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WELCOME<br />
TO MY<br />
NIGHTMARE
contents<br />
FEATURES<br />
12<br />
OPERATOR<br />
PROFILE:<br />
Never Give Up<br />
Against the<br />
odds, softwash<br />
entrepreneur Pat<br />
Clark achieves the<br />
American Dream<br />
18<br />
WELCOME<br />
TO MY<br />
NIGHTMARE<br />
One of the world’s leading landscaping<br />
and window cleaning influencers shares his<br />
nightmarish story of starting (and closing) a<br />
pressure wash business<br />
DEPARTMENTS<br />
3 Editor’s Letter: OMAHA!<br />
Gridiron advice for business owners trying to groom their<br />
employees for greater responsibility<br />
3 Industry Dirt<br />
A look around the exterior cleaning world for news and<br />
notes of interest<br />
3 Commentary: Flying Dogs<br />
Successful business owners have “dogs,” or better yet, a<br />
“pack of dogs” biting their hands<br />
Vol. 4, No. 2, Spring <strong>2022</strong><br />
Publisher: Jackson Vahaly<br />
Editor: Drew Ruble<br />
Design: Katy Barrett-Alley<br />
Pressure Wash News is published 4 times per year and is independently owned by Jackson Vahaly.<br />
All inquiries should be directed to: Pressure Wash News, 110 Childs Ln. Franklin, TN<br />
37067 | jacksonv@pressurewashnews.com<br />
Copyright © <strong>2022</strong> 2 Dollar Media / Pressure Wash News. All Rights Reserved.<br />
2 | PRESSURE WASH NEWS | VOL. 4, NO. 2 | SPRING <strong>2022</strong>
EDITOR’S<br />
NOTE<br />
Omaha!<br />
A friend of mine, a high school football<br />
coach, was talking to me the<br />
other day about grooming a young<br />
player to be his future quarterback.<br />
Listening to him, I thought it<br />
outlined some good advice for business<br />
owners trying to groom their<br />
employees for greater responsibility.<br />
It also well-defined the difference<br />
between being managed and being led.<br />
For a coach, a lot is riding on<br />
the development of one position in<br />
particular – the quarterback. So what<br />
do you do to mentor a 16-year-old<br />
kid who holds your professional fate<br />
in his hands?<br />
Well, according to my friend, you<br />
pray. And then you go to work trying<br />
to elevate the young man’s grasp of<br />
the game from “having” to “knowing”<br />
to “understanding.”<br />
Let me explain.<br />
When you are coaching or mentoring<br />
a quarterback, you are first trying<br />
to move them from a state of simply<br />
“having” or possessing something<br />
(in this case, their God-given talent<br />
and the playbook), to “knowing”<br />
something, meaning possessing sufficient<br />
familiarity with their abilities,<br />
shortcomings, and the playbook to<br />
execute plays.<br />
The next step is elevating them<br />
from “knowing” the playbook to<br />
“understanding” the playbook, a state<br />
where they are capable of synthesizing<br />
the concepts of the offense<br />
you are trying to run and (through<br />
education, experience, and a coach’s<br />
investment in their personal development)<br />
begin to produce novel new<br />
outcomes as a result of the architecture<br />
you put in place.<br />
So a talented freshman quarterback<br />
shows up on campus, and<br />
you hand him the playbook. That’s<br />
“having” both from a talent and materials<br />
standpoint. There’s really not<br />
much more to it.<br />
The kid gets to work and soon has<br />
a basic sense or awareness of the playbook<br />
or blueprint, and begins to run<br />
it with the second stringers in practices.<br />
In his sophomore year, though,<br />
you bring him out to practice, and<br />
you really start installing the offense,<br />
providing him a fundamental knowledge<br />
of the plays and objectives.<br />
This takes him from simply “having”<br />
to “knowing.” You accomplish this<br />
progress not by force feeding him<br />
information or endlessly running<br />
tasks but by asking him questions<br />
like ‘when you run this play, what are<br />
you looking for? What do you do?’<br />
to test his knowledge. His answers,<br />
when right, signal that he is learning<br />
– that he has indeed progressed from<br />
“having” to “knowing.” He can say ‘I<br />
know to do this and this and this,’ and<br />
he knows because you are asking him<br />
and engaging him.<br />
The final step, then, is “understanding.”<br />
This is the process of<br />
turning him loose in to the game<br />
and letting him read the defense and<br />
make decisions in real time based on<br />
the mentoring he has received.<br />
When a quarterback is walking<br />
to the line of scrimmage, correctly<br />
reading the defense, amending play<br />
calls based on what he sees<br />
and “understands,” and making<br />
touchdowns happen with the<br />
clock ticking down at the end of<br />
the game, that coach on the sideline<br />
has done their job.<br />
You should be employing the<br />
same approach in your efforts to<br />
develop your workforce – specifically<br />
your protégé. Because not unlike<br />
with a quarterback on the field, their<br />
outcomes will impact your company’s<br />
performance and your job security,<br />
determining if you win or lose at<br />
the game of business.<br />
It’s not about giving them tasks<br />
(yes, there are always tasks) – it’s<br />
about developing them as people<br />
so they go from having to knowing<br />
to understanding. At that point, the<br />
tasks will take care of themselves.<br />
Touchdown!<br />
Drew Ruble<br />
drewruble@gmail.com<br />
Editor | PW News<br />
VOL. 4, NO. 2 | SPRING <strong>2022</strong> | PRESSURE WASH NEWS | 3
Flying<br />
Dogs<br />
Successful business owners have “dogs,”<br />
or better yet, a “pack of dogs” biting their hands<br />
Editor’s Note: Chuck Violand<br />
founded Violand Management<br />
Associates in 1987. VMA is a<br />
leader in executive development,<br />
management training, and business<br />
performance maximization for<br />
entrepreneurial restoration and<br />
cleaning companies. As an author<br />
and popular speaker (including at<br />
past <strong>PWN</strong>A/CETA conventions),<br />
Violand is a respected authority on<br />
entrepreneurial small businesses,<br />
having spent more than 30 years<br />
as both a business consultant and<br />
an executive coach. He is a regular<br />
contributor to trade journals and<br />
newsletters and is the author of<br />
the popular weekly leadership<br />
series Monday Morning Notes. See<br />
violand.com for details or contact<br />
them at 1-800-360-3513.<br />
BY CHUCK VIOLAND<br />
Entrepreneurs can be their own<br />
worst enemy. Despite our best intentions<br />
and the dreams we have of<br />
building business empires, many of<br />
us continually shoot ourselves in our<br />
own feet … with our own gun!<br />
As a result, our businesses and<br />
the people we employ suffer. Sometimes,<br />
what we need most isn’t more<br />
sales or more cash or better systems.<br />
Sometimes, what we need is someone<br />
or something to take the gun out<br />
of our hands to keep us from hurting<br />
ourselves!<br />
Fortunately, there’s help on the<br />
way, and it comes in the form of a<br />
story from the airline industry.<br />
As the story goes, there was a<br />
passenger boarding a plane (pre-<br />
COVID) who looked through the<br />
open door to the flight deck and<br />
noticed that the only occupants were<br />
a pilot and a dog.<br />
Curious about this, he turned to<br />
the flight attendant who was greeting<br />
the boarding passengers and<br />
asked, “What’s up with the dog on<br />
the flight deck?”<br />
The attendant explained that<br />
autopilot technology had advanced<br />
to the point where planes actually<br />
fly much smoother and have a much<br />
better safety record when pilots<br />
don’t handle the controls but, instead,<br />
let the autopilot fly the plane.<br />
She added, “But, pilots are only<br />
human and have a high need to control<br />
their environment, so most of<br />
them find it impossible to keep their<br />
hands off the controls. Our airline<br />
devised a creative way to address this<br />
problem.”<br />
She went on to explain, “FAA<br />
regulations require that all aircraft<br />
have a pilot on board at all times.<br />
The dog is also highly trained and is<br />
there to bite the pilot’s hand if he<br />
tries to touch any of the controls.”<br />
“So, why have the pilot there at<br />
all?” the passenger asked.<br />
“He’s there to feed the dog,” she<br />
replied.<br />
Successful business owners have<br />
“dogs” on their own “flight decks.”<br />
In business, these dogs are known<br />
as managers, advisors, and spouses<br />
to name just a few. Just as with the<br />
airplanes in our story, these owners<br />
know their business performs better<br />
and they are a much better business<br />
leader when they actually listen to<br />
them.<br />
The best dogs are able to take the<br />
self-destructive gun out of our hands<br />
and then have us show them gratitude<br />
for doing so. They keep us from<br />
hurting ourselves and our business<br />
by repeatedly shooting ourselves in<br />
the foot. Some of us (this author<br />
included!) may require more than<br />
one dog to keep us in line.<br />
Outsiders are frequently in<br />
better positions than the owner to<br />
recognize when they would benefit<br />
from the presence of a dog. They<br />
can more easily observe the limitations<br />
placed on the business by the<br />
owner’s behavior and the decisions<br />
they make.<br />
Countless books have been written<br />
on the importance of building<br />
strong management teams in growing<br />
businesses. These teams are just<br />
another term for the pack of dogs an<br />
owner needs to help them stay on<br />
course and grow their company.<br />
The question that begs asking<br />
is why more business owners don’t<br />
4 | PRESSURE WASH NEWS | VOL. 4, NO. 2 | SPRING <strong>2022</strong>
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FLYING DOGS<br />
hire (and listen) to them.<br />
The first hire a business owner<br />
makes is oftentimes the trusted office<br />
manager/bookkeeper. Or at least<br />
it should be. This is one dog only a<br />
handful of pilots can do without.<br />
Yet many owners resist bringing this<br />
person on board, and despite all their<br />
pleading to the contrary, it’s usually<br />
not because they can’t afford them.<br />
In fact, most businesses can’t afford<br />
not to hire them.<br />
While many of us won’t say it out<br />
loud, one of the strongest underlying<br />
reasons we delay this hiring is because<br />
of trust. Or more accurately, a<br />
lack of trust. This is an issue that goes<br />
deep with business owners and could<br />
fill the pages of several articles.<br />
Some owners dupe themselves<br />
into thinking that if they manage the<br />
books themselves, they’ll suddenly<br />
discover a level of personal organization<br />
and detail that has eluded them<br />
until now (which is highly unlikely).<br />
My experience has shown that<br />
when tracking a company’s financial<br />
performance over time, you<br />
can almost see the date when the<br />
owner finally hired the right person<br />
to manage the office and the books.<br />
The company’s performance almost<br />
always visibly improves. Most important<br />
of all is that this person has<br />
the skills to manage the owner!<br />
This is a dog who knows when<br />
