How to Hit $160k Solo at 60+: The G.O.A.T. Strategy with Martin from Norway

Speaker A: Your dad runs a very, what we would say, a pretty successful salmon business and farm. Martin, how old are you?

Speaker B: I'm, um, 61.

Speaker A: At 59, something came in your head.

Speaker B: I was a little bit tired of doing the same, so I decided just to quit.

Speaker A: In two years, he's done more revenue as a solopreneur than anybody I've ever met.

Speaker B: I always been a Christian, but my priorities was not right. You're not the accident, right. You have a purpose. Let's go.

Speaker C: Welcome to Wash and Win with Friends, the podcast where pressure washing business owners share their origin stories, the mistakes they made, and exactly how they built a profitable pressure washing business from the ground. I'm your host, Joshua Brown from Brown's Pressure Washing. And every episode you're getting real stories from real operators. No fluff, just the blueprint. Whether you're thinking about starting a pressure washing business or you're ready to scale from solo to multiple trucks, you're in the right place. Hit subscribe so you never miss a story and subscribe. Now let's get into it.

Speaker A: This might be the most unexpected interview I've ever done. This man didn't grow up dreaming about pressure washing. He grew up around water, cold water, hard work, and generations of responsibility. His family has been tied to the sea, to salmon, to a business that goes back decades. He's from Norway and somehow his story intersects with pressure washing on entrepreneurship and building a future for his family. This isn't really a business interview. It's about story and it's about legacy and what happens when a man decides to build something new on his own. Martin, welcome to the podcast.

Speaker B: Thank you.

Speaker A: For someone that has never been to Norway, would you mind describing it to somebody that that's trying to imagine what you wake up to every day?

Speaker B: Wow, Norway is a beautiful country. We have a lot of mountains, a lot of fjords. I live close to the ocean, Norwegian Ocean. And um, yeah, uh, when I. There's approximately 5 million people lives in Norway. So it's a small country. Uh, I live on the west coast. The most beautiful place, closest town is Bergen. Uh, yeah. And. Uh, the most important, uh, uh, business in Norway or the income is from the oil. We have a lot of oil in the North Sea and also the fishery are big is number two.

Speaker A: Would you call the community spread out or knit together?

Speaker B: Oh, spread out. I live on a small place on an island where in. In that community we're around 5,000 people. Yeah.

Speaker A: So there's 5,000 people that are inside your community. How close is Your closest neighbor.

Speaker B: Well, that's. 10 second walk.

Speaker A: So it's, it's also knit together. You guys?

Speaker B: Yeah, I live uh, on our farm or my father's farm. Uh, I have trees, two, two brothers and one sister that lives right where I live.

Speaker A: How far, how far back does your family farm go? And what do you guys farm?

Speaker B: My father started the farm in 71 and I uh, started in 85.

Speaker A: And what do you guys farm?

Speaker B: Salmon.

Speaker A: Uh, and pro, uh, for someone that knows nothing about farming salmon and fish, can you kind of just give me a brief overview of what the business looks like?

Speaker B: Well, we have a, uh, hatchery where we, we uh, grow uh, the small uh, salmon in fresh water and when they are around 100 grams, that's, I don't know what that is. In a small, small salmon on this size, then it goes into the pants in the ocean and it grow there for a year, a year and a half and they are, then they are up in four or five kilo and then we export them to, to uh, all over the world.

Speaker A: How many fish a year? And I don't know if it's measured in fish or kilos, but can you give me kind of an idea of understanding how many fish do you guys export either a week, a month or a year?

Speaker B: Uh, we uh, right now, uh, I really love around 10,000 tons, uh, metric tons, uh, from our company. Uh, how much is that? You can. Yeah, that's. It's a lot of fish. It's a lot of meals.

Speaker A: 10. Did you say 10, 10,000 tons?

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Okay.

Speaker B: One day we can maybe three, four trucks with, with salmon goes out in, in Europe.

Speaker A: Your dad sounds like an incredible man to start this in 71. Can you tell me a little bit about your father?

Speaker B: Yeah, he, he grew, grew up where I live and he started fishing when he was really young and he uh, he had uh, he worked on fishing boats all his life but he had some trouble with his back so he wanted to have a easier life and started, he wanted to start salmon business or salmon farming. But it wasn't easier. But, but he started. He was one of the first. He was a, ah, the pioneer in salmon business in Norway. And um, he um. Yeah, so he, he was one of the first.

Speaker A: All right. And so your dad runs a very, what we would say a pretty successful salmon business and farm. Can you help me understand what got in. What led you to think about and for those that are listening, Martin, how old are you?

