an end, because the penalty when you get caught is so severe.

Sometimes, you just gotta pay your dues, be patient, and wait your turn.

And HOPE like hell there are not several older URL's before you.

IF there are, and these URL's do not make any gross mistakes, chances are you will NEVER catch them.

And, that is how it SHOULD be, the way it is in life.

In a regular job, those with more seniority have easier jobs, and make more money, ALL things being equal.

Of course, an older URL is no guarantee of a high ranking w/o a well designed web site.
 
The Cleaner said:
Hi all, i just wanted to take a minute and ask everyone where they see this proffession of ours going in the future? We see our work as a proffessional entity, something tangible and worth speaking of.

What i do notice is that many people and other proffessions look at us as nothing more than a part time job for extra money. I know first hand that there are many of us that do very well at this so called hobby and would like to see this turn into a respected industry, one that we all can be proud of.


This forum is a great place to be heard, but our greatest contribution to this industry is our customers word of mouth, be it residential or commercial. We may all be separate companies all striving for the same goals but as a industry we are one.


The only way that we can prove our worth as a true proffession is through educating the public as to the differences between us and them, and we all know who them is. I consistently turn jobs down that are not in my pricing range, now i dont mean this to sound like i dont need or want the work, but we need to get the standards of this industry where they should be.


We all had to start somewhere, and for some that meant trying to be the cheapest in town, and that is why we are in the shape where in. When i started my company i made a promise to myself that i would give this 5 years of solid hard work and sweat, why i say 5 years is that anyone who has been in business before knows that on average this is the time it takes to establish yourself in a given area. Along with that promise i also made a commitment not to LOWBALL myself out of business, instead i would give my customers the best service with the best equipment and chemicals that are available.


It took me every bit of the 5 years to make my company a well respected and familiar name in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. But instead of trying to LOWBALL and get every job that called, i gave them a price that would actually make me money and keep them as a client for years.Most LOWBALLERS are looking to be in and out ASAP so they can move on to the next hack job!! and leave that trail of lousy service in thier path, which comes back to haunt us all.


I think i am rambling and venting at the same time :D I take great pride in my company that i have built from nothing but hard work and perseverance, but if just a few of the new people who read this post realize how hard alot of us have tried to make this industry a respectable one, and go out there and make a name for yourselves without compromising the integrity of the very industry you are pursuing.

And thats all i got to say about it.:D
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Your a Contributor for Sure Nick
 
This thread is now 3 years old, does everybody still feel the same? If so what can be done to help improve the industry?
 
Jeremiah said:
This thread is now 3 years old, does everybody still feel the same? If so what can be done to help improve the industry?
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Ron Musgraves is doing it thru the NCE. The UAMCC is starting to get back on track so there pitching in to also help improve this industry. There are other orgs doing the same.

In the Political end from State to State there hurting all industries due to the people in Power in this country but thats going to start changing again where the small type businesses such as the Mom and Pop types can start rebuilding again....hopefully!!
 
You know, I've been hearing this concern for over 15 years, and it's likely not going away. Yet professionals are surviving and in often cases thriving even despite the low ballers and the poor economy.

Help me think guys. How can we better educate the consumer? My field is marketing and communications. I am here to help grow/improve/strengthen this industry. So I'll put my thinking cap on, but you guys help me. How do we get the message to the masses? And is that possible? Or does it just need to be one contractor educating at a time?
 
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