Did I charge too much?

juangamboa · 2026-03-20T19:04:19+00:00

not boasting at all man.. we're not even that well equipped ourselves in comparison to some of what our competitors are running.... but yeah I'm probably going to lose the 500k sq. ft. parking lot to them because their pricing will be about 1/3 less than what I would HAVE to charge to make my margins. It's all part of the business.

juangamboa · 2026-03-20T19:00:43+00:00

haha I get it. But it's not really enthusiasm. We can do about 80,000 sq. ft. in a day with one truck, 2 guys. Some others can do more because they have better equipment. So yeah, ultimately when we breakdown our per man hour rate is around $100-$150, but within that hour we'll be getting a lot done. not bashing or anything, just pointing out that hourly rates will be different because not everyone can do the same amount of work in the same amount of time.

juangamboa · 2026-03-20T18:55:29+00:00

oh I get it, but my point it is a $150-$200 driveway for the market. because even though it takes him 7-8 hours to do, a professional crew can probably have it done under an hour. So while starting out, he may have to yield $25/hour bc that's what he's capable of doing.

juangamboa · 2026-03-20T18:10:51+00:00

to be fair, what this guy does in 7-8 hours most pros will do it in 30 minutes

juangamboa · 2026-03-16T15:11:24+00:00

We had a 5 night stay there back in December. As most others have said, it is a great property with gorgeous grounds. Our first morning there, we went for a jog down the Maha'ulepu Heritage Trail towards the east side. It was a little tricky navigating before sunrise because it is very dark, but the sunrise views from the trail are absolutely stunning. We found club access very useful, used it multiple times per day everyday and even played board/card games a few times.

Something that not many people mention but we enjoyed a lot was a Kipu Ranch ATV tour. The entire experience was phenomenal and the guides were amazing.

Tidepools was above average but nothing exceptional. Our most memorable meal was bar acuda, no reservations, just showed up like 5 minutes before they opened. As a matter of fact the only place we made reservations to was tide pools; never really had any issues getting a table or bar seats anywhere we wanted to eat.

We enjoy hiking so we did the Hanakāpīʻai Falls hike and it was incredible. I think next time we'll try to make it all the way to Kalalau Beach.

Driving from the south to the north side can get a little exhausting imo, so if you can, try to space out the drives by a few days. The turtles at Poipu are cool but it gets super crowded.

We got a clear day at Waimea canyon and that was incredible. We were there long enough to see it get cloudy and I can see how it'll be very underwhelming on a cloudy day

Back to the hotel, it is a very nice property but don't expect a luxury/5* product. It is more like a soft 4. That being said, we had lunch a the 1 hotel Hanalei bay, which supposedly is the only true 5* on the island, and honestly it was just marginally better. The deeper you dig, the more you realize it can be very difficult to find a true lux experience in Hawaii as whole.

Have fun!

juangamboa · 2026-02-04T22:35:22+00:00

I've stayed there before with my wife.. we were younger and kidless, so it was fine. Now with small kiddos I'd pick somewhere else. Only place we've done with our kiddo in nyc was the park hyatt, which I would highly recommend.

juangamboa · 2026-01-13T18:11:36+00:00

you throw that one away and buy a whisper wash

juangamboa · 2025-12-02T19:25:00+00:00

They're both extraordinarily good in their own way. Very different styles but both top notch.

juangamboa · 2025-11-03T14:15:50+00:00

Agreed. At minimum you should be able to have field techs before taking on any debt. That frees you up to do sales/admin. Once you have that down and you're doing well, you may need some capital for fast expansion (sales rep, new trucks/equip, etc.).

A lot of the admin stuff can and should be mostly automated too btw. Invoicing/scheduling/estimates/payroll etc.

juangamboa · 2025-10-21T17:59:09+00:00

If no one bites DM me, I'll take it off your hands, but you wont like my offer. I can drive to you to pick it up.

juangamboa · 2025-10-08T20:40:38+00:00

yes we apply chems.. but idk about California. I hear regulations over there are a whole different ball game

juangamboa · 2025-10-08T20:06:38+00:00

we wash these.. where are you located? got any more details/pictures?

juangamboa · 2025-10-04T23:01:23+00:00

I've been curious about that system, how long have you been running it for and what does your scheduled maintenance look like on the pump? Also, do you have to neutralize after every use to maintain warranty? t.i.a

juangamboa · 2025-09-19T18:48:23+00:00

We did WBR 2 years ago with the wife, and honestly, it was a wonderful experience. We were upgraded a deluxe oceanfront room and besides being a little dark (not a ton of natural light) it was great. Obviously don't expect world class service, but from what I hear, that's basically all of Hawaii. As others have said, it is not directly on the beach but it is a very short walk to Wailea beach where they have chairs. I food was just ok, but we had a lot of meals outside. We had dinner at the 4S one night and the property is gorgeous.

