Gravy's Hustle Thread: $100k/mo or Bust!

[GravyBoat]

Why wouldn't you be focusing on doing the exact reverse - keep doing the quoting, scheduling, customer back and forth, job applications, etc and hire someone to do the customer visits?

This keeps you working on the business while getting your employees to work within it.



A selfie stick would pretty easily solve this.

Or even easier - get an elastic band and strap your phone to the gutter hook you're already going to be using. Just set it to record, do a few slow sweeps, look at the footage, pause on the money shot, take a screenshot and send it to the customer.

Or a small drone. Taking 4K videos or photos.

Good ideas as well. All depends on the layout of the roof/house but def saves time in some cases. Moving the ladder around is the slowest part, thus costing me the most $.

The work itself is being outsourced as well, but the reason why I'm still doing alot of it is because of margins... an assistant costs me $3.50/hr while a worker costs $15-20. Trying to build a little bit more before I make the jump. I know this is an excuse but I'd rather have the cash right now to build myself a safety net, after not having one for many years.

So stay tuned for that!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[GravyBoat]

This thread is straight heroine for me. Marking off work tomorrow to go do door to door sales and see what the Miami area has to offer.

Happy to have accidentally found out about you bro. Keep killin it

Trying to be as transparent as possible to show people what it's like. It's not EASY, it requires hard a$$ work, but at the end of the day, if you need to quit your job, or raise some capital for another business, or just wanna make great money and do this, I haven't found a better option. Especially for young, able bodied guys.

Straight blood sweat and tears hustle. Let's get right down to it and CRUSH 2020. F*ck a virus.

Also @DrScream has the right attitude and work ethic. He and I have been talking. I can already tell he's gonna make it just from how he talks, and how he takes action. I think it took him 48 hours from messaging me to get most of the equipment needed and another 48 to launch Yelp ads and set up his shit. Hustler.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[DrScream]

Trying to be as transparent as possible to show people what it's like. It's not EASY, it requires hard a$$ work, but at the end of the day, if you need to quit your job, or raise some capital for another business, or just wanna make great money and do this, I haven't found a better option. Especially for young, able bodied guys.

Straight blood sweat and tears hustle. Let's get right down to it and CRUSH 2020. F*ck a virus.

I'll take a hard pass on F*cking the virus but I'll be out there. Practiced using the ladder today and getting up and down a building. Pinched the F*ck out of my finger and learned (the hard way) where the pinch points are lmao. You ain't kidding. I gotta start doing some cardio cuz I was out of breathe after 5 or 6 climbs of that shit. Got my first gig on Monday.

 

[GravyBoat]

Scheduled myself the first day off in like... over a month.

I was getting burnt.

I sat at home and did absolutely NOTHING yesterday... and I was BORED!

I didn't like it. I'm more comfortable out there hustling.

4 more houses today.

3 more tomorrow.

Let's get it.

 

[GravyBoat]

You've hit the nail on the head, and it's something i needed to hear. I often sit there and ponder "why can't i be successful like others?", and it has taken me YEARS to realize that all these courses, videos, books don't mean shit if you don't put them into action.

And then you realize, it's not just action, it's daily action, persistent action and pushing through when you're tired of it, when you're bored of it and when your mind wants to be doing anything other than that.

This is a wakeup call for me. My reality is that I'm going to stay exactly where I am if i don't commit to something fully. And commitment is months and years, not days.

I'm glad you've discovered the path and you're crushing. Looking forward to your progress.

I had the same problem. I bounced around, was scared of commitment.

There are TOO many business ideas out there. Just godda stick to something that works and scale up.

Put your blinders on and get to work.

As a construction business owner myself, I highly recommend the book "Traction" by Gino Wickman. Also the podcast "scale up your business" is a great resource.

Honestly though you sound light years ahead of where I was when I started. From the sounds of it you'll do more than fine.

Thank you man. I will definitely check that out. Really appreciate it.

The further I get into it, the further I realize how crazy things get. SO much money changing hands every single day.

 

[Bekit]

Wow! Fabulous thread. Excited about your progress. Thanks for posting your updates. Very impressed!

I'd recommend The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes. He shares some great principles for how a carpet cleaning business maximized their repeat business (= bigger Lifetime Customer Value) as well as some excellent principles for time management and running productive meetings with employees.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1591842158/?tag=tff-amazonparser-20

 

[GravyBoat]

Thank you all for the replies.

