A Story to Inspire (From drug addict to entrepreneur)

[Ernman]

I got my first client by talking to the network I already had. I had absolutely no clue what I was doing. I literally rented a pressure washer the day before and pressure washed my mom's house for free just to practice. (not that it's very difficult though).

If you have no one in your immediate network who wants something pressure washed, I'd suggest door knocking. Going around to neighborhoods that have dirty driveways, etc. I may even go as far to say you'll pressure wash it for free just to get that experience if you're uncertain about it.

What really helped me, at least in my mind, was that I was a young, honest guy looking to start a business. A lot of people respect this. Especially in the more affluent neighborhoods, I've found people would hire me more to help me out, rather than actually washing their house.

The blue collar industry is starving for trustworthy, honest people who will show up on time and do a good job. If you present yourself well, communicate, and show up with a smile, it's hard to not get the job.

quick story on this: for a while I was trying a new method of quoting. I would go online and look at the person's house and text them a quote based on what I saw on Google Street View. This hardly converted. I came to realize, it wasn't my pricing, it was because I never showed up and showed them who I was and built rapport. For houses of the same size, I could show up and charge twice as much, but close the sale by just being there in person and talking to them.

A little bit goes a long ways in this industry. Let me know if there's anything else I can help you with if you plan on starting a pressure washing business.

This is pure gold. Show up, have a smile, engage with the customer. This is not rocket science it's people and people are by nature gregarious. You got off your butt and put yourself out there - and it worked. Unfortunately, many people forget this lesson (if they ever learn it) and wonder why they falter after initial success. We must never, Never, NEVER forget we are dealing with other humans.

 

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[Chris_Varick]

wow what an amazing straight forward story you have there - Congratulations ! Actually it makes me think of a quote Tyler Durden(in the movie fight club) made by saying "It's only after we've lost everything that we are free to do anything"

 

[DougRMR]

Hey Fastlaners,
I wanted to briefly share my story thus far to hopefully inspire those who are younger or struggling.

3 years ago, I was a struggling drug addict. I was addicted to cocaine, pills, codeine, and dabbled in many things I probably should have never dabbled in. Then, I got arrested with possession charges. The best and worst day of my life. The worst, for obvious reasons, but the best, because it changed my life forever. I was a college student living in Atlanta at the time. After my arrest, I moved to where my mom lived in South Carolina. It was a new beginning. I knew no one up here, never lived up here before, and could start a new life.

I moved up here 2 years ago, almost to the date. (October 10th, 2018). For the first few months, I was lost. Coming off of drug addiction, in counseling, had no direction in my life, and had almost zero ambition. I lounged around, spent most of my days playing video games for 12 hours a day and working out. About 4 months after living here, in February of 2019, my counselor gave me a book. It was the Millionaire Fastlane . This book opened my mind to the possibilities and soon became my obsession. At this time, I was working at a store called Fastenal, which sold construction and industrial supplies. I was making a lofty $12/hour.

I would spend the next 3-4 months learning everything I could. Personal growth became my obsession, money became my obsession, entrepreneurship became my obsession. I read everything I could from people like Tony Robbins watched youtube videos from people like Grant Cardone, Gary Vee, and people of the sorts.

In April of 2019, I started personally training young adults. It was something I knew how to do, and could start immediately. After having 3 clients, I decided I no longer wanted to pursue this. In June, I began a business which was mobile cleaning for commercial vehicles. I got in touch with local electrical companies and would come out to wash their company vehicles. I charged much too low of prices.

In July of 2019, my business graduated into pressure washing. Pressure washing driveways, peoples homes, and some commercial buildings. (keep in mind, this was a weekend venture, as I was still working at Fastenal during the week).

This slowly started to pick up speed. In December of 2019 I quit my job at Fastenal and began pressure washing full time. From January 2020, to current day, October 8th 2020, my business has netted over $57,000. Not very much, but have been a 1-man show this whole time. Given there's virtually zero overhead in this business and was able to pocket the majority of this.

In March of 2020, with the shutdown, I began to fall in love with real estate. Virtually reading and consuming everything I could on the topic. In August of 2020, I purchased my first property, a duplex. This now rents out and cash flows me over $1,800/month.

Now, fastforward to present day, I am locking under contract my first mobile home park which has 9 units. I have another house that is currently in the works of being flipped. This house should net a $40,000 return after selling it.
Also, I now have an employee to do my pressure washing jobs. My main role in my pressure washing company is now strictly quoting and scheduling the jobs. He picks up a trailer from my houses loaded with all of the equipment, hauls it to jobs, afterwards, I contact the customer and have them pay by credit card over the phone. He brings the trailer back to my house, rinse and repeat.

I'm now slowly exiting myself from my pressure washing company and focusing on where I want to go personally. Real estate. I'm in the process of getting my sales license and am looking forward to kick-starting this business venture. My pressure washing company remains as an (almost) passive income stream on top of the passive streams from my rental properties.

I say all of this, in hopes to motivate or inspire those of you who are struggling. I came from a down & out drug addict with no ambition, to what I would consider, an accomplished person for the humble age of 22.

If there's anything I can to help anyone, please comment below, I'd be happy to do what I can.

Thanks,
Chris

Congrats man! This is definitely inspiring. Feeling directionless at 25 really makes me realize that there is no excuse. Keep at it!

