Starting and Scaling an Exterior Cleaning Business at 21

[EthanH]

Hi everyone!

My name is Ethan, I'm 21 years old from the UK and I have spent the last 2 of years working in office jobs, possessing all the traits of a typical Wantrepreneur, always wanting to change but never actually taking any action. Whilst I was told by many how lucky I was to be presented with such a great opportunity at such a young age, I knew working for someone else would never be for me.

I was inspired by MJs books and have read both the Millionaire Fastlane and Unscripted at least 3 times each and have found threads by Johnny Boy / Piano / Subsonic especially useful. I decided to leave my safe and stable office job to commit full time to creating and growing my Exterior Cleaning Business. The main services I offer are pressure washing (patios / driveways), house washing, roof cleaning and gutter / fascia cleaning. This business does not fulfil CENTS however I needed to take action or see myself waste away behind a desk.

My short term goal is to generate £3k profit in my first month. Aiming for £5k/month after 6 months, and £10k/ month after 12.

I will keep this thread updated to track my progress / mistakes as I know I have found other threads similar to this extremely valuable. I would really appreciate any advice / feedback from you all as I get started in my journey. Thankyou for reading!

Note: This is my first post so let me know if I'm doing it right.

 

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[Parks]

Welcome Ethan! What's going to be the first steps you take to get your first customer?

 

[EthanH]

Welcome Ethan! What's going to be the first steps you take to get your first customer?

Thankyou! As of last Friday I've done about £700 worth of work for customers I have found using an app called "Bark" It essentially allows me to purchase leads for about £7 per lead and so far I've purchased 8 leads costing approx. £60 in total and have made £510 so far with another £350 job lined up for Friday.

So overall I'm really happy with the ROI of this. Each £1 spent is making me over £14 in work. I'm aiming to hit £1000 revenue in my first week and this is only using one form of marketing / lead gen.

I want to start trying other marketing approaches such as Facebook and Google Ads but don't know where to start with this if you have any advice?

I think within a few weeks if I up my marketing I could average £2500 a week revenue.

 

[jclean]

Best of luck ! There will always be a need for this kind of businesses. Each day (spring) we receive emails from 4/5 potential leads. With an ad spend of 750 euro each month. 14% ctr. Google ads is Definitely something you need to consider.

 

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[EthanH]

Best of luck ! There will always be a need for this kind of businesses. Each day (spring) we receive emails from 4/5 potential leads. With an ad spend of 750 euro each month. 14% ctr. Google ads is Definitely something you need to consider.

Yes definitely is. Do you have any resources you'd recommend to learning Google Ads? Seems like its working very well for you!

 

[jclean]

Yes definitely is. Do you have any resources you'd recommend to learning Google Ads? Seems like its working very well for you!

@Andy Black has a course on this

 

[EthanH]

@Andy Black has a course on this

Thanks, just bought it. I'll get through it over this week.

 

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[EthanH]

Hard day today. I had a house washing job and to be honest I felt like I was out of my depth. I was upfront with the customer and told them that the results were not going to be as good as they could've been. I offered to discount my services but they insisted on paying the full amount. Total revenue was £360 with a profit of £330. Almost an entire weeks wage at my office job earnt in under 6 hours. If I'm able to increase the quality of my work, up my prices and get more leads via ads I think a 10K month isn't too far away. Just need to stay consistent.

 

[Spenny]

Welcome Ethan, nice to see someone else from the UK!

The main services I offer are pressure washing (patios / driveways), house washing, roof cleaning and gutter / fascia cleaning.

It must be the UK that has a dirty patio/driveway problem, everyone seems to have grass coming through their block paving. I'm planning to do pressure washing over my summer break & beyond!

What was the problem with the house washing job?

 

[EthanH]

Welcome Ethan, nice to see someone else from the UK!



It must be the UK that has a dirty patio/driveway problem, everyone seems to have grass coming through their block paving. I'm planning to do pressure washing over my summer break & beyond!

What was the problem with the house washing job?

I'm not sure what that exact issue was but basically I applied a mixture of Sodium Hypochlorite and other chemicals designed to remove organic growth from render and brushed it in with a water fed pole and I'd leave it to sit for about 30 minutes to activate the chemicals and then rinse it off with water. The issue I was having was that there were some very stubborn marks on the render that wouldn't come off even after multiple applications of the chemical. The customer still ended up leaving me a 5 star review however due to my persistence so she must've been somewhat pleased.

