Today we’d like to introduce you to Logan Stanko.
Hi Logan, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, you could tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’m Logan Stanko, and my business partner, Chris Nees, are long-time fishing buddies working corporate jobs. I worked as a financial advisor, and Chris worked for ICI Homes. Chris had owned Hydro-Kleen in the early 2000s, but the business had gone under during the Great Recession of 2008. We had always talked about starting a pressure washing company while fishing, but it was mostly just a fantasy about leaving corporate life. Fast forward to 2018, and Chris left ICI. He called his pressure washing rig builder to see if he had a trailer for sale. When he wanted to look at the trailer, it was the original trailer he built when he started Hydro-Kleen in the early 2000s. He bought it on the spot and began Hydro-Kleen again. About 1 year after restarting Hydro-Kleen, I left finance and joined Chris as his business partner. We started with 1 rig and a handful of pressure-washing accounts. Since then, we have expanded our menu of services to include windows, paver/concrete sealing, and commercial cleaning. We have cleaned thousands of projects, some notable as Walmart, Publix, and many multi-unit properties with 30+ buildings. We have multiple rigs on the road each day, but as far as we are concerned, we are just getting started. We aim to make Hydro-Kleen a household brand in the Northeast Florida region.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, has it been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It could have been smoother, but it’s been fun. Like many other small businesses, we had to deal with the pandemic. We got swamped because we could clean with steam and bleach but could not find workers. Chris and I got pretty burnt out because we were doing all the work, putting in a full day working a rig and then working the office when it got dark. Those were very tough days. We never would have guessed the pandemic would have been such a large boost for us. We made some adjustments and were able to hire some help, one of whom is still with us today. Our goal at that time was simply for us to get off the rig so we could run and grow our business. Making that jump from single rig laborers to business owners/operators was challenging. Luckily, throughout my financial career, I was adept at planning and executing plans. We could put a process in place and run it, which allowed Chris and I to be free to sell jobs instead of working them. That single action was the leading cause of our success. The hard part was knowing what to do. In corporate life, you are often told what to do, but as an entrepreneur, you aren’t. You determine everything and live and die by your decisions. Very exciting.
Thanks – So, what else should our readers know about Hydro-Kleen Pressure Washing?
We are a complete service pressure washing and paver sealing company. We offer residential and commercial building and concrete cleaning, exterior window cleaning, and paver sealing. There is no job too big for us. We set ourselves apart with our attention to detail and aggressive price point. All our techs are trained to do the little things without asking. If they are on a job and see something that isn’t on their ticket but would take 5 minutes to clean, they do it! If they have to ask themselves, should I do that, the answer is always yes. We never want a customer inspecting a property after we are done and wondering why we didn’t do something that would have been so simple. Our internal thought process is always overpromise, over-deliver, and don’t nickel and dime the customer. With Hydro-Kleen, you know we will always do the right thing for the right reason. You never need to wonder if we will remember the details. We do.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs, or other resources you think our readers should check?
I am an avid reader of business books and motivational books. I love old-school books written by Napoleon Hill and newer books by Grant Cardon. Warren Buffet and Charliet Munger are my heroes, and I have read all books about and by them. I read once that billionaires read an average of 50-60 books yearly, so my goal is 100.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.hydrokleenpw.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hydrokleenpw/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/logan-stanko-37480914/