and how to bite the owner’s hand<br />
when needed.<br />
The whole scenario about making<br />
the right hire to manage the office<br />
and the books doesn’t end with this<br />
one position. It will repeat itself<br />
over and over in other positions as<br />
the company continues to grow. The<br />
need for additional dogs, sometimes<br />
with advanced skills, will continue.<br />
Another reason some owners<br />
resist bringing talented people on<br />
board is because they’re afraid those<br />
people will be smarter or better liked<br />
than they are. They also fear losing<br />
control of the company or having<br />
their authority undermined. After all,<br />
it’s not often that owners get petted<br />
on the head and told what a great<br />
job they’re doing.<br />
These justifications seem rational<br />
in the mind of the business owner,<br />
yet they place a significant constraint<br />
on the growth of the company,<br />
which is something most owners<br />
don’t see.<br />
Oftentimes business owners are<br />
unaware of the changes taking place<br />
in the markets they serve and within<br />
their own industry that can have<br />
disastrous effects on their business<br />
if they’re not recognized and addressed.<br />
A good dog can sense things<br />
an owner simply can’t. They have<br />
heightened sensitivities and a greater<br />
awareness of things within their own<br />
areas of expertise. No owner can be<br />
expected to have all these insights.<br />
I’ll even make a case that the best<br />
business pilots are the ones who’ve<br />
surrounded themselves with a pack<br />
of dogs. And not all these dogs<br />
have the title of manager or have<br />
an advanced degree as part of their<br />
pedigree.<br />
Having bite marks on their hands<br />
or receiving an occasional growl<br />
might make an owner think their<br />
dogs don’t appreciate them, but the<br />
opposite is usually the case. In fact,<br />
I believe these are indicators of the<br />
best dogs. They may cause pain in<br />
the short term, but they pay huge<br />
dividends in the long run.<br />
And it’s the best owners who<br />
have learned that a rolled-up newspaper<br />
isn’t the right response to<br />
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6 HNY80604 | PRESSURE PressureWashNews_March2021_HPH_SNC_VF.indd WASH NEWS | VOL. 4, NO. 2 | SPRING 1 <strong>2022</strong><br />
2/9/21 2:40 PM
INDUSTRY<br />
DIRT<br />
A look around the cleaning equipment<br />
world for news and notes of interest<br />
Send your company news and press releases to drewruble@gmail.com<br />
Virtual Reality<br />
Pressure washing entered the multibillion-dollar<br />
video gaming realm in<br />
2021 when UK-based FuturLab's<br />
PowerWash Simulator game was<br />
created and launched to allow would-be<br />
pressure washers blast dirt into oblivion<br />
right from their desktop.<br />
The game puts a power washer<br />
in the gamer’s hands and lets them<br />
blast away on a dirty two-story house.<br />
Gamers try to achieve 100% progress<br />
on the task. Eventually the game maker<br />
created more scenes to clean, additional<br />
equipment, and even a chance to open<br />
your own pressure wash business.<br />
Now the game has received a software<br />
update with new features.<br />
Gaminglyfe.com reported that<br />
FuturLab released their latest<br />
update for Steam Early Access title<br />
POWERWASH SIMULATOR in<br />
early <strong>2022</strong>. Published by Square Enix<br />
Ltd, the 0.8 update features four new<br />
career jobs, Vintage Car challenges, and<br />
colorful cosmetics.<br />
According to Gaminglyfe.com, the<br />
POWERWASH SIMULATOR update<br />
now allws players who build their own<br />
power washing business now “unearth<br />
some of the town’s hidden history in<br />
the abandoned Subway Platform.”<br />
Players can also “take a trip to the desert<br />
and help Harper reveal the mysteries of<br />
an Ancient Statue.”<br />
Nerdstash.com highlighted other<br />
new scenarios in the game such as where<br />
players “lean off the eggy engine of a stunt<br />
plane” or “express your vision of cleanliness<br />
with the Fortune Teller’s Caravan.”<br />
You can even travel to space and<br />
pressure wash if you like by choosing<br />
the “Clean the Mars Rover” mission. Be<br />
warned, however; the hatch of Mars Rover<br />
is missing, and you’ll need to find it.<br />
Lead designer Dan Chequer also<br />
added new sprayer and character<br />
cosmetics, as well as “plenty of updates<br />
on the technical side” including “an<br />
unconventional fix to get save data up to<br />
date” and a “fix for the previously slipper<br />
ladders. In this new update, players no<br />
longer slide off the sides of ladders.”<br />
According to Nerdstash.com, the<br />
game “focuses on player escapism and<br />
relaxation.”<br />
For those readers who just can’t get<br />
enough real live pressure washing by<br />
day, PowerWash Simulator is available<br />
at https://store.steampowered.com.<br />
7 | PRESSURE WASH NEWS | VOL. 4, NO. 2 | SPRING <strong>2022</strong><br />
VOL. 4, NO. 2 | SPRING <strong>2022</strong> | PRESSURE WASH NEWS | 7
INDUSTRY DIRT<br />
Keeping it Klean<br />
Last edition, we profiled Jacksonville,<br />
Florida-based Krystal Klean, a building<br />
care company - and a subsidiary of<br />
FLEETWASH - which had recently<br />
announced the finalization of two<br />
acquisitions -- Reflections Window &<br />
Pressure Washing of Jacksonville, Florida<br />
and Spray-Wash of Tallahassee Florida.<br />
These represented the 121st and 122nd<br />
acquisitions by the group.<br />
The moves came after Krystal Klean<br />
joined forces with FLEETWASH in<br />
June 2019. According to a press release,<br />
the organization leverages the significant<br />
reach and shared operational efficiencies<br />
to acquire and grow niche or smaller<br />
building care and cleaning companies<br />
throughout the United States.<br />
Well, Krystal Klean is at it again.<br />
The Southeast's leading building care<br />
company announced in early <strong>2022</strong> the<br />
finalization of an additional acquisition.<br />
The company purchased Window<br />
Doctors of Brunswick Georgia. The<br />
30-year-old, family-run business serves<br />
more than 2,000 customers in St.<br />
Simons Island, Sea Island, Jekyll Island,<br />
and Brunswick, Georgia. The acquisition<br />
adds solar panel cleaning services,<br />
window cleaning, stain removal, and<br />
gutter cleaning capacity to Krystal<br />
Klean's Southeast division.<br />
Krystal Klean's Jeremy Morgan<br />
stated at the time of the acquisitions<br />
that there will be no change for existing<br />
customers to either business and also<br />
that key personnel will remain with each<br />
company, including owners Jim and<br />
Nancy Catlett. "If you have a cleaning or<br />
coating business with annual revenues<br />
from $200,000 to $200 million, we'd<br />
like to talk," Morgan added.<br />
Krystal Klean offers a full range of<br />
painting, pressure washing, sealing and<br />
coating, window cleaning, and waterproofing<br />
services. With more than 90<br />
team members and a fleet of specialized<br />
equipment, Krystal Klean is equipped to<br />
service any type of building.<br />
For more information visit www.<br />
krystalklean.com.<br />
Case in Point<br />
Tom D’Agostino, an attorney and<br />
legal editor who has three decades of<br />
experience following employment law,<br />
disability law, and education law trends,<br />
and who is a graduate of the Duquesne<br />
University School of Law and a member<br />
of the Pennsylvania bar, published an<br />
article on HRmorning.com, an employment<br />
law outlet, answering the question<br />
“how far do employers have to go to<br />
keep their employees safe at work?”<br />
HRMorning.com, part of the<br />
SuccessFuel Network, provides the<br />
latest HR and employment law news<br />
for HR professionals in the trenches<br />
of small-to-medium-sized businesses,<br />
helping HR execs understand what HR<br />
trends mean to their business.<br />
In the case D’Agostino explored,<br />
C&W Facility Services, Inc. v. Secretary of<br />
Labor, No. 20-11789, <strong>2022</strong> WL 123113<br />
(11th Cir. 1/13/22), an employee<br />
drowned while pressure-washing a<br />
dock. At the time, he was not wearing<br />
a personal floatation device. The big<br />
question, D’Agostino asked: Did his<br />
employer have a legal obligation to make<br />
sure he used one? And what factors<br />
went in to arriving at the right answer?<br />
In a new ruling, D’Agostino reported,<br />
the U.S. Court of Appeals for the<br />
Eleventh Circuit provided some insight.<br />
Here was D’Agostino’s explanation:<br />
“For about a year, Johnnie Norton<br />
worked at the Tampa Convention<br />
Center in Florida.<br />
“One of Norton’s job duties was to<br />
pressure-wash a concrete dock that was<br />
approximately 290 feet long and 10<br />
feet wide.<br />
“The dock did not have any guardrails<br />
or barricades, and in some areas the<br />
water in the bay just off it was 19 feet<br />
deep. Norton used a pressure washer.<br />
“While performing this job task,<br />
Norton fell into the bay and drowned.<br />
At the time, he was not wearing a<br />
personal floatation device.<br />
“When the Occupational Safety<br />
and Health Administration (OSHA)<br />
learned about the death, it sent a<br />
compliance officer to investigate.<br />
“The officer learned that there had<br />
been no prior similar incidents. He also<br />
learned that two other employees who<br />
similarly pressure-washed the deck<br />
voluntarily wore personal floatation<br />
devices when they did so. The devices<br />
were available in an employer warehouse.<br />
“Also, an operations manager at the<br />
convention center told the officer that<br />
Norton answered in the affirmative<br />
when he asked if he could swim.<br />
“Following the completion of<br />
the investigation, OSHA cited the<br />
employer, saying it should have<br />
provided a personal floatation device<br />
to Norton and required him to use it<br />
while he pressure-washed the dock.<br />
“OSHA decided that the employer<br />
violated a federal regulation that says<br />
employers must provide protective<br />
equipment “wherever it is necessary<br />
by reason of hazards.” It proposed a<br />
penalty of $12,675.<br />
“The employer contested the citation<br />
before an administrative law judge<br />
(ALJ) who affirmed OSHA’s decision<br />
after a hearing.<br />
“The ALJ found that OSHA had<br />
the requisite knowledge of the danger<br />
to be held liable. More specifically, he<br />
decided that the employer had “clear<br />
actual knowledge that [personal protective<br />
equipment] was necessary under<br />
the circumstances” because the dock<br />
was unguarded and lacked ladders. He<br />
also placed great weight on the fact that<br />
two other employees wore life jackets<br />
while washing the dock.<br />
“The matter reached the U.S. Court<br />
of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit for<br />
further review.<br />
“The reviewing court explained<br />
that to hold the employer liable for<br />
a violation of the regulation, OSHA<br />
had to show either that the protective<br />
measure is an industry custom or that<br />
the employer had ‘actual knowledge<br />
that personal protective equipment<br />
