Moving the family and business from FL to NC.

JDhomeservices

New member
So, We've officially decided to move from FL to Wilmington, NC where my in laws live. It seems like a crazy decision to uproot the business when I'm finally starting to generate some word of mouth referrals after so many changes in the business over the years, but I really feel this is the direction God is leading me, and I feel really good about it. We will be moving at the end of July.

I was just wondering if any of you have any advice on how to make this transition go as smoothly as possible? Is there something I can start doing right now to make sure I am ready to start generating leads when I get there? Any of you NC guys have any advice on things that may change for me, such as cost of SH, how much a roof cleaning goes for, or any other changes I may not be thinking of?

I think the number one thing I'm concerned about is SEO. Will I be able to just change around some wording on my website, and start ranking up there? Can I just change the location of my Google places listing, and still keep my positive reviews? I was also thinking about changing the name of my company. When I started out, I just put my name in the business, because I was too cheap to pay a hundred something dollars to register a fictitious name lol. (In my defense, I was broke.) When I started doing just roof cleaning and pressure washing, I kept my name in it, so my customers would know it was still me. I know Ron was recently harping on guys who change business names constantly lol. But I have grown to not like this name very much. It's Such a mouthfull! Maybe this fresh start is an opportunity to find a better name. What do you guys think?

Anyway, any input on how to generate leads in an area with no word of mouth going for me would be helpful. When I first started this business, I just bit the bullet, sink or swim. But I was single back then. Now I have a 2 months pregnant wife, and 8 month old son to worry about, so needless to say, there is more on the line this time around.
 
So, We've officially decided to move from FL to Wilmington, NC where my in laws live. It seems like a crazy decision to uproot the business when I'm finally starting to generate some word of mouth referrals after so many changes in the business over the years, but I really feel this is the direction God is leading me, and I feel really good about it. We will be moving at the end of July.

I was just wondering if any of you have any advice on how to make this transition go as smoothly as possible? Is there something I can start doing right now to make sure I am ready to start generating leads when I get there? Any of you NC guys have any advice on things that may change for me, such as cost of SH, how much a roof cleaning goes for, or any other changes I may not be thinking of?

I think the number one thing I'm concerned about is SEO. Will I be able to just change around some wording on my website, and start ranking up there? Can I just change the location of my Google places listing, and still keep my positive reviews? I was also thinking about changing the name of my company. When I started out, I just put my name in the business, because I was too cheap to pay a hundred something dollars to register a fictitious name lol. (In my defense, I was broke.) When I started doing just roof cleaning and pressure washing, I kept my name in it, so my customers would know it was still me. I know Ron was recently harping on guys who change business names constantly lol. But I have grown to not like this name very much. It's Such a mouthfull! Maybe this fresh start is an opportunity to find a better name. What do you guys think?

Anyway, any input on how to generate leads in an area with no word of mouth going for me would be helpful. When I first started this business, I just bit the bullet, sink or swim. But I was single back then. Now I have a 2 months pregnant wife, and 8 month old son to worry about, so needless to say, there is more on the line this time around.

wow, Sounds like me 8 months ago,I moved from Pennsylvania to Florida. We moved to be with Family. I was strictly KEC in Pa . here in Florida I'm doing both. KEC and pressure washing. I found #1 Stay in touch here. There is plenty of work out there. DO NOT UNDER CUT YOURSELF to get work. if you do that will spread in the community as, " your cheap labor" You must be a salesman as well as a pressure washer. SEO takes time,. You can keep your current business name, just don't list it as the heading on Google places.
Always advertise your services, Put your business name in the fine print. If you are an LLC THEN IT IS MANDATORY to put it there. Get a logo. put it on everything.
Start knocking on doors, or at least leaving door hangers. put your price on the hanger, people like to know up front. ( make up your flyer, use a nice blue paper, I would have these made up in staples, 250 copies single side, black letters, for about 30 bucks. Buy a hole punch and 250 envelopes and LARGE rubber bands. Feed the bands through the hole and hang on the door. Inexpensive door hangers.
Start passing business cards EVERYWHERE. be a people person. a good personality will almost always win the bid.
word will spread. Do not bad mouth competition, competition is good. it keeps us contractors on our toes to offer good service.
Remember work to live not live to work. Family always comes first. Call me if you need any thing else. I just went through this. I'm having more success here in Florida than i did up north.
 
Last edited:
I say keep the name that way folks can see the work you did in FL ... that's just me though. Honestly, I think you may still have to go through all the same legal paper to get your business up and running anyhow, so if you feel you need to change something then now would be a good time for it.
 
Josh call me when you get to Nc i will help you with what i can.You can come here and i will teach you everything i know.Then after that 10 minutes is up we an work the dogs.
 
Josh, im glad your business started doing well. But I really don't see how you were making an honest living doing $60 housewashes in Fl.
NC might be a better market for you.
 
Thanks, Hal. That would be cool. Although I have no idea what it means to "work dogs" lol.

It's been a while since I did $60 house washes. Believe it or not, I was still losing bids to lowballers back then. I wouldn't do them for $35-$40 lol. that's why I haven't done much work in Lake County FL the last year or so. That place is an anomaly. It used to be where I concentrated most of my business, because there is so much volume of work to be had there. Lots of affluent retirees. But there are completely legitimate insured companies doing SoftWashing for $60 a house over there, and that is the norm. PWI has taught me a lot. I have found areas that I can market myself in, and I charge more than twice as much as I did back then. It will be nice to not see so many people get angry when I quote a price though!

Thanks Eric. It's not as cool as "Heritage Restoration", but I wanted the words "roof cleaning" and "pressure washing" in the name for SEO purposes. But I'm sure it's much easier to say, 'This is Eric from Heritage Restoration" than it is to say "This is Josh Davis from Josh Davis Roof Cleaning and Pressure Washing."

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
 
Thanks Eric. It's not as cool as "Heritage Restoration", but I wanted the words "roof cleaning" and "pressure washing" in the name for SEO purposes.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

Yeah, sometimes I wish I had "pressure washing" in my name too. But I did set a URL to help. www.heritagepressurewashing.com
 
Back
Top