I'd definitely recommend getting into pressure washing but most of my work over the past week has come from gutter / fascia cleaning and I still haven't had a proper pressure washing job yet despite investing over £2500 in equipment. The only problem I'm finding is some customers view it as the same as being a gardener and think anything above £25ph is outrageous but I price per job and sometimes my hourly rate comes to £60+ /hour.

 

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[Spenny]

The issue I was having was that there were some very stubborn marks on the render that wouldn't come off even after multiple applications of the chemical.

Weird. Perhaps previous contractors stained it when they went to clean the roof with SH? Or maybe it was limescale?

I found this thread on it:

Stains on fascias

Stains on fascias

www.cleanitup.co.uk

Sodium Hypochlorite and other chemicals designed to remove organic growth from render and brushed it in with a water fed pole and I'd leave it to sit for about 30 minutes to activate

30 minutes is a long time, I've read that 10 minutes does the trick. Time is money!

I'd definitely recommend getting into pressure washing but most of my work over the past week has come from gutter / fascia cleaning and I still haven't had a proper pressure washing job yet despite investing over £2500 in equipment.

Wowee. Have you done active marketing alongside Bark (e.g. flyers)? I suppose most people are beginning to think about autumn and how much mulch is going to be in their gutters.

 

[EthanH]

Weird. Perhaps previous contractors stained it when they went to clean the roof with SH? Or maybe it was limescale?

I found this thread on it:

Stains on fascias

Stains on fascias

www.cleanitup.co.uk

30 minutes is a long time, I've read that 10 minutes does the trick. Time is money!


Wowee. Have you done active marketing alongside Bark?

Ill check it out.

I use a specific product called Nuclear Pro by a company called Pureseal and the time they recommend is 30 minutes but it'd be worth testing it in the future.

No I haven't, i wanted to build up a bit of experience before i started advertising myself. Currently going through Andy Blacks course but even simple things like posting on Nextdoor / Community Facebook groups is something I could easily do. I will post an offer to my neighbours over the weekend and see if i can pick up some more work and if not at least I'll get my name out there.

 

[Spenny]

No I haven't, i wanted to build up a bit of experience before i started advertising myself. Currently going through Andy Blacks course but even simple things like posting on Nextdoor / Community Facebook groups is something I could easily do. I will post an offer to my neighbours over the weekend and see if i can pick up some more work and if not at least I'll get my name out there.

I've read that flyers are pretty good tools for getting people in, and cheap as well. I'll let you know how I find it once I post mine.

Have you got your Google business profile up? Got some reviews on there? Really important when savvy customers search for you that you've got at least something online.

 

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[EthanH]

I've read that flyers are pretty good tools for getting people in, and cheap as well. I'll let you know how I find it once I post mine.

Have you got your Google business profile up? Got some reviews on there? Really important when savvy customers search for you that you've got at least something online.

I've been thinking about getting some flyers done, I have my own website and google business account. I need to increase my reviews because at the moment I only have 2 and I know from my own experience that I dont really look at businesses with anything under 10.

 

[Spenny]

I've been thinking about getting some flyers done, I have my own website and google business account. I need to increase my reviews because at the moment I only have 2 and I know from my own experience that I dont really look at businesses with anything under 10.

Call up 8 friends & ask for a favour. Bang, there are your 10 reviews

 

[Subsonic]

I've been thinking about getting some flyers done, I have my own website and google business account. I need to increase my reviews because at the moment I only have 2 and I know from my own experience that I dont really look at businesses with anything under 10.

I'd write you one

 

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[Spenny]

I'd write you one

Yep, count me in too.

 

[EthanH]

Yep, count me in too.

Well thanks guys. Here's the link https://g.page/r/Cat3vwZsmFsyEAI/review
Funny thing is out of the two reviews I had google seems to have removed the real one and kept the fake one but oh well.

 

[EthanH]

Today I'm going to introduce myself (and the business) to all the local groups I can. Need to get some pictures of me and the van and I want to get my face out there. I've always been a very shy person but I know that if I want to make this work I need to do things I wouldn't usually be comfortable with.

 

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[EthanH]

Sunday Update:

Spoke to an accountant to get my accounts in order for £85 /month. Seems like a large amount but I know that this is something I need to get on top of.

Created "About Us" page on my website, not quite finished.

