Our Biggest Mistakes in Year One (And What We Learned) | Hose & Hustle Ep.11

What I Wish Someone Had Told Me on Day One | Hose & Hustle Ep.12

Season 1 ends where every good journey does — looking back at the road that actually got you here. In the finale, Mike and Monica reflect on 12 episodes of building Firehouse Power Washing out loud: what they feared going in, what surprised them along the way, and the one thing they both wish someone had handed them on Day One. The answer, without hesitation: Profit First. Mike pulls back the curtain on the Employee Scorecard System he spent nearly three years building — and the moment it went live, two underperforming employees walked themselves out the door exactly like the book predicted. He now hires, fires, gives raises, and makes cuts based solely on the scorecard. Tenure doesn't matter. The data does. Monica's reflection is quieter but just as sharp: they've accomplished far more than they gave themselves credit for, and a lot of it only became visible when they started saying it out loud on this show. The Firehouse franchise is officially in motion. Mike shares the target: 3–5 locations in Year 1, 5–7 in Year 2, and 20–50 per year after that. The USP is clear — the only first-responder-oriented exterior cleaning franchise in the country, with discounts for firefighters and first responders built into the model. ChatGPT is loaded with the FDD, franchise agreement, and 200-page ops manual. The team is small but sharp: Monica on quotes, Mike on ops, Eunice on office and franchise support, and a US-based Internal Sales Rep coming soon. Season 2 is weekly, guests every 3–4 episodes, and more of what made this season work. If you've been listening since Episode 1 — you already know what's coming is worth staying for. 📌 Firehouse Power Washing: www.firehousepowerwash.com [http://www.firehousepowerwash.com] 📌 Franchise inquiries: firehouse-franchise.com [http://firehouse-franchise.com] 📌 Contact: mike@firehousepowerwash.com [mike@firehousepowerwash.com] / info@firehousepowerwash.com [info@firehousepowerwash.com] 📌 PWNA Elevate 2027: Kalahari Resort, Austin TX — February 📌 The HUGE Convention: Gaylord Hotel, Orlando FL — August 📌 Books mentioned: 1. Profit First by Mike Michalowicz 2. The Pumpkin Plan by Mike Michalowicz 3. Traction by Gino Wickman 4. Rocket Fuel by Gino Wickman ⏱️ Episode Breakdown 0:00 Season 1 recap — a year of building Firehouse out loud 1:30 What would you tell yourself on Day One? 4:00 The fears that were unfounded — and the ones you should have had 6:00 The myth about other operators having it figured out 7:39 What this season taught Mike and Monica about themselves 9:30 The daily revenue bar graph — 5 years of data on one screen 11:00 The one thing Mike changed his mind on: business coaches 12:00 Firehouse franchise — timeline, targets, and the AI team of attorneys 17:42 Roles, team structure, and hiring an Internal Sales Rep 23:40 Profit First in practice — 30% saved during spring, banked for winter 25:00 The Employee Scorecard System and what happened when it went live 29:05 Season 2 format: weekly, guests, and what's coming next 30:32 Finish the sentence: "What I wish someone had told me on Day One" Follow Hose & Hustle so you never miss an episode. And remember, no one is better with water than a firefighter on their day off. 🔥

Our Biggest Mistakes in Year One (And What We Learned) | Hose & Hustle Ep.11

Year one of any business is expensive — not just in money, but in the mistakes you don't even know you're making until years later. In this episode, Mike and Monica get brutally honest about what 2014 actually looked like at Firehouse Power Washing: Monica holding onto her ER nursing shifts for the insurance paycheck while Mike washed solo with the kids in the backseat, and four full years of paper estimates left on doorsteps with no follow-up, no record, and no way to close.   Mike calls the paper system a "$100,000 a year mistake" — not because the system was hard to fix, but because it took him four years to fix it. They walk through what finally changed it: Jobber for digital quoting and follow-up, zone scheduling to stop the trucks from bouncing across the county, and a payroll switch from 1099s to W-2s before a workers' comp issue became a legal one.   The episode also goes deep on two habits that Mike credits for more growth than almost anything else: the work journal (he has ~75 throughout the house, subscribe-and-save on Amazon) and back-engineering every goal from the finish line. If you don't know where you're going, he says, you're rowing into open ocean with no direction. The books that shaped this season — *The Science of Scaling* by Dr. Benjamin Hardy and *Buy Back Your Time* by Dan Martell — both come up in a way that actually makes sense in context.   Whether you're in year one or year ten, this is the episode to send to anyone who still thinks paper systems and 1099s are good enough. They're not — and Firehouse learned that the hard way so you don't have to.   📌 Firehouse Power Washing: www.firehousepowerwash.com 📌 Franchise inquiries: mike@firehousepowerwash.com 📌 PWNA: www.pwna.org 📌 Jobber: jobber.com   📌 Books mentioned:   1. The Science of Scaling by Dr. Benjamin Hardy 2. Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell 3. Profit First by Mike Michalowicz   ⏱️ Episode Breakdown   0:00 Monica's Year 1 mistake: holding onto nursing for the paycheck 2:36 Mike's Year 1 mistake: paper estimates with no follow-up 9:01 Saying no to protect your time — The Science of Scaling 11:15 Zone scheduling and keeping techs out of gas stations 12:12 Back-engineering goals from the finish line 14:51 1099 vs. W-2 — the warning every operator needs to hear 15:49 The work journal habit and what gets measured gets improved 22:53 Going digital: Jobber and never looking back 26:00 Communication lanes in a marriage-and-business partnership 29:28 Bonus mistakes: the trailer, the single phone, the paper calendar 30:53 The AI wrap design problem and what great branding actually looks like 37:58 When to hire a business coach (and what to look for) 44:23 Market conditions and why this moment will thin the herd   Follow Hose & Hustle so you never miss an episode. And remember, no one is better with water than a firefighter on their day off. 🔥

