Pressure Washing Services
Another great area to market as a mobile detailer is in the pressure washing services industry. Many detailers forget about this end of the business, but it’s very profitable. You are a mobile detailer and that’s your main business, but you’ve already got the equipment on board to do pressure washing services, so why not?
Because pressure washing services aren’t your only source of income you can cherry-pick the best jobs and leave the crappy ones to the guys who do that for a living. You can market your pressure washing services to restaurants to clean off their sidewalks, awnings and dumpster areas. Office buildings to clean sidewalks and lower level walls that get dirty. Another area of pressure washing services to consider is graffiti removal, but we address that in more detail in another update article.
With pressure washing services, you charge by the square foot like your competition. The fact that this isn’t your main business though allows you to be more competitive with lower rates and flat-rate pricing based on what you believe it will cost to do the job. If you are already loaded-up and trying to find some cars to do because you are slow with your detailing business, stop by some local businesses and offer pressure washing services at a discount. Most restaurants hire pressure washing services on a regular basis. So if you can prove you’re insured and you can offer excellent pricing, then you might have a shot and getting some side work.
These businesses will appreciate the fact that this isn’t your main line of work as the reason you can charge less. You have to remember many times the low bid is looked at as a low-quality unreliable business, so you should explain why you can keep your prices lower than the competition. If you are offering quality pressure washing services and lower costs, you will get the business.
Keep in mind also that when I say low prices, I don’t mean the bottom of the barrel. Many times if you can beat your competition by even 10% you’ll get the work simply because of your price. If you look professional with a logo t-shirt uniform, offer a solid and concise estimate and contract forms and give them a good price, then you will cover all your bases. This is what they get from their other pressure washing services vendors and what they expect from you.
The other important item to remember with pressure washing services is that you make sure you don’t take enough jobs to kick your total amount of this type of business to over 70% of your total income. If that happens then your insurance company will consider you a pressure washing services business instead of a mobile detailer and either drop you or dramatically increase your business liability insurance premiums. Neither of these is a good thing. Insurance companies don’t like businesses that only offer pressure washing services because there is a lot of potential damage you can do to a property with a pressure washer. So it’s hard to insure pressure washing services. So be careful and watch the income level from that part of the business.
Pressure washing services are an easy business to start. This is why everybody with a pick-up truck and a home depot special power washer is now an expert in the pressure washing services industry. Mobile detailing services are much more intricate and a lot more training is necessary to get good at your job. Pressure washing services offer a guy pulling a pressure washing wand trigger and then cleaning things with water pressure and possibly some degreaser if it’s dirty. Don’t get me wrong, there are things you want to stay away from and leave to the power washing pros. Things like new concrete can be scarred and marked. Brick cleaning for new construction is always easy to damage. And you may be excited about the prospect of larger jobs like shopping center sidewalks that may look easy, but it’s not. Try spending all night walking behind surface cleaners hooked to hot water pressure washers. The hours are very long, the work is labor-intensive and overall it generally really sucks. So with some jobs, you are going to want to leave those to the guys who choose to make that their main source of income. You stick to the detailing and pick and choose some profitable side pressure washing jobs to handle and you’ll do great! Pressure washing services are a great add on service and can be very profitable if you do it right.