Speaker B: I'm um, uh, 61.

Speaker A: You're 61 and how, how long have you been in the pressure washing business?

Speaker B: Uh right now two years. I started in December. 23. Yeah.

Speaker A: So we can basically say 24 was your first year, 25 was your best. Because I'm assuming you guys do have winter, you're not in Florida.

Speaker B: I actually my wife is uh born in America and all of her or mostly all of her relatives are living, they live in America. So we go there every November. Ah and um, we stay in Orlando or Orlando before but now we are going down to Deerfield Beach. We stay there uh in the whole November.

Speaker A: So you've got a successful business. Uh your father started at 59. Something came in your head lead me to the day or the days leading up to you making a decision to launch a pressure washing business. I want to hit the pause button.

Speaker C: If you're listening to this and thinking

Speaker A: I want to start a pressure washing

Speaker C: business or I need to scale what I've got. I've got something for you. Every month we run a free webinar called Wash and Men where we break down the exact steps to start a pressure washing business the right way. How to scale from solo operator to multiple trucks. A custom market analysis so you know if you're in the right area and if it's profitable. And we'll cover our in person boot camps where you get hands on training. This isn't theory, this is the system that helps hundreds of operators build six and seven figure businesses.

Speaker A: Here's what you do.

Speaker C: Go to Pressure Wash right now and reserve your spot. It's free and you'll walk away with a plan. That's pressurewashingpastor.com and link is in the show notes.

Speaker A: Let's get back to our story.

Speaker B: Well I uh. There was a period in. In. In um uh when I work at the fish farm. I was. I was a little bit tired of doing the same and um. So I decided just to quit. So I quit in, in 22 and had that ah had one year just doing nothing, just work chopping woods and stuff. And um. And then the summer 23 I had to decide to find something to do so I searched on the Internet and I came over some videos about pressure washing and I found a company in Norway uh uh that uh had like a school or kind of a school to teach pressure washing. And he uh. They. They've been in uh Orlando to ac lock here and get. Get uh teaching uh in uh soft washing so I could contacted them and that's was the start.

Speaker A: Did your wife or your family ever think that you were crazy.

Speaker B: Oh, yeah, no, I don't. No, I don't think so. Uh, my wife has been very supportive. Yeah. So. But it's, it's pretty new here in Norway. Uh, pressure washing. I would never, uh, ask somebody to come to clean my house because that, that's what we do ourselves. Right. But the market is, it's huge in Norway. There's a lot of moss on roofs and a lot of green walls and so.

Speaker A: So when you were. Excuse me, when you were 57, you get burnout on working in the family business on the farm, uh, with salmon. When you went to your dad and told him that. Hey, my dad was dead then, okay?

Speaker B: He died some years ago. Yeah.

Speaker A: Who did you go to to quit?

Speaker B: Well, I told my, my nephew. He's the manager, director at the company.

Speaker A: So was there an argument that blew up or was it peaceful exit right then?

Speaker B: It was peaceful, yeah. But it's, it's hard when, uh, when it's a, uh, family company. All my. Oh, well, my two brothers live, uh, work there and I have two nephews and. Yeah, so it was a little bit tough. Yeah.

Speaker A: How are things today as far as family dynamics?

Speaker B: Well, it's not perfect. Um, but we talk to each other and uh. Yeah, so I, I still, I still, uh, use, um, one of the big, uh, uh, what we call a shop where I can keep my car, my, my equipment and everything down there on the fish farm. So that's good. So I'm, I'm down at the fish farm every day.

Speaker A: What did.

Speaker B: I want to take a cup of coffee with them and that's nice.

Speaker A: What did work? So for clarity, you worked for about 30, 40 years on the farm.

Speaker B: 37 years.

Speaker A: Okay. Um, and once you exited, and for those that are listening today, I want you to know that Martin, I consider a dear friend which gone through discipleship together. Um, he's inside of a kind, um, of an academy that we have to help people start and scale their pressure washing business. So when I'm interviewing Martin, I'm literally interviewing a guy that I've heard his story, I know his personality and I know his motivations. And he's just a good man, which is why I've labeled him as the greatest pressure washer of all time. In. And this is why I say that in two years he's done more revenue as a solopreneur than anybody I've ever met. And I think this year you're going to be 61. Is that correct?

Speaker B: Yeah, I'm going to be 62. 63.

Speaker A: 62.

Speaker B: Oh yeah. This year. Yep.

Speaker A: So I don't know many people that are in their 60s or late 50s that think about leaving a successful business, starting a pressure washing business. This and not only starting it is absolutely crushing it. If you look at his content, his videos, if you profile, he does exactly what you would want to do day in and day out. And he's a solopreneur. Last year, what was your revenue number for pressure washing?