[was] needed to protect its employees<br />
from a particular hazard.’<br />
“OSHA conceded there was no<br />
evidence that it is an industry custom<br />
to require employees to wear a life<br />
jacket while pressure-washing a dock.<br />
“That meant the only question<br />
was whether the employer had actual<br />
knowledge that there was a hazard<br />
requiring the use of a personal floatation<br />
device.<br />
“The ALJ misapplied the standard<br />
for actual knowledge, the appeals<br />
court ruled. Actual knowledge requires<br />
knowledge of both the hazard and the<br />
fact that it requires the provision and<br />
use of protective equipment. But the<br />
ALJ wrongfully found that awareness<br />
of the existence of the hazardous<br />
condition was enough, the court said.<br />
“There was insufficient evidence<br />
of actual knowledge in this case, the<br />
appeals court determined.<br />
“None of the factors that the ALJ<br />
relied on – the condition of the dock,<br />
the manager’s question about ability<br />
to swim, the other employees’ use of<br />
life jackets, and the obviousness of the<br />
hazard – showed actual knowledge of a<br />
need to provide protective equipment.<br />
“The other employees’ use of the<br />
devices showed only that their preferences<br />
were accommodated, the court<br />
said, and the manager’s inquiry only<br />
showed that the employer knew the<br />
task could be dangerous for those who<br />
could not swim. The obviousness of a<br />
hazard is not evidence of actual knowledge,<br />
it added.<br />
“The citation was vacated.”<br />
8 | PRESSURE WASH NEWS | VOL. 4, NO. 2 | SPRING <strong>2022</strong>
INDUSTRY DIRT<br />
Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah<br />
Arlington, Massachusetts-based<br />
Zippity, a leader in field service software,<br />
announced in March <strong>2022</strong> it has<br />
raised $3.3 million in seed funding to<br />
expand their mobile automotive software<br />
to owner operators in the home<br />
service industry, allowing these operators<br />
to run their entire business from<br />
their phones. The round was led by<br />
York IE with participation by Schooner<br />
Capital, BP Ventures, LaunchPad<br />
Venture Group, and EmergingVC.<br />
There are more than 1 million<br />
owner-operated onsite service businesses<br />
in the U.S. alone. Yet, the majority<br />
of software ignores the owner-operator<br />
who needs powerful functionality<br />
made extremely simple, according to<br />
Zippity, and very little is being done<br />
to help these businesses with modern<br />
online booking, drive time reduction,<br />
customer management, automated<br />
chat, payment collection, or the other<br />
tools necessary to deliver excellent<br />
customer service while in the field.<br />
Zippity's app enables owner operators<br />
to compete with big businesses by<br />
giving them the most modern customer<br />
experience tools in the industry - all<br />
while being easy to use and letting<br />
them generate value in minutes.<br />
Zippity's app, originally designed for<br />
operators in the automotive mobile<br />
detailing and maintenance industries,<br />
will now enable owner operators in<br />
similar industries in the home service<br />
space, including power washing.<br />
"We originally founded Zippity<br />
Cars, which was a mobile car mechanic<br />
company," said Ed Warren, founder and<br />
CEO of Zippity. "We quickly discovered<br />
that no platform existed for delivering<br />
super modern customer experiences<br />
while on the go. So we built it. We know<br />
everything we've added to Zippity will<br />
help owner operators because we have<br />
been in their shoes and know the pains<br />
they're trying to solve."<br />
Onsite service is more complex<br />
than in-store service. Zippity's owner<br />
operator app enables businesses to get<br />
the following benefits without having<br />
to change their operating system:<br />
• Schedule new appointments near<br />
existing bookings to minimize your<br />
drive time<br />
• Unlimited text and email<br />
communication with customers,<br />
automatically updating them along<br />
the way, while also sharing photos<br />
and videos<br />
• Online booking optimized by<br />
technician based on service vehicle<br />
availability, drive time, and capacity<br />
• Collect payment information at time<br />
of booking so you never have to<br />
chase a customer again<br />
"Everyone, and I do mean everyone,<br />
has needed service in their home at<br />
some point," said Joe Raczka, Managing<br />
Partner, York IE. "We know the men<br />
and women who run these small businesses<br />
are some of the hardest workers<br />
around. But they need help with things<br />
like scheduling and customer interactions.<br />
Zippity is providing that help, and<br />
Ed and team are the right entrepreneurs<br />
to bring it to the market."<br />
Visit www.getzippity.com for more.<br />
The Job at Hand<br />
Toronto, Canada-based Jobber,<br />
the leading provider of home service<br />
management software, released its<br />
latest Home Service Economic Report:<br />
2021 Review in early <strong>2022</strong>.<br />
The report features expert insights<br />
and proprietary data aggregated<br />
from more than 160,000 residential<br />
cleaners, landscapers, HVAC technicians,<br />
window washers, plumbers, and<br />
more, who use Jobber.<br />
"The performance of the Home<br />
Service category has made the trades<br />
an attractive option for entrepreneurs,<br />
those seeking a career change, and young<br />
adults entering the workforce," said Sam<br />
Pillar, CEO & co-founder of Jobber.<br />
"2021 was a notable year as it demonstrated<br />
just how essential the Home<br />
Service category is with its high growth<br />
and unprecedented consumer demand."<br />
According to the report, spending<br />
on Home Service outperformed most<br />
major categories, such as Food and<br />
Beverage Stores, Clothing Stores, and<br />
Restaurants, throughout 2021, with<br />
growth exceeding pre-pandemic<br />
levels. Home Service revenue growth<br />
has been steadily growing since June<br />
2020. Year-over-year median revenue<br />
grew at a faster rate in Q4 2021, even<br />
while new work scheduled during<br />
Q4 2021 slowed, showing companies<br />
were able to make more per job.<br />
Here are some other top findings:<br />
• Contracting businesses benefited<br />
from increasing prices with 12%<br />
revenue growth in Q4 2021.<br />
• Recent growth in the Cleaning<br />
segment's new work scheduled<br />
was driven by a 16% year-over-year<br />
increase in contract jobs.<br />
• The Green segment, which includes<br />
outdoor services such as pressure<br />
washing, lawn care, and landscaping,<br />
experienced high growth in new work<br />
scheduled during 2021, while other<br />
segments slowed down.<br />
• The active real estate market,<br />
further heightened by the desire to<br />
purchase homes before mortgage<br />
rates increase, continued to create<br />
momentum and demand for home<br />
services.<br />
• The U.S. housing market is nearly<br />
four million homes short of buyer<br />
demand; the supply of newly built<br />
units has been unable to satisfy this<br />
ever-increasing demand.<br />
• With limited supply, homebuyers are<br />
turning to older homes or choosing to<br />
invest in their current home; as such,<br />
home improvement and maintenance<br />
expenditures are tracking toward<br />
double-digit growth in <strong>2022</strong>.<br />
• Home Service businesses have their<br />
own unique dynamics related to<br />
payment collection. Some businesses<br />
like the immediate liquidity of cash,<br />
while others prefer to take checks<br />
for a large job so they don't have to<br />
pay credit card transaction fees. That<br />
said, Jobber's data does indicate that<br />
adoption of payment technology is on<br />
the rise.<br />
• Online payments grew to 39% of all<br />
payments processed across all Home<br />
Service segments.<br />
• Green businesses, which showed the<br />
lowest percentage of online payments<br />
prior to the pandemic, has seen rapid<br />
adoption, climbing over 35%.<br />
• The challenge to hire skilled trade<br />
workers remains widespread, despite<br />
a significant opportunity in earning<br />
potential for those who choose to<br />
enter Home Service.<br />
• Half of the people who exited the<br />
labor market in 2021 were 55+,<br />
accelerating the rate of retirement—a<br />
macro trend that also impacted Home<br />
Service.<br />
• The ratio of hires to job openings<br />
continued to grow, such that job<br />
openings widely outnumbered positions<br />
being filled.<br />
"It's a testament to the resilience of<br />
the Home Service category that revenue<br />
growth can be sustained even when<br />
there's a drastic shortage of talent,"<br />
summed up Abheek Dhawan, VP,<br />
Business Operations at Jobber. "With<br />
Home Service demand at a record high,<br />
the category remains ripe with opportunity<br />
for those willing to enter it."<br />
Jobber is an award-winning business<br />
management platform for small<br />
home service businesses.<br />
10 | PRESSURE WASH NEWS | VOL. 4, NO. 2 | SPRING <strong>2022</strong>
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INDUSTRY DIRT<br />
Market Growth<br />
Chicago-based Arizton Advisory<br />
and Intelligence, which provides<br />
market intelligence reports and advisory<br />
and consulting services, released<br />
a study in February <strong>2022</strong> finding that<br />
the mobile pressure washer market<br />
by revenue is expected to grow at<br />
a compound annual growth rate<br />
(CAGR) of more than 4% during<br />
the period 2021−2027.<br />
Key highlights offered in the<br />
report included:<br />
• The global mobile pressure washer market would realize an absolute<br />
growth of 27.56% in terms of revenue in the period between 2021-2027.<br />
• The electric mobile pressure washer segment accounted for majority<br />
share of the global mobile pressure washer market in 2021 and is<br />
expected to grow with an 4.27% CAGR during the forecast period in<br />
terms of revenue.<br />
• The hot-water segment dominated the global mobile pressure washer<br />
market with a revenue share of 63.74% in 2021 and is expected to grow<br />
with a CAGR of 4.47% by the end of 2027.<br />
• In terms of output, 1,501-3,000 PSI segment dominates the global mobile<br />
pressure washer market in 2021 and is expected to add over USD 242.37<br />
million revenue during the forecast period.<br />
• The residential segment dominated the global mobile pressure washer<br />
market with a revenue share of 42.02% in 2021 and is expected to grow<br />
with a CAGR of 3.79% by the end of 2027.<br />
• Offline channel accounted for majority share of the global mobile pressure<br />
washer market in 2021 and is expected to grow with an 3.77% CAGR<br />
during the forecast period in terms of revenue.<br />
• Europe dominates the overall mobile pressure washer market with a share<br />
of 35.42% in 2021 in terms of revenue.<br />
• The growth of this market in Europe is mainly supported by the rising<br />
business investments, increasing commercial and residential construction,<br />
government spending on infrastructure, and the growth in the hospitality<br />
sector supported by the rise in travel and tourism in the region.<br />
