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re: Anyone do pressure washing as a side business?

Posted on 7/10/18 at 9:11 am to
Posted by Cmk07c
Metairie
Member since Jan 2017
218 posts
Posted on 7/10/18 at 9:11 am to
What the end game is the most important decision initially in my mind now that im looking back. You have to decide if you want to eventually go full time or always keep it a side gig. Both have their own pros and cons obviously.

From 2009 until 2011 or 2012, I was part time, a "hustler." I was working for a major healthcare provider, doing the corporate thing. I was making 36 or 39k a year with benefits. After insurance, 401k, etc. I would bring home roughly 1000 bucks every other week. I was miserable in that cubicle and on top of that I was working pretty much every Saturday and Sunday pressure washing. I eventually got to the point where in my head I was like I could definitely make 500 a week pressure washing And go on my wife's insurance. You'll do that and have that mentality for a year or two, but eventually you have to scale, eventually you'll want to have help and then comes another can of worms. Eventually you'll want weekends back. And eventually what was once a cash business becomes one where you may operate at 50 percent in a good year. Have you seen the cost of workers comp, pay roll taxes, general liability and commercial auto in this state? At times I feel like I work to make payroll and chip away at my quarterly IRS tax payments. That's when I miss it being a side gig.

Mrs. Stella down the street whose driveway you cleaned for a hundred bucks 10 years ago doesn't grasp inflation and overhead.
Posted by gumbo2176
Member since May 2018
15250 posts
Posted on 7/10/18 at 9:32 am to
quote:

Mrs. Stella down the street whose driveway you cleaned for a hundred bucks 10 years ago doesn't grasp inflation and overhead.



Yep, this is especially true for the older generation, of which I'm now part of, but I did tons of work in the construction field for years, so I know how it goes.


Many of the older folks are remembering when gas was $.50 a gallon and if you made $200 a week you were living the good life.

I've done a lot of work for friends over the years and didn't charge them what I normally would. Now that I no longer am wanting to do that crap except for myself, they are now finding out how good a deal they got and some of them are shocked------but like you mentioned, the cost of running a business is insanely high so that's what it costs to do business and make a profit.
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