I think @IceCreamKid mentioned getting good work ethic waiters/waitresses to work for his carpet cleaning biz. His reasoning being that good work ethic transfers, and they often want to move on from waiting on tables.

My favourite hiring quote was from an IT Manager I worked for who said “The person who’ll run with the ball is the person who catches it.”

I haven't talked to him in like 2 years. I will reach out. Thanks a ton.

The last guy that dipped had a bunch of my tools with him so that sucks.

Just trying to document everything it's not all peaches and cream.

All good tho still making money and the ups always outweigh the downs.

Currently have assistant manually texting customers every 6 months for repeat service. Some of them love this. I'd say about 30% of em reply, which isn't bad... but could be better.

Something I've wanted to do from the beginning is sign people up on reoccuring service contracts and take their bank account info so they basically always pay... Might try this going forward.

Not sure what apps to use (or software/service)... the goal is to bring an iPad to the job and sign them up on reoccuring every 6 months or 12 months. I will have 3 buttons. 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months, with "Most Common" on the 6 month button.

Also another idea for some of your SAAS guys: Build a software that auto texts FROM your business number. Meaning, the text actually sits in the inbox, and can be replied to in the inbox. I get notification when they reply just like a standard text... anyone know of anything that does this? Yes I'm well aware of auto text solutions but they all suck (send from a 5 digit number that people can't reply to). I need something that feels to the customer like I personally texted them.

 

[GravyBoat]

Very interesting thread. Thanks for documenting your story.

I was wondering how many houses do you have to knock on before you get a job?

Also, when someone answers the door, what is your pitch like?

Thanks

Like I said before bro, I don’t knock doors. I hate doing it so I devolved systems that bring me leads instead. I only knock neighbors doors who have seen me etc

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Andy Black]

Man hiring good employees is HARD!!!

I've had a complete shit show of a time hiring good guys. BUT. I think I finally found a good crew of 2.

They haven't been late yet, gotten GREAT feedback from customers they've worked with. Everything seems to be going well.

Fingers crossed.

Isn’t it amazing how not being late stands out?

 

[Andy Black]

Yeah, they care mostly about getting it done ASAP is what I've found.

They DO care about reviews, but only to make sure the company is semi legit.

You reply first with a good price, you get the job, as long as you have like 2 other reviews. Simple as that.

My friend the appliance repairs guy has no reviews on his site. People just need to answer the damn phone, or call back when they send in an enquiry.

 

[GravyBoat]

Little update on my stuff: Pretty much cranking the same. Trying still to hire more good people and TRAIN them vs just hope they're decent out the gate. Learning experiences every day. Not much to report but still grinding.

 

[Rabby]

I haven't successfully found a way to increase safety in these jobs, while still making it worth while time wise. Attaching a roof anchor is a huge pain in the a$$ and doesn't even work on tile roofs. Are there ways to be safe? Of course. But it's definitely not a SAFE job...

Thankfully knock on wood we haven't had a fall yet. I do NOT want to see the day where that happens and I don't think about it much tbh... but that's because the guys I have now are a certain way... if this scales any more it will need to become a huge concern of mine.

Half the allure of this is that you can bust out these jobs so quickly if you're fast and know what you're doing, that each guy can be bringing in 1k/day revenue. I need a QUICK, PAINLESS way (I'm talking 5 mins tops) to maximize safety. Haven't found one yet but not looking very hard. If you know any, I'd love to hear em.



I have full video training that I sell to other service businesses to train on rain gutters, windows, solar panels, roof cleans, pressure washing, etc. I'm focused on selling that as well as helping train new guys. My guys now are self starters, they just "figure it out" kind of like I do... they know they aren't getting paid if they walk away so that option isn't even in their minds. It took WORK to find guys like this.


Absolutely but I need to be better about it. Definitely a weak point. I need an iPad application I can send with techs to sign up every customer right then and there for re-occuring... suggestions??

I'm not an expert on fall safety devices, just informed of some of the liabilities and laws related. Talk to an OSHA consultant and some people whose careers are focused on workplace safety, consulting or equipment. Keep your eyes peeled for them. The sales pitch from a consultant in that area will give you more good information than I can, probably. They'll know what devices are out there. If a "safety device" isn't possible in some situation, you can still have standardized processes and training to reduce the risk of falls. Ain't nobody a billy goat.

