Bidding Pressure Washing Jobs - Why I Won't Bid Government Work
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- Опубликовано: 26 мар 2022
- In this video I go into detail about why I won't be bidding pressure washing jobs solicited by the government. Learn why you can make more money doing residential pressure washing work instead.
Click here for more information on starting your own pressure washing business: www.udemy.com/course/how-to-o... 
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Hey there Bill, thank you for discussing this topic in your video...great insight based on facts.
Yes sir, you're definitely right about low ballers killing the market. It costs more because it's worth more!
That's right. Some PW business owners don't put enough value on all the time they spent learning how to put a rig together, how to batch mix or how to use a mixing valve, how to ensure plants don't get harmed, how to advertise to get the business, let alone how much money they spent getting their businesses set up. We'll all be better off if we're priced within 5-10% of each other. That's why I want to educate PW business owners how to price their work to earn more profit not just pay themselves. Thanks for letting me rant! Oh... all while delivering high value to their customers. I think that goes without saying.
I just ran across this & I looked at one of these colleges & it's ridiculous to see the bids. It should a way for the bids & the companies that are bidding to see if they are licensed and insured. I said it's a waste of time & material. The material cost more than what your are charging, not even considering the labor.
Hi Bill! Hey thanks for this enlightening video on government bidding. Wow, those insane low bidders are hurting the contracting industry. What would be a good idea to counter those hurtful low bidders?
New guy here to your channel. Very good content man.
Hey Ben glad you're on board! I'm working hard to get more quality content you can use up here. Stay tuned. Bill
Great video..
Jobs that big I just go by how many days it will take.
Another tip also do residential at least part of day a couple days so you don’t go broke waiting to get paid
No your on point with your pricing and what your saying. Do you want to know what the problem is in this industry. All these companies saying buy this skid from us take a 1 hour course and make 35k a week easy. Then they buy it realize that the 12 volt ain’t going to do the job and there are too many people in their area and they get desperate. Your not missing anything that is a great price for all that work. 17k for all that is a joke Might as well work fast food you’d end up netting more money. Great video bud
Hey Kyle, Thanks brother. My goal for producing this was to educate those in the industry who would benefit from the discussion. From the feedback I'm getting so far it would appear we're on track. Thanks again for adding to the discussion. Cheers Mate
Hey Bill, your not wrong. It’s not only your opinion but you spoke facts and reality. Anyone who disagrees with what you said is clearly the low ballers that don’t know what there doing. This is what happens when you bid on government work, that’s why we don’t even bid on them. You end up working for free. And that’s what the client wants, that’s why bids exist. Shame on these government jobs trying to run our prices in the ground, and shame on the dummies working for free just to say they got the job. We do 5 to 10 thousand dollar cedar roof cleans and HOA jobs worth 25 grand. Who the heck needs these stupid government bid jobs! I like your stuff, keep it up.
Adam, Toronto Canada.
Hey Adam thanks for the feedback. It's good to know I'm not the only one out here who thinks this way.
You are right. allot of wanna be companies out there are destroying this industry. In stone mountain it's hard to get $200 a driveway. People are charging $75 for a 2 car driveway and $100 for a house up here.
Hello do you build trailers bye any chance. Or no any businesses in norther Virginia that may offer build
I totally agree with your assessment. I’m a solo operator with a lot less overly than you. I’m sure I could do the jobs for less than you, but not that much less!!! I’ve often heard commercial concrete pays closer to 0.10/sf vs. the 0.20 I like to get. I guess these open bids play to the ego of “I cleaned that college. Don’t you think I’m cool?” New sub, love the channel!
Hey thanks for the kind words about the channel. To your comment about being solo... I've been having some much trouble finding help that I may try to go solo... Heck maybe that's my next post. Thanks!
Depends on your location. Yet even .10 isn’t bad, at the same time myself and a friend down in Nashville have pulled significantly more. It’s a matter of whether you can make the same there or more elsewhere. If we can make more elsewhere we’ll just walk and let a low baller have it. It keeps them busy and tied up while we remain more profitable.
