One thing I have always said as an entrepreneur is; “To hell with the economy, we’re here to win in the marketplace and we’ll find a way,” which is perhaps why when an acquaintance who runs a pressure washing company recently asked me what he could do as a local business. In his area, which is being hit by the economy, I told him that not everyone is suffering in the economy, there are always sectoral rotations and some companies are doing better than others. I told; “It’s your job to find out which customers are doing it right and are willing to spend the money to get their facility cleaned properly, to get even more business.”
For example, when retail is down and malls aren’t paying pressure washers to come around as often, maybe it’s time to look for restaurants. Oh, but you say those are down too, that may be true, but not the fast food restaurant sector. They generally do better in a down economy because they can sell their products at lower prices and meet the demands of consumers who don’t have as much money in their pockets. Right now there is a drought, and the farmers are having problems feeding their animals, so they are taking them to the slaughterhouse early. This is causing the price of meat to drop dramatically, and we will see more dollar menu items.
Therefore, these QSR’s or quick service restaurants that you know as “fast food places” will be working with a high volume low cost strategy. Still, they will need to have their facilities pressure washed. Below are some of the price quotes I can recommend for pressure washing fast food restaurants;
Garbage Area, Drive-Thru, Sidewalks:
$275.00 on time, or $225 per ounce per month, or $200 bi-weekly per store.
Pressure washing and cleaning a metal roof facade band around the building:
$250.00 and you realize you have to clean the sidewalks and clean the windows afterwards.
Washing and pressure cleaning the entire metal roof of a fast food restaurant:
$1200 and be very careful, it gets very slippery, and doing it with stairs is hard work, also watch out for scratches. You may need extra extension poles with towels on the ends to dry it out as you go, very rusty, bird droppings, stains, to get it right you really need to wax it but if you charge $2500 check my figures and be very honest with the time you think it will take at $85 an hour, make sure my numbers match, if not, raise the price. Once you give the roof a good clean, offer them a monthly cleaning for $600.
The first time is a total hassle, it’s going to be a mess and you’ll have to pressure wash all that reddish, bluish, yellowish or greenish water off the concrete or it will leave stains on the sidewalk and parking lot too. Think if that’s going to be an extra challenge depending on the site, every site and water drainage is different, then charge more accordingly. Please consider all this and think about it.
