We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kevin Thury. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kevin below.

Alright, Kevin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, let’s start with trends – what are some of the largest or more impactful trends you are seeing in the industry?

Social Media comes to mind. Why? Anyone savvy with marketing, can sell a dream to an eager set of eyes. Eyes that yearn for success, being your own boss and becoming rich!

Hop on IG and you begin to scroll and flip through millions of accounts with a tap of the button. For newcomers, they rush out to buy whatever equipment they can afford, throw out a few Facebook or Google ads and expect to be an overnight success. Entrepreneurship anything. takes discipline and a resilient mindset. Just like there’s an ebb and flow to life, so too is there an ebb and flow to business.

These last few years, there has been an explosion of pressure washing companies. For a few, they found their true calling, the self-motivated type. The other newcomers, they invested heavily into expensive equipment without having any kind of an established customer base nor marketing plan (to generate new leads). Shortly thereafter, these same newcomers struggle year 1 and by year 2, they are selling their equipment. YouTube is a great resource to call upon. But one cannot divest in the effort and knowledge to become a well-trained professional, even for those of whom you hire.

What we see more and more today, are call outs to fix the oops of another person or company. These competitors are high school or college kids, someone starting a side hustle or works within the landscaping industry. When their oops occurred, the customer had no way to contact them or no returned calls, no insurance. All of which creates a dissatisfied customer.

Again, I’m all for budding entrepreneurs, but there’s an understanding that needs to be had when viewing any IG profile. You are only seeing a snippet of what the user wants to share, and you are only seeing a very small glimpse of the full effort required to run and manage a business.

Two additional emerging trends we are seeing, the integration of A.I. in day-to-day business and drones.

Drones today, have become more powerful and adaptive to many industries. For our industry, it’s adding capabilities to spray water or chemicals in a safer manner. Allowing access to vertical structures or other hard to reach areas where ladders or rental equipment cannot go. More and more builders are building straight up to maximize their profits while the cities can capture more property tax. The challenges it presents to us all, narrow passageways, no street parking or larger driveways, street side fencing, powerlines, ditches and more. All structures need a certain level of maintenance. However, an architects’ job is to bring a vision to life, then the builder gets to make that dream a reality. For us, we get to figure things out on-the-fly, and drones are providing hope. While there is training required for drone operation, improving safety is always at the forefront for our business and our customers’ (avoiding homeowner’s insurance claims or worker’s comp).

There are a few drawbacks when deciding if a drone is right for you or not: One, it’s a hefty capital investment. Two you must complete FAA approved training and operation. Lastly, battery efficiency. It’s exciting to see the technological advancement within the last decade. While it’s bridging the gap in many ways, battery efficiency still remains relatively short. Think of an electric car regular vs the AC or heat turned up on high, it drains the power source, lowering the overall charge i.e., it loses efficiency. Now add a drone, non-high wind days, pulling up a small diameter hose with water or foam, your flight time now may reduce from 45 mins to 20mins or 20mins down to as little as 5min. The operator needs in many cases to keep a special generator on hand to recharge back up batteries, which requires more time. Again, adding more money towards your initial capital outlay. Drones offer the marketing spark most are looking for. It’s still a relatively new technology in some spaces and will simply need more time and feedback, along with technological tweaks, before it is more readily viable. I’m excited for what’s to come!

I’ll quickly touch on A.I. Once 5G arrived on the scene, it was a powerful enough platform to support A.I. As we all are learning, the speed in which it’s evolving simplifies our lives in some capacities and drive others out of future jobs. One upside for sure, it’s time savings component as a business owner. It allows us to automate customer communication, social media content, your website, scheduling and more. It’s a game changer. We became accustomed to the chat boxes by now, this is the next generation of sorts and it’s learning quickly. Stay tuned as we are working on a few things behind the scenes to level up our service!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

From the time I was a kid, I used to draw pictures of cartoon characters and a restaurant with my name on it. Not that it was a restaurant per say, I wanted to own one day, more so, to have a business. It was just my dream.

My family came from an era when the United States was recovering from The Great Depression and WWII. Times were very different then. Families, friends and neighbors pulled together to help one another. Weeks where jobs and food were hard to come by. If you got lucky, there was maybe a coffee, soup or bread line. Imagine the physical and mental stress for all people affected. What this hardship spawned was a tremendous group of men and women. The same people who went on to work as employees, become great innovators or became business owners. Leading to one of greatest booms in our history; creating the good times.

