Niche market vs broad market pressure washing business?

Reider

Reider

New member
So what do you feel is best for a pressure washing business and why? Is it better to have a niche market like flatwork, wood, roofs, fleets, hoods, etc. or be the business that offers almost everything? I'm curious to here everyone's opinion and reasons, but I'm really interested in hearing the opinions of the veteran professionals that have established an enduring, successful business. This is also not a debate on the definition of successful, because success is such a subjective term.

What are the benefits and downfalls to a niche business?

What are the benefits and negatives to a broad pressure washing business?

What would you advise to a start-up business? Start with a niche market/service and then grow broader once the niche service establishes a solid foundation? Or start broad to get more potential work and narrow your services to a niche market?
 
I am mostly a niche business, most of my work is heavy equipment, not even on most guys radar. I got lucky with a few customers at first, but it has taken me almost 6 years to get a good steady group of customers that keep me too busy right now. I have and can do other types of pressure washing, but honestly I do wander to from what has got me to where I am now.

Let me put it another way, as a former auto mechanic I learned quickly there were those mechanics that excelled and understood certain brands and types of cars/trucks very well. They knew what they were doing and knew the systems inside out to the point you would never think of going any where else with your car because you trusted them that much. I applied that same principle to pressure washing and now I I have to turn down work regularly and get word of mouth referrals all the time.

One huge benefit of a niche is that you can tailor your equipment to best suit your market. The downside though is that if that niche market slows down for one reason or another your equipment might not be able to handle other pressure washing jobs as well.
 
I started my property maintenance business down here in FL focusing on landscaping and gutter cleaning, with pressure washing as an add on. Soon I started doing more pressure washing and driveway cleaning than landscaping. Now I am narrowing my business down to Pressure washing and gutter cleaning, with driveway cleaning taking over most of my biz. I am quickly starting to love concrete cleaning. I can't call that a niche market because there are tons of companies that do this around here. I would start off with a broad based company and whittle it down to the thing you like to do best as your main focus, and specialize in that. But still offer the other stuff, just to stay busy.
 
It depends on the area you are in. Just like a Doctor, in small. Towns you need to be a generalist, and in a bigger city, you can be more specialized. I know that with my specialty, in a small town, I would starve.
 
Scott Stone said:
It depends on the area you are in. Just like a Doctor, in small. Towns you need to be a generalist, and in a bigger city, you can be more specialized. I know that with my specialty, in a small town, I would starve.
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Good point. When I went to your site I was reassured of my niche direction. Im not nearly as niched as you and it looks like you are doing well.
 
I live in a very wealthy state . Niches and specialties are in every part of services catering to the wealthy. The more knowledge you have and history of success you will get found . In this environment specializing in wood and stone and being a problem solver and being able to service those areas with get you referred . These areas take a lot of knowledge and education of chemicals,materials and finishes . Then it takes relationships with other craftsmen to get known. Then at some point you receive calls from architects ,painters,builders, master carpenters, landscapers for your opinion before they start a project

On some properties and estates I work on now they think being able to clean with hot water and being able to wash the structures is the niche .
 
I had a situation a couple of days ago. Presenting to a client. He wanted me to clean something at his restaurant that I don't focus on. He said, "could you do ok at it". It hurt a little to turn down work but I would rather do one thing really well than do lots of things ok.
 
There was a point when I was doing everything. Right now, I concentrate on two things. I count on cleaning bus stops for my daily income. I do parking garages for "Extra" money. In the past year, I have netted a solid 6 figures just off of parking garages.
 
Jason, you always ask good questions! I think it is an evolution for a lot of people when they enter this industry. You start out and need work so you will have a wider variety of services. As you gain a customer base you begin to narrow down what works best for you, makes best use of your time and is profitable. Then as you get busier and need employees it really becomes more fine tuned because they may not have the same abilities that you have so train them at your specific services and do them well. This usually leads to the "niche" that your company becomes and once there it continues to evolve. I say this generally because there are folks who enter the business and only provide a "niche" service.
 
What Everett said, plus, I think that it is easier to replicate services, by developing a systematic approach to service. The better system that is in place, the easier it is to replicate a service.
 
Scott Stone said:
It depends on the area you are in. Just like a Doctor, in small. Towns you need to be a generalist, and in a bigger city, you can be more specialized. I know that with my specialty, in a small town, I would starve.
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Very good point Scott. This is something I have been taking into consideration lately in determining the direction my business should go.
 
Everett Abrams said:
Jason, you always ask good questions! I think it is an evolution for a lot of people when they enter this industry. You start out and need work so you will have a wider variety of services. As you gain a customer base you begin to narrow down what works best for you, makes best use of your time and is profitable. Then as you get busier and need employees it really becomes more fine tuned because they may not have the same abilities that you have so train them at your specific services and do them well. This usually leads to the "niche" that your company becomes and once there it continues to evolve. I say this generally because there are folks who enter the business and only provide a "niche" service.
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Thanks Everett. This has definitely been an evolution for me after the first two years in business. As you stated, I started very broad and am now beginning to narrow my services for a variety of reasons that include the points everyone has made so far. I like the concept of keeping it simple, but offering such a broad range of services so far has felt hectic and added extra stress at times.
 
The first 5 years are a bitch. I came into it from window cleaning and had a large base of clients to tap into . Windows residential are annual or bi annual . There are not many annual cleanings in the residential market for pressure cleaning unless they are created with a maintenance program . Commercial is a different story.
 
A niche is usually a process of elimation. I used to clean and reseal cedar siding homes and wooden decks. It was a niche but labor intensive and time consuming. I used to clean hood vents but the hours were usually late at night, some roofs were metal and steep and I got away from it. My volume was coming from house washing so I went all cold water.
In 2009 I started cleaning asphalt shingle roofs that involved different equipment,insurance and acquiring jobs. You just keep trying to find what works but you cant be everything to everybody.
 
Last year I was asked by two separate clients if I woul be interested in different types of work. One I'm considering the other mostly likely not because of to much travel and extremely difficult and dangerous . Both specialized niches. One I'm considering I won't say but the other is going in before the repair work is started and cleaning the internal parts of Dams. I cleaned the operation mangers house and there is a need for this expertise and a high quit rate among those who have tried.
 
With enough safety precautions, the danger can be significantly reduced
 
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