This is my first and probably my only post. There is a very specific reason for why I am posting and that is because I am pist off!
First, let me give you a quick overview of what I have seen on these boards. I have been reading these boards since the Delco board 8 years ago. In my opinion there are a FEW smart, ethical, hardworking, succesful businessmen in this topics industry who contribute to this board. Then there are the idiots. I won't point out any names because it is only my opinion but I am sure if you have been reading this board (and all the others) your opinions wouldn't differ too far from mine.
Now for the reason of my post. I have been in business for 13 years. This year our goal his to hit one million in revenues for the first time. We run 8 trucks (no subcontracting) and our primary focus is hood cleaning. Any of you who are pressure washers and think you can just jump into hood cleaning with a tiny amount of training, or without any long term real "on the job experience", let me give you a wake up call. But that will come in a minute. Today I got a call from one of our largest accounts. (about 190 units) The facilities manager says after 7 years of reputable service from us, "Either drop your price or we go with another company." (Keep in mind I have never rasied the price from the first day I started their units) Then he says "I have another company doing our units (in an area that I don't cover) for $135.00. They do an excellent job and either you need to match that price or we go with that company." I say "Huh?" He says "Lets meet next week and we can discuss the details", and he hangs up. I say "Huh?".
Now you must understand something. I charge a VERY reasonable price for these type of units. Under $200.00 and that is a little low. Now I either drop $60.00 to $70.00 off EACH store I service or risk losing the entire account. Total cost is roughly $50,000 give or take in cuts. Now this is certianly not going to put me out of business and I still am going to drive my Hummer around town and not lose any sleep about my 7 miles to the gallon fuel economy. But what I will lose sleep over (including tonight) is the fact I am going to have to lay off my mechanic because his salary was just axed by my good freind the lowballer. I have gone through 100 emplyees to keep 10 good ones and to lose him is to lose a key element of my company. I will now do the tune ups, oil-changes, brake jobs, equipment maintnenace, supply stocking, etc.. unless.........
Unless I go out and bid more accounts, sign new contracts, and get more business. And you can bet your ass that is exactly what I am going to do! But here is why I am pissed. Accounts come and ago I understand and except that. As a company we have lost less than 3% of any account we have sercived at least once. If I lose an acount to fair competition, fair price, etc. more power to that competitor. But if I lose an account to some jack-ass who has underbid my account so preposterously low that you know he is one of these aforementioned idiots, well that is just frustrating. We have all seen posts in the past about low ballers, no insurance, no worker comp. blah, blah, blah. But the real frustrating part about this situation is this lowballing company is assocaited with these boards. Yep, this guy intitally learned the tools of his trade from one of our good friends right here on these boards.
Now for the wake up call I mentioned earlier. Nobody who does it right just jumps into the hood and exhaust maintanence industry. Now, now you all talk about certification, regulations, enforcement for our industry, etc. etc. That is all fine and dandy. BUT here is where the true problem lies. Joe knows how to pressure wash. He has been doing it for almost three whole months now! Joe has an epiphany as he pushes his $250.00 surface cleaner down the sidewalk with no water reclamation. "Hey, I can clean hoods for some fast cash. It can't be that hard. That guy on the board will tell me what to do."That is the problem! Can we stop Joe from thinking this or from trying it? No, but we can do something. Maybe someday certification, true licensing and informed firemashalls will put an end to Joe but for no I have to pick my battles and I am going to the source.
We can limit the amount of Joes who enter our industry by NOT NOT NOT NOT offering them free training. Not encourging Joe by reinforcing his high school GED diploma with a "Sure you can do it attitude". If you want to rob somebody for ten or twenty grand and teach them for a week you are not helping either. All you did is train the Joe who inhereited twenty grand from his aunt and your scamming them. But at leat you thought of a way to make some cash out of it. If your the one who says I'll train you if your not a competitor in my area, here is your wake up call. EVERYONE is your competitor. This is not a bad thing IF it is the RIGHT kind of competitor. Everyone is your competitor becuase just like many or most of you quality contractors out there, you all network. Of course you pick carfeully who you network with. Well guess what Joe networks too. First of all Joe moves around alot so you never know where he will end up. Second of all Joe networks with cousin Billy Bob, who is then trained twice as poorly as Joe was. And so on and so on. Doesn't happen? You bet your ass it does. I have seen it first hand twice. I have one of these idiots in my area right now. And as for those of you who said "Well I am just a trusting person, and I have a good heart and I want to help people." Well good for you! I have a trusting heart too but I give it to those people who have EARNED it. Trust and valubale information do not come free and unfortunately it is human nature to take advantage of it. Most people do.