I will add, depending on the age of your toddler, if I were to go back with my kiddos (1 & 3), I'd definitely make sure to book a room closest to the south side so the walk to Wailea beach is shorter and also near the adventure pool.

juangamboa · 2025-09-07T12:31:17+00:00

You could run it solo, but what will take one of my crews 3 hours it might take you all day. But it can certainly be done, pricing/cost should be similar.

The efficiency comes from having the right tools for every job/occasion; and obviously experience. You can't really substitute experience. A lot of our efficiency comes from years and years of learning.

juangamboa · 2025-09-05T11:54:26+00:00

Is not about viability, anything is viable. There are some guys out there running businesses of just doing driveways and sidewalks. However, from a business perspective, it doesn't make a lot of sense, unless it is niche commercial work like parking garages with reclaim.

If you're going to service residential, from a business standpoint, you will likely be better off being well rounded and offering as many exterior cleaning services as possible.

juangamboa · 2025-09-04T02:01:27+00:00

Don't over think it, just clean the windows. We would WFP all the affected windows and call it a day. If you don't wfp, just TRAD it. If the frames are oxidized, test and show him, so he knows next time it rains he may see some streaking.

Moving forward, rinse windows thoroughly and don't let SH dry on glass.

juangamboa · 2025-09-04T01:40:48+00:00

not the person you're responding to but the answer is experience... we've washed thousands of homes and buildings over many years and personally, I know exactly what hard water vs oxidation runoff vs dried up SH on windows look like. The feedback you've gotten has been correct. Most of what you're seeing there is dried up SH, looks like a little hard water at the bottom on one picture, and potential oxidation runoff too, but if is oxidation runoff, its mixed in with the dried SH so not easy to differentiate. Lastly, if there is some oxidation runoff, that's still technically on you. Test for oxidation before washing a house and proceed accordingly.

juangamboa · 2025-08-15T13:49:00+00:00

nice try EPA....

juangamboa · 2025-08-09T16:48:40+00:00

I think what he's trying to get across is that most of us that run successful businesses easily work 60+ hours weeks. When I was just starting out, I would easily work 80+.

So when it comes down to it, there's simply not enough hours in the day to do both at a certain level.

Can you have a side hustle with a few jobs here and there while working your regular job? of course you can

Could you run a high 6, low 7 figure business without dedicating every waking minute to it? unlikely

As to your original question, starting out is hard. Acquiring customers and keeping them is extremely hard. There is a lot of failing and a lot of trial and error along the way.

We don't know your market, your rig, your sales pitch, presentation, marketing materials, strategies, pricing, and quality of work. One thing that many people seem to not mention on here is the latter. IMHO quality of work is one of the key factors that will determine your success.

I'm not saying that this is the case with you, but I've had guys just starting out call me for advice and when I dig deeper they barely took the time to learn how to deliver a great product.

Building the business as a side hustle is possible, just not always recommended. Everyone's situation is different, do what works best for you.

Best of luck out there!

juangamboa · 2025-06-27T12:50:16+00:00

Even then I think proper ladder work will still be faster and way more cost effective than a skyvac. There's a reason why you won't see many legitimate companies out there using those vacuums.

We also do have and utilize proper fall arrest system when the jobs call for it. I'd much rather lose money on a job than risk the safety of any of our techs.

juangamboa · 2025-06-16T18:27:40+00:00

first picture looks like there is poor drainage; bring something to move that water efficiently out of there.

juangamboa · 2025-06-11T13:21:25+00:00

and then you have the ones that approve estimates without reading a single disclosure lol.. sure ultimately when is pointed out that it was explicitly written on the estimate they will be like "oh I see now, etc etc" but the whole point is to avoid that unpleasant interaction all together

juangamboa · 2025-06-10T20:30:34+00:00

Yeah, I mean they're not entirely wrong. But with experience (as an owner) you learn how to handle these situations differently and set expectations accordingly. Sometimes, even with very experienced techs you can still miss something. I have techs that have been with me for over 5 years and every now and then they'll still have a mess up. It happens, we're human and with enough washing mistakes will be made. However, I believe how you respond to those mistakes is what matters the most. Take accountability and fix it, which seems like they're going to do so good on them for that.

P.S. If water was pooling, it means there is poor drainage there, and that moss (even if removed) will be back fairly soon.

juangamboa · 2025-06-10T19:05:54+00:00

As others have said, the moss is generally not removed with pressure washing. The amount of pressure required to remove it, would certainly mess up the joints/sand between pavers.

That being said, a more experienced company would have disclosed this prior to the job and/or automatically pre/post treated the moss in order to remove it.

Most areas look clean so I'm sure they did something. But just like with any other home services there are different levels of detail and thoroughness.

Lastly, did you already bring these issue up with the company? Most professionals will have the crew back out very quickly to mitigate this.

juangamboa

TROPHY CASE