Posted by u/weekend_washer
Pressure washing side hustle, when does it become full-time?
Answered by Ask a Shop Owner ·
Doing $3k/mo weekends. Want to go full-time but scared to lose the W-2.
u/askashopowner Owner-operator advisor
Top answer
$3k/mo on weekends is a great signal but not a full-time business. Full-time you need to average $12k to $18k/mo gross to pay yourself a real wage and cover trucks, chems, insurance, marketing, and downtime for weather.
The bridge: raise your rates 20% on new jobs (weekends), reinvest every extra dollar into a better setup (surface cleaner, softwash rig, second machine). By the time you have 6 straight months of $8k+ weekend revenue, going full-time will roughly double it.
Weather-proof the business now. Add roof cleaning and window cleaning as add-ons before you quit. Diversified service list = fewer zero-revenue weeks.
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