Speaker B: It was 160, uh, thousand.

Speaker A: So in year two, you did $160,000 worth of pressure washing as a solo entrepreneur in your 60s. So this is what I want to do. What did you learn, what did you do, what did you learn on the farm that translated over into your work ethic? Um, what did, what did your, your dad's business teach you about how to lead your business today?

Speaker B: Well, I, I learned from, I was a kid to work, work a lot. If I didn't go to work, my father forced me. So I, I had to work when I was off the school off, had vacation from school. I worked on the farm. So I've worked all my life so that it's important to work. So I learned everything. So I, I started. Feeding the fish and um, I, I've done most of the thing at the farm.

Speaker A: A lot of people, they start businesses to make money. You mentioned you took one year off after working 37 years. You're like, you know what, I'm going to take a year break. And then you decided I'm going to start a new business. Did you start it to make money or was there other motivations that was leading you to start the pressure washing business?

Speaker B: Well, I had to start, I had to get some money because, uh, I couldn't just live on my, my savings. So I had to start something to get the income. Uh, but I'm, I'm in a kind of good situation. So I wanted to do a very good job. I, I know I could, I think I could, can do a better job than many others because of my uh, what's the word? Uh, it's work ethic. Yeah. And, and I'm, I've worked all my life so I'm not afraid to work long days. And uh, I had to do work. I have to work long days now because I have an hour driving almost to every jobs and, and uh, and I, I, if I came in rush hour, I, I have to maybe up to two hours in rush hour. So it's a lot of work. And when I come, come home, I have to clean uh, the, the car and fix up everything, make everything ready and then I have to do the office work after. So it's many hours so. But it doesn't bother me. I, I'm used to work.

Speaker A: So take me back to year one. You went out to get trained by a pressure washing coach or an academy led by AC Lock Lock your locklear. What did um, year one look like as it relates to how you started getting your first leads? What were some of the m. Mistakes, doubts that, that you ran into?

Speaker B: Well, I had a really good work, a good start. I got two churches, big churches. The one of them was really, really dirty. Uh, it was a lot of algae and um, I was so impressed myself because uh, I uh, flush uh, on soap and waited and it just run off all the algae and, and just run off and it was beautiful. So that was the first two jobs and well I was a little bit high uh when I took the, the other one because then I, I, I um, I had to use a lift and uh, when I took it back early in the morning, it was dark the next day and I tried to back up and I had to back up, go out and look because I have to just get it right in into a parking uh place and I put it in park and went out, put it in reverse and back it uh up and a little bit in in drive again. And then I forgot to. I, I put it in drive when I was putting in reverse and I went out of the the the the when I fell and the the the

Speaker A: the

Speaker B: when just went right into a. Another lift and I, I banged up my, my when I got hurt my, my foot hurt for a long time and my shoulder. And so that was my first uh, mistake or whatever.

Speaker A: Did you have prior experience on how to drive a lift?

Speaker B: Well, yeah, I had the course. Yeah.

Speaker A: Well I remember the first time we got a lift at Browns. You know I ended up calling. We had a uh, hotel that we had to clean and basically Josiah is probably 17, 18 years old and you know he's a young buck and so anything that we sold he would, he would figure out a way to clean it. And so we, we did not have any previous experience and we just figured it out as we went. When you, when you look back on your starting story, um, what has running the business you're in year two about start year three. What is running the business given you that you didn't expect?

Speaker B: I uh, think um, It's hard. Well if I'm gonna put me in, in the Customers um, see me, see the job in my customers, uh, eyes. Uh, uh, then most of the jobs, uh, after. The after is so, so good. It's so nice. So I, I still are really impressed after is some of the jobs and, and um, ah, but I've learned a lot. I learned that sometimes I have to wait a long time and sometimes it goes like this. It's just a few minutes. And I have focused on softwash because uh, I think soft wash, uh, is the most, is the best uh, method. In Norway. A lot of people still are using pressure washing or going with high pressure on the walls. That's not good. So almost all my uh, uh, commercial I use, I use the word soft wash. I never use pressure washing.

Speaker A: I've seen the pictures of before and after of the roofs and some of the, the structures that you clean. And for those that are listening, I've not seen anything any dirtier. When we're talking about algae, you know, or moss growing on a roof, you will see in Norway, you know, it almost looks like 2 to 3 inches of

Speaker B: growth.

Speaker A: And so it is. What I heard you say is you really have an internal satisfaction of seeing something go from filthy to looking brand new again. And that is one of the things that that pressure washing has given you. Is that correct?