Completed first draft of community post to be posted tomorrow evening after changes.

Got some cringey photos of me and my van but it'll have to do for now.

 

[Spenny]

Got some cringey photos of me and my van but it'll have to do for now.

Save some for us man, it's not fair!

 

[jclean]

I'm not sure what that exact issue was but basically I applied a mixture of Sodium Hypochlorite and other chemicals designed to remove organic growth from render and brushed it in with a water fed pole and I'd leave it to sit for about 30 minutes to activate the chemicals and then rinse it off with water. The issue I was having was that there were some very stubborn marks on the render that wouldn't come off even after multiple applications of the chemical. The customer still ended up leaving me a 5 star review however due to my persistence so she must've been somewhat pleased.

I'd definitely recommend getting into pressure washing but most of my work over the past week has come from gutter / fascia cleaning and I still haven't had a proper pressure washing job yet despite investing over £2500 in equipment. The only problem I'm finding is some customers view it as the same as being a gardener and think anything above £25ph is outrageous but I price per job and sometimes my hourly rate comes to £60+ /hour.

10 years in the same business here is some insight :

Pressure washing has good margins but try to focus on recurring revenue like window cleaning.
This wil keep you busy all year round and not only from march until september.
Window cleaning is also easier to scale with employees.
Pressure washers are very unreliable for that reason we only rent this equipment. Some months 2 weeks. Owning the equipment isn't worth the headache been there done that.

I have seen your picture. You currently like most of us in this business and dont have a brand that stands out and for that reason you will always be depended of marketing and expensive ads.

Try to look different from al your competitors.
You want that people turn there head for your van. And more important remember your brand.
You are just starting now you can change everything very easy and inexpensive.

1)Work with a visual an animal, a mascotte...
2)Choose colors that are not typical in your sector maybe purple and orange instead of blue and white.

Read the e-myth by M. Gerber for some reason this book 'clicks' very well for service business owners.

If there is something i can help you with just shoot i am glad to help.

 

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[Spenny]

Window cleaning is also easier to scale with employees.

How's it easier to scale? Can't you just tell the employee to follow an operating procedure to clean a roof?

Pressure washers are very unreliable for that reason we only rent this equipment.

How come? Please elaborate.

 

[jclean]

How's it easier to scale? Can't you just tell the employee to follow an operating procedure to clean a roof?


How come? Please elaborate.

Window cleaning is easier to scale because:

The work itself is easier, safer to perform.
You get recurring revenue preferably
monthly or bi- monthly ...
After a while you know how much time a job is going to take.
So you can make a good profitable schedule.
Window cleaning is in europe for the most part all year round. In 2022 we only had one day off due to weather.

With pressure washing each job is different. Sometimes you need a boom lift, sometimes you need a ladder, there are a lot of surfaces each with there own specific cleaning methods. If you dont know what you are doing it is dangerous, and you can do a lot of damage.

If there is to much wind,rain, cold you cant perform the work due to safety reasons.
You can guess how much time its going to take but you never are really sure.

(last week we had a job that we thought was going to take 7 hours. it has become 14 working hours)

 

[EthanH]

Monday Update:

Hitting a rough patch with Bark, didn't contact any customers over the weekend and tried contacting about 6 today but had no response from anyone. Need to focus on generating more leads to come to me such as google ads, Facebook ads and flyers.

In terms of flyers I've finished a design for a flyer and I am in the process of getting them printed. I'm going to spend a day this week walking around my target areas and distributing about 250. Will update on how it goes.

Still working my way through the Andy Black Google Ads Course.

If anyone else can leave me a google review it'd really help! https://g.page/r/Cat3vwZsmFsyEB0/review

I just need to stay consistent and trust the process with this.

 

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[EthanH]

Window cleaning is easier to scale because:

The work itself is easier, safer to perform.
You get recurring revenue preferably
monthly or bi- monthly ...
After a while you know how much time a job is going to take.
So you can make a good profitable schedule.
Window cleaning is in europe for the most part all year round. In 2022 we only had one day off due to weather.

With pressure washing each job is different. Sometimes you need a boom lift, sometimes you need a ladder, there are a lot of surfaces each with there own specific cleaning methods. If you dont know what you are doing it is dangerous, and you can do a lot of damage.

If there is to much wind,rain, cold you cant perform the work due to safety reasons.
You can guess how much time its going to take but you never are really sure.

