With relatively minimal investment needed to get going, starting a pressure washing business seems pretty simple to set up, but the reality is that the process involves more steps than most might think.
If you want to get started without any nasty surprises and fast-track your road to launch, there are some fundamentals to think about first. It all starts with a solid business plan, the rest, we’ll cover in this article.
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Before starting your pressure washing business, you need to do some research and planning to ensure that you're setting yourself up for success. Start by looking into the local competition to see if you can identify the following:
Now that you’ve got a handle on your competition, the next step is to make it official by registering your business. When deciding on your business structure, think about your goals for the future. Are you looking to grow a team, or fly solo forever?
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Before you get started, it’s worth checking to see if there are any water usage restrictions or regulations in your area. While some councils won’t charge you anything to use water if you’re a business, others will. So make sure you know what the deal is and budget accordingly if it’s going to cost you money.
Painful as it might be, you have to spend money to make money when starting a pressure washing business. While you don’t need to break the bank on fancy bells and whistles, there are a few basics that you’ll need to invest in to get off the ground. Consider the following:
One of your biggest upfront costs when starting a pressure washing business is the tools. Again, the goal here is to start off with the essentials and then work your way up to purchasing the nice-to-haves. Here are some tools & equipment that you need to have:
The good news is, anything you buy that’s vital to the running of your business can be claimed as a business expense.
In addition to claiming some tax back on your expenses, there is also a range of business loans available that can help you get across the line if affordability is an issue.
When you have your pressure washing business up and running, it’s essential to prepare for the unexpected. That’s where business insurance comes in.
Read our article on business insurance for contractors & tradespeople.
Learn more about keeping your tools safe.
As a trade business owner, you’re not expected to know the ins and outs of bookkeeping. Thankfully, if accounting isn’t your forté, there are plenty of great software options available to do almost all of it for you.
Here’s what we recommend:
Find out if you need to hire an accountant.
While a lot of work can come through word of mouth, it can’t be relied upon exclusively. Marketing is an essential part of running a successful contracting business and that means more than just coming up with a business name… even if it's just setting up a website.
Tradify's Business Name Generator will check domain, Facebook, and Instagram availability.
For more ideas for marketing your pressure washing business, download the Tradify Marketing Plan for Tradespeople.
If you’ve followed the steps above, then you’re ready to get your business off the ground. The important thing is that you start as you mean to go on, so get your admin organised with Tradify job management software.
Tradify is the app that helps you manage all aspects of your pressure washing business, like sending quotes and invoices, scheduling jobs, or taking payments — it can even help you to create your own website in minutes.
Start your 14-day free trial.