Why so few fleet washers?

Biodude said:
Personally I think that it is much more of an investment than flatwork or duct cleaning services. That is why those businesses have so many new people joining by buying cheap equipment, trying to stay in business, not succeeding, and selling everything off at a loss. Then another guy thinks "I can make a lot of money doing that", buys the local home depot pressure washer, and the cycle starts all over again. You need to spend money to wash fleets right. You also need to hire employees and deal with all of that. So right out of the gate you need to have a business owner mentality as opposed to just trying to create a well paying job for yourself. The far majority of people in the non-fleet washing businesses have less than 4 employees. The majority of fleet washing businesses have more than 3 employees. And as Scott said, it's evening and weekend work which is unattractive to many as well. Can someone go from $0 to a company like Scotts size? Maybe, but it would take someone as organized and intelligent as Scott, and most of us don't possess those sort of skills.
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Blaine, I just visited your site. Nice looking fleet!
 

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Benjamin said:
No more, homedepot pressure washer, $3000 trailer, $500 tank, you are a fleet washer. $2000 easykleen hot water pressure washer if you want to get fancy. I see these setups running around here every weekend, don't know how they are going to work this weekend being how cold it is, but they find ways. Many guys skip the trailer, spend $5000 on a cube van that they overload the crap out of (Any 3500 dually van normally only has a 2000 lbs payload), 600g tank + easy klean and they think they can charge the same as my tandem freightliner.

This business is one that you can technically get in with little money and skip along and with some luck do ok. There is some common sense as well, but don't think you need tons of money to get into fleet washing.
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I see those guys running around here too...for about 6 months. Illegally running around town. Then I see the equipment for sale on Craigslist. In the meantime they have made a good attempt at wrecking the prices. If you're planning on being in business for any length of time you need to spend far more money than you would doing flatwork. That's what I'm saying. And I know they won't be brushing with their Home Depot pressure washer below freezing. Brushes freeze up fast. And companies here don't let you steal their water. You have to bring your own. Again, more expense. And you're washing vehicles rather than concrete. Hard water becomes a problem if you care about quality work. More expense. And you use a lot more detergent when you fleet wash. More expense.

And I know Scott didn't start up overnight. But I am sure that he could start up a new operation quickly because of his reputation and wealth of experience.
 
Johnson said:
I was being sarcastic.
Yes I shake my head when reading certain things here but mostly on FB.
I agree, single minded individuals need to wake up.
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Sarcasm is hard on the Internet.
 
Biodude said:
And I know Scott didn't start up overnight. But I am sure that he could start up a new operation quickly because of his reputation and wealth of experience.
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I knew that you knew that, because you have been around a while. I was afraid others might think I just sort of magically started. There are so many that others have led to believe that I just stumbled into what I am doing.
 
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