New Start up

C

CPLMonte

New member
Hi everyone,

I wanted to talk to the experts about my first rig.

I am totally new to all of this, I am one of the many Dot com engineers that have been left hanging. So I wanted to start my own biz and work with my own goals in mind.

Anyway I have a limited start up capital to get this all rolling and I am trying to put a simple set up together to focus on Shopping Center store fronts.

I want to focus on small to mid size retail companies and offer then store front and rear total cleaning (sidewalk, parking spots by store front, windows, signage and store entries/exits). I would like to go with a hot water unit just to keep the jobs easier to do. I don't think I will be needing tons of pressure and I hope that's the true since I an starting on such a small budget.

I have 2 trailers that I have access to, one is a 16ft dual axle and the other is a 10ft single axle. Neither of them have breaks on them though and I was thinking of going with smaller tanks to start (250 gallons plus 16 gallon chem).


I am looking for used gear to get this started if possible and if you know of any companies that can offer start up rigs that might fit in my budget of about $3500.

Any ideas?
 
ron p

Hi monte,welcome.
Here are some suggestions.
First find out what your local EPA rules are about water reclaim/run off.[they dont seem to have meny in TX]
Do a search on this site about flatwork.
GPM is more important then pressure but you will want/need a min of 5 gpm, 3000 psi and hot water[for flat work]
I dont think $3500 is a reasonable amount to start with. Equipment cost is about 65% of the cost to get started.
With what you want to do a good surface cleaning attachment is a must.
Also be carefull with cheap used equipment because down time can kill your biz.
Flatwork is mostly night work and you need the parts and smarts to keep yourself working in case of a brake down.
Insurance,phone,cards,parts,hoses,tanks,lettering your rig,plumbing your rig,advertisment,yellow page ad,book keeping,stationary,biz. name,tax ID,setting up a bank account,learning how to clean[all cement is not the same],learning about chems,re-claim systems,weight of water,getting customers,priceing,market research,contracts,learning to deal with people,learning WHO to deal with,tools,ect...ect...
With your start up capital you might want to think about a diffrent surface to clean/restore.
Maybe something more on the home owner side.
Just till you get your feet wet.
just my 2 cents worth. Im sure it will be to your advantage to sign in and put your signature in your sign in.
ps. If your by one of our members maybe they would invite you to work a couple of days to see if this is your cup of tea? Kind of sticking your toe in before you jump.
 
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Awesome thanks

I was wondering how big of a issue would the breaks be on a smaller rig

After doing some digging looks like I will be able to bump my budget up to about $5500. After doing some research on some sites it does look I could find a complete rig close to that.

Now I need to see if I would save much by providing my own trailer and then put the savings somewhere else

Monte
 
A trailer sales & service business can change it over for brakes for somewhere around $200.00-$250.00 per axle. They can also install a brake controller module for you for less than $100.00. And by all means make sure the trailer has new tires and nort used if you are purchasing a new trailer. You should be able to find a new 16' tandem 7,000 lbs. trailer with brakes and new tires for $1200.00-$1500.00 if you shop around. Make sure brakes are on both axles. Go with the larger trailer.
 
CPL,

If you can go for a heavier axle setup, try 10,000 GVW, start adding up the appoximate weight of all the things you will carry including water to get a better idea.

Don't forget to deduct the weight of the trailer when adding up how much you can carry, many forget that the trailer weight counts as part of total GVW, a common enough error.

Better to have more then you need then less and have problems down the road.


Jon
 
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