(last week we had a job that we thought was going to take 7 hours. it has become 14 working hours)

Right, makes sense. I'm interested in adding window cleaning as a service, even if its not the main source of income it'd be useful to interact with a larger amount of customers and I could build it up over time into a bigger round. Do you have any advice for growing window cleaning in the beginning? Would you gain customers through ads or would you consider door to door whilst getting started? Thanks

 

[jclean]

Right, makes sense. I'm interested in adding window cleaning as a service, even if its not the main source of income it'd be useful to interact with a larger amount of customers and I could build it up over time into a bigger round. Do you have any advice for growing window cleaning in the beginning? Would you gain customers through ads or would you consider door to door whilst getting started? Thanks

View: https://youtu.be/bs1Z5DdlSDs


Here is somebody from the uk that is making a killing.
You are from the uk so if it works for him it will work for you

The most important lessons to be learned from this guy:

He only works with flyers as advertising. 10.000 a time.
( i only do google ads)

He only allows people on a 6 week or 12 week schedule. Easy to make schedules
( we do monthly bi monthly or every 3 months)

He only (mostly) works with residential clients.
( we also have big corporate clients)

He uses the same type of vans / equipment this keeps the business simple and easy to maintain.
( we do the same)

He uses a software gocardless this collects all his earned money automatically.
( something i dream off doing)

He provides +- easy services as window cleaning gutter cleaning and fascia cleaning. (We also do 4 easy services roof cleaning , solar cleaning , window cleaning, gutter cleaning)

This guy turns over more than a million pounds each year.

You dont have to invent every thing on your own. Look and learn from people that already done/doing it.

 

[EthanH]

View: https://youtu.be/bs1Z5DdlSDs


Here is somebody from the uk that is making a killing.
You are from the uk so if it works for him it will work for you

The most important lessons to be learned from this guy:

He only works with flyers as advertising. 10.000 a time.
( i only do google ads)

He only allows people on a 6 week or 12 week schedule. Easy to make schedules
( we do monthly bi monthly or every 3 months)

He only (mostly) works with residential clients.
( we also have big corporate clients)

He uses the same type of vans / equipment this keeps the business simple and easy to maintain.
( we do the same)

He uses a software gocardless this collects all his earned money automatically.
( something i dream off doing)

He provides +- easy services as window cleaning gutter cleaning and fascia cleaning. (We also do 4 easy services roof cleaning , solar cleaning , window cleaning, gutter cleaning)

This guy turns over more than a million pounds each year.

You dont have to invent every thing on your own. Look and learn from people that already done/doing it.

I always over looked window cleaning to be honest. But I've just watched the video and it's really eye opening. The easiest and most profitable work I've done over the past couple of weeks has been cleaning gutters and fascias with a water fed pole and a sky vac. I've been earning £60+/hour So i have all the equipment to do those jobs. I just dont have a tank.

I assume you will carry your own water in your tanks?

I've only got a tiny little van so I dont know if its worth going through the route of getting a tank installed or just using a portable tank for now. How did you get started?

Thanks for sharing this, it's been really useful. Definitely looking into this.

 

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[jclean]

I always over looked window cleaning to be honest. But I've just watched the video and it's really eye opening. The easiest and most profitable work I've done over the past couple of weeks has been cleaning gutters and fascias with a water fed pole and a sky vac. I've been earning £60+/hour So i have all the equipment to do those jobs. I just dont have a tank.

I assume you will carry your own water in your tanks?

I've only got a tiny little van so I dont know if its worth going through the route of getting a tank installed or just using a portable tank for now. How did you get started?

Thanks for sharing this, it's been really useful. Definitely looking into this.

Yes you carry your own water:
So that you dont have to rely on the customer.
It is also a lot quicker.

I bought a used one. 350 liter in my old citroen berlingo.
You can chose to buy your pure water see link for uk

Self-Service Ultra Pure Water Network | Spotless Water

We are the UK’s leading 24 hour self-service ultra-pure water network providing a solution for many different industries.

www.spotlesswater.co.uk

or to make it yourself.

In your van you can put a 250 liter system gives you enough water for half a day of work... not ideal but you can make it work !

 

[svekk1]

Well done Ethan, definitely keep on going.

How did you get the know-how? As @jclean mentioned, pressure washing can be a pain and cause issues. The chemicals too.