• Rapid technological advancements in recent years have led to the emergence<br />
of new technologies for washing equipment. One such groundbreaking<br />
innovation in terms of professional cleaning equipment is the<br />
introduction of automatic pressure washers where digitalization, artificial<br />
intelligence, and robotics are technology mega trends.<br />
• Various research has indicated that the budget remains low for investments<br />
in Internet of Things (IoT) Solutions in several companies across industries.<br />
However, with the growing popularity of smart devices, the investment is<br />
expected to witness a year-on-year growth, leading to significant growth<br />
opportunities for vendors in the mobile pressure washer market.<br />
• Moreover, several industries are also facing the unavailability of qualified<br />
workers, due to which several organizations are moving towards<br />
automation.<br />
• With the presence of many vendors the mobile pressure washer market is<br />
becoming highly competitive. The present scenario is driving vendors to<br />
alter and refine their unique value proposition to achieve a stronger market<br />
presence.<br />
• As international players continue to expand their footprint in the market,<br />
regional vendors are likely to find it increasingly difficult to compete with<br />
global players. Moreover, Nilfisk extended its presence in the Australian<br />
market by acquiring Kerrick, a heavy-duty, commercial, and industrial<br />
cleaning equipment provider. Nilfisk has also acquired China-based Viper<br />
Group to gain a leading position in the rapidly growing Chinese market.<br />
• The adoption rate of mobile pressure washers among end-users in the<br />
U.S. and Europe has been impressive. The competition among companies<br />
is intensifying, which will lead to the introduction of many innovative and<br />
advanced solutions in the market in the upcoming years.<br />
A Modest Proposal<br />
Ron Burkett, a photographer and<br />
videographer for the Trussville Tribune<br />
in Trussville, Alabama, caught the attention<br />
of media everywhere, including<br />
Southern Living magazine, when he<br />
pressure-washed a Nativity scene on<br />
his 85-foot driveway last Christmas.<br />
Burkett credited quarantine and<br />
time spent on YouTube for inspiring his<br />
creation. He had previously pressure<br />
washed a mountain scene on to his<br />
driveway. But media reports stated that<br />
his wife is a nativity scene aficionado, so<br />
Political Gains<br />
Kärcher, a German<br />
family-owned company,<br />
and one of the world’s<br />
leading makers of pressure washers and<br />
steam cleaners, formally asked French<br />
politicians earlier this year not to use<br />
its name to score political points.<br />
The company specifically objected<br />
to rightwing presidential candidate<br />
Valérie Pécresse taking its brand in<br />
vain. According to news reports, it is<br />
the latest of several similar complaints<br />
the company has issued in recent years.<br />
Pécresse, the candidate for the<br />
mainstream opposition conservative<br />
party Les Républicains (LR), said<br />
publicly earlier this year that it was<br />
time to “get the Kärcher out of the<br />
cellar again” in order to sweep drug<br />
dealers and criminals out from the<br />
country’s city suburbs.<br />
Pécresse, the French Press stated,<br />
was echoing her predecessor Nicolas<br />
Sarkozy who caused a stir in 2005<br />
when, as the Interior Minister, he said<br />
he planned to use Kärcher’s pressure<br />
cleaner to wash the louts out of the<br />
Paris banlieues.<br />
Burkett set to work.<br />
It seems every month nowadays<br />
that a national story pops up about<br />
some artist or would-be- artist pressure<br />
washing some type of art or scene on<br />
to a driveway, sidewalk, or other dirty<br />
surface. Perhaps those in the industry<br />
should take note and sharpen their<br />
artistic skills. Potential customers might<br />
pay good money for you to create a<br />
piece of artwork instead of clean their<br />
dirty property!<br />
Kärcher’s French<br />
division said Pécresse’s<br />
comments were<br />
“misplaced,” “inappropriate,” and<br />
damaging to the brand.<br />
“Kärcher asks political figures and<br />
the media to immediately cease all<br />
use of its name in the political sphere,”<br />
the company stated in a release. “This<br />
is damaging to the brand and to the<br />
values of the company…The Kärcher<br />
brand is not the ‘banner’ of any political<br />
party … the Kärcher group has<br />
been fighting for years to ensure that<br />
its brand is not exploited in the French<br />
political scene, where it has no place,<br />
and is opposed to it being associated<br />
with any political party or ideology.”<br />
It added that contrary to being<br />
good publicity, it was “harmful because<br />
it associates Kärcher products with<br />
violence and insecurity”.<br />
The company said it is “dedicated<br />
to cleaning” and noted it had just<br />
begun cleaning the Luxor Obelisk<br />
at Place de la Concorde – the oldest<br />
monument in Paris – in partnership<br />
with the ministry of culture.<br />
12 | PRESSURE WASH NEWS | VOL. 4, NO. 2 | SPRING <strong>2022</strong>
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INDUSTRY DIRT<br />
An Early Christmas<br />
An Indiana pressure wash business<br />
was among 30 small businesses<br />
selected from thousands of applications<br />
to receive funds ranging<br />
between $1,500 to $20,000<br />
from Toronto-based Jobber,<br />
the leading provider of home<br />
service management software.<br />
In all, Jobber provided<br />
$150,000 through its grant<br />
program, called Boost by Jobber,<br />
a first of its kind grant program<br />
to help recipients across North<br />
America further invest in their<br />
small businesses and the communities<br />
they serve.<br />
“From experienced entrepreneurs to those<br />
starting a new career in home service, all our Boost<br />
by Jobber recipients are unique—but the incredible impact<br />
they’re making on their local communities is something they<br />
all share,” said Sam Pillar, CEO & co-founder at Jobber. “Our<br />
team was truly inspired by the entrepreneurial stories and<br />
demonstrations of resiliency that were shared with us. Home<br />
service businesses are made up of incredible people and<br />
hometown heroes that deserve to have a spotlight on their<br />
work, their stories heard, and our continued support. This is<br />
our goal for the Boost by Jobber program.”<br />
The grant recipients ranged from pre-business entrepreneurs<br />
to experienced owners and represent a variety of home<br />
services industries, including tree care, lawn care and landscaping,<br />
plumbing, residential cleaning, HVAC, contracting,<br />
carpentry, pressure washing, and more.<br />
These funds will help support entrepreneurs in the<br />
home services category who keep homes and offices<br />
running smoothly, help their friends and neighbors build<br />
meaningful careers, and give back to the communities<br />
where they live and work.<br />
The application process involved written and video<br />
submissions, followed by interviews with Boost by Jobber’s<br />
judging panel. To select the recipients, Jobber individually<br />
scored applicants based on their community contributions,<br />
leadership style, business plans, and the overall impact the<br />
funding would make towards their goals.<br />
The top grant of $20,000 was awarded to experienced<br />
entrepreneur Joseph Gillingham, founder of Heritage Tree<br />
Care. Gillingham started his company, a full service tree care<br />
business, 15 years ago and now employs 20 people during<br />
peak seasons. The company has helped create interactive<br />
outdoor learning spaces for local schools and daycares by<br />
donating labor and repurposed wood chips, logs for seating,<br />
and large outdoor wooden building blocks for children to<br />
play with, all while maintaining 5-star customer service. The<br />
company also supports a network of community gardens and<br />
assists with emergency response for urban animals requiring<br />
rescue from heights.<br />
At least two exterior cleaning companies<br />
received grant money as a result of the<br />
program in 2021. New entrepreneurs<br />
Courtney and Burgess Heberer,<br />
owners of Santa Claus Exterior<br />
Cleaning, in Santa Claus Indiana,<br />
received a $10,000 grant.<br />
Courtney has been a middle<br />
school music teacher and<br />
Burgess previously worked as<br />
a scientist developing infant<br />
formula and childrens’ nutritional<br />
products. Santa Claus Exterior<br />
Cleaning donates 10% of profits to<br />
children in need around the holidays,<br />
and also cleans and sanitizes four local<br />
public school playgrounds at no charge.<br />
“The Boost by Jobber grant was really needed,” said<br />
Burgess Heberer. “We are at this point where we are ready<br />
to take things to the next level and move our business out<br />
of our garage and into its own dedicated space. This grant<br />
is going to help us do that. It’s a big step forward— and to<br />
know your hard work is acknowledged by a partner like<br />
Jobber is awesome.”<br />
Courtney added, “We took a big risk starting this business,<br />
so this is very reassuring. We can’t say enough good things<br />
about the team at Jobber.”<br />
On Facebook, the couple added, “We are so thrilled to<br />
share the news that Santa Claus Exterior Cleaning has been<br />
named the top grant recipient for the New Entrepreneur-<br />
Home Service Business category by Boost by Jobber! Out of<br />
thousands of applicants across the United States and Canada,<br />
it is an absolute honor to be recognized and awarded this<br />
grant. We are working towards building/identifying a larger<br />
workspace, training new staff, and preparing to add new<br />
services and crews. As always, 10% of our profits continue<br />
to help local children need. None of this would be possible<br />
without our amazing customers! Thank you!!”<br />
Kevin Long of Fall Creek Power Wash, LLC in Pendleton,<br />
Indiana was also selected for a grant. In a social media post at<br />
the time, the company stated, “We’re so excited to announce<br />
that Fall Creek Power Wash has officially been selected as<br />
one of 30 businesses across North America receiving a grant<br />
from Boost by Jobber, a program that rewards great work in<br />
home service. As entrepreneurs about to start our first home<br />
service business, we were recognized for our significant plans<br />
to play a positive role in keeping our community’s homes<br />
and offices safe and running, help hardworking people build<br />
meaningful careers, and give back to the community where<br />
we live and work. These funds will support us in launching our<br />
business, and we’re so excited to do great things for our future<br />
employees, customers, and community! Thanks Jobber.”<br />
To learn more about the Boost by Jobber recipients and<br />
their stories, and to watch for updates around next year’s<br />
program, visit www.boostbyjobber.com/<br />
14 | PRESSURE WASH NEWS | VOL. 4, NO. 2 | SPRING <strong>2022</strong>
SUPPORTOUR<br />
ADVERTISERS
INDUSTRY DIRT<br />
Taking Aim<br />
Last edition, we profiled Tampa,<br />