Speaker B: That's right. It's, it's so fun just to, to do a work that I know the customer will be satisfied.

Speaker A: That's so good.

Speaker B: So, so that's. I love that I could get a job where I just get the pay and. But this is, this give me much more.

Speaker A: Yeah. Um, I work in an industry in America where eight out of 10 guys are going to quit before year five. What's different about you?

Speaker B: I'm not, I'm not sure there's anything different, but I'm, I'm decided to uh, make this company a uh, good company. I have a, I have a target. I have uh, a vision for the company. I'm going to grow it and hopefully this year I can uh, get a companion or somebody that can help me grow. Um. Yeah.

Speaker A: I want you to think about 15 years from now. 15 years from now you're going to be 70, you're gonna be 77, 78. Um. What are you building?

Speaker B: Hopefully I'm building a company. That will be known in my area for, for good work, good service and um, uh, yeah. And trust. A company that they can trust. I think that's important.

Speaker A: Will you still be running the business or do you see somebody in your family or somebody in your Community that might end up running the day to day.

Speaker B: Hopefully I'm not running it after 15 uh, years but uh, I would love to start up this company and, and try to grow it and help. Uh, I think I can do a lot of uh, yeah a lot of good uh work. Ah also up when I'm 71 or 75.

Speaker A: You ever got your wife out pressure washing with you?

Speaker B: Yeah, when, when I um, I'm using the lift. We are supposed to have one person on the ground. So she always up with when I'm um, uh using the lift. Yeah.

Speaker A: Ah, she's an absolute jewel. You did good.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: So you're learning how to create jobs, you're scaling your business, you're going to be bringing on team members. What do you sense God teaching you about your business?

Speaker B: Actually if I can tell a story I, I work, I worked a lot when I, when I was on, on the fish farm and some period. I, I worked too much. Ah and the family was maybe was not number one or two or maybe further down. But in 2005 my wife got cancer and uh, that was pretty hard. Um then my daughter Camilla was 8. So that got me started thinking what is important in life. Um, so that that changed my, I always been a Christian but my priorities was not right. So um, so from that day I think something happened, something changed. I, I, I, I try to prioritize different. Uh actually we started a church the year after together with some friends. It's still going on. It's a nice church. Um, actually we also went. I was so fascinated. I read the book Purpose Driven Life of uh, Rick Warren and I was so uh, impressed of that book. So we, my wife and I went to Saddleback uh church and on a conference and we didn't meet him but we saw him. But uh, it was, I uh, learned a lot from that book. It's, the book started with it's, it's uh, it's all start about God. I think that's the first sentence. Um, it's not about you I think. And, and that's right. It's not about me

Speaker A: so.

Speaker B: But I knew I have a mission. I have a purpose. I'm not accident or I heard your story. You're not the accident. Right. You have a purpose. So I think I can bring that purpose with me in work to the people I meet, to the people uh, that worked for me if that time is coming. So I want to make a difference uh every day.

Speaker A: Well you are and you have shared stories over the past year. In 2025 of starting to view business not as just, you know, profits, people, products, processes, but you're starting to see purpose inside of it where you're actually able. And I'm not going to share your story, but I'll share uh, a little tidbit if you're listening today. What Martin is learning, you know, in his 60s, is that he can slow down on the job and pray with somebody or to be present with somebody. That is the beautiful part about opening a trades business is that you can actually, what I say is minister to your city, to your community without any preconceived ideas that you want something from them. Martin, I want you to think for a second that there's actually going to be people that are watching this and listening to this from different countries and they're thinking about opening a business in the trades, maybe even a pressure washing business, maybe even late in their lives like you did. And there's, they're sitting on the edge of their seat thinking about doing what you're doing. What would you speak to them? What would you tell them? Starting and scaling a pressure washing business is hard and one of the reasons it makes it hard is because you really don't have the leadership, the marketing, the sales, the operation, the services and the cash flow that's required to scale a business. This is why I started a Wash and Win academy. If you're interested in finding out more about the academy, you come first into a free webinar where we go over all the systems that you need to put in play in order to scale your business. Tomorrow Simply go to pressurewashingpasture.com and sign up for our Wash and Win with Friends webinar. Hope to see you on the inside. Peace.

