[Matt Gibson]

I've recently added selling "big issue" to my list of services

I used to do that for beer money 

[Andy P]

Hello all.
I am new to the forum and i to am looking to set up a loan trader pressure washing business in the new year, ( North West of England)i still have a lot of research to do. I am estimating start up costs around £10,000 that includes van ,equipment, flyers,marketing, etc etc.

I think public liability insurance is going to be a must, has anyone got a rough idea what this would cost per annum for a sole trader in pressure washing.

I intend to carry  Water on the Van and i had a figure of £2 per m2 for block paving for instance.
I already have my name and have had a logo designed ready.

Before i go to the bank i have a question. When a bank give you a buisness loan can i assume they allow you a certain period of time to start paying that loan back? i ask this because obviously you need to allow a bit of time to start making some money.

[colley614]

Hello all.
I am new to the forum and i to am looking to set up a loan trader pressure washing business in the new year, ( North West of England)i still have a lot of research to do. I am estimating start up costs around £10,000 that includes van ,equipment, flyers,marketing, etc etc.

I think public liability insurance is going to be a must, has anyone got a rough idea what this would cost per annum for a sole trader in pressure washing.

I intend to carry  Water on the Van and i had a figure of £2 per m2 for block paving for instance.
I already have my name and have had a logo designed ready.

Before i go to the bank i have a question. When a bank give you a buisness loan can i assume they allow you a certain period of time to start paying that loan back? i ask this because obviously you need to allow a bit of time to start making some money.

What you need to do is speak to your bank and ask them what the terms are. Don't forget when you apply for a business loan that you will have to produce a business plan and cash flow forecast and your cash flow forecast will have to show your repayments on your loan.

[Griffus]

A business loan is not as easy to get as you may think.

We were trading almost 4 years before we took out our first official business loan. Any lending prior to then was taken as a personal loan and then set to the business as a Director loan.

No bank will loan money to a business without a 100% personal guarantee and some means of paying it back, i.e. thay will not loan you £500 to buy a pressure washer if the only way to pay them back is by money earned by the pressure washer.

As someone else said, speak to your bank.

[Andy P]

Yes i will be getting some help with my business plan as i am sure it will need to lay out quite a lot of things.

I think the government should be pushing the banks to help more small businesses to start up if the country is to pull itself out of recession, its not like i will be asking for £500,000 but i guess even the small amounts are a risk.

Would you say £10,000 is a realistic start up cost ?   

[adamjohnsmith]

Looking back the most important thing I can add is make sure you enjoy it. I started an Oven Cleaning Business as I as desperate to be self employed. I didn't even think about actually doing the work which I hate lol. So give it a go and make sure you enjoy it. If not mover on.

[Griffus]

Yes i will be getting some help with my business plan as i am sure it will need to lay out quite a lot of things.

I think the government should be pushing the banks to help more small businesses to start up if the country is to pull itself out of recession, its not like i will be asking for £500,000 but i guess even the small amounts are a risk.

Would you say £10,000 is a realistic start up cost ?   

Read back through this post and search here and other forums for opinions etc.

£10000 as an initial investment is way over what you want to spend unless you are certain that work will come in. Best start with way less, buy used kit etc. and see how it goes. Build slow and learn your trade.

Pressure washing isn't the greatest business to get involved in as a stand alone business, and certainly without plenty of experience and contacts you will struggle to get going.

As I stated to the original poster, get out and about knocking doors, do this before spending much, just get some business cards and maybe even flyers printed to hand out. Try to get a few orders and take things from there.

[Rob_no2]

Yes I intend to do some Market research Straight after new year...I Have £250 to fund this i.e door knocking...flyers...start to generate possible leads.
 I will still be continuing with my present employment as I am a shift worker so as long as I can service any buisness start up loan and see gradual improvement on customer numbers then I will be happy. I intend to be in this for the long haul and want to grow and become an established and trusted brand in my area.

I'm trying to come up with a name at the moment and the best so far is southcoast pressure washing.....hardly catchy still mulling a few things over.

