“Pressure washing is a seasonal business.” Mike Dingler wants to kill that myth. In Episode 9 of the Hose & Hustle podcast, he and Monica break down exactly how they stay busy in January, February, and the dead weeks of summer — when every competitor’s phone goes silent. The secret isn’t luck. It’s planning against a predictable curve.
Seasonality Is Predictable — So Plan For It
Every trade has a season. HVAC swells when temps cross 75°F. Pest control, pools, landscaping — all have ebbs and flows. The mistake is pretending it won’t happen.
“You cannot just say ‘I hope my phone never stops ringing.’ It WILL stop ringing. It’s very predictable when. So pre-plan for it.”
Firehouse is a “want, not a need.” When people get pinched at the gas pump or grocery store, exterior cleaning is the first thing they cut. So Mike tracks every dollar and plans around it.
Know Your Revenue Curve Cold
Mike can recite Firehouse’s yearly revenue curve from memory — because he tracks daily revenue and charts it:
- January → lowest point
- February → slightly higher
- March → nearly double February
- April–June → steady climb
- ~June 15-20 → annual peak
- July–September → decline (“Augury” — feels like January in August)
- Late October–early November → Christmas light revenue spike
- December 15 → done for the season
“If you don’t know your yearly curve, study it. Then any time someone says ‘next week’s schedule isn’t full,’ I already know whether that’s normal for the season or a real problem.”
The discipline: always plan in rolling 3-month increments. Sitting in May? Plan June, July, August right now.
Requests vs. Bookings: The Two Numbers That Tell You Everything
Monica watches two distinct metrics:
- Requests → tells you if your marketing is working
- Bookings → tells you if your pricing is working
“A week ago I told Mike: we’re at the same number of requests as last year — but our bookings aren’t where they were. That means people are looking, but the economy has them holding their wallets.”
When requests are steady but bookings drop, the lever isn’t more marketing — it’s pricing strategy.
The Counterintuitive Move: Lower Prices Strategically
When competitors try to undercut, Firehouse can fight back on price without feeling it — because of how they’re structured:
“Anybody trying to compete against us can’t do it on Google reviews as we approach 1,000. All they can do is compete on price. But guess what? We can too. Our techs are paid by the day. Our production hour is over $200. We can lower prices to stay competitive and keep money on the books.”
Because techs are paid a fixed daily rate, a slightly lower-priced job just means a bit more work that day — and techs would rather work an extra hour than get cut for lack of work. Zone scheduling (clustering jobs geographically) eliminates the extra time entirely.
“When people try to come into Peachtree City, it’s like someone coming into my backyard. Wherever they can fit, I board it up. Right now, the way I’m boarding it up is price.”
Off-Season Services: The Christmas Lights Truth
Should you add Christmas light installation to fill the winter gap? Mike’s answer is nuanced:
It was worth it in 2022. It’s NOT worth starting from scratch now.
“It’s a race to the bottom. The barrier to entry is a ladder and some Scotch tape from Home Depot. People charge $2-3 per linear foot. We’re at $10-12. You won’t take over the world hanging Christmas lights.”
But — if you already have an established washing business, adding lights is highly lucrative:
“You have clients used to paying you for exterior cleaning who’ve been paying someone else for lights. Consolidated services win. If they can pay one company for lights AND washing, that’s what they’ll do. I don’t want one new Christmas light client — I just want my washing clients to hire us for lights too.”
The Hidden Danger: Insurance and Liability
Here’s what the $400 “Buddy Row down the street” Christmas light installer doesn’t tell homeowners:
“How are guys charging $2-3 per linear foot affording above-ground workers’ comp? They’re not. Christmas light installation is now known as one of the riskiest things you can do to a house — second only to roofing.”
Firehouse got dropped by their workers’ comp carrier after a technician fell off a two-story house (four cracked ribs, pneumothorax, bruised lungs). The reality:
“These aren’t step-ladder jobs. These are $3,000 installations where people are harnessing up and walking roofs. If an uninsured installer falls on your property, the homeowner can get sued. That’s what’s wrong with our industry — nobody understands it, so insurers don’t know how to properly cover it.”
The lesson for homeowners: that cheap installer isn’t a deal — they’re a liability sitting on your roof.
The Bottom Line on Seasonality
“Seasonality isn’t an excuse — it’s a plan. If you own an exterior cleaning business and you don’t have daily revenue trackers and a chart, you don’t have a plan. That spreadsheet IS your first plan.”
Track it. Chart it. Plan three months ahead. Pivot your marketing spend toward whatever your Market Spend Analysis shows is delivering ROI. The owners who survive winter are the ones who saw it coming.
Want to Own Your Own Firehouse Franchise?
Visit firehouse-franchise.com or call +1 770-468-0014 to talk with our team about owning a firefighter-built pressure washing franchise.
Listen to the full Episode 9 of Hose & Hustle wherever you get your podcasts.
