Most people consider the pressure washing business because it is conceived to be business that can be started with a very low investment. Simply buy a $500 pressure washer at Home Depot plus some bleach and detergent; throw it in the back of your pick up, and PRESTO, you're in business.

Because one can get into this business with a relatively low investment you will be facing a lot of competition.   Don't be discouraged.  By working smart, you can bury competition and make a lot of money.  Below is a story of how we made money in the power washing business

In 1993 my buddy, Dick, was making a decent living doing power washing work,  while I was in the air conditioning and heating business.  Since he was not very mechanically inclined, he kept bugging me about helping him come up with a method to clean roof stains without using high pressure.  Compared to the HVAC business, pressure washing did no seem very challenging to me, thus I could not get interested.   One day, after his numerous pleads I broke down agreed to look into his business.  Dick had an open trailer, a pretty good pressure washer (13 HP, 3400 PSI) 200 feet of hose coiled up, a five gallon sheetrock bucket for mixing chemicals, a case of Clorox, some Dawn detergent and a couple ladders.  This was his entire business.

I felt like his idea about the roof cleaning business offered the most promise if any money was to be made, as no one was doing it. I couldn't even find any info on the new information highway (internet).  My interest grew when Dick announced he had heard through a supplier that a company in Georgia was producing a chemical that would clean roofs with garden hose pressure.  We promptly ordered a case and found the chemical did an excellent job cleaning but garden hose pressure was not going to do the job, at least in a timely manner.  All we needed was a little bit more pressure but nothing like the pressure produced by a power washer.    We went to our local agriculture supply store and began buying pumps, motors, tanks and nozzles and put together a machine we thought would clean a roof.  We must have spent $5,000 on pumps, regulators and other contraptions until we finally got it right.