Good thing these trusting( "I'll tell you anything you want to know") type people don't work for Intel. Then their pentium processor would not be much of a secret now would it.
There are those of you who will say let the other company screw up. They are bound to with no experience and such a cheap price. Well your right that is probably what will happen. But I can't give up the rest of my units or lay off 4 people so I am forced to lower my price. (At least until my freindly lowballer screws up real good, then my price goes back up). But this is a new guy and he is a real hard worker. Maybe he will do well, maybe he is ethical, and maybe it is a shame that his "trainer" took three whole days to train him and didn't show him how to charge a fair price. At least research your area and get an idea of the medain prices being charged in the area. Its not that hard because I did it. Idiots!
Now for my solution. This goes out to presure washers and hood cleaners. I have a solid network base but it is small. I need to create a larger network of succesful, ethical, hardworking contractors out there. This means that if your the owner and your not out "on the job" at least 4 of the 7 days in a week,then you can stop reading now. I want this network for two reasons. One is to help reduce then number of these idiot lowballers. No we can't get rid of them but we can take them on and burn them out. Second I want to network with companies who believe in NOT training Joe for three days then sending him on his way so he can come back to your town and burn your territory!. No need to point out the guys who offer free training for dinner or whatever ridiculous short term training some of you have offered, but if you have done it in the past this is your chance for repentance and to not do it again. For the quality companies who do want to network, I want to weed out Joe and whatever idiot who trained them. (wether Joe paid for it or not)
Of course this is next to an impossible task but you have to start somewhere.
I have been cleaning hoods for 13 years. I work every night. I know what it takes to do it right and I do it right. I have been in 100 ft. horozontal stretches sitting in three inches of grease scraping it out and the pressure wasing it 1 foot at a time. I have done the untis the have so much electrical wiring in them I could have electrocuted myself just looking at it. I have seen so many things so out of code its painful to look at. Oh, and I do the easy stores too! My point is I still make mistakes and I am one of the best. When Joe comes on this board and dives in head first after 3 weeks of thought and three days of training my industry suffers. Hey that should be Joes slogan on the side of his 1983 toyata pick up with us under equipped equipment he uses, "Joes Hood Cleaning- Three months of thought and three days of training- call us for your pressure washing needs."
The bottom line is these boards are good for only a couple things. General information shared between people in their industry and I do mean general. And networking so that when more sensitive information is shared it can be done privately. Oh, and it is also good for trying to discourage Joe from getting in over his head before he is ready. My message to all you Joes out there- If you want to do this and do it right, ask yourself who you are. Will you work harder then anyone else, will you commit the endless time and energy to do it right. Will you be ethical and honest, and what are you willing to sacrifice for success. Then go work for a company (I can't tell you how long but it took me 2 1/2 years) until a true professional in the industry can say you are ready Joe, go out and prosper. Or you can just "fly-by-night, and lowball and then you will have to deal with me, I gaurantee it. Or you will burn a restaraunt down, and kill somebody, neither option is pleasant. And for you train em' and send em' type people out there I coming after you too. If any of my networking companies are in your areas we are coming to get you too. We will out work, out bid, and generally out do you until you cry. And then we will step it up a notch.
If your one of those guys who agree with me and want to send this industry in a positive direction and weed out some of these guys who either haven't earned a spot or don't belong in this industry leave your e-mail as a post and we will talk. I am no longer as angry as I was when I started writing this post but my convictions about it are as strong as ever!
