'I wanna get out of the shelters': Guelph teen starts pressure washing business

'I wanna get out of the shelters': Guelph teen starts pressure washing business

Johnathon Mcintosh started Speedriver Pressure Washing to get out of shelter system

A Guelph teenager has started his own pressure washing business to get out of the shelter system.

Seventeen-year-old Johnathon Mcintosh started Speed River Pressure Washing in July and hauls an almost 50-kilogram pressure washer behind his bike to get to his customers.

"I mainly, I wanna get out of the shelters and I wanna show people that you can get out of the shelters doing your own thing," Mcintosh told CBC News.

Mcintosh said he came up with the idea to start his own business after his first two jobs as a tire mechanic and handyman.

"I realized that working for other people just wasn't for me. So I started looking for ideas, found pressure washing, I already had experience but the only problem is, I didn't have money."

Mcintosh reached out to Business Centre Guelph Wellington, which offers a program funded by the provincial government called Summer Company.

The program helps students start their own businesses during the summer months, providing up to $3,000 and mentorship. The only issue was that Mcintosh reached out just after applications closed.

Olga George-Cosh, a business advisor at Business Centre Guelph Wellington for the Summer Company program, agreed to meet with Mcintosh despite the missed deadline.

"He did so well in the interview," she said. "He was so convincing and he was so determined. He knew what he wanted to do."

George-Cosh was able to get approval for Mcintosh to join the program, provided he followed the process required to take part the program. This involved developing a business plan, creating a budget and coming up with projections for the summer.

Since launching his business last month, Mcintosh said he already has five customers and hopes to have at least 20 by the end of the summer.

"The clients have been flowing and the jobs have been going. It’s been great so far," he said.

Mcintosh gets customers by going door-to-door in Guelph and posting on social media. Most customers are about a five to six kilometre bike ride.

"It’s been a big issue for me lately, though, with transportation. I can only really take on a job a day with travel times. So I'm hoping to get a truck eventually … That's what I'm working up for this summer," he said.

Mcintosh said he focuses on pressure washing patios and driveways, but he also does decks, fences and even garbage bins.

Joel Moraga is one of Mcintosh’s customers and says he does a great job.

"If you’re looking for someone to have things done, that is your man," said Moraga.

'You can get out of the shelters': Guelph youth starts his own pressure washing business

'They think we aren’t trying'

Although Mcintosh said biking with so much weight in tow can be "horrible" he's determined to keep going.

"One thing I’ve been noticing, being at a shelter, you know, for over a year is a lot of people really think that we're just waiting around for handouts and they think we aren't trying," he said

"We can't just decide one day that, you know, we're gonna wake up, get a job that day and fix our life up in one day. It takes years."

He wants to stop the stereotype as fast as possible. "It just breaks us down," he said.

Mcintosh is hoping to find someone who would be willing to sponsor him so that he can get a truck and really get his business off the ground.

During the winter, he hopes to pivot to snow removal.

Lauren Kuivenhoven is a reporter at CBC K-W. She loves hearing from the community and is open to stories at lauren.kuivenhoven@cbc.ca.