Going Full Time..?

R

rfitz

New member
Hey All,
I read the post from the new guy about asking if he should go full time,
and I too am in the same boat. I was really suprised about the number
of responses saying to only put your big toe in the hot water ?

After all with a modest investment of say $15,000 I figure it should not
be that hard to wash 200-300 houses in 8-9 months at a average of
$200-$300 a piece, that grosses an annual income of approximately $63,000
minus 30% expenses, and that still beats his salary as a teacher, and that
doesnt include wood restoration, commercial flatwork, fleetwashing, etc..

Personally I cant see how you couldnt make at least $75,000 1st year out
if you really hustle and you still get 2-3 months off, Im going for it...
I live in a city with about 2.5 million people and I have been selling Power washing for a Co. for the last 4 months, and there is more work out there
than I ever imagined, so I figured why settle for a 25K base and 17%
commision off the top, when I could be making 70-80% of the gross..

Unless I am missing something, this is a great time to jump headfirst into
this biz full time, and live your dreams instead of working for someone elses
dreams,

Just my opinion..?
Rob
 
I like your attitude Fitz! Go for it! If you work the 9 months at 6 days a week - that should give you about 230 days. Do 2 houses a day @ $250 average and you're grossing $115,000. The other 3 months spend in the tropics. If anyone can do it - you can.
 
keep selling , 17% commision is a good thing plus 25K, my wife is a teacher and she dose about 48K.

Start out part time , buy you a used rig, hot water , I maid $32,000 ayear as a part timer. good luck!

Mel
 
Rob,
Good luck and let us know in a year how it worked out for you. Don't forget estimates can be time consuming(Driving there, etc.etc.) so that has to built into your work day as no money earned for the time doing those estimates. They say if you book 1 out of 3 estimates then you are doing great. If you book higher then that your prices might be low and if you book lower your prices may be to high. This is only the average. Of course if you are a great salesman.....................
 
Rob,

I think you are missing alot. There is no way your expenses will only be 30%. But, I wish you all of the luck in the world attaining that. Prove me wrong!
 
30% Low

Hi Mike,
After talking with about 20 Power washers around the country,
that is about the average I have been told. ?
Since I started just selling powerwashing back in october
I am averaging about $10,000 a month in sales, no advertising
cost's just cold calling, and handing out biz cards and its winter here
and I am not allowed to even call on residential, the company only wants
to do commercial,. Which is wild because everyone I talk with around
the country says the best money is in residential, I talk regular with a guy
in VA who has 15 rigs (van setups) and he wont hardly do commercial work.

He says he is doing over 100K a year per rig and his expenses with employees is around 25%, I guess I will find out soon enough ?

Thx
Rob
 
What?

Rob,

First , I also wish you luck. I do believe that enthusiasm and aggressiveness will help you to become successful. It certainly sounds like you are doing your homework. I do believe that some of the info may be misleading. It would be VERY hard for anyone to operate w/employees at only 25% expenses(done correctly). If this were the case then everybody would be doing this. If you were to e-mail me I could help you on better budgeting and building a business plan that might help. eabrams@deckrestorationplus.com Either way I am sure I will see your future posts with great success stories!
 
I think 30% is low too. You have to figure in so much stuff.
#1 Cost of chems
#2 Paying someone to do your taxes
#3 Advertising
#4 Equipment depreciation and truck
#5 Equipment replacemant and truck
#6 Insurance
#7 Intrest on any loans you have on equipment or what not
#8 If you are leasing anything
#9 Office supplies like bid sheets, receipts, etc.
#10 Rent and Utilites if you have a shop
#11 Repairs to equipment and truck
#12 Telephone, cell phone fax machine etc.
#13 Uniforms
#14 Gas
#15 And the big one TAXES!!!
There is still much more then that. A lot of people overlook when they first buy their equipmant and already have a truck is the replacemnet cost for these things. 5 years down the road you need new everything and if you don't plan for it it can be expensive. I am just trying to give you something to think about. All the stuff I mentioned above is more then 30%. Also don't forget your company has to make money too. It is called net profit. Your salary is not part of net profit.
 
I went to the site you talked about. I seen the same one last year. If you add up the lows and highs for it, it comes out to between 23% to 60%. That is not including the labor. I would say that in the beginning you are at the higher side of that and had you go on each year that gets closer to the bottom. When you first start your advertising is sky high. Last year I spent $1700. I made around $35,000 so that is about 4.8%. I will spend probably $2200 this year on advertising but hope to make $84,000. That is my goal I hope to reach. If I do then my advertising expense will be 2.6%. A lot of times your gross profit will increase and some of your expenses will stay the same. If I make as much as I planned I may increase advertising a little but year after year my advertising budget will go down. What I mean is the percentage of my gross going to advertising will go down. While your gross profit is low in the starting of your business the percentages will be high for expenses. Also remember that if you are going to be doing this full time you will need health insurance and don't forget your retirement fund too. I know some people will disagree with my next statement. I am not saying this can't be done I just think it takes more effort to get it. It will be hard to make close to a 6 figure in gross profit from residential. It can be done but I think it is the easiest gaining that goal form commercial. The reoccurring accounts is where the money starts to pour in. How often does someone wash their house or their deck? Compare that to how often trucks have to be cleaned in fleet-washing or cars on car lots. Same thing with hoods, and parking lots. Stores need their sidewalks cleaned so many times a year. 75% of my income is from one area and that is commercial brick washing for new construction.
 
30% isn't so far off

Depending on how you price your jobs, 30% for expenses isn't bad, and I think it's pretty much on target. I price everything out, I know how much soap I am going to use, how much gas, how much it's costing me for sales, everything. And I pass that expense on, so that it is around 30% of my gross income. For example, fast food resturant, hood cleaning.

exhaust fan - $150
exhaust shaft hood - $150
first time clean - $50
service fee - $50

This is just an example of a resturant I just did. It paid for itself. I don't get all the jobs, but I do make money at the jobs I do get. I also found that pricing was the hardest thing to come up with. Now that it's pretty much hammered out, it makes things very easy.
 
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