________________________
Parker Jackson
Jackson Steam
Company Address
2134 Sinter Way
Telephone
918-324-3990
San Francisco, California
First, let me give you a quick overview of what I have seen on these boards. I have been reading these boards since the Delco board 8 years ago. In my opinion there are a FEW smart, ethical, hardworking, succesful businessmen in this topics industry who contribute to this board. Then there are the idiots. I won't point out any names because it is only my opinion but I am sure if you have been reading this board (and all the others) your opinions wouldn't differ too far from mine.
Now for the reason of my post. I have been in business for 13 years. This year our goal his to hit one million in revenues for the first time. We run 8 trucks (no subcontracting) and our primary focus is hood cleaning. Any of you who are pressure washers and think you can just jump into hood cleaning with a tiny amount of training, or without any long term real "on the job experience", let me give you a wake up call. But that will come in a minute. Today I got a call from one of our largest accounts. (about 190 units) The facilities manager says after 7 years of reputable service from us, "Either drop your price or we go with another company." (Keep in mind I have never rasied the price from the first day I started their units) Then he says "I have another company doing our units (in an area that I don't cover) for $135.00. They do an excellent job and either you need to match that price or we go with that company." I say "Huh?" He says "Lets meet next week and we can discuss the details", and he hangs up. I say "Huh?".
Now you must understand something. I charge a VERY reasonable price for these type of units. Under $200.00 and that is a little low. Now I either drop $60.00 to $70.00 off EACH store I service or risk losing the entire account. Total cost is roughly $50,000 give or take in cuts. Now this is certianly not going to put me out of business and I still am going to drive my Hummer around town and not lose any sleep about my 7 miles to the gallon fuel economy. But what I will lose sleep over (including tonight) is the fact I am going to have to lay off my mechanic because his salary was just axed by my good freind the lowballer. I have gone through 100 emplyees to keep 10 good ones and to lose him is to lose a key element of my company. I will now do the tune ups, oil-changes, brake jobs, equipment maintnenace, supply stocking, etc.. unless.........
Unless I go out and bid more accounts, sign new contracts, and get more business. And you can bet your ass that is exactly what I am going to do! But here is why I am pissed. Accounts come and ago I understand and except that. As a company we have lost less than 3% of any account we have sercived at least once. If I lose an acount to fair competition, fair price, etc. more power to that competitor. But if I lose an account to some jack-ass who has underbid my account so preposterously low that you know he is one of these aforementioned idiots, well that is just frustrating. We have all seen posts in the past about low ballers, no insurance, no worker comp. blah, blah, blah. But the real frustrating part about this situation is this lowballing company is assocaited with these boards. Yep, this guy intitally learned the tools of his trade from one of our good friends right here on these boards.
Now for the wake up call I mentioned earlier. Nobody who does it right just jumps into the hood and exhaust maintanence industry. Now, now you all talk about certification, regulations, enforcement for our industry, etc. etc. That is all fine and dandy. BUT here is where the true problem lies. Joe knows how to pressure wash. He has been doing it for almost three whole months now! Joe has an epiphany as he pushes his $250.00 surface cleaner down the sidewalk with no water reclamation. "Hey, I can clean hoods for some fast cash. It can't be that hard. That guy on the board will tell me what to do."That is the problem! Can we stop Joe from thinking this or from trying it? No, but we can do something. Maybe someday certification, true licensing and informed firemashalls will put an end to Joe but for no I have to pick my battles and I am going to the source.
We can limit the amount of Joes who enter our industry by NOT NOT NOT NOT offering them free training. Not encourging Joe by reinforcing his high school GED diploma with a "Sure you can do it attitude". If you want to rob somebody for ten or twenty grand and teach them for a week you are not helping either. All you did is train the Joe who inhereited twenty grand from his aunt and your scamming them. But at leat you thought of a way to make some cash out of it. If your the one who says I'll train you if your not a competitor in my area, here is your wake up call. EVERYONE is your competitor. This is not a bad thing IF it is the RIGHT kind of competitor. Everyone is your competitor becuase just like many or most of you quality contractors out there, you all network. Of course you pick carfeully who you network with. Well guess what Joe networks too. First of all Joe moves around alot so you never know where he will end up. Second of all Joe networks with cousin Billy Bob, who is then trained twice as poorly as Joe was. And so on and so on. Doesn't happen? You bet your ass it does. I have seen it first hand twice. I have one of these idiots in my area right now. And as for those of you who said "Well I am just a trusting person, and I have a good heart and I want to help people." Well good for you! I have a trusting heart too but I give it to those people who have EARNED it. Trust and valubale information do not come free and unfortunately it is human nature to take advantage of it. Most people do.
