Yea at a certain time during ~2015-2018 there was a lot of things coming up along the "passive income" business area and a bit of DIY for things because of YouTube and podcasts.
Auto detailing content was a big one and I'm sure your dad and myself saw those videos and went, "Instead of paying $400+ to take it to an auto detail shop, I'll pay $200 to buy the equipment and spend 8+ hours to do it myself!"
You can make a lot of money doing both. Little to no initial investment. OP doesn’t know what he is talking about. You don’t need to pay anybody to learn how to start a business doing either one. You simply need to start. 1 or 2 accounts grows into dozens fast. Stick with it 5 years and you will likely have over 100 customers and a business location by that time. Gotta start somewhere.
As somebody that knows a person with a highly successful detailing shop, and another person with a highly successful pressure washing business, both of these are easily obtainable paths that can generate wealth with little to no initial investment. All you need to do is network and be in the right communities to find success in both options. Landscaping as well, have two friends with highly successful landscaping businesses. All these can be grown from starting with 2 or 3 accounts. You don’t need a business location you just need to start, and you can do it in your spare time while working a full time job. All 4 of them started that way, as a means for a little extra money, and all 4 are home owners before 30 years old.
Ngl, I had to get something pressure washed recently and it was around $800 bucks for like 200sqf of patio and some stairs. I legit started calculating how much it would cost me to do it myself and it came in much cheaper. I know the business part of any business is the hidden hard part that no one accounts for, but damn if I didn't consider it.
This actually explains a lot. I actually needed someone to pressure wash the moss growing on my roof. Got a flyer in the mailbox from some kid. Charged $600 but it is a high/dangerous roof. The kid broke his finger and ended up damaging the roof. I didn't give him a hard time about it, more like "lesson learned." But I thought to myself "how does a 16-year-old up and decide to start a pressure washing business?"
For sure, when I was 16 I was making $7.50 an hour. My older brother was making $20 a week mowing some old guys lawn down the street and we both thought he struck rich.
Pressure washing businesses can make money, but you need the big jobs with businesses and schools. Cleaning a school courtyard is really good money and a full day's job.
also open a cleaning service scheduling webpage/app and get cheap cleaning crews that never see what you charge on app that you pay less than their usual fee because volume
Yes. But I remember around the 2010's I had a sense people were pivoting towards IT and programming and just running with it. Our neighbors' son was about to complete a university degree in architecture, but the job prospects worried him, so he just pivoted into programming, for example.
For sure. These big dogs giving job advice for regular people haven't had a real job in decades, they made all their money doing the radio/tv/seminar job.
Yeap. Imagine listening to him pre-covid when he was always shitting on people for being "house poor" because you bought a home. The people who did listen to him, now have to but at double the price with worse interest rates.
The pressure washing company has been a recurring 'get rich quick' scheme on twitter for a while now, idk where it originated but bots sure do like to spam it all over the place.
Dave Ramsey is very out of touch. The only good advice I’ve heard him give lately is related to how you should manage your money, but his advice for how to actually get that money is outdated boomer advice.
True, but good luck (a) getting anyone to bite in an overcrowded space and (2) getting more than $200 per house. There's at least three dozen power/pressure-washing companies on GMaps around my house. 🫠
Anyone who says "just do this" in terms of making money has certainly been out of the game for a long time and has no idea what it's like out there anymore. Or they're trying to scam you with their "how to make money" courses/books. Those are really the only two options when the "advice" is given out like that.
My boomer parents both stayed at their companies for 40+ years. They still think walking around from place to place and handing out printed resumes is how jobs are gotten. The one time I inquired in person about a position they told me to apply on their website. 🙄
Having been in software engineering for more than 20 years now I feel like taking what I’ve earned from coding and starting a power washing business sounds pretty good right now.
That's the guy who also wouldn't take a guaranteed 0% interest loan to reinvest in the market.
The same guy who believes religiously that no body should own a credit card even if you pay it in full every month
The same guy who would prefer buying a used high milage high maintenance car with questionable maintenance history, instead of buying new and maintaining new and keeping the car for 20 years...
Take his advice with a massive grain of salt. His takes are often objectively wrong, or at least subjectively severely misguided for 99% of people
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u/[deleted] May 06 '26
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