I attribute everything good I behold to my parents. Chores and sports provided an avenue to learn responsibility and teamwork. Preparing our minds for adversity or how to compromise when there is a difference in opinions. There’s a keen difference in working through problems together to derive a solution for the greater good of everyone. Our household chores taught us to appreciate the work entailed for what we had. Then to maintain it. Learning there’s a healthy balance between work and play. Too much of one will alienate that of the other.

No matter your path in life, humility and integrity is a must. If there’s anything you want in life, have a sound work ethic in place, master your skillset or job, never stop learning and in time, you will make more money. Essentially, increase your skillsets to add value, which in turn increases your perceived value. Nothing is given, you must earn every opportunity.

I love sports, the outdoors, various types of music. I’m always doing some type of dance move or seeking intriguing conversations with a few laughs at hand.

What sets me apart from many, is my resilient mindset. It’s easy to quit. Respect is derived from grit, someone who won’t give up because life got hard or frustrating. For any failure or difficulty, I contemplate, how can I do it better or adapt so as not to make the same mistake. It’s a game changer because I don’t dwell on my mistakes like I once did. Instead, you become an innovator and problem solver. The more problems you can solve, the better job you do, you will have a place in this world.

The “Pay It Forward” initiative at hand today, is a simple way we can pay an act of service forward. My parents grew up during some of the hardest times, I fell on my own hard times and always remembered how much it meant to me to have a helping hand. It is an honor to “pay it forward” in any way that I can or when I can. It costs nothing to be kind. The resounding impact you can make on another, imprints them for a lifetime: that’s gratitude enough when you see the smile on someone’s face. At WashPros.us, our “Pay It Forward” campaign, selects one either former military vet, elderly or physically unable person, as nominated by our social media followers; (once per quarter), to clean the exterior of their home for free. In doing so, your home is now the shining star of the block. A clean home is a happy home. Restoring confidence to the homeowner, maintaining the neighborhood upkeep, while creating safe and healthier spaces.

At WashPros.US, we are your full-service exterior cleaning company for residential and commercial properties in central Houston. We offer Roof Cleaning, Soft Washing, Pressure Washing, Gutter Cleaning, Window Cleaning and Holiday Lighting (year-round). We are insured. This past year, we celebrated our 6th year in business. Our sister company is sidemovers.com. We are here because of you Houston and we can’t thank you enough for your ongoing support. Our customers have become friends and some of those friends have become more like family. Trust is at the epicenter of what we do, treating your property with the same respect as if it were ours. We’ve met some amazing people over the years and look forward to the many new friendships ahead.

You can follow us on: IG/Facebook/Google My Business: (WashPros Windows). On the NextDoor App: (WashPros.US).

In closing, for any upcoming entrepreneur, my best life advice is “Don’t Quit!” WashPros.US literally started from zero. I left a career, working two-night jobs, while tending to sidemovers.com customers. The early mornings I used to visit jobsites or take on smaller jobs, before working during the day or night. One year in particular, I worked every day except for Christmas. I don’t recommend that approach, but I had a goal in mind. Everything in life today, plays a hand in a much bigger picture. Never allow your pride to be consumed by that of others, for they don’t know your plan nor your battles. If you stay the course, with consistent action, the odds will forever tilt in your favor. You will control your destiny. I fought a few serious injuries all the while starting another business. Physically, it sidelined me, I learned to trust and rely on others while contributing in any way that I could. There are a lot of thank you’s to go around. You are the best investment, learn and evolve forward, never stop asking questions. The best is yet to come, just, don’t quit!

Let’s talk M&A – we’d love to hear your about your experience with buying businesses.

Several years ago, a business partner and I were assessing two investment opportunities. A laundromat vs buying a condo.

A cash business anything, comes with a few caveats. First, the only actual way to validate any type of revenue for a business is to ask for previous years’ tax filings. Secondly, you need to allocate time to stop by the business over a said amount of time, varying hours and days, to obtain a better understanding of the area and traffic flow, in and out of the business. Third, keep an open mind with all options at hand vs becoming too narrowly focused on one opportunity.

Doing the due diligence during the initial phases of discovery is an exciting frontier. Remain mindful of your emotions for they can jade or skew your decision making.

The real estate opportunity provided a steady base of tenants. I believe this particular opportunity had 4-6 units in the building. Two areas of concern, the roof was in bad shape and the foundation had a crack or two. On the plus side, it was an older but well-maintained property with a strong track record for occupancy. Information I would have weighted differently, knowing what I do now. In fact, the roof and foundation scared me more than anything, leading me to lean towards the cash business i.e., the laundromat.

As time move forward, I took the lead because my business partner resided in another state. We would talk and text daily, sending pictures about every property or business before us. Technology really helped bridge the gap with the distance.

