Just Getting Started

gran_national

Hi everyone. I never knew a forum, or part of one, even existed that is just dedicated to sandblasting, but it's great to see. I'm currently an IT Consultant and during my year between high school and college, I sandblasted for about a year. Although it was not the most pleasant experience, it was more of a bad time in my life than the actual work. Anyway, enough about that. I'm kicking around doing some blasting on the side with hopes of getting into it bigger and better. Computers are allright, but all I'm doing is making the president of my company richer. Like my dad told me, you'll never get rich working for someone else. I digress. I was thinking of starting small with a cabinet blaster, maybe a Skat Blast 960 and using that to make some money on the side and get my name into the Sandblasting "hat" if you will. If that progresses, maybe move to dry ice blasting where there seems to be more money. Just from the couple minutes I've been on here, it seems like there is endless potential for income. My problem now is finding place who need small work done. Am I going in the wrong direction? How did you guys get started? I don't have the capital to buy a truck and do a mobile business or anything like that. I'd just like some input from guys who have been doing this a while. Anything you can tell me would be great! Hopefully, that generates more questions.

CO2Solutions

Hi there,
Well, I can't speak for the Sand Blasting side of things but I can talk about the Dry Ice Blasting and business experience. First off, not trying to be negative but make sure you start your own business for the right reasons - for one, don't go into Sand/Soda/Pressure washing Dry Ice blasting thinking you're going to be able to retire in 8-10 years. It's not about making 'tons' of money, you may and some may make fantastic money doing what they do here but not millions (I could be wrong with the odd guy that got lucky). As well, none of these careers (as you found out during college) are not for the weak at heart - each are messy, sweaty grind it out labour intensive jobs. A certain mindset is needed - once your there it's all gravy!
I went from the corporate world to Dry Ice Blasting and it was a tough transition...love it now...I'm my own boss and success or failure is a result of my doing - something I love.

As for DIB (Dry Ice Blasting) - typically, yes it pays more than the others - however, you need the clients and that takes a great marketing plan, salesmanship skills, time and the right area. DIB is great if you live in a large manufacturing sector, you can target the plants. As well, if you get your IICRC accredidations then mold remediation is a huge money maker (mold is GOLD!) BUT then you should probably open your business up to full remediation work which takes much more equipment and skills. I'm currently sub contracted out from disaster restoration companies locally and it works for me now but will start my own MR sub business shortly (just passed my first year of business). As I'm finding out all these media blasting services are connected in many ways, I'm adding a power washer to my business this week to assist in graffiti removal and might start using to promote other areas of work for myself.

Good luck,

mike

CO2Solutions

Oh, guess I should have answered some of your questions...lol.

Start up costs - yeah, truck, blaster etc. can be very costly (DIB is a pretty hefty start up - thats why I charge the big bucks..lol). If you want to be the weekend media blasting guy you can always use your garage if you have one. I find that from talking to guys that want Sand/Soda blasting done they don't want to do it at their residence due to mess. I would definetly look at getting a truck though - you'll need it...

gran_national

Any ideas on how to get started? What marketing plan did you use? I've actually been contracted to 2 very large manufacturing companies in the area and would already have some contacts, but I have to be careful as I'm still working at one of those locations. I can't let my research get me fired from my current job I realize income is a very touchy subject for some people, but can you give me a ballpark idea of how your first year went? What kind of expenses you have/had, ongoing expenses and so forth? I'm just a sponge for knowledge right now.

CO2Solutions

Well, it all depends on the type of business your getting into? for everything...
For myself, I do DIB - therefore start up costs were much higher than your average media blasting company. Truck, Compressor, Blaster, Air Cooler/Dryer, PPE, typical contractor equipment, Marketing (Basics such as Cards, Phamplets, Shirts, Website etc)Business Insurance, WSIB coverage (probably dif. in the US) will be approximately $50,000 (more if you buy your truck).

gran_national

I was really thinking hard about the DIB, but the start up cost is very high. I know some places lease/rent the equipment, so that may be an option. One of my questions was the availabilty and longevity of the dry ice. How long does it last? If I recall from my previous research, you have to buy special containers to hold it. How long does it last and how much to those containers cost? How fast do you go through the ice?

CO2Solutions

That is a big factor when scheduling jobs, 'shelf life' is only about 5 days if stored properly. Even at day 5 the DI starts to weaken as O2 starts to get into it. If you want the ice to be hard and aggressive then use it the first 2 days, if your just doing general cleaning or MR then you can get away with 'old' ice. Dry Ice needs to be stored in large insulated polyethylene containers - no need to buy if you get your DI supplied to you. They come in approx 600lb bins which last on an average job 2.5-3hrs of blasting. Availability, you'll need to check local suppliers of gases etc.

yeah, Coldjet rents equipment - best equipment for sure.

jcawley3

CO2SOLUTIONS.......Do you have an email address I can send a few questions to? jcawley3@comcast.net