It must be nice being up north where you can charge good prices. How can someone compete with this? there is way too much of this going on down hear in south west FL. It is very discouraging having to compete with this. especially just starting my business back up again and trying to get everything running.
Competitor prices!!!
Driveway cleaning starting at $50 includes walkway up to house. (extra large and circular driveways may be higher)
Trailer mounted equipment.
Other services offered.
Low pressure roof cleaning. single story shingle $175 2 story shingle $225
single story tile $275 2 story tile $325
BAFFLED!!
BlueRidge said
Dec 3, 2016
I would hate to have to live on those prices knowing I'm shut down for two months.
Fred W said
Dec 3, 2016
Steven,
Don't take this personally but you are looking at it the wrong way......
You're asking "How can someone (I) compete with this?" Why the heck would you want to compete with that????
Set the bar, jump over it and let them wonder why they can't compete with you!
Seriously....When someone say's "your prices are higher than xyz company" I always respond with "Yeah, I'm not sure why they can't compete with us" which is almost always met with a funny look or "No, I said you were higher!" which causes me to say "Yeah, I'm not sure why they can't compete with us".
No way I start defending myself and my prices. No way I start talking about how I have workers comp, overhead, proper equipment.....nope, not for me. If they push I put them in a position of defending the low baller. Even something as simple as saying "How do you think he can do this job for that price?" If they want to push about the price then they don't understand quality and I don't want to work for them.
Steve, do the best job you can do. When you're done,,,,walk around the entire job and FIND SOMETHING you did wrong or could have done better.....do this on EVERY JOB. Pick apart your own work and fix it right then and there. Get picky and raise your prices to match your talents. Quit looking over your shoulder......set the bar, jump over it and let them wonder why they can't compete with you!
PowerShine Property Services said
Dec 3, 2016
The season hear is October to March. 70% of the community is snow birds. A lot of people want there property cleaned before they get hear so October is a mad dash for cleaning. Most of the time you see 5 or 6 cleaning companies on the way to your next job its crazy.
Maverick Contracting said
Dec 3, 2016
(At Brett) 2 month's?!
Roof cleaning more like 4 in NY.
------- Cost of living up north can be 4 times more than parts of FL. Try $15-18k a year property taxes for 1/4-1/2 acre ranch.
Still, those prices are ridiculous
-- Edited by Maverick Contracting on Saturday 3rd of December 2016 09:55:08 PM
PowerShine Property Services said
Dec 3, 2016
Thanks Doug for the good advice. No offense taken that is why I am hear to learn new ways to make my business better and to help others if I can. All input is always welcome.
BlueRidge said
Dec 4, 2016
Baton Rouge Roof Cleaner wrote:
Steven,
Don't take this personally but you are looking at it the wrong way......
You're asking "How can someone (I) compete with this?" Why the heck would you want to compete with that????
Set the bar, jump over it and let them wonder why they can't compete with you!
Seriously....When someone say's "your prices are higher than xyz company" I always respond with "Yeah, I'm not sure why they can't compete with us" which is almost always met with a funny look or "No, I said you were higher!" which causes me to say "Yeah, I'm not sure why they can't compete with us".
No way I start defending myself and my prices. No way I start talking about how I have workers comp, overhead, proper equipment.....nope, not for me. If they push I put them in a position of defending the low baller. Even something as simple as saying "How do you think he can do this job for that price?" If they want to push about the price then they don't understand quality and I don't want to work for them.
Steve, do the best job you can do. When you're done,,,,walk around the entire job and FIND SOMETHING you did wrong or could have done better.....do this on EVERY JOB. Pick apart your own work and fix it right then and there. Get picky and raise your prices to match your talents. Quit looking over your shoulder......set the bar, jump over it and let them wonder why they can't compete with you!
Doug, what you are saying is so true but it takes work, believing in yourself at a point of almost being Joe Cockery! I have been to two Huge Conventions where I had the fortune to interact with Howard Partridge. I have implemented a number of things thanks to him but one I never thought of was... raise my prices. It is actually working. I am cutting out the low ballers and tire kickers. We are able to spend more time on the jobs to do the kind of work we want to do. Honestly, when it comes to quality, we do not have competition.