The Tools and Tech That Run Our Business Every Day | Hose & Hustle Ep.10

Most pressure washing operators are running their business on memory, a group chat, and a prayer. In Episode 10, Mike and Monica pull back the curtain on the complete Firehouse tech stack — physical gear, software, and AI tools — and break down exactly what made the cut and what was a waste of money. On the gear side, Mike gets specific: Honda GX690/800 EFI engines, Comet or General pumps, Titan 18-inch electric reels, Water Dragon chem tanks, and a parts locker stocked like an EMS closet. He calls out the Instagram lures — zero-turn surface cleaners and turbo nozzles — for what they are. Core philosophy: standardize one engine and one pump across every truck. Software-wise, everything runs through Jobber — from the first inquiry handled by their VA in the Philippines, to zone scheduling, to the morning muster before trucks roll at 9 AM. The ChatGPT deep dive is worth the price of admission alone: Mike uses it like a $60K/year office manager, with Projects loaded with the franchise ops manual, FDD, and training docs. Their VA runs AI-voiced ads using Mike's cloned voice. HeyGen handles TikTok content. The Signature Segment: the tools that reduced the most couple conflict weren't apps — they were boundaries. Separate phones, business line off at night, VA handling all calls through Uma. "You will not get to a million operating the way you are right now." 📌 Firehouse Power Washing: www.firehousepowerwash.com [http://www.firehousepowerwash.com] 📌 Franchise inquiries: mike@firehousepowerwash.com [mike@firehousepowerwash.com] 📌 PWNA: www.pwna.org [http://www.pwna.org] 📌 Jobber: jobber.com [http://jobber.com] 📌 HeyGen: heygen.com [http://heygen.com] ⏱️ Episode Breakdown 0:00 From carbon-copy invoices to Jobber 6:00 Full rig breakdown: engines, pumps, reels, chem tanks 14:00 Gear that was a waste of money 19:00 Three must-have tools for new operators 24:00 In-house oil changes and parts locker system 29:00 Customer journey inside Jobber 36:00 Zone scheduling and morning muster meeting 41:00 Day-to-day communication system 46:00 ChatGPT deep dive — Projects, Google Drive, real use cases 53:00 AI in home services and Mike's 2030 prediction 58:00 Tools that reduced couple conflict 1:03:00 Quickfire: Jobber vs. competitors, best tool for franchisees Follow Hose & Hustle so you never miss an episode. And remember, no one is better with water than a firefighter on their day off. 🔥

