Multi faceted

[TBR Roof Cleaning WNY]

The more I read on the forum and think about the specific area I will be serving when I finally get this ball rolling it becomes obvious that Roof Cleaning alone most likely wouldn't keep the doors open. My population centers are nill compared to many of your locations.  

Many of you succesful business operators that I've been following are located near larger populations and I am located in a rural town of 5k people and surrounded by numerous other small towns just the same. The city where I work has possibly 20 k residents but that is the extent of it.

Although I've been contemplating back n forth for over a year about giving this business a go, it was just recently I made the decision to stop "thinking" about starting and actually commit to starting.  Just days ago my initial plan was to become a Roof Cleaning only business but have already realized given my limited market I will need to be more diverse than that to stay afloat.  

What I'm wondering is how many of you that are currently offering more than just Roof Cleaning actually started with your entire focus solely on cleaning roofs? Many of your company names have me guessing that there are plenty of ya that have added services since your start. 

I read a post from a few years back where one of you gave a bit of advice to Woody 77 I believe?? To go after it all (siding - decks- concrete etc) and not just Roof Cleaning. Although they may have been reffering to that for a different reason than my concern of limited population I think it was profound advice and it made me reconsider my initial intended path. 

I hope to get a few responses about some of your decisions to offer additional services since your start, and maybe there are way more of you guys n gals on here that are operating  in more sparsely populated locations such as the ones I'll be marketing in. 

 

 

[ROOF CLEANING OF MID-MO]

I was thinking about only doing roof cleaning but as time went on people asked if I cleaned gutters. So now we clean gutters. Same thing happened with cleaning algae off of siding, now we offer soft washing. I also offer power washing and landscape, mowing, services that I contract out to a buddy of mine that does good work.

 

AS for your service area, Don’t be afraid to travel and charge for it. From what I could see you are about 1 ½ hours from Buffalo, NY and Erie, PA. Make it a point to try and schedule multiple jobs in each city on the same day. While it might not be that beneficial to drive there every day but if you do 2-4 houses each trip and charge each one $35-$50 travel fee, you’ll have $100-$200 for travel expenses. My service radius is about 60 miles; the largest city I serve is a little over 100,000 with a lot of towns between 1,000-10,0000. 

 

Edited April 29, 2016 by ROOF CLEANING OF MID-MO

[Roof Cleaning Virginia]

Erick - very well said. You've done some homework.  Given that you are NOT in an 'NFL City', you'll likely need to offer the full gambit of services to stay fully productive revenue-wise.  As you get more and more busy, you can begin to pick and choose which services you may drop, and those that you'll continue to focus on and offer full time.

Set yourself up for long term success.  Cast a wide net, and go after the market with a fire in your eye and in your heart!

Choose your initial equipment selection wisely, as time is money.

Good luck and keep us informed of your progress!

[TBR Roof Cleaning WNY]

Thanks for your input MID-MO. I'm happy to hear you are doing well in a smaller market similar to what I'll be in. The landscape and mowing topic was something I talked about with a good friend yesterday in that business. He felt that once I was up n running he would be able to throw some work my way because of all the jobs his clients ask if  him to do ontop of their lawn care. He's had multiple opportunities to clean exterior structures and hardscape and didn't have a means to do it correctly or anyone to reccomend for them to contact. Now he would have an outlet for that once I was operational. So I can see how having some connections In other services can land more work through referral and vice versa to friends that offer other services. Thanks again for your response and have a good weekend. 

[TBR Roof Cleaning WNY]

Erick - very well said. You've done some homework.  Given that you are NOT in an 'NFL City', you'll likely need to offer the full gambit of services to stay fully productive revenue-wise.  As you get more and more busy, you can begin to pick and choose which services you may drop, and those that you'll continue to focus on and offer full time.

Set yourself up for long term success.  Cast a wide net, and go after the market with a fire in your eye and in your heart!

Choose your initial equipment selection wisely, as time is money.

Good luck and keep us informed of your progress!

Thanks for your advice and your encouragement. I believe it was you I was reffering to that gave Woody 77 the advice about going after it all and not just Roof Cleaning.  I soak in more information everyday on here as I pour through topics whenever I can. At first I was all set to get a Bandit set up from Bob at PT store and go clean roofs with a setup that mimicked Bruce Sullivan's who by the way I have learned a lot from just on YouTube. Now I'm not sure but still leaning towards 12 v to start just for space mainly. If I don't get a trailer right away I will be operating out of my truck and space will be limited so that was my reasoning ontop of the fact that there are still many of you that are in the 12 v camp and use them day in and day out successfully . There seems to be an ongoing debate with electric vs air and I see the pros and cons to each. In my particular case it's gonna be a space issue for the time being that decides for me.

Anyways since my initial niave plan of just getting some equipment and a cpl yard signs and going head first in to cleaning roofs with reckless abandon, I have slowed my roll down and I am really concentrating on the business and branding side.  I'm mostly bogged down with the logistics of running a successful business I guess. I have a lot of learning to do on the marketing and day to day business aspect of this startup for sure. 