I think that was great advice for Steve. There are more people out there who WANT quality work than you think. We just did a job yesterday for a couple who were elated with the entire process. From the first email to the last hose put away. Then, just before we left she told me the other company she called didn't answer the phone, the mailbox was full and called her (I guess she emailed him) the day before we cleaned. That was almost two weeks!
Go get the good ones Steve. They will notice the difference!
Jeff Thompson said
Dec 4, 2016
Steven is right. In my recent post where I put up my equipment for sale one of the main contributing factors is exactly what Steven is describing. Up north they are called low ballers, down here it is just business as usual.
I got a chance to see one of what I considered a company to be of the same caliber of mines estimate he left on the front porch once. House, driveway, wood deck, pool deck, roof (asphalt), wood fence......he came in at $700.00. I wanted the job because I was tired of loosing out and had nothing else on the schedule...came in at $775.00 and explained the benefits of soft washing vs pressure washing and still lost the bid. Point being this is one of the more reputable companies where I am at and they are even way undercharging.
Doug and Brett, respectfully in response to your post.....I spent two years after moving from Michigan to Florida trying to be the better company and charging the better prices. "My methods are superior because blah blah blah"..I would get some work because those who hired me understood the value I brought. But I couldn't find enough of those people to sustain or get the business up and running, ultimately refocusing my efforts being a sales rep won.
In my opinion down here in south Florida you have two choices....work all day and bust your butt for $50.00 driveways and scratch out a tough living or spend years developing a higher end cleaning company. At age 51 option A is basically something I just am not willing to do after being working up north, and option B would put me at age 57 or so when the business maybe develops into something sustainable.....by then being up on 120* plus roofs in the summer would be a tough gig....it's already a tough gig being a young 51. Those hot summer days when the heat index peaks over 120* is a tough days work....and that is basically all summer.
Good luck Steven and I mean that sincerely. If you are young and can get 10 driveways in a day at $50 that is a $500 day. A good day for most cleaners down here. But that is a lot of travel, set up and breakdown for one days work.
Unless you have worked both areas as I have, the advice people up north give to the Floridians holds true but there are grey areas. Stand by your product and beliefs and don't settle for less.....good advice to someone that wants to build a better company than the next guy....the problem is our best still boils down to $50-$75 driveways. Its a crime but that is what the market has done to this industry down here.
One of my wife friends is a snow bird and was so cheerful in telling her up in New York she needs to pay $600 for her house to be washed and down here it costs her $75. What are you supposed to do with that....tell her she needs to pay $300 down here because I do a better job? Not going to fly. She is quite happy paying the $75 for her 2000q ft house.
I had a talk with a guy running around doing $60 house cleanings (driveway included). Asked him why, he said because I am always busy and making money. I suggested he just doubled his price to $120. He would make twice as much and even if he lost half his base with the raise he would make as much as last year and only work half as much.......he didn't get it and is still busting his butt for $60 house washes. The whole mentality is just different down here.
-- Edited by Jeff Thompson on Sunday 4th of December 2016 06:34:17 AM
Diamond Roof Cleaning said
Dec 4, 2016
I wouldnt even get the crust out of my eyeballs for 60 bucks. I enjoy travelling to florida but i would never live there and try and start a power washing business. The roads are more packed than jersey, the people are the worst drivers i have ever seen. There must be a market somewhere in florida where people pay close to the derserved cost of house washing.
Our minimum charge is 250. Some places we go to i have a 500 minimum charge. I only close between 60-75% of all calls that come in.
PowerShine Property Services said
Dec 4, 2016
I will have to make it work somehow. I do paver sealing also so I am considering trying to get more customers doing that. Just have to grow and adapt. Determined!! thanks everyone for chiming in.
Fred W said
Dec 4, 2016
Let me just add that this. There are those areas and/or types of businesses that no matter what you do you can't grab the market because you are overpriced. You may not feel you're prices are even worth working for but you're still overpriced no matter what.