Florida-based private equity firm<br />
Osceola Capital, which is making<br />
waves in the pressure wash industry<br />
with acquisitions aimed at helping<br />
operators grow their business.<br />
Osceola acquired Colorado-based<br />
Top Gun Pressure Washing, Inc. in<br />
August 2019 and has subsequently<br />
grown the largest pressure washing<br />
company in Colorado to the next level<br />
through add-on opportunities.<br />
In April 2020, Top Gun acquired<br />
Bob Popp Building Services (BPBS).<br />
Founded in 1975 and based in Denver,<br />
BPBS provides high-rise, mid-rise,<br />
and ground-level window cleaning<br />
services for commercial businesses<br />
across Colorado.<br />
In May 2021, Top Gun announced<br />
that it had acquired Zoneez Power<br />
Washing & Window Cleaning in<br />
Phoenix, Arizona.<br />
In May 2021, Top Gun made<br />
yet another acquisition, this time<br />
of Denver-based Emerald Isle<br />
Landscaping, expanding the company’s<br />
suite of services into the commercial<br />
landscape market.<br />
Now, in January <strong>2022</strong>, Top Gun<br />
announced that it has acquired two<br />
additional facility services companies:<br />
American Striping Company and Apex<br />
Pavement Solutions.<br />
Concurrently, Top Gun Facility<br />
Services announced it had rebranded<br />
as Tendit Group, representing the<br />
company's comprehensive offering of<br />
exterior facility maintenance services<br />
to commercial businesses, property<br />
managers, and municipalities across the<br />
Mountain West.<br />
The businesses will continue to<br />
operate independently under their<br />
respective brands but share best practices<br />
across all functional areas including<br />
marketing, purchasing, technology, HR,<br />
finance, and accounting.<br />
American Striping Company<br />
(ASC), headquartered in Centennial,<br />
Colorado, is a provider of roadway<br />
and parking lot striping and pavement<br />
marking services. ASC's service<br />
offering includes permanent striping,<br />
temporary striping, marking & striping<br />
removal, specialty applications,<br />
and traffic services. The company's<br />
customers include commercial<br />
businesses, property managers,<br />
municipalities, airports, and government<br />
agencies across Colorado and<br />
Wyoming. Visit www.americanstripingcompany.com<br />
for more.<br />
Apex Pavement Solutions (Apex),<br />
headquartered in Golden, Colorado,<br />
is a provider of asphalt and concrete<br />
maintenance and repair services. Apex's<br />
service offering includes asphalt overlay,<br />
slurry seal, seal coat, infrared patching,<br />
crack seal, roto-milling, and concrete<br />
repair. The company's customers<br />
include commercial businesses, property<br />
managers, HOAs, and municipalities<br />
across Colorado. Visit www.apexpvmt.<br />
com for more.<br />
Alejandra Harvey, CEO of Tendit<br />
Group, said, "The completion of these<br />
acquisitions and the launch of the Tendit<br />
brand marks a significant milestone in<br />
our company's history. These will allow<br />
us to offer a complete suite of services<br />
to our valued customers and serve as a<br />
launching pad to accelerate growth in<br />
Colorado and the Mountain West."<br />
Ben Moe, Managing Partner at<br />
Osceola Capital, said, "We continue to<br />
partner with the best exterior facility<br />
services brands in the Mountain West.<br />
Each brand has an outstanding culture,<br />
and we are excited about the continued<br />
organic and acquisition growth of the<br />
Tendit platform."<br />
Visit www.tenditgroup.com for<br />
more information.<br />
CETA Corner<br />
The Cleaning Equipment Trade<br />
Association (CETA) is a non-profit<br />
organization providing networking,<br />
education, training and regulatory<br />
influence to enable profitable growth<br />
to distributors of power cleaning products<br />
in North America.<br />
• CETA is currently seeking nominations<br />
for Board members on the<br />
CETA Board of Directors. First-time,<br />
returning after an absence, and<br />
successive-term board members and<br />
trustees bring important perspectives.<br />
All voices are needed and welcome.<br />
The deadline April 30th, <strong>2022</strong>. Visit<br />
CETA.org to make a nomination.<br />
• The CETA Board of Directors and the<br />
CETA Scholarship Trustees will meet<br />
in Bloomington, MN, June 7-10, <strong>2022</strong><br />
for a face-to-face meeting. If you are<br />
interested in joining them on June<br />
9th for a day of touring and to get<br />
an update on how Small Off-Road<br />
Engines (SORE) legislation can and<br />
will effect your business, contact the<br />
CETA office at 800-441-0111. Limited<br />
space is available.<br />
• The CETA Scholarship Foundation<br />
annually provides scholarship awards<br />
to students of CETA members and<br />
their employee’s and families. Since<br />
its inception in 1996, the Scholarship<br />
Foundation awards an equal number<br />
of scholarships for each CETA eligible<br />
membership class— including<br />
Manufacturers, Supplier and<br />
Distributors—based on applicant<br />
rankings supplied by any independent,<br />
accredited university. The goal<br />
is to recruit and train future leaders<br />
in the industry. One of the many<br />
benefits of being a CETA member is<br />
the ability for you, your employees,<br />
and immediate family to be eligible for<br />
the Scholarship Program. The CETA<br />
Scholarship Foundation will award<br />
a total of nine scholarships in <strong>2022</strong>.<br />
The scholarships will be awarded in<br />
the amount of $2,000. The deadline<br />
for application is April 30, <strong>2022</strong>. Visit<br />
ceta.org/scholarship-foundation for<br />
an application.<br />
• POWERCLEAN <strong>2022</strong>, CETA’s annual<br />
conference, will be held at Rosen<br />
Shingle Creek Resort in Orlando, FL<br />
October 12th-15th, <strong>2022</strong>. This will be<br />
CETA’s third show co-locating with<br />
Power Washers of North America<br />
(<strong>PWN</strong>A), with the goal of making the<br />
industry stronger together. CETA is<br />
in its 32nd year and <strong>PWN</strong>A will be<br />
celebrating its 30th anniversary at<br />
PowerClean this year. With the technical<br />
issues we are all facing, bringing<br />
the industry together and becoming<br />
stronger are crucial. Strategizing<br />
about optimal approaches will include<br />
sharing ideas and best practices on<br />
the new world post-pandemic. That is<br />
in addition to industry leading exhibitors,<br />
equipment training, seminars,<br />
networking, great speakers, seminars,<br />
technical updates, round tables, and<br />
fun. Attending PowerClean in person<br />
will be refreshing and overdue.<br />
Following months of virtual interaction<br />
everyone looks forward to the realworld<br />
connection. And, yes, some of<br />
that interaction will take place in less<br />
formal settings. The PowerClean golf<br />
tournament and Women of CETA are<br />
two events everyone looks forward<br />
to for networking and having fun.<br />
While both associations will remain<br />
independent and have events on their<br />
own, CETA and <strong>PWN</strong>A feel that these<br />
two great associations can combine<br />
efforts to work towards a common<br />
goal: Two Teams. One Vision.<br />
Advancing the industry forward.<br />
16 | PRESSURE WASH NEWS | VOL. 4, NO. 1 | WINTER <strong>2022</strong>
Never Give Up<br />
Against the odds, softwash entrepreneur<br />
Pat Clark achieves the American Dream<br />
Editor’s Note:<br />
Hester, marketing manager at J<br />
Racenstein, is the former Editorin-Chief<br />
of eClean Magazine. J<br />
Racenstein & Co. is a preeminent<br />
distributor of window washing<br />
supplies, tools and equipment in<br />
the United States. JRC has been<br />
in the business since 1909 and<br />
is nationally recognized as the<br />
comprehensive solution to the<br />
window washing cleaning industry.<br />
BY ALLISON HESTER<br />
Patrick “Pat” Clark is a well-known<br />
name in the soft washing industry,<br />
and for good reason. Pat’s multi-million-dollar<br />
company, Precision<br />
ProWash, has several locations located<br />
across the East Coast. He is also the<br />
founder of Gutter Butter (a company<br />
he runs with the help of his wife and<br />
four young children), a small business<br />
coach, and creator of the “Motivation<br />
Monday” Facebook video series.<br />
While Clark’s success is impressive<br />
in and of itself, his story of how he<br />
achieved that success is a true example<br />
of the American Dream.<br />
■ A HUMBLE<br />
BEGINNING<br />
As a young child, Clark lived in a<br />
trailer park in Dover Plains, New York,<br />
with his grandma and his mom, who<br />
suffered from schizophrenia.<br />
“Mom didn’t want me to go out at<br />
night or be gone for long because she<br />
heard voices telling her someone was<br />
trying to kill me,” Clark said. His father<br />
left when he was born and never had<br />
contact with Clark or his mom again.<br />
When he was 10, Clark’s grandma<br />
passed away, leaving Clark in charge of<br />
watching over his mom and keeping<br />
her out of trouble. For instance, he once<br />
had to run to rescue his mom from a<br />
man in the trailer park who was pointing<br />
a shotgun at her head for calling his<br />
African-American daughter a colorful<br />
name.<br />
His mom received a small check<br />
from social security to pay the rent.<br />
The rest went for food – primarily cereal<br />
and snacks – and cigarettes.<br />
“Kids would make fun of my house,<br />
and they didn’t like coming over,” Clark<br />
said. “My mom would smoke a lot and<br />
the trailer had a buildup of cigarettes. A<br />
friend also witnessed that we once had<br />
very large slugs in our pantry.”<br />
Clark’s mom kept him home<br />
from school a lot because he would<br />
get picked on for being in Special Ed<br />
courses and he would regularly get into<br />
fights. Early tests showed Clark had an<br />
IQ of just 56 (equivalent to mild mental<br />
retardation), but with all that was<br />
going on at home, the bigger problem<br />
was that he couldn’t stay focused or<br />
apply himself.<br />
Then one day, when Clark was in<br />
the seventh grade, the school principal<br />
and two police officers showed up at<br />
his house, telling his mom to make him<br />
go to school or he would be sent to foster<br />
care.<br />
“I ended up punching the principal<br />
in the nose,” Clark said.<br />
A few days later, several police cars<br />
pulled up to the trailer park’s community<br />
center where Clark was playing<br />
basketball. An officer then escorted<br />
Clark to a white Chevy Cavalier – “you<br />
know, the kind social workers always<br />
drive” – where indeed a social worker<br />
was waiting for him. They were moving<br />
him to foster care.<br />
“My heart dropped,” Clark recalled.<br />
When the social worker drove<br />
him home, Pat found his mom fight-<br />
VOL. 4, NO. 2 | SPRING <strong>2022</strong> | PRESSURE WASH NEWS | 17
Never Give Up<br />
ing the officers.<br />
“I ran up and told my mom that it<br />
was going to be ok. This had to happen.<br />
Then I gave her a big hug. We<br />
were both crying, and both knew there<br />
was nothing we could do,” Clark said.<br />
He was told to get a week’s worth of<br />
