Below is a story of how we built a successful business as exterior cleaning contractors. and so can you.

One day, after his numerous pleads, I broke down agreed to help him with his business. Dick had an open trailer, a pretty good pressure washer (13 HP, 3400 PSI) 200 feet of hose coiled up, a five gallon sheet rock bucket for mixing chemicals, a case of Clorox, some Dawn detergent and a couple ladders. This was his entire business.

I felt like his idea about the roof cleaning business offered the most promise if any money was to be made, as no one was doing it In 1993, I couldn’t even find any info on the new information highway (internet). My interest grew when Dick announced he had heard through a supplier of a company that was producing a chemical that would clean roofs with garden hose pressure. We promptly ordered a case and found the chemical did an excellent job cleaning, but garden hose pressure was not going to do the job, at least in a timely manner. All we needed was a little bit more pressure but nothing like the pressure produced by a power washer. We went to our local agriculture supply store and began buying pumps, motors, tanks and nozzles and eventually put together a machine that would safely clean roofs. We must have spent $5,000 on pumps, regulators and other contraptions until we finally got it right.

While designing a rig to clean roofs we incorporated labor and chemical savings features that allowed us to clean siding, roofs and decks in a fraction the time using half the chemicals. This translates mathematically to earning more money per hour with less chemical cost than our competitors. However, our biggest money maker was simply being able to advertise:

The first year we did $50,000, not bad for being the new kid on the block. By the third year, our one trailer was doing $120,000. Now, I’m not guaranteeing you will make the same amount. You could make more or you might make less. It depends on your willingness to devote time and effort to your business. However, $50,000 was nothing to sneer at in 1993.

The reason I’m tell’n you all this is because you can go broke repairing the damage caused by using high pressure and misusing chemicals. Secondly, if the painter used the system I’m about to show you, he could have washed my house with less than 2 gallons of Clorox and 1/3 gallon of detergent. Thus reducing his chemical cost from over $70 to about $15. That’s like making $130 extra a day if just two house were washed.

Our system is successful because we have developed a process that combines the right equipment, the right setup, the right chemicals with the right chemical delivery system. The result is an exterior cleaning rig that cleans better, faster, safer and at less cost than any of our…