If that's the case then you need to alter what you do. You need to be different. I'm not up north. I'm here in the south. There are a crazy ton of guy's here with pressure washers. I'm a "Soft Wash" company.....and that is what I sell. Can you "Soft Wash" with a pressure washer? Sure, guy's do it every single day, but I'm different, I don't use a pressure washer because I "Soft Wash" and that is....what I sell. It is what makes me different.
I like the idea Steven, get more into paver sealing or whatever it is that can make you different. Just remember what Brett said above "Honestly, when it comes to quality, we do not have competition."
That statement alone even helps keep me focused.
Bryan P said
Dec 5, 2016
Baton Rouge Roof Cleaner wrote:
Let me just add that this. There are those areas and/or types of businesses that no matter what you do you can't grab the market because you are overpriced. You may not feel you're prices are even worth working for but you're still overpriced no matter what.
If that's the case then you need to alter what you do. You need to be different. I'm not up north. I'm here in the south. There are a crazy ton of guy's here with pressure washers. I'm a "Soft Wash" company.....and that is what I sell. Can you "Soft Wash" with a pressure washer? Sure, guy's do it every single day, but I'm different, I don't use a pressure washer because I "Soft Wash" and that is....what I sell. It is what makes me different.
I like the idea Steven, get more into paver sealing or whatever it is that can make you different. Just remember what Brett said above "Honestly, when it comes to quality, we do not have competition."
That statement alone even helps keep me focused.
I tried to do off-season gutter cleaning this fall and quickly learned that I was losing money on residential. Now I'm focusing on HIGH gutters that nobody else wants. I have a machine where I can clean 3 stories from the ground...so I'm getting stuff nobody else will bid. I think that's kinda the idea...finding a niche and riding it hard.
It must be nice being up north where you can charge good prices. How can someone compete with this? there is way too much of this going on down hear in south west FL. It is very discouraging having to compete with this. especially just starting my business back up again and trying to get everything running.
Competitor prices!!!
Driveway cleaning starting at $50 includes walkway up to house. (extra large and circular driveways may be higher)
Trailer mounted equipment.
Other services offered.
Low pressure roof cleaning.
single story shingle $175
2 story shingle $225
single story tile $275
2 story tile $325
BAFFLED!!
I would hate to have to live on those prices knowing I'm shut down for two months.
Steven,
Don't take this personally but you are looking at it the wrong way......
You're asking "How can someone (I) compete with this?" Why the heck would you want to compete with that????
Set the bar, jump over it and let them wonder why they can't compete with you!
Seriously....When someone say's "your prices are higher than xyz company" I always respond with "Yeah, I'm not sure why they can't compete with us" which is almost always met with a funny look or "No, I said you were higher!" which causes me to say "Yeah, I'm not sure why they can't compete with us".
No way I start defending myself and my prices. No way I start talking about how I have workers comp, overhead, proper equipment.....nope, not for me.
If they push I put them in a position of defending the low baller. Even something as simple as saying "How do you think he can do this job for that price?"
If they want to push about the price then they don't understand quality and I don't want to work for them.
Steve, do the best job you can do. When you're done,,,,walk around the entire job and FIND SOMETHING you did wrong or could have done better.....do this on EVERY JOB.
Pick apart your own work and fix it right then and there. Get picky and raise your prices to match your talents. Quit looking over your shoulder......set the bar, jump over it and let them wonder why they can't compete with you!
(At Brett) 2 month's?!
Roof cleaning more like 4 in NY.
-------
Cost of living up north can be 4 times more than parts of FL. Try $15-18k a year property taxes for 1/4-1/2 acre ranch.
Still, those prices are ridiculous
-- Edited by Maverick Contracting on Saturday 3rd of December 2016 09:55:08 PM
Doug, what you are saying is so true but it takes work, believing in yourself at a point of almost being Joe Cockery! I have been to two Huge Conventions where I had the fortune to interact with Howard Partridge. I have implemented a number of things thanks to him but one I never thought of was... raise my prices. It is actually working. I am cutting out the low ballers and tire kickers. We are able to spend more time on the jobs to do the kind of work we want to do. Honestly, when it comes to quality, we do not have competition.