Video training - good. Keep that going. So valuable for your business. That alone gives you an advantage, and it's working "on the business."

iPad app - I don't have a specific suggestion. I'm pretty confident there are service quoting and contracting and billing apps out there. And web services that work with mobile devices. There might be some really good ones that are already compatible with your process. Ultimately, it's always going to be up to your guy standing in the doorway though. He either will or will not ask the customer for recurring business and upsells. You can increase his probability of pulling that off with training and automation, but you'll always need at least some training. He's overcoming a perceived social hurdle; reduce his fear of asking and add an incentive for doing the right thing.

You can do the same things with a paper checklist and quote sheet as you can with an app, if not as efficiently... have people initial or check off whether they want the upsells. Even with a mediocre sales presentation, some people sell to themselves when they see the option. I've tended to start things off cheap and simple (paper forms and a method for presenting them), then eventually hire someone to make things electronic and automated. One advantage to that is you capture what works in your market. One disadvantage is that it requires investment to hire a developer and spend time explaining the business to them. Right now paper forms might be enough to get the job done, with 1-2 locations.

 

[jclean]

Tenants never ever pay for services unless indirectly included in rent (which of course it is). Why would they? That’s the benefit of renting, you aren’t on the hook for these kinds of things.

I’ve had 2 tenants that I can think of ever pay for service and those were ones that had been in the house so long they may as well have just bought the thing. Dillusional people.

What you described is exactly my thought, wouldn’t you factor this into your budget as a landlord? Apparently, it’s not as common as you’d think. Most landlords are in business to make money, thus they are spending money reactively, only when forced to (when something breaks).

Right now I am focused on getting good property management companies who understand the benefits of preventative maintenance.

Closing commercial is a lot harder than residential for various reasons. I’d say I close maybe 30% of commercial that I quote, whereas it’s almost 85% of residential.

The other question that always pops up when scaling... why is there no big household name doing this? Is scale at that level possible? What hurdles have they ran into that I’m not foreseeing?

To be honest in this venture, I’m not really looking to scale past 100 or maybe 150k/mo because that’s my territory. I want it to be passive at that level so I can fund other ventures and focus time on those (big stuff). This little business was basically just what got my feet on the ground and finally something that worked. I had fully intended to sell or run it passively at some point.

@GravyBoat
I am a business owner from Belgium we do window, roof , solar panel and gutter cleaning.
We work with +- 9 people
this month the revenue will be close to 85k usd.
To have business on repeat i think you need to drop the prices to make it affordable for homeowners. So you can service them on a regular base. The windows keep cleaner so your amount off labour drops.
Trust and reliability and convenience are key words especially when you have wealthy customers
We use a software to keep track off all the business it automatically gets on the schedule. The big advantage for us is that every time we do a client we can give them a thank you card with the next date written on it. So we dont get 100 calls a day with customers that wants to know when we are coming back to them. Also billing is semi automated. The software keeps track on payments,scheduling and billing.
To have gutter cleaning on repeat is possible but is more difficult to sell the reason is because people dont see the problem. Once they had water in there home due to water infiltration it is much easier to put them on a schedule.

I could go deeper in this topic but my written english is very basic.

 

[Fox]

View: https://youtu.be/7F4zzw02dX0


The movie is here ladies and gents. Please share with whomever you feel needs to see it.

Hope you all enjoy. I will respond to these comments later!!!

Just watch the whole thing - excellent content!

This was really cool to watch - you kept it super legit and really showed the mindset/approach it takes.
Also, the production crew did a great job, was easy to watch the whole thing (and it's a longer video).

"Spread the fan"

 

[ZCP]

bump for the beast that is @GravyBoat

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[GravyBoat]

Just switched my background music as well as the intro, and format of the videos.

MODS: Is it okay if I post links to two videos in here, so I can get some feedback on which one people think is better?

Personally, I like the old style better... but the new intro is much shorter, so helps people not drop off.

 

[DrWumbo]

Maybe not impossible but- not likely. I mean who can work 30 straight days -all day long, with no hiccups, you would need around 120 customers just for one month in your example, and not sure if everyone needs windows washed monthly, so you would need a ton of customers. It just seems unrealistic to me as a solo operation anyway.

I know a business owner here who nets $75K cleaning windows part time and is his only employee. Mind you, my entire state is pretty small population wise as well. He also only focuses on commercial, not even residential!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Zimbizee]

Wow i was amazed and shocked at the prices folks are willing to pay to have windows cleaned. Here in the UK people only want to pay £20-£30 per house. What a tight bunch we are over here..lol

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Lex DeVille]

Great thread. Thanks for sharing. Don't see enough hustle threads like this around here lately. Keep going.

