In 1992, Kenneth Bolsch was a high-school senior in New Jersey looking for a way to make a little extra money after school. When he learned he could rent a power washer, he went door to door asking residents in his hometown if they needed a deck cleaned or their siding washed. By Kelsi Trinidad
In 1992, Kenneth Bolsch was a high-school senior in New Jersey looking for a way to make a little extra money after school. When he learned he could rent a power washer, he went door to door asking residents in his hometown if they needed a deck cleaned or their siding washed. Eventually, he was able to start a successful business, which became Green Earth Powerwashing.
Bolsch was born and raised in the hospitality industry. His father owned a multi-faceted catering business that hosted many in-house social and business events and catered to private and corporate jets out of 16 airports in the Northeast. After several years, the in-flight catering company was sold to the largest international in-flight caterer.
Shortly thereafter, Bolsch and his family were ready for a life change. “And that’s where I said, “You know, what can I do?’ I thought back to my high-school days and said, ‘Well, why not try power washing?’” Bolsch remembered. He dedicated his time to educating himself and completing extensive research to develop his business model. Once Bolsch created his brand and logo, he was off to the races. With a warmer climate in mind, Bolsch moved to South Florida where he could finally run his full-time, essential power-washing company.
In 2010, Bolsch founded Green Earth Powerwashing, servicing his community in South Florida and working on everything from residential houses to commercial properties. He focused on providing great service along with outstanding results at reasonable pricing, which resulted in repeat business.
“Within the first two years, really, the company took off, and we started just catering to commercial properties and grew and grew,” Bolsch said.
Because of the company’s fast success and increased demand, Bolsch started to put the wheels in motion to franchise Green Earth Powerwashing. In 2019, the company began franchising. “We franchised right before COVID hit, and that kind of took the wind out of our sails,” said Bolsch. “But then, a year later, we sold our first franchise here in Florida to Broward County, and that has been super successful. We’ve since sold six more. We have Miami-Dade, Naples, Fort Myers, Tampa and Treasure Coast, and Dallas is our first franchise out of state.”
The brand is currently expanding in the southern tier of the U.S., where the climate guarantees a year-round business, and further north to offer seasonal business options. As a home-based business with low inventory requirements, Green Earth Powerwashing keeps costs down and margins high, with some jobs producing 70% profit.
“It’s a service that pretty much needs to be done,” explained Bolsch. “Especially in the southern U.S., there’s a lot of homeowners associations that mandate this service, so we have recurring business.”
Even with the slowed production of vehicles because of the pandemic, Green Earth Powerwashing has its fully outfitted trucks on hand and ready for the next franchisee to start almost immediately. The brand has the infrastructure to provide extensive training for franchisees to become successful members of the Green Earth family, with advertising programs and affiliations with national companies in place.
Kelsi Trinidad