Soon thereafter, I began to contact the commercial broker and seller regarding an interest in the said laundromat. The business accounting was a little archaic, but the daily numbers were accounted for. In my head, sometimes less is more, less of a headache to manage that is. As the weeks moved forward, my stop frequency at the location also increased. The seller and I would meet on random days or times, to ask questions, even assist with cash collections, review machines onsite and repair/maintenance schedules etc. So far, things were looking promising. We understood there were some older machines, even a few not as energy efficient. Our plan was to invest the first year of profits to begin replacing the less energy efficient machines.

There always seemed to be customers coming and going, we were located in a busy shopping center with a Food Town across the street. It was in an older and rougher part of town which isn’t uncommon for this type of business. You just had to keep your common sense about you and be aware.

As cash collections commenced, the initial numbers were adding up including accounting kept on the books. There were a few employees on the books, all seemed to be friendly with the customers and known by name. Bilingual as well. The upfront cash required was a little bit outside of our budget and I had to reach out an investor to facilitate the remaining money required, to be serious with an offer.

The challenge during this phase, slowing time down. I had communication gaps to be mindful of with a business partner out of state. Then you add the salesmanship by the commercial broker, as they seek to close their next deal. Finally, add the desire of a seller to divest of his asset in order to move on with his life. Property managers wanting to meet the prospective buyers, to get a feel for us as possible tenants. In the evenings, information was being emailed as per request pertaining to utility statements, any available financial documentation. This was a struggle because for decades, cash businesses, for lack of better words, didn’t report all of their actual revenue come tax time. On the utilities side, you had to recap all of the utilities, inspections, lint trap cleaning and the like, occupancy permits, sales tax permit (as applicable), trash, water, gas and so on. There was a lot of information to digest, the calendar for each one due or its frequency. It was so new to me.

So, I kept my focus on revenue. On the conservative end, the numbers still worked in our favor to facilitate new equipment and to set aside a portion of revenue towards our next investment.

By the end of our 30-45 day review period, we secured the additional funding, and proceeded with the “buy process”. Lawyers were involved with earnest money, the commercial broker, the blessing from the property manager, and the agreement on a sales price with the seller. This price included a small amount being seller financed. I was a little more at ease at this point, as I felt the seller’s acceptance of the offer, meant they felt confident enough in their revenue, with our ability to pay them back.

The meeting was both a sigh of relief and a little nerve racking, going into a new venture.

Fast forward a few months into the new business venture, I realized I had more on my plate than previously thought. Here I am on hand daily, keeping the floors swept, bathroom clean, meeting our loyal customers, getting to know our employees, repairing machines, making facility improvements, while understanding the dynamics of the strip center better.

Machine frustrations were growing as the frequency was higher than discussed and conveyed through vendor billing, with repairs. There was a high rate of user error, overloading machines, not cleaning out their pockets and so on. After posting signage in English and Spanish, it became quite clear, how many customers couldn’t read.

Having bilingual and friendly employees, showing my face daily in the business, built up trust. Trust that spawned new friendships. opening up conversations as to how we can best communicate with our customers. One friend in particular said, “You have to remember a lot of the customers that arrived without papers. Not because they are bad people. They are good people that put their lives on the line for a better way of life. Back home, in their country, work was not plentiful or if they helped on a farm or field, they were pulled from school. For many, they stopped schooling around the 4th or 5th grade. Many never learned how to read.” This conversation opened my eyes instantly and answered so many questions.

We began to educate our customers verbally, as how to load or not overload machines, check pockets beforehand and so on. Yet, the problems didn’t subside, machines broke, water leaked, then maybe a gas leak on a pipe, black mold in the wall (from a neighboring business), varied cash collections to avoid theft/robbery, employee safety, all the while keeping products on hand for our customers and enough machines running to make profit.

Over the next few months, I varied my stop in times. Customers were calling me asking why our doors were not open during our posted store hours. We had an evening and weekend couple working the store. After surprise visits, they were closing early or showing up to work late the following morning. Eventually, they were let go. Our numbers during the end of the week and weekend, should have been our highest revenue days. Yet, they weren’t. Shortly after their termination, I turned Sundays into our busiest days, focusing on service, helping the mothers load and load clothes, work on change, math and games with their kids (as they did laundry). We built great rapport and the numbers improved on Friday and Saturday as well. Business picked up! Paired with our wash and fold services, I figured we were finally on track. But our numbers were still not adding up.

