[Del Boy]

hi guys. I have recently set up my driveway cleaning business offering driveway cleaning, patio cleaning, imprinted concrete sealing, patio cleaning and decking. This year will be my first year in the business and I have done a ton of research on different aspects of the job. But I was wondering if any of the experienced guys out there had any friendly words of advise or any tips that may help me along the way.  Thanks in advance

[Smurf]

Smartseal by any chance?

[Del Boy]

Sorry what you mean smart seal

[Smurf]

http://www.smartseal-business.co.uk/

[Mike Packwood]

Good luck with your new enterprise David, unless you're in South Wales, in which case I hope you crash and burn. Only joking.
I started last year and having survived year 1 without going under here are my five top tips:
1. Anyone can clean a drive, so really its all about you and how you get on with customers. A professional approach to quoting, customer service,paperwork (and of course doing a great job) goes a very long way to getting you ahead of the opposition. It's all about quickly establishing trust - and that's entirely down to you and what you say.
2. Don't turn anything down even if its a small quote and you don't fancy it. Early on I got a £75 job for a gran, which turned into a £400 job for her son and then a £750 job  for his daughter. At the end of the year 60% of my work was from referrals.
3. Be prepared to spend more on advertising than you have planned. Until your website is optimised and starts generating business you'll need to get your name about in whatever publications are in the right target areas: local community mags etc - all of which costs a lot  more than you may have budgeted for. Don't take your foot off the advertising gas. If you have a busy month early on don't thing you've cracked it, because it'll then go quiet and you might not have planned anything to get going again, so always be planning ahead.
4. Even if you're not particularly computer literate find a way of keeping an accurate customer database. Usual stuff like names, phone, emails and also postcodes and how they heard of you...so that in time you'll know what advertising works best in which areas etc and which has been a waste of time.
5 Keep your chin up. even when you're freezing and getting drenched and the pull-start on your machine has just snapped- because the neighbours are watching and hopefully they're your next customers.

Hope that helps a bit
Good luck
Mike

[Del Boy]

Well good news is im not in South Wales lol Also thanks for the reply really appreciate it.

As for the marketing side of the business and getting on with customers etc etc I should be pretty good as I already run a successful party rental  entertainment  company so have gained lots of experience from doing so.

My plan is to start with driveway Cleaning crack that first and then expend the company into other things.

I started getting my stuff together about 4 months ago

Here's a list of what I have so far all new

Honda 390 pressure washer
22inch flat surface cleaner
Vivaro van
Brushes
Spray bottles
Buffer tank
Wellies
Weather proofs
Tape measures
Website

Am I missing anything ? Thanks

[Mike Packwood]

Glad to hear it...That'll be a slipstream thingy then? Business cards, branded clothing, order forms, all that sort of stuff. Twitter account, Facebook, leaflets - all the stuff you already have for your other business.

and one bit of kit i've found useful on more occasions than I though I would -  an extendable lance  (3m I think) with a gutter cleaning hook/nozzle

[Del Boy]

Super sounds like I've pretty much got most things in order by the sounds of it .

Really now just about getting out there and actually doing the job and learning how to quote properly I suppose it will all come with experience.

I'm going to charge per square mate looks like that's the standard way for most company's .

[Mike Packwood]

Yes, I rang all the local companies and asked them what their rates were and copied them.
Thinking back, one really useful thing I did was two neighbours drives, free of charge, just to get used to using the kit. And I sealed my own drive before I did a customers just to get the hang of that too.

[Del Boy]

Great idea that's what I'm doing this week got 2 jobs I'm doing for free to family .

Also do you work out your sealing charge in sq meter also would be easier to quote  if this was the case .

Thanks

[Mike Packwood]

Yes, I work sealing out per metre too - but this is where my relative inexperience comes in...there are so many sorts of sealant, at so many prices that I found myself getting very nervous about the whole thing actually. I'm sure there are people here with vastly more sealing experience than me..and of course if you get it wrong with sealant you can do serious and expensive damage. My mission for year 2 - learn more about sealant!

[Smurf]

Just a word of caution weather wise what with freezing temps and all. It's not an ideal time of the year to go practicing cleaning driveways with your new washer. Reason being not only could you case damage to the surface you are working as the water freezes in the porous substrate. But more importantly the run off of water created by your washer you could also become liable to members of the public for causing  black ice on public footpaths and roads.  Not to mention your custards/family members could be a risk too...RAMS springs to mind 

That leads me onto the question do you have proper insurance for this type of work?

[Del Boy]

So you would advise against any practice runs until the weather picks up a little . Also I have been quoted for insurance but haven't yet taken the policy out.

[Mike Halliday]

Just a word of caution weather wise what with freezing temps and all. It's not an ideal time of the year to go practicing cleaning driveways with your new washer. Reason being not only could you case damage to the surface you are working as the water freezes in the porous substrate. But more importantly the run off of water created by your washer you could also become liable to members of the public for causing  black ice on public footpaths and roads.  Not to mention your custards/family members could be a risk too...RAMS springs to mind 
That leads me onto the question do you have proper insurance for this type of work?

Don't  clean drives in winter?? , how does this cause damage to the surface? And why doesn't rain do the same damage? And run off causing black ice?? If it that cold  rebook the job for a day that's not going to be below freezing . But really how often do we get days that are freezing

I did'nt realise pressure washing companies closed for the winter months 

[Smurf]

Mike you should already know porous surfaces are susceptible to frost damage.
I personally try to avoid pressure washing in cold winter months especially when frost is forecast as is more hassle than it's worth.

[Mike Halliday]

Many things are susceptible to damage by the negative effects of water freezing but with reasonable precautions I don't think you need to avoid working in winter, I would be more worried about equipment freezing,

 just watch the weather fourcast  and rebook any jobs that look risky

[Smurf]

I would rather stay indoors in the warm than freeze me nuts off jetting cold water about making a hell of a mess.
The job can be bad enough in warmer months so sod cold days...no thanks 

[Del Boy]

So as long as it's not freezing then I'm good to do a couple of practice runs ?

Also I had another question if some body could answer it please . What happens say when a customer wants you to quote there driveway and they live 10-15 mile away do you still quote for free ?

[Mike Halliday]

Yes, but try and judge the size of the job over the phone, if they say it's a 5ft path then tell them your minimum charge, if they can park 8 cars on it and they have a patios round the back then go quote the job

[Jonny Swirljet]

My gutter cleaning wet and dry vac is invaluable if you get a surface build up of water when cleaning the driveway or patio.......especially if the driveway is on a slope going into a garage. I usually remove the grids from soakaways  and hover them out and once more after re-sanding. This makes a great before and after picture for your website.