Buying a new machine and van....

Charlie Lyman

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Joined
Oct 9, 2006
Messages
2,603
Location
Meridian, ID
Name
Charlie Lyman
I don't want to hijack the other thread about stepping up from a porty, so I'll bring this here.

In 2015 I was rear-ended on the freeway on a Friday evening coming home for the day. My brother was visiting from out of town so I had scheduled myself the next day off so we could go fish the Snake river. The guy hit me so hard that he pushed me into 4 other vehicles. I didn't know what I was going to do. I had a 2001 Dodge van that ran good and looked decent. I was running a garage mount that got the job done. It was all paid off and my customers loved me. I was making decent money and I was comfortably happy.
I got on Craigslist and found another van and spent the next couple of days getting the equipment moved over. I drove that van for about a month and it took a sh!t and I had to be towed home. My mechanic couldn't figure out what the problem was. I didn't want to be down for long, so I bought another used van and moved the equipment over again.....
One week....... I was being towed home again. When the van stalled, I pulled off the road and my arm went numb. It scared me like I've never been scared before. I told myself I could lose sleep over my equipment not running, or I could lose sleep over making a payment on a reliable set up. I called Aztec and ordered a van and went to my local shop and had them order a Rage machine with a sub mount fresh tank.
I sat down and took a hard look at some numbers.
I will use some general numbers to try to explain how I worked through the stress of the new payment. On a 500 sq ft job at .30 psf, you're looking at $150. at .02 psf more, that brings the ticket to $160. $10 more.... do that four times a day, five days a week for a month and you have made $800 more a month. My payment on the new set up was $891. Raise your minimum charge $20 and you will make this payment with just the price increase.
Every job I would do the math and set the extra money aside from the price increase so I could make the payment without impacting my family's budget. After a couple of months, I stopped keeping track because I was making far more than the payment.
I bought the Van in Sept of 2015. I finished that year making more money than I have ever made.
In 2016 my sales went up $41k. The referrals were through the roof. By the end of 2016 I found myself working 7 days a week and I needed to buy another van to keep up.
It only took .02 psf to make this happen........
Buy a new van and make some money. It will light a fire in you and it will get you excited to go to work. The pride you will have in your business will be seen by your customers and they will know you care about what you do. It will be snowball effect and your business will grow.
That's just my two cents on the subject.
 
Last edited:

Cleanworks

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Ron Marriott
I don't want to hijack the other thread about stepping up from a porty, so I'll bring this here.

In 2015 I was rear-ended on the freeway on a Friday evening coming home for the day. My brother was visiting from out of town so I had scheduled myself the next day off so we could go fish the Snake river. The guy hit me so hard that he pushed me into 4 other vehicles. I didn't know what I was going to do. I had a 2001 Dodge van that ran good and looked decent. I was running a garage mount that got the job done. It was all paid off and my customers loved me. I was making decent money and I was comfortably happy.
I got on Craigslist and found another van and spent the next couple of days getting the equipment moved over. I drove that van for about a month and it took a sh!t and I had to be towed home. My mechanic couldn't figure out what the problem was. I didn't want to be down for long, so I bought another used van and moved the equipment over again.....
One week....... I was being towed home again. When the van stalled, I pulled off the road and my arm went numb. It scared me like I've never been scared before. I told myself I could lose sleep over my equipment not running, or I could lose sleep over making a payment on a reliable set up. I called Aztec and ordered a van and went to my local shop and had them order a Rage machine with a sub mount fresh tank.
I sat down and took a hard look at some numbers.
I will use some general numbers to try to explain how I worked through the stress of the new payment. On a 500 sq ft job at .30 psf, you're looking at $150. at .02 psf more, that brings the ticket to $160. $10 more.... do that four times a day, five days a week for a month and you have made $800 more a month. My payment on the new set up was $891. Raise your minimum charge $20 and you will make this payment with just the price increase.
Every job, I was doing the math and setting the extra money aside from the price increase so I could make the payment without impacting my family's budget. After a couple of months, I stopped keeping track because I was making far more than the payment.
I bought the Van in Sept of 2015. I finished that year making more money than I have ever made.
In 2016 my sales went up $41k. The referrals were through the roof. By the end of 2016 I found myself working 7 days a week and I needed to buy another van to keep up.
It only took .02 psf to make this happen........
Buy a new van and make some money. It will light a fire in you and it will get you excited to go to work. The pride you will have in your business will be seen by your customers and they will know you care about what you do. It will be snowball effect and your business will grow.
That's just my two cents on the subject.
That makes a lot of sense. I look at the Butler ads starting at $899 per month for a new van and unit and think of moving to the USA.
 