 

[Envious]

Hope everybody is out there getting after it today.

In the past ~6 months, I've figured out what it takes to REALLY run a business.

It takes hard a$$ work. It takes mistake after mistake, losing money on something and teaching yourself lessons thru failures.

It takes 3AM nights, 5AM mornings. It takes stress, crazy days, and full schedules.

It takes you being resourceful. It takes you going "All In."

If anyone out there is not achieving what they want right now, and they aren't experiencing the above, there's probably something "off" with what you're doing.

How I see it is like this.
--------- Extremely crazy
------ Crazy ------ Hire people
----- More customers ------ Build systems
----Start ----- hire management
This is how your workload should play out thru the first few months/years of a business.

If you haven't gotten to the "more customers" part yet, which most people never get to, then you need to reassess A your business and B your hustle. If one of these things is wrong, you'll never start climbing the hill (see above).

Just wanted to put this out there because I'm getting alot of PMs and seeing posts from guys who aren't putting in the work. Success without a large dose, I'm talking a few years MINIMUM, of hardcore grinding, isn't a thing. It's smoke and mirrors.

Go put in the damn work and you'll get the results. There are no shortcuts. You don't bet on getting "lucky" like the people you're comparing yourself to. There's only a few things you can control in life and one of them is how hard you work. Your hustle. Your resilience. Your work ethic. Your attitude.

Start realizing how lucky you are to be in a position to be ABLE to provide value to others. 95% of people can't do this. They either aren't gifted with the traits needed, or they're physically disabled. Most people reading this are capable of alot more than they're currently putting in/getting out, myself included.

Work harder, then work smarter over time. Again there are NO shortcuts.

Get off YouTube. Get off social media. Stop reading books. Go take F*cking action.

There's no better way to learn than trial and error. You're not gonna find the magic bullet, the magic secret if you "just watch that 17th YouTube video you have open in your browser tab... maybe it's in there...". No. It's not. It's at the end of a hard day's work where you feel physically and mentally exhausted. When you've been in the trenches. THAT is when you think of "silver bullet" ideas that really help you scale and progress.

So cut the bullshit and get to work. There's no better time than now. Especially with this lockdown. We have nothing to do BUT work. Do NOT waste this time with Mental masturbation on YouTube, Facebook, books, whatever. You're giving your brain little dopamine hits when you "research." You're action faking and mentally masturbating. Your brain doesn't know the difference. So go re wire yourself to enjoy REALLY working.

Go get yourself a whiteboard and write down your 3 most important tasks you NEED to get done. The word "research should be found NOWHERE on your board!!! Instead, the words "call," "buy," "Start," "Create," "Build" etc should be on there. Put that whiteboard front and center in your living room. In fact, go put it where your TV currently is. I want to see pictures of whiteboards in front of TVs.

If you really want it, go get it.

/Rant

Update with my stuff:

Second location already making some $. Pretty sure it's been like 4 days. It's proving I have a system in place, or the resemblance of one. Hiring another person in the next few days as well. I've outsourced 50-75% of work I was doing at this point, and still making decent profits. Time to expand now that I have some breathing room.

You've hit the nail on the head, and it's something i needed to hear. I often sit there and ponder "why can't i be successful like others?", and it has taken me YEARS to realize that all these courses, videos, books don't mean shit if you don't put them into action.

And then you realize, it's not just action, it's daily action, persistent action and pushing through when you're tired of it, when you're bored of it and when your mind wants to be doing anything other than that.

This is a wakeup call for me. My reality is that I'm going to stay exactly where I am if i don't commit to something fully. And commitment is months and years, not days.

I'm glad you've discovered the path and you're crushing. Looking forward to your progress.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[CareCPA]

It's very sad but yes.

In this industry, you can be LATE or RESCHEDULE but you HAVE to be communicative!!! If you no call no show or are over 5 minutes late without any correspondence, the customer gets pissed and they have a right to be!

I also had a worker text me at 2AM last night that he couldn't make the 8AM job for this morning after blatantly saying he could around 5PM the previous evening... people man...

Once the "enhanced" unemployment runs out, you should have a lot more options for employees as long as you're paying reasonable wages.

5 months ago it was hard to find good people. With unemployment rates the way they currently are, it seems like a good opportunity to scoop up some better talent.