I think that was great advice for Steve. There are more people out there who WANT quality work than you think. We just did a job yesterday for a couple who were elated with the entire process. From the first email to the last hose put away. Then, just before we left she told me the other company she called didn't answer the phone, the mailbox was full and called her (I guess she emailed him) the day before we cleaned. That was almost two weeks!
Go get the good ones Steve. They will notice the difference!
Steven is right. In my recent post where I put up my equipment for sale one of the main contributing factors is exactly what Steven is describing. Up north they are called low ballers, down here it is just business as usual.
I got a chance to see one of what I considered a company to be of the same caliber of mines estimate he left on the front porch once. House, driveway, wood deck, pool deck, roof (asphalt), wood fence......he came in at $700.00. I wanted the job because I was tired of loosing out and had nothing else on the schedule...came in at $775.00 and explained the benefits of soft washing vs pressure washing and still lost the bid. Point being this is one of the more reputable companies where I am at and they are even way undercharging.
Doug and Brett, respectfully in response to your post.....I spent two years after moving from Michigan to Florida trying to be the better company and charging the better prices. "My methods are superior because blah blah blah"..I would get some work because those who hired me understood the value I brought. But I couldn't find enough of those people to sustain or get the business up and running, ultimately refocusing my efforts being a sales rep won.
In my opinion down here in south Florida you have two choices....work all day and bust your butt for $50.00 driveways and scratch out a tough living or spend years developing a higher end cleaning company. At age 51 option A is basically something I just am not willing to do after being working up north, and option B would put me at age 57 or so when the business maybe develops into something sustainable.....by then being up on 120* plus roofs in the summer would be a tough gig....it's already a tough gig being a young 51. Those hot summer days when the heat index peaks over 120* is a tough days work....and that is basically all summer.
Good luck Steven and I mean that sincerely. If you are young and can get 10 driveways in a day at $50 that is a $500 day. A good day for most cleaners down here. But that is a lot of travel, set up and breakdown for one days work.
Unless you have worked both areas as I have, the advice people up north give to the Floridians holds true but there are grey areas. Stand by your product and beliefs and don't settle for less.....good advice to someone that wants to build a better company than the next guy....the problem is our best still boils down to $50-$75 driveways. Its a crime but that is what the market has done to this industry down here.
One of my wife friends is a snow bird and was so cheerful in telling her up in New York she needs to pay $600 for her house to be washed and down here it costs her $75. What are you supposed to do with that....tell her she needs to pay $300 down here because I do a better job? Not going to fly. She is quite happy paying the $75 for her 2000q ft house.
I had a talk with a guy running around doing $60 house cleanings (driveway included). Asked him why, he said because I am always busy and making money. I suggested he just doubled his price to $120. He would make twice as much and even if he lost half his base with the raise he would make as much as last year and only work half as much.......he didn't get it and is still busting his butt for $60 house washes. The whole mentality is just different down here.
-- Edited by Jeff Thompson on Sunday 4th of December 2016 06:34:17 AM
Our minimum charge is 250. Some places we go to i have a 500 minimum charge. I only close between 60-75% of all calls that come in.
If that's the case then you need to alter what you do. You need to be different. I'm not up north. I'm here in the south. There are a crazy ton of guy's here with pressure washers. I'm a "Soft Wash" company.....and that is what I sell. Can you "Soft Wash" with a pressure washer? Sure, guy's do it every single day, but I'm different, I don't use a pressure washer because I "Soft Wash" and that is....what I sell. It is what makes me different.
I like the idea Steven, get more into paver sealing or whatever it is that can make you different. Just remember what Brett said above "Honestly, when it comes to quality, we do not have competition."
That statement alone even helps keep me focused.
I tried to do off-season gutter cleaning this fall and quickly learned that I was losing money on residential. Now I'm focusing on HIGH gutters that nobody else wants. I have a machine where I can clean 3 stories from the ground...so I'm getting stuff nobody else will bid. I think that's kinda the idea...finding a niche and riding it hard.