Advice on starting out

Afternoon,

I'm looking for some advice on starting out pressure washing.

At the moment I have a van ready to go. I've just registered a website but will need a few jobs under my belt before I can utilise it.  Promotional leaflets are being designed and I've scouted a few areas i plan on targeting.

I'd like to know what other ways of getting my name out there are effective.  I've thought about social media sites like Facebook and Twitter or websites like gumtree.  Are there any other ways that have worked for you in the past?

Equipment is the next thing on my list.  I've read though a lot of threads on here and Honda seems the most popular brand.  Ideally I'd like a diesel as red and green diesel is easy come by where I'm from and a lot cheaper.  From reading through the forum I'm thinking it's best to go for a 21lpm machine. 

Can someone recommend a machine for me from experience? 

Which are the essential lances to have?

Is there much difference in FSC brands? 

Sorry for all the questions.

I'll most likely be buying from Jetmac as they're less than 10 minutes down the road from me.

TIA

Hi Slim. As far as machine goes the honda gx 390 is very good and one many use, and at 15 and 21 litre a minute is most common. Either is fine and the pressure matters as well as the water flow so have a gander. Infact here is a blog I wrote on pressure washing https://www.rutlandpumps.com/blog/fife-window-cleaning-services.html and that company is brilliant to buy off too. You need a turbo nozzle for block paving and this matters more than what lance you have but Ben at the above company will give you an honest appraisal on all choices.

I am not gona slate jetmac personally because I have bought nothing off them, but I have seen and heard some conflicting feedback. 

Advertising wise a website is a good idea, are you building this yourself? What is the competition like when you google pressure washing "your town name"? These are important things to consider. 

A google business page is free and look into that asap, youtube has vids on how to optimise it too and it shows up before natural listings like websites so very handy.

Facebook and more recently Instagram are ways to advertise on social media for us local business  but I am noticing less returns there even when using lead generation on fb. Think this is due to so many using this platform to appeal to similar audiences  so keep your content unique and interesting ie videos.

Putting a noticeboard on drives you've cleaned will let others know who done the job, similar to scaffolders do with the notices they use on work sites. I digress, but vista print probably sell such noticeboards.

Other ways to advertise: fliers, but low return rate probably 0.5% on a good day but design and the call to action on fliers very important. Read up on this.

Door to door, I would do this for what your doing. Easy to see and target dirty drives in areas of your choice. 

Referrals: % off next years custom for every referral a customer gives you, stuff like that. 

Lots to think about but if your in a decent sized area or have large city near by, a website that is on page 1 at the top would kill it for you. Speak to Gav on here about this but defo a very helpful constant flow of work would come from it

Thanks for taking the time to reply Chris.

Your blog will make good bedtime reading ?

I've read a few dodgy reviews regards Jetmac myself but as they're only a few minutes drive away it would make sense to buy from them.

I didn't know about the Google business page, thanks for that. The notice board is a great idea and that's been added to my shopping list.

As for a website I'll be getting a professional to build that for me.  I think a well presented site at the top of any listings could make all the difference. 

Slim said:

Thanks for taking the time to reply Chris.

Your blog will make good bedtime reading ?

I've read a few dodgy reviews regards Jetmac myself but as they're only a few minutes drive away it would make sense to buy from them.

I didn't know about the Google business page, thanks for that. The notice board is a great idea and that's been added to my shopping list.

As for a website I'll be getting a professional to build that for me.  I think a well presented site at the top of any listings could make all the difference. 

Click to expand...

@Gav could build you a website I am sure as he built @Chris33 site and has done quite a few plus building this forum see ThriveWP

Yeah Gav hosts both my sites, updates them regularly and is by far the easiest web guy to work with..cos sometimes it's like pulling teeth

Cheers lads, I'll give him a shout once I have enough images of my work to put up on site.

I'll put up my shopping list when I get a bit if time this morning and if I've missed anything hopefully someone will point it out.

My shopping list to get me started so far is

Registered with HMRC

Public liability insurance

Van

Promotional leaflets/sandwich board

Pressure washer

FSC

Turbo and double turbo nozzle

Wheelie bin for water

50m hose

Various connections for hoses

Brushes (for rubbish) and shovel 

Brushes for hypo and the like

Sprayer for hypo

Wet suit

Decent chemical resistant gloves

Ear defenders

Goggles or face shield

Any other PPE recommend?

What else will I need to get going and is there anything I'll need to add in future?

What about protection for surrounding properties? Like light guage polythene or maybe correx sheets that can be reused.

Taking payment.  Do you find most people use cash or like to pay by card or PayPal?

Advertising I'll deal with after I get a few jobs and can show customers what I can do.

I suppose a name would be a better starting point ?

Been messing round with flyers and names and have narrowed it down to two.  

The first is a bit cheeky but would certainly get noticed and that's what I'm trying to achieve.

The 2nd one is more "professional looking" apparently, but doesn't really stand out.

Any thoughts or opinions? 

Just thoroughly prewet surrounding grass plants etc and you wont get issues with hypo, rinse at end again.

Fliers look good, there is also a psychology to advertising so have a look up on colours that attract trust etc

List looks good, get a quick release coupling so that you can go from turbo to rinsing down walls at tap pressure  with one quick removal of the turbo from lance. 