 

[DrWumbo]

Isn’t it amazing how not being late stands out?

This is something consistently said by my customers. Being on time and punctual can easily win you the job

 

[GravyBoat]

$4 Million/Year?

Yes, the guy's business does commercial pressure washing. They hit this by casting a wide net, doing things like parking garages, airports, government contracts. You can easily hit 4m/year doing this. He's also been doing it for like 30 years.

 

[GravyBoat]

@Rabby thanks a ton. I spoke with @Jon L about one of the things I'm trying to have built. It seems like a good starting place and seems possible in the next few months to get going on it.

I also have a totally separate idea that could be used in the info marketing space I'd like to discuss. Do you have time for a call at some point? Even a 30 min call would really help me.

Appreciate your help and advice so far both of you guys.

David

 

[GravyBoat]

Damn thanks guys. I will not disappoint with this movie.

 

[GravyBoat]

Commercial customers:

You mentioned the primary pushback for commercial as being future uncertainty around money but I imagine it also depends on WHO is the one actually paying for the gutter service...

If it's the tenant paying, chances are they don't put as much consideration or priority into budgeting for maintenance costs. The building is not theirs and so any $ that goes to upkeep is seen as a waste. Going back to the objection: You may try to rebuke by showing them how, if they plan on staying in that location, it will be worth it in the long-term. Spending a little bit of money every year will prevent an expensive, large issue down the road. If uncertainty is an issue then surely the former option is preferable since it's easier to budget for?

On the other hand, if the landlord pays for expenses like maintenance and Capex then ideally your service should already be budgeted for as these are critical expenses that can make or break their yield. It's just a matter of showing them why you are the best option. If they don't already include gutters into the equation then it may be as simple as showing them why they should and then sliding yourself into their books as a line item.

Residential customers:

I think the 2 buckets, tenants and landlords, still hold true as they did with commercial but in this case the residential tenants are probably really hard to sell on reoccurring services. Most of them won't be sticking around long-term and even if they do, most people don't care to think about future expenses. Maybe just focus on the landlords, if they are business savvy then you should be able to make a similar case as with the commercial ones.

Tenants never ever pay for services unless indirectly included in rent (which of course it is). Why would they? That’s the benefit of renting, you aren’t on the hook for these kinds of things.

I’ve had 2 tenants that I can think of ever pay for service and those were ones that had been in the house so long they may as well have just bought the thing. Dillusional people.

What you described is exactly my thought, wouldn’t you factor this into your budget as a landlord? Apparently, it’s not as common as you’d think. Most landlords are in business to make money, thus they are spending money reactively, only when forced to (when something breaks).

Right now I am focused on getting good property management companies who understand the benefits of preventative maintenance.

Closing commercial is a lot harder than residential for various reasons. I’d say I close maybe 30% of commercial that I quote, whereas it’s almost 85% of residential.

The other question that always pops up when scaling... why is there no big household name doing this? Is scale at that level possible? What hurdles have they ran into that I’m not foreseeing?

To be honest in this venture, I’m not really looking to scale past 100 or maybe 150k/mo because that’s my territory. I want it to be passive at that level so I can fund other ventures and focus time on those (big stuff). This little business was basically just what got my feet on the ground and finally something that worked. I had fully intended to sell or run it passively at some point.

 

[SteveO]

You are a stud.

 

[Kid]

You want your online presence to come across as professional and someone who knows what they are doing - would suggest having a look at some of the previous videos on your Youtube acct and cleaning up the junk:

I would be 50/50 on this.

Look when someone says "look make $500 a day" it makes people wary.
Keeping some videos raw and uncut makes Gravy more credible.
And thats more valuable than spending $100 for editor that will polish
videos and make it look like corporate ads.

my 2c.

 

[GravyBoat]

Just think what that $130,000 worker could make in their own business!!

Two more points:

With your own business, you can work when you please. If you want to take a month vacation, you can at the drop of a hat. Provided you've created enough income to afford those activities.

Also, when you build a business, you build an asset that can be SOLD. You cannot sell a job. There's no asset.

If you make $130k/year in a business, you can sell that business anywhere from 1-3x multiple (for service businesses) if done correctly. Just in case you wanted to cash out.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

How's business gravy? Killing it? Good thread, deserves bump

Safe to say he's dealing with some life-changing personal issues, the type that makes "business" seem entirely irrelevant.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.