When looking for a viable business proposition, you’re probably looking at a lot of good ideas and weighing the pros and cons of each. Pressure cleaning is an excellent possibility and has the potential for you to make good money. Considering that more and more homeowners and commercial property owners are recognizing the positives of having their properties cleaned, getting contracts and clients is easy for entrepreneurs. Pressure cleaning can add value, prevent allergies and illnesses, reduce maintenance and repair costs, and provide many other advantages. Here are some of the pros of starting your pressure cleaning business.
Low Startup Costs
- To start a pressure washing business, you won’t need a large amount of funds. You can choose to invest in the equipment depending on the funds you have available.
- Opt to hire the truck or trailer and rent the machinery.
- Pick out the cheaper tools that may take a little longer to work, but can get the job done. You might have to replace them sooner, though.
- You can choose the equipment necessary for the particular contract you have taken up. For instance, the prices of hoses can vary from $50 to $1,000 and pressure washers can cost anywhere from $100 to $20,000.
- You can limit the quantity of chemicals and detergents by using them only when absolutely essential. Hot water and steam along with the high-pressure jets work very well to clean most surfaces. It’s also safe for the environment.
- To save on labor costs in the initial stages of setting up your business, you can perform the cleaning yourself.
No Need for Advanced Technical Skills
You don’t need to train extensively to qualify or earn a degree to perform pressure cleaning. You can always work as an intern or take up a job with a company to learn the ropes before starting your own enterprise. Using high-pressure sprays, you can clean just about any kind of surface such as concrete, aluminum, building sidings, vinyl, wood, and so on. However, you’ll need the mandatory permits and licenses to run your business according to the state where you intend to operate.
Only Basic Business Skills Needed
You’ll only need some basic management skills and some common sense to run your pressure cleaning business. For instance, time management, keeping records and accounts, scheduling jobs and meeting deadlines, managing inventory, and maybe, basic math for invoicing and drawing up estimates and bids to present to potential clients. In addition, you’ll need some help with advertising or managing your website. You can always get a professional to help you with some of these tasks or you can search the internet for information on how to conduct them. As for advanced issues like how to file tax returns, these are yearly tasks and you can get an expert CPA to take care of them for you.
Wide Business Scope
The field of pressure cleaning is very wide and you can choose a niche market to target and offer a particular kind of services. As your company grows, you can always expand and serve the larger demographic. To begin with, you can target homeowners, residential markets, or commercial establishments. Specialize in cleaning building exteriors or driveways, decks, and patios. Or, you could offer excellent window and chimney cleaning services. Some startup owners may also offer on site vehicle cleaning only.
Always Room for Small Contractors
Keep in mind that many large contractors prefer to take on bigger jobs like cleaning entire construction sites or entire houses. To get a foot in the door, you could take up smaller projects like roofs, or sidewalks. Further, huge companies may have their own departments for taking care of every single task, but for jobs like cleaning and maintenance, they are likely to outsource them to smaller contractors. In this way, they save on having to maintain equipment, pay regular wages, insurances, and other overheads. Here’s where your pressure cleaning business comes in. if you can get yearly contracts with such companies, you can make good money.
Cleaning is a Regular Activity
Cleaning is one activity that needs to be undertaken regularly like maybe, once a year or in six months, depending on the location and seasonal factors. Once you can develop a great working relationship with a specific set of clients, they’re likely to contact you every time the need for cleaning comes up.
Earning Potential
The best positive of running your pressure cleaning business is its earning potential. The industry is worth billions of dollars and is only likely to expand. You can hope to earn around $40 to $60 an hour or even more depending on the areas where you work, the kind of contracts you pick up, the surfaces you clean, your area of specialization, and many other factors.
Other Positives
When you work regularly in specific neighborhoods, you have the opportunity to make friends and meet interesting people every day. Work as and when you want to because you can always take up projects according to your convenience. You can even start a pressure cleaning business from your own home and work part-time if you have other responsibilities like caring for young kids or elderly relatives. Consider picking up and working on pressure cleaning contracts to supplement your regular job. Once your business grows and you have enough work to keep you busy, you can quit the full-time job and focus all your time and energy on your startup. Make the seamless transition from being an employee to being a business owner yourself. Take on young people to help you can you’ll be creating jobs and giving back to the community.
Given all these advantages, starting up and running a pressure cleaning business can be a smart entrepreneurial move. As with all other fields, you need to be dedicated to the work you do and have passion for it. Provide the best of services and have strong work ethics. Give your customers good value for their money and you’re sure to make a success of your business.
References:
1. “How to Start a Pressure Washing Business.” A Touch of Business. n.d. Web. 17 Aug. 2016.
2. “Common Management Skills, Tasks, and Traits Needed to Run a Business.” A Touch of Business. n.d. Web. 17 Aug. 2016.
3. “6 Benefits of Power Washing for Businesses.” Wilson’s Power Washing and Sealing. n.d. Web. 17 Aug. 2016.
4. Perkins, Khris. “The Advantages and Disadvantages of Starting Your Own Business.” Window Cleaning. 16 Mar. 2015. Web. 17 Aug. 2016