A Former Pastor Put $5,000 Into a Pressure Washer — Four Years Later His Business Was Doing Nearly $1 Million a Year
3 min read · RealCase summary
Joshua Brown searched Google for "top 5 businesses to start with $5,000," and used that budget to buy a $300 boat trailer and a $3,500 pressure washer to launch Brown's Pressure Washing.
Revenue grew from $225,000 in year one to $445,000 in year two, $780,000 in year three, nearly $1,000,000 in year four, and $2,000,000 currently. A single crew can complete about four homes a day off a pressure-washing trailer or skid at roughly $300 a job, covering house washing, roof washing, concrete cleaning and sealing, gutter cleaning, window cleaning, and commercial buildings -- including a $60,000-a-year contract with TopGolf, the company's largest.
Early Nextdoor and Facebook ad campaigns failed, but Google Ads eventually returned about $80 for every dollar spent, and after hitting $1 million in revenue, Brown began television advertising through a relationship with Fox 17 Nashville. His sales manager, Brady Ridings, generated $1,000,000 in sales in his first year through what Brown described as "constant clear communication." Brown's advice: "Your equipment will determine how much you can make. Start with the best equipment you can afford."
Key takeaways
- ›Started Brown's Pressure Washing with $5,000 — a $300 trailer and a $3,500 pressure washer
- ›Left 22 years of church ministry work over financial hardship before starting the business
- ›Revenue grew from $225K (year 1) to $445K (year 2), $780K (year 3), and nearly $1M (year 4); now about $2M/year
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