As soon as I get a name sorted I have somebody to design my Logo....I know it won't seem like much to most but the little things like this make the buisness seem like more of a real thing instead of a dream,  :

fingers crossed 

[colley614]

3 Newbies on one thread. Thats got to be a first. If I was to start a jetwashing company I would call it easyjet.........washing or something like that until you went limited. I think jetwashing as a stand alone business would be a hard business to run with no repeat business. The company I work for have about 8 Pressure washers in different shapes and forms and they never really get used although were always looking for work. 4 of them though are part of drain jetting equipment and that stuff is in use all the time, if I was looking in high pressure stuff thats what I'd look into drainage. That would open more doors for repeat business as lines need maintaining, blockages need unblocking and when someone is up to their ankles in their own waste they tend not to turn your quote down as much as when you canvassing for driveway work even though you charge more!

[TomCrowther]

Hi Andy, I am based in the NorthWest and offer window cleaning, pressure washing, guttering etc. Like a number of previous posts have mentioned, starting a pressure washing business will take time to become established and achieve a decent, regular income.
Window cleaning is easier to start, you can build up a fairly decent income much quicker and then move gradually into the power washing side of things. The time of year may also be a factor re power washing due to freezing temperatures.

[BDCS]

You don't know where things will go, I started out as "block and drive cleaning services" and now just use BD cleaning services because it can cover a whole host of different services.

[Jamie MacG]

Hi guys.

Congrats on taking the plunge. There have already been quite a few precise descriptions of some of the do's and donts. I've been running exactly the same business for 4 yrs now. 3 of those in my spare time and now 12mths full time. To be honest the equipment thing can be a minefield but with the right advice and plenty of shopping its soon sorted. The main thing for me wasn't the equipment it was having the diversity of services within the business to maintain cash flow relative to our great british weather. A Driveway cleaning business based on the east coast will inherantly do more sealing business than one in the west whereas a business in the west will do more algae and weed treatments than one in the east. This then leads you into the whole sealing equation. If I have time I'll try and type an explanation but please feel free to PM me or send a chat with your number and I'd be happy to talk you through everything

[Paul Harris]

I started a pressure washing business, with my first job in June '10 (after redundancy). Spent about £10k, which I used to purchase new equipment (didn't want second hand in case it let me down), a branded van, a website, separate phone line, etc, as I also want to present a professional image. I initially took out liability insurance for £1m, but had to increase to £5m for a commercial contract, but that still only costs £90 per year in total. Leafleting has had a poor return; I get most work through the website, recommendations, or neighbours of customers asking 'can you do mine next?'...
I offer a sealing service as well as cleaning and sanding, and have worked on some beautiful and very expensive properties, as well as the smallest of terraces. Encouragingly, I've just won my first regular contract for a block management company. I've also recently added gutter cleaning and garden clearance to my portfolio. However, please bear in mind the work is very seasonal (in my experience), and often hard to come by; I've had to supplement my income doing other things whilst I've been building up the business. Some days/weeks you can earn good money, but if you don't work for periods at a time, it's average money. Not sure this will make my fortune, but it's better than sitting in an office all day... Good luck.

[john mc kenna]

Hello all
I have been watching this forum with interest over the last few months with a view to starting up towards the end of january 2012. i looked at this business 4 years ago and had 20,000 coloured flyers done when i sold my previous business (pub) and they are still sitting in the garage.
I have been working for an insurance company in claims (home based) but that has now come to an end so its time for me to take the plunge into pressure washing and i dont want to suck it and see. i want to buy and do. 

i have 15,000 k to spend on good equipment including van and need to be pointed in the right direction with regards to purchasing. i want a van mounted system (diesel) that can deliver hot water when necessary with good sized flat surface cleaner, turbo nozzles  and all the other bells and whistles required. i will also need a trolly mounted pressure washer for those inaccesable areas and wet vac.

i dont intend to spend any money on advertising and i am hopeful that the business model of knocking doors and not coming home until i have my next job will suffice.

im still confused about pricing but i intend to start local and charge £60 for a 1 car driveway, £120 for 2 car driveway and £150 for 3 car driveway and so on. i have tried to do my homework on pricing and have learned that i wont get anything until i clean someones driveway. i dont mind been too expensive but i hate been too cheap. i found in the pub trade its easier to drop your prices than put them up and i will only be doing cheapies for friends and family to get started. 
i also completly dislike the look of any sealer on driveways but thats my personal opinion. 

now here's the question: am i dreaming and will i return 50k in my second year.
any advise would be greatly appreciated.

many thanks
john.
 

