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Pricing, Market Research & Food for thought

Newbie

New member
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Location
West Yorkshire
Evening all.

Ive been thinking of starting a power washing business for a while now, just thought id share my pricing research and thoughts on my experiences trying to get hold of "you" contractors, the impression they made on me and who I would have eventually chosen, and how the price was delivered for my 142sqm of block paving incl sand. (measured via Google Maps)

1st Company - 

I contacted through Facebook Sunday , work looked good, said he'd come over Tuesday never turned up, contacted again said he'd be here Thursday, no show. Chased him and he turned up Friday when i wasn't in. Left a written quote through door and a flyer with all the services. He measured it spot on. Might have used Google maps too?, so i was impressed. Never met them which concerned me. Quoted £4sq/m - £568

2nd Company - 

I contacted through Facebook Saturday, work looked fine not as good as the 1st company, asked me to send some pictures over or to send my address, thought id send pictures as easier. was quick to respond, Never met them quoted £2 - £2.50sq/m . I told him 142sqm - Quoted £284 - £355 subject to sight, which was concerning as it 'might go up'

3rd Company

I rang a number i'd found online, Bloke rocked up at 3pm, its dark at 4ish, really scruffy, in a big knackered van with his Mrs in the front, tea down his jumper, gut hanging out. Wanted to do it there and then. Cash. A real hard sell, wanted to do the roof, 6ft fence panels (ive about 30) later etc, swearing when chatting to me, not particularly a great impression - £200.

So to conclude.

Id pick the 2nd company, but would have prefered to meet, but his Facebook profile physically shows him at work, not just random pics of equipment on the drive.

I also asked all 3 to let me know when they could do it, the first 2 forgot to let me know with the quote.

Anyway, hope some find this useful, you can spend everything on equipment, but if you haven't the social skills and courtesy you could be missing out on alot of business.

I don't want to offend anyone either so not interested in arguing, Just thought id share

 
Hello Newb welcome to the forum, how old are you and do you currently work ?

Pressure washing is a big growing market and there is tonnes and tonnes of work out there to be gained.

If your thinking about starting a pressure washing business then i suggest u go for it because u can make very good money if u are willing to work hard and have the motivation. It seems like u have the right social skills after reading your post.


 

 
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We are primarily window cleaners but offer , softwashing, gutter vaccing and pressure washing as add ons , of all the add ons we do pressure washing is the least requested job , I also find it to be very seasonal March through September at best , I personally could not generate enough work doing it for myself let alone staff , maybe it’s my area ?? Our best and most lucrative add ons are softwashing and gutter vaccing by a long way , don’t want to put you off but think carefully and do some research  in your target areas to see if you could generate enough work to keep you going especially in the winter months , Ime not saying it cannot be done but think it might be hard work compared to window cleaning . 

 
Most business like ours are hard hard working people out grafting for a living. They often wont have a receptionist to deal with the nicities of good customer service, which you would get from a large company.

Wait until your mobbed out, and see if you have time for that yourself. You should definately get back to people. But I dont have time to schedule meeting for every quote, most are hand posted or email to my customers.

Best of luck in your new venture. 

 
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