How to scale a pressure washing company

GM. This is Work "After" Work, the newsletter that serves business insights that are so fresh, they make a farmer's market look like leftovers.

Happy Friday Eve! Here’s the docket for today:

• 🚮 Pressure washing business

• 😂 Meme of the day

Have you always wanted to start investing in real estate, but don't have $100k lying around? Don’t worry you’re not alone…

I recently came across this company called “Arrived” -  they allow you to invest in real estate for a fraction of the cost. (Think $100 and you can own real estate!)

• They do all the work on finding profitable properties 

• They deal with all the maintenance, upkeep, cleaning, etc.

• They take care of all the legal jargon

All you have to do is buy shares of a home… kind of like a stock. And every quarter they’ll pay you on your investment!

It’s a great way to get exposure to real estate without having to put a lot of money down.  

Even if you’re not ready right now at least subscribe to their emails that way you can see potential deals that become available! (It’s completely free)

THERE'S REAL MONEY IN THIS DIRTY BUSINESS

We all know the phrase “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”

And today's side hustle (power washing garbage cans) is going to make that phrase a reality.

Why?
Because it doesn’t require learning new skills, it’s affordable, and can scale - my favorite!

Here’s a little fun fact: The average American throws away 4.4 pounds of trash every day.

Then as you know garbage day rolls around and it all gets taken away.

And if you're a big procrastinator, this might be you chasing the garbage truck down in the morning (we’ve all been there)

Sounds about right but is your trash can really clean after the garbage truck empties it? You guessed it, nope. Every week you say hello to leftover gunk in your garbage can.

This gunk invites rats, ants, possums, raccoons, and other rodents to make your garbage can their home, rent-free. Not to mention, it just smells like a garlic and fish market had a food fight inside of it.

That's what this side hustle is solving. Not the rodents, you won't catch me doing that. But preventing them from ever getting there in the first place.

Sell your pressure washing services to clean up your neighborhood's garbage cans. You’d be surprised at how much money people are willing to pay you for a one-time cleaning or a monthly service to clean up those nasty things!

Here’s an example of what a company near me (EcoClean Can) with great reviews charges for trash can pressure washes.

How much can you make?
The real answer is it depends. If you live in a wealthy area where prices are generally higher, you can charge a higher price.

I've done a fair amount of research on pricing and the highest I've seen is $50 for the first can then $20 for every can after that. After all, this is a dirty job that many aren't willing to do so you can charge a higher rate.

A good rule of thumb is to make sure you're getting a high hourly rate because you're not going to be doing this for 8 hours straight. You want to make those 1 or 2 hours a day count.

Try $25 for the first can and $10 for every can after that. If it takes you an hour to clean both, which I don't think it will, that's $35/hr. Do this twice a day and you're washing an extra $500 every week. Not too shabby 💪

Now usually I'd stop there and get into the steps but today I’ve got a 2-for-1 for ya. Kinda like a buy one get one free, but everything's free.

As I was researching about power washing, I found myself constantly watching satisfying shorts of before and afters. And these videos had a ton of views. #powerwashing on TikTok has over 2B views and 105k posts.

Then the light bulb went off 💡 

There's also a huge opportunity here to create content around the work you're doing.

Here's a YouTube channel called Forever Self Employed who started his channel with a pressure washing business. It's a simple setup - just a tripod and a GoPro.

According to Social Blade this channel pulls in $2k-$25k annually.

And he's gained over 230k subscribers in the past 2 years 👀

Just like this channel does, record yourself washing. In post, talk about how much money you made, and even create a course for your followers (that's what he does).

I can't tell you how many TikTok's I've watched of satisfying cleaning videos. There's a huge audience for this type of content that will allow you to grow a pretty sizable online presence.

Now let’s get into it.

Here's a step-by-step guide to making money with this business

1. Buy a pressure washer

The first step is obviously to buy a pressure washer. Don't spend $1000’s on the expensive commercial grade ones.

The pressure washers on Amazon that go for around $150 will do just fine - like this one.

Just make sure whatever pressure washer you buy has a soap attachment that allows you to spray soap on the trash cans before you actually pressure wash them.

For the soap, you can buy any cheap soap solution from Amazon or make a watered-down mixture of Dawn dish soap. Just make sure it smells good!

2. Spread the word, get those customers

When it comes to acquiring customers there are a couple of ways you can go about it.

Joining Facebook groups, posting on Nextdoor, and creating Facebook ads is the best way to get jobs in your area. You can also try Craigslist but I think you'll have better conversions on Facebook & Nextdoor.

If not those, you can go the flyer route but know those will lead to very low conversion rates. If you have the courage, give their door a knock. The personal touch is never a bad idea.

If you do go this way, stack the deck in your favor when talking to a potential customer.

What do I mean by this? 
When I used to shovel snow to make money when I was younger I would use the fact that I'm a young hustling kid saving for college.

Give people a reason to give you a shot and crush it when they do 👊

You could pitch it like this:

When they ask for the price say what you think is appropriate for your area. Don't go lower than $30 for both cans. Remember it's a dirty job with sometimes years of guck, don't undercut yourself. You can always negotiate lower.

3. Get power washing!

Now that you've got your equipment and clients, it's time to start making those trash cans look like a newborn baby.

Create a system that works and saves you time so you can finish as many jobs as possible.

Let's do some quick math on how much you can make
I'm going to assume you'll make $30-$70 for every job you do. It will take time but once you're able to get 2 jobs per day, that's $210-$490 a week. Keep it going and that's $900-$2,100 a month.

When considering the cost of the pressure washer and soap at $200, you'd only have to do 3-6 jobs to break even. I know you can do that.

Whenever you get a booking, set it up for after work, get the pressure washer out and pay for your gas, Netflix subscription, and a good chunk of your grocery bill for the month.
*and don't forget to record it for YouTube!*

Happy hustling! 👊

MEME OF THE DAY

😂😂

WAVE GOODBYE TO YOUR DEBT

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That's a wrap ladies & gents! Enjoy your weekend :)

DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.