Ok, the following is my opinion. It has worked for me all the way back to the beginning except for a period of time when I got too big for my britches and thought the economy was always going to be great and fell for the credit trap.
This method has worked for us, my son, and is now working for my nephew Cameron. None of us owe a dime on any of our equipment and we've got plenty of backup equipment to stay running even if we meet lean times.
First off, (I know a lot of people are going to disagree with this) a new guy should get his feet wet (literally) with whatever equipment he can afford to start with, that won't hurt him too much financially if he doesn't like the work or if he just simply fails. Most of the jobs we do can be completed with a cheap pressure washer. It won't be feasible in the long run, but just to get a handle on the work and see if you even like the work, a person can save up from their job and get a cheap one to start.
A surface cleaner isn't even needed at first. Wanding can be just as effective as surface cleaning but it will just take a LONG time. But that's what a new entrepreneur has....time.
Once you have that cheap equipment now it's time to research. Day and night. Every new contractor should spend every spare minute at first browsing through the forums learning terminology and techniques. I spent almost 6 months reading about ultrasonics before I bought my first ultrasonic machine for filter cleaning. There's even a thread on PWI on how to get up gum using a $30 propane setup if you don't have hot water.
Now that you've researched at night, learned how to not damage property, and you have the equipment you can afford, you are ready to try to get some business. Use the knowledge you have learned from the boards to set fair pricing. It might take you all weekend to make $150 with that equipment. Just realize better days lay ahead.
At first the easiest and least expensive way to do this is through contacts you already know through your work, church or friends.
YOU ARE NOT GOING TO MAKE A LIVING AT THIS FOR MONTHS. So keep your day job or your other business and put every single dime you make into a box so you can move up to the next level.
Meanwhile, if you don't like the work. Stop. Don't go any further.
If you don't feel like you will ever be comfortable making sales. Stop. Put your pressure washer in the garage and use it to clean your patio every now and then.
Once you've gotten a few little jobs under your belt, get on the boards and ask questions. I've seen it many times on here. New guys with junk equipment. They get on here and ask about what the next step is and there are plenty of guys here willing to help.
If you still think you have what it takes to make it in this business, now is the time to go down to your courthouse and get a business license. Usually you will have to have the license before you can open a business checking account and move up to accepting checks and eventually credit cards.
Next you will need business insurance. If you are lucky you live in a state that allows you to opt out of workers comp as a sole proprietor till you get more income coming in and need employees.
Once you've saved up a little money buy only the equipment you need to make your work better and more efficient. Keep putting the rest in a box. Set some money aside for repairs. Get some business cards.
Make some flyers on your computer and print them out yourself or take them on a thumb drive to Office Max and choose paper that looks good but costs little.
At first make your own soap. It won't work as good as EBC or other good soaps, but it will do the job till you build up enough clientele to support ongoing expenses like that. There are plenty of guys on here who can help you with that.
Once you have enough in the box go ahead and buy whatever equipment you need. If you are handy with tools you can buy a used skid on craigslist. I spent almost $6000 too much on my first skid because I didn't realize how easy they are to work on using the resources on this board. Use the craigslist app and get notifications for every pressure washer that come up for sale in your area in seconds. Be ready to jump when that good deal comes up.
If you don't already have a good truck, keep putting money in the box and find one on craigslist or even a used dealer. If you have gotten used to putting money in that box you will find out quickly that even a $2000 transmission job is a lot cheaper than a $600 per month payment and the $400 full coverage insurance that goes with it.
Work out of your house till your neighbors can't stand it anymore. There is a LOT of wasted money on shops that are bought or rented before the need is actually there.
Once you have a decent running truck and a decent skid and more than a few good completed jobs under your belt it's time to start looking for the big jobs.
There are $5k and up pressure washing jobs that come up all the time. Don't be afraid of it. My son bought a lot of his stuff from an $8k job that he was scared to death to bid on. He finished it in 4 days and paid cash for a lot of stuff he needed. That helped jump start his business.
Look for recurring work. Once you've got recurring work you can start calling yourself a sustainable business. Use the recurring work as a gauge as to where you are going with the business. Once you have enough recurring work to quit your other job it's time to make that tough decision.
Meanwhile put ALL your one time work IN THE BOX.
You will need it. You will need it for upgrading, You will need it for repairs. You will need it for blitz sales promotion material. You will need it for FUEL and SOAPS and RECLAIM if that next BIG paying job requires it. Don't lose out on a big job because you failed to put that one-time money IN THE BOX.
USE TEMP labor. It is not only economical, but if you are still working the field and you can keep an eye on them, you can go through a bunch of them and sometimes hit up on a diamond. You don't have to worry about workers comp or any taxes because you just pay the temp agency and they take care of all of that. Most agencies will bill you on 30 days so you don't have to pay them till you've gotten paid by your customer.
If you keep putting money in that box, you will really be surprised at how fast that box fills up. Use it wisely. You will be happy that 30% of your income isn't going to the bank in the way of interest. You will be happy that 50% isn't going in the pocket of an investor.
Once you've reached the point where your income tax starts hurting you, then it's time to start thinking about wise tax moves.
Regardless of what anybody says, there is nothing wise about saving tax money just so you can put it in the pocket of a banker. It's stupid. If you find yourself owing so much it hurts at the end of the year to the IRS you are not spending enough money on advertising, labor or cash equipment purchases.
It is much more cost effective to wisely and economically buy a backup for everything, including your truck and skid, than it is to buy a new one because it "has a warranty". That warranty won't be doing you a bit of good while your truck sits in the shop for 4 weeks waiting on parts. It's much easier to call the wife to bring your spare cheap truck when one breaks down so you can keep on working than spend $600 a month on a shiny payment that sits in the shop and shuts your whole business down.
One wise tax move is making sure your most used truck or sales vehicle is on the Mileage deduction instead of Actual expenses. I first learned this when we had the delivery business. We bought cheap, reliable, economical vehicles and drove the crap out of them. We paid as little as $3500 for some of them. We were doing around 50k miles per year on a few of them and the writeoff was astronomical compared to the actual cost of running them. It was a great move.
Those are some of the things I've learned over the years.
I'm sure others will come to mind. I just hate to see contractors fall for that credit trap. And I just shake my head when I hear contractors schooling others on the benefits of getting in that trap.
