[jay foden]

hi there i have just become a member of this forum. i started a pressure cleaning business last april. i was quite busy with work till august and then i have only had the odd job come in since. i have been out putting flyers out, i am in the yellow pages, and am in local magazines but with the weather being bad i cant see it getting better till it gets warmer.   can anyone give me any tips to get work or any tips about anything to do with this business.  i only have a normal lance with dirt blaster attachment and a honda hd830bs machine. i was going to get the karcher fr30 12" rotary attachment to fit it. can anyone recommend this attachment as i cant afford to buy a whirlaway rotary and a new machine yet with no work.  also i have a website. any help would be very much appreciated.

[TVCS]

Jay,
I am in pretty much the same boat at the mo.
TVCS didn`t really get going until the end of last year so its been pretty slow going for us too.  I know some of the guys manage to keep busy over the winter months but personally speaking our whirlaway hasn`t seen the light of day since I greased it and packed it in the shed at christmas time. 
What I have found to keep the pennies rolling in is a window and gutter cleaning service.  At this time of year most gutters are clogged with last autumns leaves and moss. Get a good pair of gloves or hand warmers!
 I did an initial leaflet drop of about 200 just in my local area and that generated about 6 - 8 jobs.  By doing those jobs that generated tripple the amount of work just by neighbours asking me to do theirs too.  I quickly printed off more leaflets and and the weekends are now pretty booked.  At the moment I still work my day job so I have to make the most of the weekends. 
I have found that this has introduced my company to alot of people, I always have my portfolio thing in the van and let the customers have a butchers whilst I am doing said windows or gutters and now have a few drive cleaning jobs to do.  I have put these off till the weather picks up.

We are not in the yellow pages but we do advertise localy.  I have found parish magazines to be a god send.  20 quid for 12 months advertising you cant go wrong.  And the size of the ads are great. 

Hope any of this helps.
All the best
Ant  TVCS

[jay foden]

thanks ant, yes its a hard time for us all in the pressure washing business at the moment.       any little tips and advice is a good help. its very worrying when the phone does not ring and the bills keep coming in. im 29 and luckely im still living with my parents as i would have gone bust by now.     maybe you could send your email address to me and we could exchange tips. where do you live?

[preston powerblast]

I bought my old van and machine and company name from my previous employer who was jacking it in and calling it a day.
So I went it alone last July and I managed to keep busy until November.
Then i bought a wfp set up and went window cleaning, this has certainly kept me going through the winter months.
Plus Solar from off the forum has given me quite a few jobs and this has been more than welcome as its given me a few quid coming in when everything has been quiet.
I do have a few contracts which get done every three months.
But I dont advertise now and most of my work comes in by personal recomendation from my previous customers.

[Ged]

started last April. most work came from local free press adds probably 70%. about 20% from cold calling about 8% recommendations and 2% from leafleting, adds were  expensive but effective, hoping to get repeat work and more recommendations this year. i really ought to do more cold calling but hate doing it. have targeted a much wider geographical area this year , countywide advertising so maybe the Sat Nav i got at christmas will be of use. hoping to cut down on advertising as the business grows but at this stage i need to do it to raise the profile of the business and generate income.

as with most things you get out in proportion to the effort you put in and i am lucky not to be dependant on the p/w side of things 'cos i really would have had to be a lot more proactive to make ends meet as there have spells of unwanted inactivity.

Gary , you really did the best thing taking on an existing firm as you have the experience and expertise which people like me are just gaining and reading your posts you are highly motivated and shows that it is possibly for new start ups to do well with a bit of energy and imagination.


Good luck to all for the season


Ged

ps. wouldn't it just be a b******* if we have decided to take up pressure washing at a time of national water shortages ?

[preston powerblast]

It sounds all well and good buying a company, but the company I bought didnt have any business, it was just a van, a machine and a company name.
But saying that, in eight months i have bought a new van, two more machines and a wfp set up and very little wages.
But the business now stands alone and is self sufficient with no debts.
I found that leaflet drops were the most successful form of advertising.
There is a little trick that i learnt and that is put a little message on the bottom of the leaflet, something like 'Please do not throw this leaflet away I will be back later to collect it'.
If you do go back it gives you a chance to speak to the householder and doing this its amazing how many jobs you do get.
But even if you dont go back your leaflet is left on the side and they see your name for a few days before you they finally do throw it away.
But its an effective little ploy. Try it.

[TVCS]

Jay,
you can email me at  tvcsinfo@tiscali.co.uk  .  Our website is not up and running yet but it should not be long.  ( so i've been told )
I know what you mean about the phone not ringing.  If it doesn't ring I try and get out and deliver some more flyers or go door knocking.  I really don't like the door knocking side of things and I must admit I have not done as much as I should have. It is abit tricky at the mo as my wife is about 9 and a bit months pregnant so I try not to wander too far from home.
  Get a load of business cards printed and hand them out to everyone.  Try vistaprint.co.uk or .com (I cant remember which)  you can order a trial batch of 250 for free. Postage is about 4 quid.  I'm on my third lot of free trial packs at the moment.


When we started we bought an existing company. When I say company I mean an old van with a bit of cleaning tack inside it.  It was in Norfolk and we are in worcestershire.  There were no existing customers with it but that is just as well as Norfolk is quite a drive for us, about 4 hours   So we just had the van and the kit. 

Its all good fun.
I must admit Ged I have thought the same thing. I have been watching the water shortage, and hosepipe ban stuff on the telly with great interest over the last month or so but last Sunday I thought of a way of getting round it. .............................

I filled the van full of snow!
Slight problem though,
I checked it today and some theiving get as made off with the lot   Nothing left apart from puddles and rust

Is nothing sacred?

[chrisoleary]

Hi Jay, I am just starting off in pressure washing and also getting very few jobs rolling in. got to keep pushing it though, advertise everywhere you can afford to or look for swaps - clean areas for free advertising. You say you have a web site but you forgot to give it a plug - get it in when you can.

Good luck.

Chris
power2clean

[jay foden]

Hi Jay, I am just starting off in pressure washing and also getting very few jobs rolling in. got to keep pushing it though, advertise everywhere you can afford to or look for swaps - clean areas for free advertising. You say you have a web site but you forgot to give it a plug - get it in when you can.

Good luck.

Chris
power2clean

is it worth doing cars and vans?