Every day we get at least one phone call from an enterprising individual who has the great idea of starting a roof cleaning business in their area. Regardless of their location the reasoning for wanting to start a roof cleaning business is always the same. They notice dirty roofs in and around their neighborhood and after investigating they conclude that there is basically no competition.
My first response is “great! Next I explain to them why there is no competition in the roof cleaning business.
99.9% of the people who start out in the roof cleaning business do not spend the time to research the latest roof cleaning chemicals and roof cleaning methods on the internet. They just clean roofs as the shingle manufacturers recommend, with chlorine bleach, TSP and other destructive toxic chemicals. Not just the shingle manufacturers but exterior cleaning contractors for the last 50 years have mainly used chlorine bleach as there cleaning chemical of choice. They use chlorine bleach for all exterior surfaces and just assume to use it to clean roofs.
Here’s the catch, Chlorine is destructive it kills plants, streaks paint and stains just about every surface that it comes in contact with. Roof cleaners who use chlorine bleach open themselves up to a host of possible problems and sooner or later the home owners start getting upset when the landscaping goes from a plush green to a dry dead brown or when their new paint job is suddenly streaked from the bleach dripping down over it. The complaints soon turn to insurance claims and then to lawsuits.
In a small town it doesn’t take long to develop a bad reputation and after a contractor has been ordered to pay for the damages of the chlorine a few times it’s not long before they figure out this method of cleaning business just isn’t worth the trouble. The combination of a bad reputation and paying for the damages generally concludes the new business venture. All of this could’ve been avoided with a little investigating.
Business is booming for the roof cleaners who are using our Wash Safe products. On a funny note, I have found out that some of these contractors are actually nervous that the competition will find out what product they are using to clean roofs and hurt their business so they have been peeling the labels off of the containers. I would rather have them spreading the word but I understand their predicament and I would probably hide my label too if I were them. When I speak to the contractors and ask them “what is it about my product that you like?” the majority of the time I get a three word answer “it’s worry free”. They can clean a roof and not worry about all of the side effects and possible hazards they would face when cleaning with chlorine bleach.
Here are a few highlights: There is no chemical odor ( home owners do not want to smell chemicals around the home and I have heard report of neighbors calling the police on exterior cleaning companies when excess chemical odors are in the air). The Roof Wash will not harm plants or grass. The Roof Wash will not stain anything that it may come in contact with, you could spill it on a carpet and it would not change the color of the carpet.
It pays off to do your research prior to jumping into a new business. In the roof cleaning a simple mistake of choosing the wrong roof cleaning chemical could ruin a very good idea and as the saying goes “you only get one chance at a first impression” so be prepared before you start your roof cleaning business.
(Article thanks to John Redihan, President, Wash Safe Inc., USA)
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