Befriending Local Contractors

Too often pressure washing contractors view local competition as “the enemy”.

This is a narrow minded way to conduct business as developing a support system of local contractors can benefit your business in many ways.  I had an experience today that perfectly illustrated the proper way to develop a fledging pressure washing business or keep an old veteran fresh.

I was at the gas station today filling my truck before heading out to a job.  As I was pumping gas, a young man pulled in to the parking lot and walked towards me with a big grin on his face.  He pointed towards my truck and asked “Are you the Owner?”  He introduced himself as the Owner of another pressure washing company.  He saw my rig and the logo on my truck and recognized us from The Grime Scene, UAMCC, and the PWNC.  We talked for about ten minutes about chemical suppliers and prices, and water reclaim and recovery. He told me his aspirations and goals, and we spoke of different ways we could help each other. We discussed where our businesses overlapped versus what we services we offered that the other did not.  We exchanged business cards and planned to contact each other in the event that we needed help on anything.  I left that gas station feeling like I made a new friend and business associate.  This young man took the initiative to pull over and introduce himself.  Based on that ten minute conversation, he instilled enough confidence in me that if I needed help on a large job, or ran out of chemicals, or needed help completing a job for any reason, I could call him.  In short, we could both benefit from one another.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is another local pressure washing company that takes every opportunity to devalue our organization, make false claims about us, and mislead the public about our services.  Sadly, this particular company not only makes themselves look horrible in the process but would never get a helping hand or a referral from me based on their actions.

The point is that if your reading this, you probably have the foresight to understand the sense in networking and building local alliances.  It leads to new business, new friendships, and a band of brothers and sisters that can help in a time of need…an extremely valuable tool to have in an industry that has a lot of single owner/operators that have no one to rely on but themselves.

I am thrilled that this young man took the opportunity to simply say “hello”. He created an opportunity for both of us and for that I am thankful.

John Greene

Camelot Pressure Washing, Inc.