website or a Facebook page? website
Just cause I shun social media
Vehicle wrap or logo shirts? logo shirts
Nice, clean uniform with no wrap is a better image than a full wrap with no uniform. For the cost of the wrap I could probably get uniforms for the rest of my life.
Wrap or lettering? neither
I like stealth mode best.
Only residential or only storefront? only storefront
Fewer tools; fewer headaches in general, especially with scheduling. For me, hourly gross income is comparable to residential work in my market.
It’s also fairly simple for me to organize and fill a whole route day, where residential jobs that take between 1/2 and 3/4 day are a bit irksome. It’s hard (for me) to fill the rest of that time without risking a schedule overload.
I still make my living off both, but if I had to choose just one, it would be the route work.
Either Customer Factor, Joist, or Housecall Pro? customer factor
The rates are reasonable and the owner seems like a good guy.
EDDM or door hangers? Door hangers for 5 arounds. Business cards for everything else.
Keeps me going with a solid referral network of high-quality leads.
having a website or a Facebook page? website, Facebook seems to get more Tire kickers websites get people who more committed to getting work performed
Vehicle wrap or logo shirts? logo shirts, must be identifiable while working on sites
Wrap or lettering?
**neither, don’t care for the vehicle advertising. **
Only residential or only storefront? commercial, big jobs, more work at 1 location, longer seasonds, inside rain work to fall to
Either Customer Factor, Joist, or Housecall Pro?
**QuickBooks **
EDDM or door hangers?
** door hangers are waste of time**
I really like my shirts (polo with logo) and they make us look very professional, but if I had to choose only one, my van wrap has gotten me more phone calls than the shirts. Wrap.
And then, with the money I got from the first job the wrap helped me get, I would order the shirts.
I might be the only guy, but I feel like Facebook is WAY easier. Facebook is easier to update on a regualr basis with pictures, videos and more. It gets out in front of your audience more on demand than a website.
I have a customer, very wealthy, very successful who owns an A/C and heating company. He tood me, a website is half useless in the service industry.
Now listen before you say, "YOU SUCK AT SEO, or “you’re not doing it right”. His advice made complete sense. He said, 90% of your business comes from (or should) word of mouth. One neighbor tells another, or family to family. They don’t say, “you gotta go to this website to check them out!”. They simply have the information, contact info and whether or not you did a quality job.
So for that, I actually believe a good investment in Facebook and making a good presence can get you more business than a website would.
Time. Hands down. When trying to save money, I always end up spending both, such as a DIY project. For example, trying to build my own pure water system vs buying one.
If I supposedly make 100 bucks an hour and I spend 10 hours shopping, building, making returns, researching how to build, and troubleshooting, how much money did I really save?
Office work.
Getting tired man. I think I would want maybe one day of cleaning glass because I do like it but if I had to give up one completely, it would be physical labor.
It would be nice to master marketing, social presence, videos, handbook, hiring packet, proposal packets, safety manual, website.
Also, the ultimate goal is to get back to my real purpose in life, which I would want to spend as much time in as possible.
Youtube. Whose business do I have a better sense of - Luke and Reanna’s, or forum profile name @anon274746362737474646’s?
We think in pictures, not words, although there is an abundance of useful posts on forums that have helped me over the years and have been bookmarked, those in different industries who put themselves out there on video help me get a better sense of what a small business looks like and feels like.
Oh, you asked how I would rather share knowledge. Well, Youtube. Which do you think better conveys a sense of small business life - reading a post like this, or watching a video like this?
@TheWindowCleanse I just wanted to say sorry about your rig, but thank you for sharing. I have been contemplating starting a business again (PW, soft and roof wash biz, and windows). I was thinking if it would be possible to stuff it into a van instead of a trailer? Not sure if I would go that route now.
@Streakerfree I will be building an open trailer for next year. Thank you for the thoughts too.
It’s more like what could’ve happened makes me shudder more than what actually happened. No explosions, van didnt go up in flames, nobody was hurt.
It doesnt appear that it was fuel or electrical-related. I think some poly filters fell and touched the PW exhaust pipe, ignited, and then ignited hoses and some tubing.
But was the result of stuffing things in too tight to an enclosed space.
Yes my brother could have been worse, but I’m happy it wasn’t. Hopefully with winter coming this doesn’t set your business back as much as it would in prime season.
