New To Pressure Washing, learning to succed in pressure washing/top experts help Options

[Carolina ProWash]

My rebuttals will be in Blue

Start-up costs don't need to be 5,000. Yeah, unfortunately, they will add up to about that going the "low end" route.Everyone would love to have a decent bank roll and ride out to their first job with the sickest looking rig. I only focus on house washing and flat surfaces and geared myself just for that. Pressure washer is a 4 gpm/3500 and it's plenty for cleaning residential. Yes, more GPM equals faster rinsing, but you also run into other problems with higher GPM. In my area we have a LOT of houses on well water, and quite a few on public works that are just inadequate, and they can't keep up with me at 4 gallons a lot of the time. I don't like to carry big water tanks, I'll carry a very small buffer tank, if it's past that, I'll turn down the job and spend that time posting flyers. When you're starting out, turning down jobs can end you quickly. Why NOT spend the additional on the tank and let it pay for itself in your first job - which it should easily. Here is what I started with and costs not including insurance:

PW 4GPM/3500 PSI (13hp honda /w AR pump) - Ebay $550 -Came with 50's of hose, gun, garbage tips 13 hp motor with that set up will do you great for wood and other LOW pressure circumstances. You're already decreasing your GPM to closer to 2800-3000 using less than a 16 hp motor. Which is fine - but you need to know that.
Hi/Low & Various nozzles - $100 Pressuretek/Northern Tool
Upgraded the Gun/Lance - $50 Northern Tool
6-18' Extension - $75 off craigslist (can get them on ebay for not a lot more) The $75 noodle will land you more in chiropractor bills than it's worth. IF you need and extension wand - and most don't - spend the money and get one that will not kill you.
Two 50' goodyear garden hoses - $50 Home Depot
Chemical Injector - $25 Pressuretek
50 Gallon water res - $25 craigslist
Trailer - $200 Craigslist (That one was a steal)
Random I like that purchases and a few chems - $200
Biz Cards, Car Door Magnets, Yard Signs - $110 from Vistaprint.com (Great deals, always search for promo codes, my order was half off, and my biz cards are nice double sided glossy cards, not the standard contractor cheapos) Not calling you a liar but $110 for all of the above is stretching it.....and you may not call it contractor cheapo but it's not professional design that is uniquely yours.

So that was less than $1,500 Notice the big red bold part that says without insurance which is easily $2K a year for GL, WC and NOT including Commercial Auto or Inland Marine.and I was advertising putting sticky notes on folks mailboxes is not advertising - it's breaking a Federal law and makes the entire industry look stupid and washing... I did add a surface cleaner to the arsenal for another $300 about a month into it. If you haven't tried the sticky notes for mailboxes, it's a great way to market when you're flying solo on a small budget. If you take your rig and go door to door and offer a decent price then you can usually pick up a couple of houses a day in same neighborhood. I use the pitch that I'm washing in your neighborhood today and offer X amount off while I'm here, if they say no then you at least spoke to a new contact, showed them your a nice guy that's at their service and left them with a biz card.

As far as your time on site, equipment does play a big role (2.5 is really limiting you), but experience will be a big help to you with your efficiency. Just like anything, the more you do it, the better you're going to get (If you don't, then do something else). You'll start having the foresight at how to tackle houses, most efficient ways and angles to shoot from, gear setup/breakdown routines, running into problems you've already dealt with and this time it takes less thought to over come ect. With my 4GPM machine on a 2,000 sq ft home (I don't care what level, it's rare that I need to get on a ladder) I'm normally packed and heading off in an hour and a half and leaving a QUALITY wash, I love referrals and ensure that what I do leaves my customers no reason to not rave about me.

I'm not discounting anyone's advice in any way on here, wow at the wealth of knowledge and experience, but I have seen here, and a lot of other places, that people just think it takes to much to get going. I've met quite a few of the big gear boasters too, and found a lot of them started with a lot less than what they preach YOU MUST HAVE to get going. Don't sweat the hot water machine either, especially not just getting started 'cause a little hot water can get you into a lot of hot water... don't want to wash vinyl or strip decking with the hot stuff IMO.

So to sum up this rambling, yeah man, I would pick up a bigger machine pretty quick, but you don't need to break the bank on that machine. From there you can let your equipment pay for the next piece of equipment as workload dictates. You said you're 25, spend the few years getting it down, growing and building your customer base and you can be making some serious bank by the time you're 30... and all that starting from a little 2.5 gallon machine. (Just saw the date on the original post by the way, little old but oh well)

Please understand that a reasonable start up is AN INVESTMENT IN YOUR BUSINESS. If you are not properly capitalized before you start, then you're not in business, you're stretching a hobby

[Carolina ProWash]

As a footnote.......most equipment described from Craigslist or EBay is one of two things - equipment that wasn't sufficient to help the owner sustain his business or a piece of equipment that the previous owner dogged 3/4 to death before upgrading. Just some food for thought.