@@michiganpowerwashingpros9093 Another point I think is relevant to this discussion is "what else does the job entail"? I'll consider $0.10 per sqft on concrete if I'm also cleaning the covered area above the concrete like in a strip-mall. Some have vinyl soffits so I'll bid ten cents on the concrete and another five cents. Not much more effort but much better revenue when you consider 20,000 sqft of concrete and another 20,000 sqft of awning.
@@williamseith4267 there’s definitely ways to make things more worth while. Nothing against what you’re doing. We’ll do the same, but also draw the line at a point which I’m sure you do as well. Our market will pay more simply due to companies needing to make what they can in 4-6 months out of the year. So naturally prices are a bit higher than southern pricing.
For just concrete as an example; We have a underground parking garage done yearly. Underground by like 5’ so nothing major. But that alone is $0.25 per sqft just for just horizontal concrete.
@@michiganpowerwashingpros9093 Oh man great point. Here in VB VA we have at least 9-10 months before the weather shuts us down. In the fall I shift my focus to installing gutter guards which is very profitable. I get tons of calls to clean gutters. Problem is I hate cleaning gutters so I price it really high and then upsell to gutter guards which includes a cleaning. That makes it more worthwhile. I'll get closer to $300 an hour installing them. Gotta charge for ladder work. It's dangerous! Of course I source a high-quality gutter guard from Lansing Building Supply.
What software are you using to mark up the Ariel photos of the properties? I’m looking to be able to do that with my commercial bids.
Thanks in advance
I can't remember off-hand but I'm sure you could you use the Snipping Tool on a Windows computer to grap a map screenshot. They usually have a drawing feature once you see the image.
If your interpretation on those bids is correct then I would agree with you 100%! Those $300.00 bids is not enough money to pay for their commercial insurance to even work on those jobs. They will be required to have workmans comp coverage just to drive onto the property much less do the jobs. They are out of their damn minds bidding like that. I personally think that who ever the government employee is running that bidding process is dirty as hell and doing business illegally. That whole process should be looked at buy the authorities for criminal behavior. There's no other way to explain that mess.
Hey James I love your spirit in this but I'll stop short of possible criminal behavior lol. I can tell you this though... there's going to be a lot of learning curve going on for the mugs that have to perform at those prices that's for sure. I know I learned by my mistakes but these are the types that may put you out of business.
@@neptuneclean -- I hate to say this but they deserve to go out of business. Anyone that's that stupid has no business being in business. Hell, their own costs in fuel alone will cost as much as they have bid.
I will bet you a few of those super low bids dont have the insurance that they will ask to see, that will weed them out or the right equipment to even get it done. Going to be a rude awakening if they get it at that price and find out that the Govt doesnt give 2 shits about your problem of under bidding you are still going to get it done.
No offense but I recommend a field with lots of licensure and barriers if you want higher pricing
Either the other guys misread the job and thought it was just the windows or they're horrible at math. What do they make after chemical cost???
I’m surprised how low these companies are bidding. I’m a smaller company but I would never bid that low for big commercial when I know I can make more with my residential work. Most of those companies won’t make it past 3 years in this industry.
Isaac I agree and I hope that's not the case. I would like to see everyone succeed. I think the more information I can get out there about how to price pressure washing work, the better off the entire industry will be. I don't think companies low-ball on purpose, they just don't know they can win the business at a high price that aligns with what the industry charges.
Just because you make a low ball deal does not garuntee you the job
Hey I am a defense contractor and licensed builder this is common cut throat practices even in my trade.. only thing I could say is the devil is in the details if its not on the scope of work its an additional fee after the mater so maybe you were the only one giving them the works when in fact they wanted a rinse job.
Hey Burke... No that's not the case. I've also worked in government contracting as the director of business development and headed up bid & proposal teams so I know how to read a RFP or SOW. Come to think of it, that's probably the problem. The folks low-balling it have no idea what they're getting into, lol.