Speaker B: Well in Norway, uh, and I don't think a lot of people are open about, they believe their beliefs because a lot of people are not, they don't like to hear it. If you talk about Jesus, people say stop. So I think for uh, a Christian man or woman that wanted to start the company they have to be, ah, They have to think uh, they have a, they have a purpose, they have a um, there's a plan for them. And I, I think it's important to be open, um, um about their belief, open, not press anything on people but uh, just be good, just be, be kind to people. We have, we have like a vision for our church that it's uh, um, yeah, I would try to say it in English, uh, reflect God's kindness and draw others to Jesus. Uh, I think that's what we can do. We can just reflect, uh, God's kindness and be kind, be good, help people. Um, I know John Maxwell are using a, ah, sentence that's add value to people. So I think if we could add value every day to people, then I think, um, nobody will react and be mad at us. I think, um, yeah, but, but it's tough. That was the, the, um, the thing at you, the huge convention this year when you had, uh, the seminar, when you started with. To pray. Before the seminar, you, you, you talk about Jesus and how Jesus treated people. Shouldn't we wash their feet? That's how we should treat our cost, our, uh, uh, employees. Right. Wash their feet. So that was like an eye opener for my, for me and for Linda too. It was so good. You could never, uh. I don't think we will hear that in Norway on a, uh, it wasn't a Christian, uh, conference either, so it was really good. I. Yeah. So I think it's important. Just be open and, um, and just do good things, do the right things.

Speaker A: Yeah. If you're listening to this, and Martin, I want to thank you for showing up today. You are the real deal. If someone wants to know what it looks like to show up, not looking to get anything out of somebody, but looking to bring value to somebody, I want you to check out Martin. He really is a prime example of what I would refer to as a minister in the marketplace. If you're trying to understand what we're doing or what we're talking about or what we're transitioning to. For those that are listening, this is our final, um. Three years ago, I started the Pressure Washing Pastor podcast. And then we transitioned it into what we're kind of experiencing today, the Washing Wind with Friends. And I'm transitioning into what's going to be called the as you go podcast, where it is church in the trades, where we're going to be sharing stories of how the church is getting mobilized. I had an interview with a guy named Hunter Ballou from Roofcon, where they, at the end of their convention, they had over 200 people baptized at their roof convention. And it's like, what if we stop thinking like the reformers, where it's about doctrine, it's about tribes, it's about creating. And maybe it wasn't originally with the Reformation, but those who followed afterwards, we ended up creating doctrines that divide over once saved, always saved, or, uh, you know, can you lose your salvation? Or, you know, sprinkles immersion. And it's like, we've got Catholicism and Methodism and we've got Nazarenes, we've got Calvins and Wesleyan. It's like, what if this thing wasn't supposed to look like that? What if we were actually supposed to just embody the message and the incarnation of uh, of Jesus wherever we go, where you're not trying to take advantage of people, but you're trying to serve people. And so Martin, you're my favorite pressure washer on the planet. I do believe your company is going to be here 15, 50, uh, you know, years from now. I believe there's going to be either, you know, someone that's going to want to buy it or you're going to find someone that wants to pick up where you left off and that your business will one day be known as a church in the marketplace or a church in the city. And I'm not talking about it has to have a worship. And I'm just saying where you are, love is. And you just look for ways that you can serve, that you can add value, that you can pray, that you can share your story and testimony. Martin, I'm going to turn it over to you and there any final words or anything that you'd like to share with any of our listeners?

Speaker B: Well, I think it's important for, for company, um, to share and help others like you do, uh, help others to grow, um, even if it's not pressure washing, but we have a lot of, what do you call it, uh, experience that we can teach other and help other to uh, to grow. I think that's important. That's that part. And the other thing is we are not just Christian in the church on Sunday, but we are Christian every day. We have to uh, to share the, the um, the good news

Speaker A: where we

Speaker B: are at work that can be, just be good to some, somebody and if, if uh, the situation makes it uh, the way that we can help somebody just with, to pray with somebody and, and help them that way. We should not hesitate. You should just do it.

Speaker A: Martin, thank you for being a friend. Thank you for being a guest. Thank you for meeting me on a podcast while you're in Norway, uh, at that beautiful country that the Lord has placed you in. I'm going to click End and for everybody that's been listening, uh, do me a favor, share this episode. There's a rhythm and a conversation that is rare in what we're discussing. Like it, comment and share it with a friend. So we can encourage more businesses to be on mission where they live, where they work and where they play Martin, thank you for being here. Thank you.

Speaker B: Let's go.

Speaker C: Before you go, if you're already already running a pressure washing business and you're serious about scaling with purpose, we need to talk about Wash and Wind Academy. If you want to build a business that provides for your family and impacts your city for the kingdom, this is your home. You can even try a free seven day pass and bring a friend. No credit card, no questions asked. Simply Simply go to pressurewashingpastor.com and click on our Start Here link. That'll lead you to a webinar and you and I will have a conversation from there. If you want to get directly to me, just send me an email. Joshuaownspressurewashing.com today.