Loren Egland

Member
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
1,284
Location
Antioch, California
Name
Loren Egland
I don't want to hijack the other thread about stepping up from a porty, so I'll bring this here.

In 2015 I was rear-ended on the freeway on a Friday evening coming home for the day. My brother was visiting from out of town so I had scheduled myself the next day off so we could go fish the Snake river. The guy hit me so hard that he pushed me into 4 other vehicles. I didn't know what I was going to do. I had a 2001 Dodge van that ran good and looked decent. I was running a garage mount that got the job done. It was all paid off and my customers loved me. I was making decent money and I was comfortably happy.
I got on Craigslist and found another van and spent the next couple of days getting the equipment moved over. I drove that van for about a month and it took a sh!t and I had to be towed home. My mechanic couldn't figure out what the problem was. I didn't want to be down for long, so I bought another used van and moved the equipment over again.....
One week....... I was being towed home again. When the van stalled, I pulled off the road and my arm went numb. It scared me like I've never been scared before. I told myself I could lose sleep over my equipment not running, or I could lose sleep over making a payment on a reliable set up. I called Aztec and ordered a van and went to my local shop and had them order a Rage machine with a sub mount fresh tank.
I sat down and took a hard look at some numbers.
I will use some general numbers to try to explain how I worked through the stress of the new payment. On a 500 sq ft job at .30 psf, you're looking at $150. at .02 psf more, that brings the ticket to $160. $10 more.... do that four times a day, five days a week for a month and you have made $800 more a month. My payment on the new set up was $891. Raise your minimum charge $20 and you will make this payment with just the price increase.
Every job, I was doing the math and setting the extra money aside from the price increase so I could make the payment without impacting my family's budget. After a couple of months, I stopped keeping track because I was making far more than the payment.
I bought the Van in Sept of 2015. I finished that year making more money than I have ever made.
In 2016 my sales went up $41k. The referrals were through the roof. By the end of 2016 I found myself working 7 days a week and I needed to buy another van to keep up.
It only took .02 psf to make this happen........
Buy a new van and make some money. It will light a fire in you and it will get you excited to go to work. The pride you will have in your business will be seen by your customers and they will know you care about what you do. It will be snowball effect and your business will grow.
That's just my two cents on the subject.
You mentioned Snake river and Idaho.
Last month I stayed at the Snake River Lodge in Jackson Wyoming. Visited Steam Way International while I was there.
And about 8 months ago I purchased my 2016 Mustang GT California Special from Boise Idaho.

We have so much in common. It’s a small world! :)
 
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Charlie Lyman

Supportive Member
Joined
Oct 9, 2006
Messages
2,603
Location
Meridian, ID
Name
Charlie Lyman
You mentioned Snake river and Idaho.
Last month I stayed at the Snake River Lodge in Jackson Wyoming. Visited Steam Way International while I was there.
And about 8 months ago I purchased my 2016 Mustang GT California Special from Boise Idaho.

We have so much in common. It’s a small world! :)
I live in a town that borders Boise. The Snake River is about a 45 min drive south from here. We spend a lot of time on the river in the summer.
 
Joined
Aug 3, 2016
Messages
187
Location
Salt Lake City, UT
Name
Eric
I just drove this van home from Idaho today. 2013 HM 4.8 replacing an ugly 2001 Dodge with a HM 4.7. Should look a lot better in the customer’s driveway. Time to raise my prices too.

3F5DEC90-F5ED-43DC-A82B-480317867ADB.jpeg
 
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F

FB7777

Guest
After taking a Joe Polish class on a cruise ship, the travel bug bit me and I was hooked. I raised my prices to fund my travels.
Work to Live is better than Live to Work.
Love new experiences , at least once a year we pick a destination we’ve never been

Just did a New York to Halifax Nova Scotia cruise. Nothing like chilling on your own balcony on a cruise ship at night
 

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