clothes, socks, and underwear, and then<br />
they took him away to an emergency<br />
foster home.<br />
■ ENTERING THE<br />
FOSTER SYSTEM<br />
Although Clark had always had<br />
food to eat, it wasn’t healthy food, and<br />
he was in fact malnourished. One of<br />
the first things foster care workers did<br />
when he entered the system was try to<br />
make him eat.<br />
“I was in a new environment, scared,<br />
sad, and trying to figure things out,”<br />
Clark said. “It suddenly felt like someone<br />
was stabbing me in the chest. I told<br />
them I didn’t feel good. That I might<br />
need help.”<br />
In reality, Clark was having a panic<br />
attack. But because he wouldn’t eat, he<br />
got in trouble and was sent to his room.<br />
That was the beginning of his monthlong<br />
stay at a group foster home.<br />
After a month there, Clark was finally<br />
sent to his first foster home.<br />
“The dad looked like a biker dude –<br />
a large guy with a bald head and beard,<br />
and he had a bad shoulder,” Clark said.<br />
The boy was immediately put to work,<br />
cleaning floors, doing laundry, and<br />
building a fence.<br />
“I felt like a slave,” he said.<br />
When he started going back to<br />
school at his new home, his foster parents<br />
made him wear a buttoned-up<br />
shirt and nice pants with a belt.<br />
“Everyone would look at me weird<br />
and make fun of me,” Clark said. “One<br />
guy even threw me up against a locker.”<br />
In another instance, Clark tried to<br />
make friends with a neighbor kid up<br />
the street.<br />
“He got some bamboo and just<br />
started hitting me,” Clark said. “Things<br />
turned out bad.”<br />
Clark’s foster parents weren’t much<br />
better. He got in big trouble for waking<br />
his foster mom from a nap because he’d<br />
gotten in some briars and was breaking<br />
out in a rash. Another time, his foster<br />
dad cracked the remote over his knuckles<br />
for changing the TV channel, and<br />
Clark’s hand hurt for days.<br />
■ “JUST THE DUDES”<br />
It took about four months, but<br />
Clark’s uncle Rick eventually gained<br />
custody of him, and he moved to Katona,<br />
New York, where he and his uncle<br />
shared a one-bedroom apartment.<br />
Clark and his uncle Rick started having<br />
some “awesome times.” They’d play<br />
billiards almost every day at the American<br />
Legion Post 1575. They’d also eat<br />
TV dinners and hang out with their<br />
friend John, who owned the apartment<br />
– “just the dudes.” Uncle Rick encouraged<br />
Clark to make good grades, and<br />
Clark started doing better in school,<br />
even getting some awards for helping<br />
new kids in class. He joined the football<br />
team, where he quickly became known<br />
as “Butter Fingers.”<br />
“[Playing] tight end wasn’t going to<br />
work out after all,” Clark said.<br />
Clark also got his driver’s permit<br />
and a job working at the local grocery<br />
store. He saved up enough money to<br />
buy a Chevy Cavalier – and no, not the<br />
social service worker type.<br />
“This one was a blue, two-door RS,<br />
with a nice sound system,” Clark fondly<br />
remembers. “My friends all thought it<br />
was cool!”<br />
However, uncle Rick ‘s work as a<br />
carpenter started slowing down, and<br />
his drinking at the American Legion<br />
increased. Additionally, the apartment’s<br />
owner John passed away, and John’s<br />
daughter didn’t care much for uncle<br />
Rick. Soon evicted, they had no place<br />
18 | PRESSURE WASH NEWS | VOL. 4, NO. 2 | SPRING <strong>2022</strong>
Never Give Up<br />
to go except back to the trailer park<br />
with Clark’s mom two hours away.<br />
After returning to the trailer park,<br />
Clark would drive two hours to his old<br />
school all alone with only a learner’s<br />
permit. He was falling asleep in class<br />
and his teachers soon found out what<br />
was going on. There was talk of sending<br />
him back to foster care.<br />
Facing that bleak possibility, Clark<br />
told his uncle he was going to live with<br />
his friend Eric Sloss and Eric’s family<br />
closer to school. This made uncle Rick,<br />
who had been heavily drinking, really<br />
mad. Clark tried to get to his car to<br />
leave, but his uncle chased him down.<br />
Afraid of his uncle, Clark punched<br />
him in the stomach, then jumped in<br />
his car and accidentally ran over uncle<br />
Rick’s leg.<br />
“I remember it started to pour rain<br />
like I’ve never seen,” Clark said. “I was<br />
speeding 80 miles per hour through<br />
the park, hitting curbs, not stopping at<br />
stop signs, thinking I just ran my uncle<br />
over and I was going to jail. At that<br />
point, I didn’t care if I died.” (Luckily,<br />
Uncle Rick was actually not injured in<br />
the incident.)<br />
Unable to see clearly and sobbing<br />
uncontrollably after everything that<br />
had just happened, Clark continued his<br />
drive toward the Sloss’ house, which<br />
was about 30 minutes away.<br />
“I was going around a corner, not<br />
five minutes from their house, when<br />
my car went sideways past a ‘slippery<br />
when wet’ sign,” Clark recalled. “I remember<br />
seeing two headlights pointed<br />
right at my driver-side door and the fear<br />
in the lady’s eyes.”<br />
Clark closed his eyes and punched<br />
the gas, heading straight for a rock wall<br />
and a row of large trees.<br />
“I still to this day do not know how I<br />
missed the wall and the trees, but God<br />
was watching over me and had greater<br />
plans in store,” Clark said.<br />
The stated granted the Sloss family<br />
guardianship of Clark. Clark’s mom<br />
moved to a mental health facility. His<br />
uncle Rick, sadly, died from cirrhosis<br />
of the liver a short time later. Clark<br />
was the one to find him lying face<br />
down on his bloodied trailer floor. It<br />
was a huge loss.<br />
“I never got to say I love you and I<br />
was sorry,” Clark said. “He never had<br />
kids and did the best he could. He did a<br />
lot to help my mom and me. He taught<br />
me a lot growing up.”<br />
■ A NEW<br />
BEGINNING<br />
By now, Clark was in 11th grade, going<br />
to high school, and going to church<br />
with the Sloss family. He needed a job.<br />
So, he stopped by Eddie’s Auto Repair<br />
every day to ask if Eddie was hiring.<br />
One day, the persistent Clark asked<br />
if he could clean the parking lot, and<br />
Eddie gave him the ok.<br />
“I cleaned that parking lot like no<br />
other!” Clark said.<br />
Because Clark did such a great job,<br />
Eddie asked him the next day if he<br />
wanted to paint all the curbs red.<br />
Before long, Clark was pumping gas,<br />
checking oil, and putting license plate<br />
covers with Eddie’s logo on them on<br />
every car that came through the station.<br />
“That was my marketing idea,”<br />
Clark proudly states.<br />
When Clark finished high school,<br />
though he planned to become an auto<br />
mechanic, he decided to follow an<br />
amazing girl named Shielagh whom<br />
he’d met at church to Bob Jones University<br />
in Greenville, South Carolina.<br />
“I almost failed!” Clark recalls of his<br />
college adventure.<br />
More important than his studies,<br />
he proposed to Shielagh that year on a<br />
rock by the Hudson River.<br />
“Man, did my dreams come true<br />
that day when she said yes!” Clark said.<br />
The newlyweds returned to South<br />
Carolina because it was cheaper and a<br />
lot warmer than New York. Clark had<br />
a job lined up with a friend whose dad<br />
owned a home construction company.<br />
“I did whatever needed done,” Clark<br />
said. “I was making $500 a week, and<br />
had a kid on the way.”<br />
Then one day, Clark noticed the<br />
painter was pressure washing the<br />
houses right before they went on the<br />
market. He asked his boss if he could<br />
wash them instead and would charge<br />
$100 per house. His boss agreed. Clark<br />
bought a Dodge truck with an 8-foot<br />
bed and a “little red pressure washer,”<br />
then started washing two houses per<br />
week for extra cash.<br />
“These houses would take my wife<br />
and me eight hours to clean in those<br />
days,” Clark said.<br />
Clark also started washing his boss’s<br />
trucks as well, which led to an idea: mobile<br />
auto detailing.<br />
“No one that I knew of was doing<br />
it in that area,” Clark said. So he put a<br />
water tank in the back of his truck and<br />
would gravity feed his pressure washer<br />
to wash cars. He also bought a long<br />
hose for his shop vac.<br />
“I designed my own flyers and started<br />
looking online and at YouTube to<br />
learn how to buff, etc.,” he said.<br />
It was 2007, and the economy was<br />
about to implode. Soon, the construction<br />
company Clark worked for went<br />
out of business. Clark turned full-time<br />
to mobile auto detailing to try to make<br />
ends meet. He admits he didn’t know<br />
much about washing, and knew even<br />
less about running a business.<br />
■ “NEVER, NEVER,<br />
NEVER GIVE UP!<br />
It was hard, but he made it work.<br />
Still, 2009 was an especially tough one<br />
for the Clarks and their family business.<br />
In fact, they debated throwing<br />
in the towel on the business altogether.<br />
Shielagh said she remembers how<br />
scared she felt when she realized there<br />
was no money to buy groceries.<br />
Around that time, Clark just happened<br />
to hear an old Winston Churchill<br />
quote on the radio: “Never, never, never<br />
give up!” said the voice of the former<br />
British Prime Minister famous for his<br />
inspiring speeches. By happenstance,<br />
that very same week, Clark saw the exact<br />
same quote printed in a magazine.<br />
Even more incredible, his mom, though<br />
she was oblivious to his struggles, gave<br />
him a plaque she had found at a thrift<br />
store with that very same quote on it.<br />
Clark said confident that the Lord<br />
wanted them to stick it out, they<br />
trudged along with the business.<br />
In 2010, the Clarks attended an industry<br />
round table hoping to find the<br />
missing ingredient to fuel their business.<br />
They couldn’t afford the hotel, so<br />
they placed a mattress in the back of<br />
their Astrovan and slept there.<br />
“Some people were kind enough to<br />
let us come shower and get cleaned up<br />
in their room,” Clark said.<br />
That’s where Clark first heard about<br />
soft washing and roof cleaning. It’s also<br />
where he met AC Lockyer of Softwash<br />
Systems, who had just started a consulting<br />
business.<br />
Clark decided to hire Lockyer to<br />
help shepherd his business to success.<br />
“I didn’t know how we were going<br />
to pay him,” Clark said. “We were living<br />
off of rice and beans. My office was<br />
in a closet. We couldn’t afford to pay<br />
our electric bill. But I knew I needed to<br />
learn, so we skimped and saved.”<br />
On December 15, 2010, when<br />
Lockyer came to Clark’s home, Clark<br />
paid him his consulting fee then turned<br />
to him and said, “That was my last<br />
$4,000. Where do we go from here?”<br />
Little could he have dreamed where<br />
that leap of faith would land him.<br />
■ THE<br />
TURNAROUND<br />
Clark could clean, and he could talk<br />
to people. The problem was, he knew<br />
very little about running a business.<br />
Lockyer taught Clark all about marketing<br />
