Want to start a pressure washing business? Pressure washing is a business that will always be in demand. Almost no one has the tools or the skills required to do their own pressure washing. That’s why there will always be a stable customer base for those who need this service.
It doesn’t matter where you live or the current economic conditions; if you start a pressure washing business, you can succeed. You are providing a much-needed service to the public, and that’s why pressure washing is something you can rely on as a source of steady income.
Here is everything you need to start your business pressure washing. It should be noted that some of the requirements will change depending on where you live. Ensure that you’re familiar with the local laws and ordinances before taking on pressure washing clients.
Table of Contents
How to start a pressure washing business
1. Become an expert at pressure washing
Unless you’ve been doing pressure washing work for another company, you’re probably nowhere near an expert. The way you become an expert is by doing a lot of pressure washing work. There is no shortcut to learning how to do an efficient job of pressure washing. The only way to become an expert is by experience.
How do you get that experience? You can always offer free pressure washing services to your friends and family. Sure, it sucks to work for free, but you’ll be gaining invaluable experience that will significantly improve your ability to get work later on.
You need to get yourself familiar with all the nozzles and any chemicals that you might use. You also need to get yourself acquainted with every aspect of the pressure washing machine. You need to know that machine like it’s the back of your hand.
2. Learn the local laws governing pressure washing
In almost every state, there are specific laws that govern pressure washing and detergent use. If you do not comply with those laws, you could be fined or even go to jail. You need to make sure you know those laws before starting your business.
The way you learn the laws is by talking to your state’s Department of Environmental Protection. They can provide you with a document that outlines all the laws you need to be familiar with.
If you are unsure of the laws, find a lawyer who wills it down and talk to you about them. You never know; they might be willing to converse with you via email for a much cheaper rate. What you want to do more than anything is to get to know what the current laws are so you can avoid breaking them.
3. You need to make sure you have proper insurance
It’s always a good idea to have proper insurance. Whether you’re washing cars, boats, or houses, you never know when something doesn’t go the way you want it to. Let’s face it; mistakes happen all the time.
Insurance will protect your business and your customers as well. This is something that you need to take seriously. You never know when you might get sued because someone gets hurt in the process of pressure washing their property.
Getting insurance is easy. Some of you might find all the information you need online, while others will want to talk to a local insurance agent. Do what you feel comfortable with, but make sure that you are fully insured.
4. Buy your own equipment
Unless you’ve had a silver spoon in your mouth from birth, you’ll probably start your pressure washing business by renting equipment. But, unfortunately, that’s just the way it is for a lot of small businesses.
At some point down the line, you’re going to want to skip renting and buy your own equipment. There are a ton of excellent pressure washing equipment on the market today. From pressure washers to front loaders, you can find all kinds of equipment.
Factor in the fact that you will want to buy your own equipment when you come up with a price for your clients. It’s okay for them to foot the bill because they’re the ones paying for everything. Don’t artificially deflate your prices so you can’t afford to do your business right away.
5. Research your competitors to see how much they’re charging
You should always know what your competition is charging for their services. It’s a simple matter of knowing what you need to charge to compete with them.
Make a list of all the companies that offer pressure washing services in your area. Write down their prices and the services they offer. This will help you determine what price range you should be using when coming up with a rate for your own business.
When you are looking at your competitors’ prices, make sure you also look at their experience level. The more experienced a company is, the more expensive their services are going to cost. On the other hand, experienced companies have a lot of overhead costs that you don’t have to worry about.
6. You need a website
Yes, you need a website to compete with all the other pressure washers in your area. No matter what else you do, you need a website. A website is one of the major things that separate you from all the other businesses in your area. No matter how hard you try to compete with them, they will always have a better website than you.
Many new pressure washing companies have a standard website with a basic information page. That’s not going to cut it when you’re trying to lure in new customers. If all you’re offering is a basic website with very little information, it’s not going to work. Your site must educate the person why they need your service.
If you want to hold off on your site until you have the money to pay for someone to create it, that’s okay. A site is essential, but you can get your business off the ground without it. However, if you want to build a successful business, you do need a site.
You can grab a free domain name for your pressure-washing business and set up your website at HostGator.
7. You should also have a Facebook business page
Facebook can drive quite a bit of free traffic to your site and business. If you’re not on Facebook, it’s time to make that change. Facebook is the place where you can interact with potential customers and show them the value of your business.
You should be posting regularly on your Facebook page to gain more exposure. Make sure you’re interacting with people and responding to their questions. If you want to make things really simple, give them a phone number and have them call you directly so you can answer their questions.
8. Hand out business cards and post flyers
You already know to hand out business cards and to put your flyer on the bulletin boards of places like laundromats. You can stir up some business by doing this, but let’s be honest, it’s not going to work very well for you. Also, forget about the phonebook. Seriously, no one uses the phonebook anymore.
The typical methods of reaching customers that worked a generation or two ago don’t work today. So should you buy advertising in your local newspaper? Probably not unless it’s cheap enough for it to make sense. If you can recoup your advertising costs with one customer, give it a try and hope that you can get several customers from an ad.
9. The bulk of your advertising efforts need to be online
We’re going to spend a little more time talking about marketing than everything else. But, unfortunately, most of you reading this right now will fail, and it’s because of your marketing efforts. It’s not because you’re not good at pressure washing; it’ll be because you didn’t market your business properly.
Advertise your website using things such as Google My Business and Google’s ads. You can also buy local advertising for your Facebook business page. Everyone who wants a service these days goes online, and they search for it. That’s where you want most of your advertising budget.
10. Be patient
You might not make much money your first couple of years, and that’s okay. When you’re starting your business, you have to be patient. When it comes to the subject of business, there’s no such thing as instant success.
You’ll feel good about yourself when you get a little bit of traction, but don’t get too caught up in the numbers. Focus on growing your business slowly and steadily. Yes, you’ll want to grow gradually, but you also need to keep the numbers in mind. It takes time to build up word-of-mouth advertising, but when you get it, that’s when the money starts to fall from the sky.
There will never be a time when pressure washing won’t be in demand. As long as people have something that needs cleaning, you can count on pressure washing businesses to be in business. It’s a great business to have, but you have to put in the work to be successful.
Don’t shy away from hiring people to help you along the way as your business grows. For example, hiring someone to handle your customer service while you focus on growing your business makes a lot of sense. When you’re starting, you can do that on your own, but you’ll want to have someone else do that for you as you grow.