Good thing these trusting( "I'll tell you anything you want to know") type people don't work for Intel. Then their pentium processor would not be much of a secret now would it.
There are those of you who will say let the other company screw up. They are bound to with no experience and such a cheap price. Well your right that is probably what will happen. But I can't give up the rest of my units or lay off 4 people so I am forced to lower my price. (At least until my freindly lowballer screws up real good, then my price goes back up). But this is a new guy and he is a real hard worker. Maybe he will do well, maybe he is ethical, and maybe it is a shame that his "trainer" took three whole days to train him and didn't show him how to charge a fair price. At least research your area and get an idea of the medain prices being charged in the area. Its not that hard because I did it. Idiots!
Now for my solution. This goes out to presure washers and hood cleaners. I have a solid network base but it is small. I need to create a larger network of succesful, ethical, hardworking contractors out there. This means that if your the owner and your not out "on the job" at least 4 of the 7 days in a week,then you can stop reading now. I want this network for two reasons. One is to help reduce then number of these idiot lowballers. No we can't get rid of them but we can take them on and burn them out. Second I want to network with companies who believe in NOT training Joe for three days then sending him on his way so he can come back to your town and burn your territory!. No need to point out the guys who offer free training for dinner or whatever ridiculous short term training some of you have offered, but if you have done it in the past this is your chance for repentance and to not do it again. For the quality companies who do want to network, I want to weed out Joe and whatever idiot who trained them. (wether Joe paid for it or not)
Of course this is next to an impossible task but you have to start somewhere.
I have been cleaning hoods for 13 years. I work every night. I know what it takes to do it right and I do it right. I have been in 100 ft. horozontal stretches sitting in three inches of grease scraping it out and the pressure wasing it 1 foot at a time. I have done the untis the have so much electrical wiring in them I could have electrocuted myself just looking at it. I have seen so many things so out of code its painful to look at. Oh, and I do the easy stores too! My point is I still make mistakes and I am one of the best. When Joe comes on this board and dives in head first after 3 weeks of thought and three days of training my industry suffers. Hey that should be Joes slogan on the side of his 1983 toyata pick up with us under equipped equipment he uses, "Joes Hood Cleaning- Three months of thought and three days of training- call us for your pressure washing needs."
The bottom line is these boards are good for only a couple things. General information shared between people in their industry and I do mean general. And networking so that when more sensitive information is shared it can be done privately. Oh, and it is also good for trying to discourage Joe from getting in over his head before he is ready. My message to all you Joes out there- If you want to do this and do it right, ask yourself who you are. Will you work harder then anyone else, will you commit the endless time and energy to do it right. Will you be ethical and honest, and what are you willing to sacrifice for success. Then go work for a company (I can't tell you how long but it took me 2 1/2 years) until a true professional in the industry can say you are ready Joe, go out and prosper. Or you can just "fly-by-night, and lowball and then you will have to deal with me, I gaurantee it. Or you will burn a restaraunt down, and kill somebody, neither option is pleasant. And for you train em' and send em' type people out there I coming after you too. If any of my networking companies are in your areas we are coming to get you too. We will out work, out bid, and generally out do you until you cry. And then we will step it up a notch.
If your one of those guys who agree with me and want to send this industry in a positive direction and weed out some of these guys who either haven't earned a spot or don't belong in this industry leave your e-mail as a post and we will talk. I am no longer as angry as I was when I started writing this post but my convictions about it are as strong as ever!
________________________
Parker Jackson
Jackson Steam
Company Address
2134 Sinter Way
Telephone
918-324-3990
San Francisco, California
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