Most people expect to pay cash for add ons but get a card reader like the sum up incase they want to pay that way-i sure wouldnt do any big job residential wise and not expect to get paid on the day though. Too risky. 

So been to Jetmac and asked about a diesel machine.  Has anyone ever used a Hailin 10hp diesel. Its 3200psi 21lpm.  It's got all the things I was looking for but much cheaper than I expected.  The only thing putting me off is the brand

Mate I dont think its 21lpm its 18lpm.

You're only looking at a seven fuel (petrol) for a standard drive with a Honda GX390...

Buy Honda or Briggs & Stratton. You will sell them easier in the future if you want to upgrade.

THL4KEL said:

Mate I dont think its 21lpm its 18lpm.

Click to expand...

Good spot it is only 18lpm.  Will that make a massive difference?

Thoughts on this one 

https://jetmac.co.uk/shop?olsPage=products%2F10-hp-diesel-pressure-power-jet-washer-loncin-diesel-engine-with-hose-reel-and-30-meters-hose

Is this better?

Honda gx390 is the weapon of choice. Warranty cover from rutlands and excellent support as per some threads on here suggest. You'll no notice any difference in water flow between 18/21 lpm but you would between 15/21. Remember pressure matters too. 

Why don't you go down to jetmac and test a few out. The one to have is 250bar at 21lpm but you pay a premium for it. If you get that one then you never need to upgrade.

Thanks for the replies lads.

I'm still weighing up my options and can't decide.  

Honda seems to be the most popular, some have a 3 year warranty and better resale value.

The other models I'm looking at are all similar specs, they're diesel so there's obviously a big saving in running cost but only have a 1 year warranty.

I'm down to these last few.  I'm slightly edging with the diesel model at the bottom but the last Honda is also high on my list.

https://jetmac.co.uk/shop?olsPage=products%2Fhonda-gx-390-3000-21-tornado-package-2018-gx-390&page=1

https://jetmac.co.uk/shop?olsPage=products%2Fnew-2019-honda-i-gx-390-ar-200-21-new-intelligent-honda-engine-and-20-inch-stainless-steel-rotary&page=1&sortOption=descend_by_price

https://jetmac.co.uk/shop?olsPage=products%2Fhonda-gx-390-electric-start-3000-psi-21-litre-washer-choice-of-pumps&page=1&sortOption=descend_by_price

https://jetmac.co.uk/shop?olsPage=products%2Fhonda-gx-390-3000-21-tornado-package-2018-gx-390&page=2&sortOption=descend_by_price

https://jetmac.co.uk/shop?olsPage=products%2Fnew-2019-honda-gx-390-intelligent-ar-200-21-hr-30-meter-washer&page=2&sortOption=descend_by_price

https://jetmac.co.uk/shop?olsPage=products%2F10-hp-diesel-pressure-power-jet-washer-loncin-diesel-engine-with-hose-reel-and-30-meters-hose&page=2&sortOption=descend_by_price

Not time to look at them just now slim but running cost doesn't matter cos you dont use more than a tank of fuel on most drives, maybe one refill on larger ones and whats that..approx 10 pound of fuel maybe 15. And when you consider prices of driveway cleaning as an add on it wont matter 

Finding decent farm suppliers of cheap hypo and cheap builders merchants for kiln dried sand (get a trade account) will save you a bit if you do lots of jobs

I see the savings on fuel a different way.  I'm registered for vat in the south of Ireland and live not too far away from the border.  I already get my diesel in the south and can get green diesel for €0.60pl - 13.5vat so about 50p per litre compared to £1.20+ for petrol.  So a £15 tank of petrol would be around £6.25 in green diesel. That's a massive difference over time if you're on it 5 days a week.   I've been married to an accountant for so long I'm starting to become miserable with money ?

The petrol engines run a lot smoother with less vibration and noise.  

Has anyone ever had any complaints from neighbours about noise?

I'm lucky that I've got a farm supplies just two minutes down the road from me.  I'll pop in today and price the hypo. 

Aye on sundays you cant rock up at 8am with a proper machine that's for sure. I ask them to let the next door neighbours know if I am coming at 9am/10am weekend etc. And often cos if an adjoining driveway I dont want to make their neighbours cars black when they started off white

If I was buying a new P/W I think I would buy off JetMac, never bought of them before but they sell belt driven units which are suppose to be cheaper to fix if they go wrong and can work longer hours due to not as many revolutions of the pump. 

I think they have the best selection of units - belt driven, direct drive or the internal belt drive machines. 

The way I would look at is if it was to go wrong theres no guarantee other than the advice over over the phone they can give you or maybe they might send parts out. 

Unless you want to incur postage fees, it's the same scenario with Rutland Pumps because they are not on my doorstep either.

If the machine goes down and you're on a job, you want it fixed ASAP because time is money so I would just take it my local industrial machine service centre. 

It happened to me before and these lads by me got the machine running the same day and I managed to stay on target. 

If the pressure washing was busy for me every day I would get a better machine but it's a job here and there for me so not really worth the investment. I will use what I have till it dies.