a softwash business and helped<br />
him set up a business plan. Clark took<br />
the plan and ran with it. In January<br />
2011, he put out about 1,000 flyers per<br />
week. That January, Precision Pro Wash<br />
LLC brought in $15,000 – more than<br />
triple what they had previously grossed<br />
in a good January.<br />
But that was just the beginning.<br />
That January 2011 success was the<br />
start of a “paradigm shift” in Clark’s way<br />
of thinking. He was no longer just a guy<br />
who knew how to clean; he was a business<br />
owner and entrepreneur. Through<br />
his work with Lockyer as well as other<br />
coaches – and through a lot of lessons<br />
from what he deemed the “school of<br />
hard knocks” – Clark learned how to<br />
overcome numerous business-related<br />
hurdles. Here are just a few:<br />
1. Money: Clark realizes now he<br />
was initially afraid of growth,<br />
and that his money mentality<br />
19 | PRESSURE WASH NEWS | VOL. 4, NO. 1 | WINTER <strong>2022</strong><br />
VOL. 4, NO. 2 | SPRING <strong>2022</strong> | PRESSURE WASH NEWS | 19
Never Give Up<br />
stifled his business early on.<br />
“Money honestly kind of scared<br />
me,” he said. “I didn’t want<br />
people to think differently of<br />
me if I started making money.”<br />
But money is a big part of<br />
business, so it was something<br />
he needed to embrace. “I<br />
learned a lot by messing up,<br />
such as not managing my<br />
money or spending too much in<br />
marketing,” he said.<br />
2. Hiring Staff: Early in his company’s<br />
growth, Clark hired some<br />
“not so good people” who didn’t<br />
care about the company or the<br />
company’s vision. “I’d never<br />
hired anyone before,” Clark said.<br />
“I was always an employee. I<br />
didn’t do background checks<br />
at the beginning. I was hiring<br />
family, then whomever I could.<br />
You’re breathing? Good! You’re<br />
hired.” He also hired some truly<br />
bad people “who didn’t seem<br />
bad at the time,” including some<br />
sketchy technicians. “You know,<br />
the ones who later call you up<br />
and say they’re going to meet<br />
you at the office with a baseball<br />
bat,” he said. As a result, he<br />
also had to learn how to let<br />
people go. “That was another<br />
huge business lesson,” he said.<br />
Today, he’s reworked his hiring<br />
processes, using programs like<br />
Ask the Seal and DISC (personality)<br />
profiles before hiring.<br />
3. Management: Hiring a good team<br />
was only half the battle. He also<br />
had to learn to manage them.<br />
“I am young but I look even<br />
younger,” Clark said. “I actually<br />
grew a beard to help me look<br />
older so my employees would<br />
take me seriously.” Especially in<br />
the early days, Clark made sure<br />
his team saw all the hard work<br />
he put into the business every<br />
single day. That’s part of what he<br />
calls “casting the vision” for his<br />
employees – making sure they<br />
are properly and regularly trained<br />
on every aspect of their job and<br />
the company’s vision. He also<br />
holds regular staff meetings to<br />
keep his team on the same page<br />
and on board with the company’s<br />
vision.<br />
4. Sales: “I was the worst person<br />
in sales ever,” Clark said. “I<br />
wanted to help everyone, and<br />
I thought everyone was my<br />
customer.” So he would listen<br />
to sob stories and take jobs for<br />
a fraction of what he needed to<br />
charge. He eventually learned<br />
that not everyone was going<br />
to be his customer, and not<br />
every customer was going<br />
to care about him personally.<br />
“I needed to develop thicker<br />
skin and I needed to serve my<br />
business,” he said. “It took me<br />
awhile to recognize my business<br />
was actually a dot-com, not<br />
a dot-org.” By improving his<br />
business in this way, Clark said<br />
he now actually better services<br />
his customers and community.<br />
“For me, it’s never been all about<br />
making money. At the end of<br />
the day, it’s about the customer,<br />
serving the community, and<br />
helping people,” Clark said. “At<br />
first, I didn’t want to rip anyone<br />
off. Now I see that I’m actually<br />
serving them at a higher level<br />
by being able to afford better<br />
equipment, better staff, better<br />
chemicals, and better customer<br />
service. My business is my<br />
ministry, but there are other<br />
ways I can serve through my<br />
business than by taking every<br />
job that comes my way.”<br />
5. Systems: Clark admits he made<br />
a lot of mistakes and had a lot<br />
of setbacks, but he also says<br />
the most important thing is that<br />
he’s learned from them all. After<br />
a mistake occurs, he stops to<br />
study what can be done to keep<br />
it from happening again – then<br />
he sets up a system. “Every<br />
time we made a mistake, we<br />
would learn, become a problem<br />
solver, then put another form in<br />
place,” he said. Today, because<br />
of having solid and reliable<br />
systems in place, Clark’s business<br />
is largely turnkey. In fact,<br />
last fall, Clark broke his leg in a<br />
biking accident and was out of<br />
the office for 10 full weeks. His<br />
company continued to flourish<br />
in his absence. “If that had<br />
happened three years ago, it<br />
would have likely been the end<br />
of us,” Clark said.<br />
■ LESSONS<br />
FROM LIFE<br />
Remember how Clark was tested<br />
in elementary school and told he<br />
had an IQ of just 56? Today, he runs a<br />
multi-million-dollar business.<br />
“Looking back, every little thing I<br />
went through was a building block to<br />
where I am today,” he said.<br />
Here are some of his most cherished<br />
takeaways from his life in business:<br />
• From His Business Coaches: “I’ve<br />
learned to seek the people out<br />
who are already where I want<br />
to be. I can pick their brains to<br />
learn what they’ve done already<br />
so I don’t have to recreate the<br />
wheel. I’m in the trenches and<br />
can’t see the big picture. My<br />
coaches help me step back<br />
and see that what often seem<br />
like huge problems from the<br />
trenches are actually just minor<br />
setbacks.”<br />
• From His Wife: “Shielagh taught<br />
me to believe in myself. She<br />
grounded my dreams without<br />
crushing them, and helped me<br />
pave a way through the difficult<br />
times. She taught me that to<br />
win you have to keep moving,<br />
even on the hardest days. We<br />
have both pushed through some<br />
really hard stuff in our lives; the<br />
secret is just taking that next<br />
step. Honestly, my success is<br />
largely due to Shielagh kicking<br />
me out of bed those mornings I<br />
wanted to give up.”<br />
• From Eddie’s Auto Repair:<br />
“I remember one cold day, I<br />
was sitting with my hands in<br />
my sweatshirt pockets, waiting<br />
for the next customer to arrive.<br />
Eddie came over and stapled<br />
my pockets shut. He said, ‘I’m<br />
paying you. You need to look<br />
like you’re doing something, not<br />
sitting around with your hands<br />
in your pocket.’ I’ve passed that<br />
wisdom on to my employees.<br />
Don’t stand around looking like<br />
you’re doing nothing. They’re<br />
paying you so find a way to<br />
stay busy. It shows them you’re<br />
100% invested in doing the job<br />
right for them.”<br />
• From the Trailer Park: “As<br />
a kid, I loved riding my big<br />
wheel, even though the wheels<br />
were flat.” I used cinder blocks,<br />
and would get up early in the<br />
morning to ride. Our neighbor<br />
started hiding the cinder blocks<br />
so I wouldn’t wake him up at 6<br />
in the morning riding. It didn’t’<br />
matter. I’d make it happen some<br />
other way. I’ve applied that same<br />
determination to my business.<br />
It didn’t matter what was in our<br />
way, we’d figure out how to<br />
overcome it. Yes, it hurt. Yes,<br />
I’d get road rash. But I’d still get<br />
back up and push forward.”<br />
• From Uncle Rick: “I learned that<br />
hard work has to be consistent<br />
to pay off and that pleasure<br />
needs to be moderated. He<br />
loved well, he worked hard, and<br />
he fought harder. But he didn’t<br />
have balance. I rarely drink<br />
because of my family’s history of<br />
alcoholism.”<br />
• From His Mom: “Despite her<br />
mental illness, my mom worked<br />
hard and taught me to give<br />
110%. My mom was always<br />
my biggest fan. She told me<br />
every day ‘if you put your mind<br />
to it, it will happen. You can do<br />
anything.’ I can’t tell you how<br />
much that inspired me.”<br />
Today, Clark considers himself to be<br />
“super blessed” as he’s faced and overcome<br />
so many challenges over the years.<br />
“Growing up in a trailer park, I never<br />
imagined this is where my life would<br />
be,” Clark summed up. “I figured I’d just<br />
have a job working for someone somewhere.<br />
I wanted to be a diesel mechanic.<br />
It’s amazing where I’ve ended up. I<br />
truly believe if this could happen to me,<br />
it can happen to anyone.”<br />
20 | PRESSURE WASH NEWS | VOL. 4, NO. 2 | SPRING <strong>2022</strong>
Call 800-393-7962 or visit <strong>PWN</strong>A.org<br />
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WELCOME<br />
TO<br />
MY<br />
NIGHTMARE<br />
One of the world’s leading<br />
landscaping and window<br />
cleaning influencers shares<br />
his nightmarish story of<br />
starting (and closing) a<br />
pressure wash business<br />
BY DREW RUBLE<br />
Keith Kalfas is one of the world’s<br />
leading landscaping and window<br />
cleaning influencers and one of the<br />
most watched and followed personal<br />
development coaches in his industries,<br />
He has had more than 2,500 students<br />
take his courses through Keith Kalfas<br />
Academy.<br />
Kalfas has been featured in Turf<br />
Magazine, Window Cleaning Magazine<br />
UK, and has spoken at The Huge<br />
Convention, the UAMCC, IWCA,<br />
Powerwash Expo, IGNITE, CSA, and<br />
several other industry events. He also<br />
hosts his own live event each year in<br />
Michigan called the Marketing ROI.<br />
Kalfas has also written two Amazon<br />
best-selling books, including How to<br />
Start a Landscaping Business and The<br />
Window Cleaning Blueprint.<br />
A few years ago, Kalfas went on You-<br />
Tube to tell his harrowing story of the<br />
time he decided to start a pressure wash<br />
business – and the calamity that ensued.<br />
Needless to say, Kalfas has since<br />
left pressure washing to the experts.<br />
The following is a lightly edited<br />
script of Kalfas’ video, which racked<br />
up hundreds of thousands of views<br />
(in total, his video content has racked<br />
up more than 50 million views) and<br />
nearly 500 hilarious comments from<br />
pressure wash pros who enjoyed his<br />
candor -- and his tip of the cap to the<br />
real professionals in pressure washing.<br />
Enjoy!<br />
(Oh, and visit www.keithkalfas.<br />
com for more!)<br />
22 | PRESSURE WASH NEWS | VOL. 4, NO. 2 | SPRING <strong>2022</strong> VOL. 4, NO. 1 | WINTER <strong>2022</strong> | PRESSURE WASH NEWS | 22
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my nightmare<br />
As I got back to this job, the<br />
ladder is lying on the ground,<br />
he's laying sideways on<br />
the ground with the power<br />
washing wand in his hand<br />