As I caught my breath, I began to pull up the income statement used during our negotiations phase provided by the commercial broker. I also pulled up emailed utility statements. It was then I realized with the facility improvements made, the termination of the late employees, improved daily revenue, we were nowhere near the Income Statement metrics. Upon a closer look in the utility statements, I realized an error I made. We had 4 monthly bills in a cycle. Except, only 3 out of the 4 were being paid within the same 30 days. Upon the next 30 days, whatever bill wasn’t paid last time was cycled in this round. This was a major red flag I missed. If a business cannot pay it’s bills within the same billing cycle at once, it implies they aren’t making enough money to do so or they are mismanaging it severely.

Needless to say, we eventually had to remove our emotion from the decision and do what’s right for the business, which was to close it. Our customers somehow understood and appreciated our honesty and hard work. Ultimately, both parties lawyered up. By the time you get through that process, evidence in hand, it boils down to how much money do you want to spend on your attorneys. Actions were filed against the broker for fluffing an income statement, for profit via a commission. Their license was at stake as well. For the seller and buyers, we hit a stale mate over what we presented. Both parties took a financial loss over the next two years. Something that stuck with me, is my dad said, “Just remember crooks wear collars too.”

I learned a lot from that experience. I’m proud I stood tall for our customers, challenged the buyer and property manager when my gut was telling me something was off. People lie and my business partner and I fell for it. Young eager guys, others saw as an opportunity. Things I see now I didn’t see then rushing through a process, allowing excitement to consume me. This has absolutely changed me when I set out to form WashPros.US. Learn and evolve forward. Life is always a lesson.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Childhood values instilled by my parents I directly attribute to our current success at WashPros.US and Sidemovers.com. Work ethic, service quality, integrity, trust and being dependable.

When sidemovers.com started, we had nothing. I used a new job to buy a few tools, rent blankets even renting a little 10′ cargo trailer. Anything to get started.

Thankfully, I learned a strong work ethic years ago, graduated college with a business degree. I just needed a counterpart in the moving industry, to help show me a few tricks beyond my personal moving experience.

Our attention to detail, handling people’s items with care, along with smiles and being articulate-helped! It didn’t hurt, year 1 our moving company prices were actually too low. We made adjustments each year thereafter. The customers loved the entrepreneurial spirit and were equally patient with us as we were still building up our moving equipment. Eventually, word of mouth began to pick up, we added business cards and eventually, quality branded shirts.

Every year under our belt, created a wake of pro-bono sales reps on our behalf. It just snowballed from there. To this day, we received constant referrals. We broker some deals and others, we keep in house.

As our customers moved into their new forever homes, they began to inquire about cleaning services. This became the inception of WashPros.US. I took a year and stepped away from the moving company to learn about the window washing and pressure washing industries. The information wasn’t as plentiful as it is today.

We followed the same bluebrint of building trust, with friendly faces, being articulate and respectful of our customer’s property as we did with sidemovers.com. Same as before, we had basic equipment while growing our knowledge base in the evenings, to become true professionals. A local builder gave us our first break to earn his business. By our 3rd of 4th house project, we became his go to company for their post construction/remodel clean ups. It’s a longstanding partnership and friendship we’ve had ever since.

What we see daily, you have to put your money where your mouth is and deliver results. If you can do that consistently, with a customer-centric mindset and be reliable, you will start to build a fan base. Character is huge in the marketplace. Consumers, realtors, builders alike, need someone they can rely on. As professional relationships continued to build or strengthen, people learned, if there was a problem or challenge with any cleaning project at hand, rest assured, I would research and find a solution. This methodology never stops but customers know, I speak to what I know and remain studious in nature with their best interest in mind.

As revenue grew, so too did our investment into better quality equipment and vehicles. Both of which make us look more professional and like a true business. Perception is real. Time is the best variable that can be an ally when building your brand. If a customer gives you an opportunity to earn their business and you do a good job; I promise you they will refer your business! Insert the time element again. The more years you are in business, the more customers you have, the more word of mouth, strategic partnerships and marketing…to earn a stigma in a good way. A business that does quality work and business the right way.

In the home services sector, those aforementioned attributes are key. As with experience, you become more familiar with substrates and chemicals, do’s and dont’s, you’ve seen or experience the gauntlet with typical home issues. You are a weathered professional. In the cleaning industry, you cannot replace experience. The more you have the more implied trust customers have in you. It’s a pretty powerful feather to have in your cap as you build your reputation.

Contact Info:

• Website: washpros.us
• Instagram: WashPros Windows
• Facebook: WashPros Windows & Powerwashing
• Linkedin: Kevin WashPros
• Other: Google My Business: WashPros or WashPros Windows NextDoor: WashPros.US

Image Credits
Giselle Walker