Seasonal Business: How We Stay Busy Year-Round | Hose & Hustle Ep.9

"Pressure washing is a seasonal business" is the excuse a lot of operators use when January hits and the phone stops ringing. Mike and Monica disagree — and they've got years of Firehouse Power Washing's real revenue curve to back it up. This episode is about turning predictable slow periods into a strategy instead of a crisis.   Mike maps out Firehouse's actual year: low in January, ramping through spring, peaking around June 15–20, a second slow stretch in August, a spike with Christmas lights in October–November, then flatline by December 15. Once you can see it clearly, you can plan around it. He covers how to read your own lead flow two weeks ahead of actual bookings, how to protect market share during slow periods by adjusting price without killing your margins, and why discounting your way through a slow season is like putting wet firewood on a fire.   The episode gives an honest take on the two most common off-season plays: Christmas light installation (great for existing clients, not recommended as a standalone startup) and maintenance plans. Mike shares the details of Firehouse's Chief's Clean Plan — a quarterly package combining roof wash, house wash, concrete, and gutter service — and what killed it temporarily. He also makes the case for roof cleaning as the easiest high-value add-on in the industry and points to dryer vent cleaning as a future recurring revenue play that fits the Firehouse brand perfectly.   The Couples Corner section is one of the most practical in the series. Mike and Monica break down their *Profit First* system: splitting daily revenue into predetermined percentages across payroll, savings, and COGS accounts every single day during the busy season so that when January comes, there's no panic. If you've ever felt like your bank account runs your emotions, this conversation is for you.   📌 Firehouse Power Washing: www.firehousepowerwash.com 📌 Franchise inquiries: mike@firehousepowerwash.com 📌 PWNA: www.pwna.org 📌 Guru Gutters: SuckMyGutters.com   📌 Book mentioned:   1. Profit First by Mike Michalowicz 2. The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey 3. EntreLeadership by Dave Ramsey   ⏱️ Episode Breakdown   0:00 Live field call interruption — real operations in real time 3:00 Busting the seasonal business myth 5:30 Firehouse's real year-round revenue curve 7:30 Competitive pricing strategy to protect market share in slow months 12:00 How to track lead flow and spot slowdowns two weeks early 18:00 Honest assessment of Christmas light installation as a revenue add-on 29:30 Roof cleaning, gutter brightening, and easy add-on services 30:00 The Chief's Clean Plan — maintenance plans for recurring revenue 32:30 Dryer vent cleaning as a future brand-aligned revenue stream 35:00 Profit First in practice — how Mike and Monica split daily revenue 40:00 Marriage, money discipline, and not panicking in January 51:00 Quick-fire round: Christmas lights, maintenance plans, discounting 53:30 #1 reason pressure washers go broke their first winter   Follow Hose & Hustle so you never miss an episode. And remember, no one is better with water than a firefighter on their day off. 🔥

Hiring Your First Employee: When, Who, and How | Hose & Hustle Ep.8

Most pressure washing operators hire their first employee when they're desperate, not when they're ready — and that's exactly where it goes wrong. In this episode, Mike and Monica share the real story of their first hire, a fellow firefighter named Haider, and break down the actual math and mindset behind knowing when it's time to bring someone on.   Mike gets into the numbers: if you're booked out two to four weeks, you're leaving money on the table. He walks through how to calculate your true monthly capacity (one rig, $1,000 a day, 20 working days = $20K ceiling) and explains why your labor rate target should sit between 10 and 30 percent before you ever post a job listing. He also shares the "one is none, two is one" rule — a solo operator with a twisted ankle has no business.   The hiring system Mike lays out is specific and repeatable: build an employee avatar before you advertise, source through word of mouth and referrals instead of job boards, screen candidates before the interview even starts, and onboard with two shadow days before putting anyone on a rig alone. He also shares his Employee Scorecard System — drawn from *Traction* by Gino Wickman — which removes emotion from performance reviews by rating attitude, work ethic, attendance, callbacks, upsells, and Google review percentage every month.   Monica adds the part most couples in business never talk about: the lanes. Operations and production are Mike's. Marketing, admin, and client relationships are hers. Without that boundary, hiring decisions become arguments. Whether you're still solo or already leading a small crew, this episode gives you a framework to hire smart the first time — and keep the people worth keeping.   📌 Firehouse Power Washing: www.firehousepowerwash.com 📌 Franchise inquiries: mike@firehousepowerwash.com 📌 PWNA: www.pwna.org 📌 Article: "How to Attract, Employ and Retain A Players" — firehousepowerwash.com 📌 Interview questionnaire: email mike@firehousepowerwash.com to request   📌 Book mentioned:   1. Traction by Gino Wickman   ⏱️ Episode Breakdown   0:00 The first hire story — Haider and watching the taillights disappear 6:00 Signs you're ready to hire vs. just exhausted 11:00 Capacity math: calculating your monthly revenue ceiling 15:30 Tech first, admin later — who to hire and when 20:00 Where to find A-players (and why Indeed isn't it) 26:00 Building your employee avatar and hiring advertisement 30:00 The interview process and one-sheet questionnaire 36:00 Onboarding: two shadow days, no ladders, no driving 41:00 Employee Scorecard System from Traction 46:00 Daily pay vs. hourly — and why Firehouse uses daily 52:00 Full-timers in a seasonal business (the expensive lesson) 57:00 Hiring as a couple — defining lanes to protect your marriage   Follow Hose & Hustle so you never miss an episode. And remember, no one is better with water than a firefighter on their day off. 🔥