Quick question: did you learn pressure washing as you went or did you practice a bit before going out on the field?

 

[fridge]

Congrats man! This is definitely inspiring. Feeling directionless at 25 really makes me realize that there is no excuse. Keep at it!

Quick question: did you learn pressure washing as you went or did you practice a bit before going out on the field?

Not ChrisGav but I run a pressure washing business so I can give you a good answer. You should rent a machine for a day, see how you like pressure washing (make sure you wear ear/eye protection) and then jump in and get a 4 GPM machine with a honda engine and get jobs and just learn on the way. As long as you understand how to start the machine (and never running it without water going thru the machine, you'll burn the pump), and basic safety, you're good to go. I actually suggest starting with house washing only, it's not very physically intensive and the most profitable residentially, for that all you need is a downstream injector and a j-rod. You never want to pressure wash vinyl siding, you soft wash it, which is what the downstream injector and j-rod is for (for soft washing). Good luck!

 

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[DougRMR]

Not ChrisGav but I run a pressure washing business so I can give you a good answer. You should rent a machine for a day, see how you like pressure washing (make sure you wear ear/eye protection) and then jump in and get a 4 GPM machine with a honda engine and get jobs and just learn on the way. As long as you understand how to start the machine (and never running it without water going thru the machine, you'll burn the pump), and basic safety, you're good to go. I actually suggest starting with house washing only, it's not very physically intensive and the most profitable residentially, for that all you need is a downstream injector and a j-rod. You never want to pressure wash vinyl siding, you soft wash it, which is what the downstream injector and j-rod is for (for soft washing). Good luck!

Gotcha, thanks for the tips. I've also seen that pre-washing is required, i.e. mixing chlorine with water to soak up the dirt. Do you do this, too?

 

[ArmanK]

Hey Fastlaners,
I wanted to briefly share my story thus far to hopefully inspire those who are younger or struggling.

3 years ago, I was a struggling drug addict. I was addicted to cocaine, pills, codeine, and dabbled in many things I probably should have never dabbled in. Then, I got arrested with possession charges. The best and worst day of my life. The worst, for obvious reasons, but the best, because it changed my life forever. I was a college student living in Atlanta at the time. After my arrest, I moved to where my mom lived in South Carolina. It was a new beginning. I knew no one up here, never lived up here before, and could start a new life.

I moved up here 2 years ago, almost to the date. (October 10th, 2018). For the first few months, I was lost. Coming off of drug addiction, in counseling, had no direction in my life, and had almost zero ambition. I lounged around, spent most of my days playing video games for 12 hours a day and working out. About 4 months after living here, in February of 2019, my counselor gave me a book. It was the Millionaire Fastlane . This book opened my mind to the possibilities and soon became my obsession. At this time, I was working at a store called Fastenal, which sold construction and industrial supplies. I was making a lofty $12/hour.

I would spend the next 3-4 months learning everything I could. Personal growth became my obsession, money became my obsession, entrepreneurship became my obsession. I read everything I could from people like Tony Robbins watched youtube videos from people like Grant Cardone, Gary Vee, and people of the sorts.

In April of 2019, I started personally training young adults. It was something I knew how to do, and could start immediately. After having 3 clients, I decided I no longer wanted to pursue this. In June, I began a business which was mobile cleaning for commercial vehicles. I got in touch with local electrical companies and would come out to wash their company vehicles. I charged much too low of prices.

In July of 2019, my business graduated into pressure washing. Pressure washing driveways, peoples homes, and some commercial buildings. (keep in mind, this was a weekend venture, as I was still working at Fastenal during the week).

This slowly started to pick up speed. In December of 2019 I quit my job at Fastenal and began pressure washing full time. From January 2020, to current day, October 8th 2020, my business has netted over $57,000. Not very much, but have been a 1-man show this whole time. Given there's virtually zero overhead in this business and was able to pocket the majority of this.

In March of 2020, with the shutdown, I began to fall in love with real estate. Virtually reading and consuming everything I could on the topic. In August of 2020, I purchased my first property, a duplex. This now rents out and cash flows me over $1,800/month.

Now, fastforward to present day, I am locking under contract my first mobile home park which has 9 units. I have another house that is currently in the works of being flipped. This house should net a $40,000 return after selling it.
Also, I now have an employee to do my pressure washing jobs. My main role in my pressure washing company is now strictly quoting and scheduling the jobs. He picks up a trailer from my houses loaded with all of the equipment, hauls it to jobs, afterwards, I contact the customer and have them pay by credit card over the phone. He brings the trailer back to my house, rinse and repeat.

I'm now slowly exiting myself from my pressure washing company and focusing on where I want to go personally. Real estate. I'm in the process of getting my sales license and am looking forward to kick-starting this business venture. My pressure washing company remains as an (almost) passive income stream on top of the passive streams from my rental properties.

I say all of this, in hopes to motivate or inspire those of you who are struggling. I came from a down & out drug addict with no ambition, to what I would consider, an accomplished person for the humble age of 22.

If there's anything I can to help anyone, please comment below, I'd be happy to do what I can.

Thanks,
Chris

props to you Chris! What a place to get to at such a young age.

I live in Atlanta too which peaked my interest in your story.

Hope life and business is treating you well!