Guide
How to start a pressure washing business
Pressure washing is one of the cheapest legitimate starts in the trades: register the business, get insured, learn your local water discharge rules, and price per job with a real minimum. The difference between a side hustle and a company is the annual schedule. The steps are below.
| Trade licensing | Generally no trade license; some cities require a business license or permit. Check your city and state |
| Water rules | Wash-water discharge into storm drains is regulated in many municipalities. Your city stormwater office has the rule |
| Business registration | Your state's Secretary of State |
| Insurance to price in | General liability (surfaces and windows break), commercial auto for the rig |
| Pricing norm | Per job with a firm minimum, never per hour |
| Last reviewed | July 2026 |
Licensing and permit rules change and they change locally; every row above points at the office that publishes the current answer. Our worked-example pack, built for a fictional Kansas City lawn care company, shows the depth your own pack goes to: read it here.
What to do, in order
- 1
Register the business with your state
Registration happens at your state's Secretary of State, usually online in a day or two, and most states require a registered agent with a street address in the state. The current filing fee is on your state's Secretary of State site.
- 2
Get your EIN and open a business bank account
The EIN is free from the IRS, online, usually the same day. The bank will not open a business account without it, and you want every job check running through that account from day one so your books mean something at tax time.
- 3
Get insured before you point a wand at anything
General liability is the whole ballgame in this trade: the wrong tip on the wrong siding, a cracked window, an etched pane of glass, a stripped deck board. Commercial auto covers the rig and trailer.
- 4
Learn your water rules before a neighbor reports you
Many cities regulate what can run into a storm drain, and commercial wash water is exactly what they mean. Your city stormwater office has the rule, and reclaim or containment is the answer where it applies. Knowing this is also a selling point on commercial bids.
- 5
Price per job with a real minimum
Take a wage and add payroll tax, comp, insurance, the truck, and the hours you cannot bill. What comes out is the number you have to beat on every quote. Then quote per job, never per hour, with a minimum that makes the smallest driveway worth loading the trailer for. Speed is your skill; hourly pricing sells it for less every month you get better.
- 6
Sell the schedule, not the wash
A house wash is a one-and-done; a spring-and-fall schedule is a route. Offer every happy customer the annual plan at a locked price, and go after the commercial work, storefronts, HOAs, fleets, that washes on a calendar instead of a whim.
- 7
Go get the first ten customers
Before-and-after photos are the whole marketing plan: post them on the Google Business Profile and the neighborhood groups weekly. One clean driveway on a street sells three more; knock the three doors while the trailer is parked there.
The pricing step is the one most people skip. The burdened-rate calculator is free, runs in your browser, and tells you the number you have to beat on every quote.
Where first-year pressure washing companies go wrong
Pricing per hour. Every month you get faster, hourly pricing pays you less for the same job. Per-job pricing means your speed compounds into margin instead of discounts.
No minimum. The $80 driveway forty minutes away costs more than it pays once the drive, the setup, and the fuel are counted. A firm minimum keeps the trailer working instead of commuting.
One-and-done thinking. Chasing new customers every week is the expensive way to run this trade. The annual schedule, and the commercial accounts that wash on a calendar, are what make month thirteen easier than month one.
The plan the bank actually reads
Whatever route you take to it, the plan a lender expects has a known shape. This is the table of contents of the business plan in every CrewPlaybook pack, written for your trade and your numbers:
- 1.Executive summary
- 2.Company description
- 3.Service offerings
- 4.Market analysis
- 5.Operations plan
- 6.Marketing and sales
- 7.Team and organization
- 8.Financial projections narrative
- 9.First-year milestones
- 10.Risks and mitigations
A finished example, written for a fictional Kansas City lawn care company, is readable without an account: read the example business plan.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a license to start a pressure washing business?+
Generally there is no trade license, though some cities require a business license or permit, and wash-water discharge rules apply in many municipalities. Two calls, city hall and the stormwater office, settle both.
How much does it cost to start a pressure washing business?+
It is one of the cheapest legitimate starts in the trades: machine, surface cleaner, hoses, chemicals, a trailer, and insurance. Build your own list and run it against your numbers; the pack's equipment list prices your trade at three budget tiers.
How much should I charge?+
Per job, never per hour, built on your burdened hourly cost with a firm minimum under everything. Our free burdened-rate calculator gives you the base number.
Is pressure washing profitable?+
The margins on the work are strong because materials are cheap and jobs are fast. Whether the company is profitable depends on route density and repeat schedules, not on the machine.
Can I dump wash water in the storm drain?+
In many cities, no: storm drains run to waterways and commercial wash water is regulated. Your city stormwater office has the local rule, and containment or reclaim is the standard answer where it applies.
The version written for your company
This guide is the general road. CrewPlaybook writes the whole pack for your trade, your state, and your numbers: the plan, the filings in order, the pricing math, the first-hire plan. Read the example pack before you decide.