Oh wow! I was thinking more like 90 grand!!! To be honest! This are serious contracts and very serious jobs! Very high risk at job site…
I just started a pressure washing business I dont how to get clients. How do I get goverment pressure washing jobs
If you're just getting started government work is not the way to go. You can cold call apartment complexes or real estate brokerages but realtors are notorious for low-balling. Just make sure to stand your ground on price. Check out this video for another idea: ruclips.net/video/JaoKRqdcczo/видео.html
They also are not carrying the proper insurance to be working on that property. I don’t chase commercial work for that exact reason. Are you a one man band?
Hey Van I run with a crew of 2-4 mugs depending upon the time of season. This year I'm hoping to get two crews running at the same time. Not sure it's possible this year especially since the supply chain issues. Just getting a simple Honda replacement engine is taking up to a year. I'm still waiting for my Titan electric hose reel and a Chemline metering valve.
You can’t even price a gov job without insurance
At those low bids.them guys won't finish or quality isn't there.
Hey James, Yea that's pretty much how I feel about it. They either don't understand the scope of work or they just don't want to make any profit.
Bill, it's insane how some people can do those huge jobs so cheap!!!
Hey Marco, I agree which is why I hope more pressure washing professionals see this video and learn how much more valuable their services are. Low-balling to get the work hurts the industry and kills your business.
You have to weigh two factors when bidding something like this. The benefit to your brand of having your trucks on site and being able to tout this job in your marketing vs all the residential customers who you will not be able to service in that same period of time. Those folks will go somewhere else, and the contractor who gets them may benefit over time from repeat business if they do a good job. Doing the bid work, even if you do a great job, there is no saying that you would be competitive and win future bids. To me it's a no brainer to pass this type of work off to your competition, especially at these ludicrous prices. Let them bankrupt themselves finding out what a mistake they made, taking themselves off the board ( hopefully ).
Great points! Thanks for sharing this. The only counter point I can think of that may be a factor someone would use to bid this low is that the government does not put in writing the standard to which everything must be cleaned. I guess the winning bidder could simply show up, spray the buildings down with water and call it good. I'm not so sure the government would have anything to stand on if it went to court. But... who would want to deal with that.
well it also comes down to getting the job these entities are inherently cheap and they would rather go that route or not giving out the jobs most of these entities have a working group like facilities or maintenance people and they don't want to do it but on the other hand they tell their bosses hey low ball the guy and see if they bite
I didn't mention this in the video but there were companies that come from Richmond and Northern VA to bid on this work. One of the lowest bidding companies was a window cleaning company that does high-rise buildings all over the east coast. Maybe it's cheaper to hang from ropes and clean the entire building with squeegees.
I have the same issue in my area with regular commercial work these guys bid less than I get on residential for huge buildings and they cant be profitable . Personally I will be giving a hard pass on anything commercial until these other 2 meatheads run themselves out of business. It just doesn't make sense to lose money just to say we cleaned that huge building. They can clean them for free for all I care. I'll be focusing on my high end residential work .
Maybe they will see this post and get a better idea of hour to price this commercial work. I've been speaking with some mugs that do all commercial work and they've have a great perspective to share. I'll see if I can get them on a call and record it.
😂 I don’t mean to laugh. But wow, I’ll drive by and honk when we’re on our way to make some of these prices in a day and onto the next. These people are on a fast track to failure.
Small Government Jobs can be very profitable. Graffiti removal and roof cleaning is all we offer to government.
Patriot, Greetings my friend. Can you share your experience? Are you competing on open bids or are you providing services sole-sourced? I've been called by individual commands here in Norfolk for cleaning buildings and they sole-sourced the job to me. These have been profitable for me.
Fuc#ing right sir tell them let them know
Jobs that big you always run into the unexpected. I think you bid that job too low! We got goofballs in our industry. Desperate for work. You seem professional. Not everyone is. Keep kicking butt!
You may be right and I'm beginning to think it was a blessing that I didn't win any of those bids. The reason being is that I can't find any help to be able to complete the jobs on time anyway. I'm going solopreneur for now and I'm liking so far.
@@neptuneclean That's how I roll. It's your name and reputation. God will put the right worker in front of you when the times right. My names Tommy Fischer. Nice meeting you. Good luck to you out there. I'm rooting for you!
@@cleantimesoftwash4366 Right on Tommy. Thanks for reaching out. Thanks for the positive vibes my friend.