Not my strong suit I admit but I'm coming around to it slowly. I took the day off work today and hope to be all official by days end with an EiN # and a bank account so I can start compiling things I need to be operational equipment wise.  The hard part is getting a website organized without any real life experience or before and after pics. I want to get some marketing stuff around such as yard signs and possibly a professional looking flyer an such. It is all new to me and I am certainly open to any advice on those topics. How did you start out as far as you advertising/ marketing material? Did you get right after it from the start or did it take you some time and on job experience to get your marketing rolling? I have endless questions and surely more as the days pass. I do believe that after I  finish getting my business formed today and have my name and logo all set I will be getting the premium membership in shirt order and I know that will open up some more doors as far as practical knowledge an such. 

Again I really appreciate you guys taking the time to respond to my questions, and I look forward to conversing more as I move forward. 

[Apple Roof Cleaning (813) 655-8777]

We are nearly 85% roof cleaning ONLY, but, I started over 20 years ago, and have built up a huge customer base. If I was starting over today, I would cast a wide net, like Ted Saunders says. However, there is way more money here in Tampa cleaning roofs, vs house washes.  I can do 2 roofs in the time it taked to wash a house.

[TBR Roof Cleaning WNY]

Thanks for chiming in Chris. It means a lot coming from you considering your experience. If you would be going after cleaning everything if you started over today and with Teds advice echoing that I know I was on the right path with my thinking. So as of right now I am officially a business owner although I have no website or logos or equipment etc I do have a name and a fed id#. 

TBR Roof & Exterior Cleaning WNY.  All legit now an I got my quote from Joan at Joeseph Walters Ins. Not to bad either. Dropped a couple ideas off at the graphic designer a bit ago and now I'm waiting for the kids to get done with school. It has been a good day lol. So glad I took the day off and got this rolling finally. 

Have a great day and I'll keep reaint and gaining knowledge. 

[ZapItWash]

Good info

[Apple Roof Cleaning (813) 655-8777]

Thanks for chiming in Chris. It means a lot coming from you considering your experience. If you would be going after cleaning everything if you started over today and with Teds advice echoing that I know I was on the right path with my thinking. So as of right now I am officially a business owner although I have no website or logos or equipment etc I do have a name and a fed id#. 

TBR Roof & Exterior Cleaning WNY.  All legit now an I got my quote from Joan at Joeseph Walters Ins. Not to bad either. Dropped a couple ideas off at the graphic designer a bit ago and now I'm waiting for the kids to get done with school. It has been a good day lol. So glad I took the day off and got this rolling finally. 

Have a great day and I'll keep reaint and gaining knowledge. 

Also, u will need some Gig to help make it through the winters, some plow snow, etc, etc.

[TBR Roof Cleaning WNY]

Chris: I am Set for winters for the time being while I get this new venture up and running. I am doing the business on the side and have the full time job until such time as I could justify walking away from it if this takes off. I've pretty much accomplished nothing this week besides getting a few items. Tractor supply Booster Pump and 200' 3/4" mean green ( Black ) hose and a ladder stand off. I've attempted to email you using the icon in your profile but I'm thinking it didn't work. Would it be ok to call the number you provided after 9pm. I have some questions elated to the order I should be proceeding. Also posted about a compressor I spotted for sale and would live yours or any of the other air guys feesback. It wasn't in my budget but I am thinking it's a good one. Thanks for all you do for this forum. It is really addicting to be honest!!! Can't stop reading. 

[PeakOfPerfection]

Being diversified is a good thing. A lot of guys add gutter cleaning, soft wash siding washes and concrete power washing to their menu of services. If you learn how to do wood cleaning properly, you can do decks and fences. Cedar roof cleaning is another highly specialized cleaning services. And don't ignore the obvious add on services you can do with just the roof cleaning. 

We make a nice little bit of extra income installing safety anchors on the 2 story houses...an average of $1700/mo in bottom line revenue...about $3K in Gross, just installing safety anchors which are easy to do and set you apart from your competition...plus they are value added for the client. As a direct operator, you could make more as I pay my employees to do it. 

If you join as a premium member, Ted Saunders will tell you another way to make a boatload of added revenue that is dead simple to do, good for you clients and fast. 

 

[TBR Roof Cleaning WNY]

Thanks for your input P-O-P. I have really been soaking up some great information since getting access to the other side of the forum. I read Teds piece I believe you are reffering to. Great stuff for sure. 

[Apple Roof Cleaning (813) 655-8777]

This is just my opinion, but I suggest not putting all the services you perform on one website. Not a week goes by we don't take roof cleaning business from the "jack of all trades, master of none" cleaning outfits here in our area. We position our company as what we are, roof cleaning experts.  You would be surprised at how many people call us, because they perceive us as roof cleaning experts. Also, SEO will always be better on a dedicated to roof cleaning website, vs a "we clean houses, driveways, plow snow, and pull teeth".  Extra services on your website only confuses Google, especially if they are on the same page.