laying on top of the ladder<br />
and he was slowly getting up.<br />
I’m like ‘what are you doing?<br />
When I first started power<br />
washing, I would do<br />
anything to make a dollar.<br />
I had a buddy who did it and he<br />
was like ‘oh, dude, you'll never go<br />
wrong with the power washer, you're<br />
literally just selling time.’<br />
So, I did a couple jobs with him<br />
and then I started doing it on my<br />
own. I bought this Honda power<br />
washer -- it was nothing, like four<br />
hundred bucks -- and I started offering<br />
to my customers that I would do<br />
their whole house for $100 and $85<br />
for the garage. I didn't know what to<br />
charge.<br />
Then we would be power washing<br />
these houses all damn day for<br />
no profit completely drenched and<br />
soaked in water.<br />
I bought the [ __ ] rain suit and<br />
you're out there and it's 90 degrees<br />
and you're in a [ __ ] rain suit<br />
sweating your [ __-ing __ ] off. Then<br />
you say to yourself, ‘I'm gonna hire<br />
somebody to do this.’<br />
So, you do, and then those [ __ ]<br />
people -- you go look at a driveway<br />
they did and they say it looks good<br />
but to you it's not even close to<br />
right, there's a little bit of dirt here,<br />
a little bit there, and the fading isn't<br />
right.<br />
I had this kid working for me. We<br />
literally just got started and I wasn't<br />
licensed or insured -- everything was<br />
not legit at all -- and I was terrified<br />
just trying to make some money so I<br />
could get legit.<br />
He's got the power washer in<br />
hand and I had to leave to go do<br />
another quote. I come back and this<br />
[ __ ] had been power washing the<br />
side of this tall garage and he had<br />
been standing on the top of the ladder<br />
with the wand with a zero tip.<br />
As I got back to this job, the<br />
ladder is lying on the ground, he's<br />
laying sideways on the ground with<br />
the power washing wand in his hand<br />
laying on top of the ladder and he<br />
was slowly getting up. I’m like ‘what<br />
are you doing?’<br />
It ejected him.<br />
Then we come around to the<br />
front of the house and I'm power<br />
washing. It blows the [ __ ] white<br />
chip paint off this lady’s bay window<br />
area. It blows the paint right off the<br />
[ __ ] house and I wasn't even using<br />
a zero tip, I was using a fan tip, and I<br />
was standing at least eight feet away<br />
just going back and forth. But the<br />
paint was so old, it just comes off<br />
like nothing.<br />
So the next thing I know I'm<br />
coming back on a Sunday with my<br />
wife in the car and we're supposed<br />
to be going to a family event but<br />
instead I'm like spray-painting this<br />
lady's [ __ ] house.<br />
I'm so stupid.<br />
Then we were doing another job<br />
power washing this guy's two-story<br />
house with big walls of siding. And<br />
there's all these nasty stains on there.<br />
I didn't know what would come<br />
off or what wouldn't but it was [<br />
__ ] disgusting. And the siding was<br />
already like wavy.<br />
Suddenly, it just blows right off<br />
this guy's house. Like two pieces fall<br />
on the ground and another piece is<br />
just hanging there.<br />
So, I'm on a ladder with my knees<br />
shaking, calling my buddy who does<br />
roofing, going ‘dude how the [ __ ]<br />
do you put siding back up?’<br />
And you're sitting there [ __ ]<br />
looking on Google and you're scared<br />
[ __ ]-less and you're trying to put<br />
siding back on someone's [ __ ]<br />
house and you’re realizing it was<br />
already all [ __ ] up anyways and<br />
now the customer is going to blame<br />
you for this.<br />
So, you're having like a panic<br />
attack trying to do this.<br />
I’m literally stupid.<br />
Later, the customer calls me up.<br />
He's like ‘You do a [ __ ]-y job.’<br />
I'm like ‘Dude, we were there all<br />
[ __ ] day, I seriously did the best job<br />
we possibly could.’<br />
You know what happens. I go<br />
back to this guy's house on another<br />
Sunday and I [ __ ] stick the power<br />
washer literally a foot away from the<br />
wall with a zero tip on it and with<br />
this guy standing there next to me to<br />
witness. And I'm spraying this green<br />
[ __ ] right in front of him and it will<br />
not come off for nothing. Then I take<br />
a bucket and wash it with trisodium<br />
phosphate and I put on the scrubbers<br />
and I'm scrubbing like a slave in<br />
front of this guy and it will not come<br />
off, it's like permanently bonded, and<br />
that's what I said to him.<br />
He goes ‘[ __ ] it, okay.’ Only<br />
then did he believe me and he finally<br />
[ __ ] paid me.<br />
24 | PRESSURE WASH NEWS | VOL. 4, NO. 2 | SPRING <strong>2022</strong>
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2/9/21 2:40 PM<br />
Send your news,<br />
press releases, and story tips to<br />
drewruble@gmail.com<br />
If you would like to advertise<br />
in the next edition of PW News, contact<br />
Jacksonv@pressurewashnews.com
my nightmare<br />
On another job, we used the<br />
zero tip and it's shooting water up<br />
into the siding of a house and going<br />
behind the siding and running inside<br />
the walls of the house.<br />
Then, we’re power washing the<br />
back of this same house, I just remember<br />
this guy's door was so nasty,<br />
so I power washed the door and the<br />
water went in between the door jam<br />
-- which I know now you should<br />
never do that -- and sprayed water all<br />
inside of this guy's house, all over his<br />
[ __ ] walls.<br />
He opens the door and goes<br />
‘What the [ __ ]?’ Actually, he didn't<br />
say that but his face said that.<br />
So, I go to my [ __ ] trailer and<br />
I have a bunch of window cleaning<br />
towels -- some dirty, some clean<br />
-- and also grab all the blue towels.<br />
I'm literally wiping down this guy’s<br />
walls inside his house, I'm sucking<br />
up water in there, and blue fibers are<br />
getting all over his [ __ ] wall.<br />
I'm melting in an anxiety attack,<br />
anxieties so bad that I would rather<br />
just drop dead at that moment. I’m<br />
praying ‘God, please let my body<br />
just drop dead so I can get away<br />
from this.’<br />
Finally, one day we borrowed<br />
a buddy's very, very expensive,<br />
heavy-duty, industrial power washer.<br />
And we power wash this dude's<br />
house with these big huge plate-glass<br />
windows. The whole house was filthy<br />
--beautiful place -- but filthy.<br />
I'm so glad the customer wasn't<br />
home when my worker hit the<br />
windows with this powerful washer.<br />
The whole [ __ ] house was shaking<br />
like a bass speaker and it sounded<br />
like he was going to blow the [ __ ]<br />
windows out.<br />
I ran out and yelled ‘stop, stop,<br />
stop, oh my God, you're literally<br />
about to blow those [ __ ] windows<br />
out, just do it from a little farther out<br />
and use a different tip on this!’<br />
That's when I realized that my<br />
buddy who originally told me ‘oh<br />
yeah, you make money all day power<br />
washing, it's [ __ ] easy’ was dead<br />
wrong.<br />
My other buddy, who's a mentor,<br />
I'd be like ‘This is what happened.”<br />
But someone who's a mentor of<br />
yours or somebody who's making<br />
good money and who does it right<br />
and has already been through all<br />
that stuff, it's almost like they forget<br />
about those fears and frustrations<br />
that they went through and then<br />
they're like ‘that stuff doesn't even<br />
happen to me, what are you talking<br />
about Keith? Like, you're an alien.<br />
I'm crushing and I'm making $1,500<br />
a day. What the [ __ ] is wrong with<br />
you? You're breaking people's windows<br />
and blowing paint. Like, you're<br />
a [ __ ] idiot. You seriously need to<br />
stop, dude.’<br />
You feel lost and you're up all<br />
night searching on Google and going<br />
through all these forums and trying<br />
to find out what the [ __ ] you're doing<br />
wrong, why paint is blowing off<br />
the [ __ ] house, what are the different<br />
tips, and then you realize -- this<br />
pressure washing is an entire thing.<br />
I think that's what drives guys<br />
into these pressure washing associations<br />
and events to get schooling and<br />
training on all this because any nitwit<br />
like me could go out and buy a power<br />
washer and [ __ ] up somebody's<br />
property.<br />
I took the whole power washer<br />
and I set it outside next to a dumpster<br />
and the next day it was gone.<br />
I got humbled real quick.<br />
Thinking that we can just get into<br />
something and make money being a<br />
half-wit is a really stupid approach in<br />
learning.<br />
Thinking you're going to get into<br />
anything and it's going to be easy is<br />
smoking your own brochures.<br />
It's really [ __ ] hard even if it<br />
sounds easy and there's tons of safety<br />
and training and protocol out there<br />
and having the proper everything<br />
and knowing what you're doing and<br />
being able to know how to deal with<br />
the mistakes when they happen,<br />
well, it's a whole learning curve.<br />
I think the guy who has been in it<br />
forever and they understand all those<br />
protocols, they don't go through<br />
those type of issues because they<br />
would never do those stupid things.<br />
The problem was with me.<br />
I see that so clearly now.<br />
Team Up:<br />
Why You Should Join an<br />
Industry Association<br />
Don’t be like Keith! Join an organization serving the<br />
pressure wash industry!<br />
Membership in an industry association offers numerous<br />
benefits. It keeps business owners on top of important,<br />
ever-changing issues, trends and legislation within their<br />
marketplace – not to mention the chance to influence<br />
legislation.<br />
It allows for tremendous networking opportunities and<br />
camaraderie among members.<br />
Associations keep you abreast of what’s going on in<br />
your industry through newsletters, access to seminars,<br />
conferences, and association events, and even access to<br />
members-only offers.<br />
Associations importantly also provide educational,<br />
training, licensure, and certification opportunities to its<br />
membership.<br />
Membership in trade association projects a positive<br />
image of your firm to your customers.<br />
It shows a business’ initiative, its engagement in a<br />
particular trade, and its commitment to quality.<br />
Most business failures occur in firms that are not<br />
members of their trade association.<br />
Here are just a few associations in the<br />
pressure wash industry that you should join.<br />
The Cleaning Equipment<br />
Trade Association<br />
ceta.org<br />
The Power Washers<br />
of North America<br />
pwna.org<br />
The United Association of<br />
Mobile Contract Cleaners<br />
uamcc.org<br />
Pressure Washers<br />
of America<br />
pwoa.org<br />
Pressure Washer<br />
Manufacturers’ Association<br />
pwma.org<br />
International Window<br />
Cleaning Association<br />
iwca.org<br />
26 | PRESSURE WASH NEWS | VOL. 4, NO. 2 | SPRING <strong>2022</strong>
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THE POWER OF<br />
EXPERIENCE<br />
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To learn more visit www.arnorthamerica.com<br />
E-Mail: info@arnorthamerica.com<br />
Phone: 1-800-893-4235 · 763-398-2008