[Ged]

hi john. 50k in second year is possible if you are a superhero or you get into the commercial side of things, just doing domestics at the rates you quote you would have to be earning over 1k per week, during the season, say  working one or two jobs every day. maybe where you are things are ok but up here in yorkshire i  think you would  not get anywhere near 50k turnover. hope you do well and prove me wrong. good luck.

[Blast Away]

Started out with about £600, already had the van.

Bought a chinese snide petrol 13hp engine with just a fan lance. Did friends and family. A driveway took me on my own 4-5 hours to clean would only take 30 minutes to an hour to do now.

As work came in, I bought better equipment. With better equipment I could do jobs faster and more efficient. I took on my brother, bought diesel's and ever since the speed we fly through jobs and the results produced lead to having an extensive range of images to present to potential customers. We show them off on our website. The website was created by my self at only the cost of the domain name for £6 every 2 years and the time of editing it over the last 4 years.

Patience. Image. Determination. Success.

Goodnight. Off to Barnsley and Doncaster tonight to clean 2 patios for Wetherspoons.

[Matt Gibson]

Great post lee..

I am the same, although i have only been going for a year. I was lucky enough to get my hands on a really good machine straight away, for peanuts, but since then i have bought the equipment needed as and when. same with the website, built it myself, taken loads of pics, always updating the site, and had a whole heap of leaflets made up when i first started, got a few jobs from them but since then, had a load of domestics, which helped me buy more/better gear, and now i have had a few commercials in, and made contacts with building companies, repeat work.

Well, im off out in the snow, to finish a new build clean.

Like lee says, patience, dont get disheartened, just keep getting out there..

[DaisyFresh]

Hello everyone,

I run my own cleaning company and got some questions but couldn't find information anywhere. Do you know how much cleaning companies charge for an office cleaning per hour? I did ask my old boss but she obviously escape from my question
I would really appreciate if someone will give me any clues as I have an opportunity to win new commercial contract but don't want be cheap or expensive

Regards,
Donata

[Rob_Mac]

Wow to some of these posts.

Spending 15k with no revenue stream.

Get a decent secondhand machine, get secondhand accessories, decent of both won't let you down!!!.

Get the work coming in and then think about upgrading to the all singing and dancing.

I still have my first machine - cost me £600.00, it has a few brothers and sisters now. All secondhand!!!.

I have only recently got the all singing and dancing set up (even that was secondhand) - didn't need it to get me work, nor will clients be impressed if you have the kit but can't do the work.

Having a 15K set up on the drive with no where to go because there is no work for it will cause massive divisions in any relationship.

Think smart!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good luck

Rob

[john mc kenna]

you worry too much rob.
I spent 3 mths researching equipment and the week i was due to purchase it the hosepipe ban was enforced which left a big brown stain in the
calvin kleins so i got a job back in insurance claims and i am hoping once the olympics are over there will be no more scare mongering about water been scarce. hardly a compelling arguement this week.

I grew up on a poultry farm washing 300 foot  poultry houses and acres of concrete before i went to school in the mornings with pumps that delivered 45 ltrs a minute driven off a massey ferguson pto so im well capable of washing a patio or driveway. id be poop scared of rooooofs though. im also a qualified mechanic (although many moons ago) and would know my way round a van and machine for maintenance.

I got myself 20 jobs through friends and family in jan and feb but have now told them to wait until the hosepipe ban is lifted which will probably be next year now.
I do hear your advice and it is much appreciated but my intention was to spend on a good large van which would suffice as i grew and if not i could sell it. the other advice i took from this forum was buy poope, buy twice. add cashflow when starting and 15k sounded about right.


too old to start at the bottom.

thanks
John