How to Start a Junk Removal Business – Evergreen Junk Removal Service

After much deliberation (hopefully), you’ve decided that you want to start your very own junk removal business. Congratulations, but before diving in head first and buying your first junk truck, you should consider all the essential factors that will affect your business’s success. You should also evaluate whether a junk removal business is really for you, and whether you’re ready for one.

Getting into this industry requires you to be decisive, good with dealing with other people, and able to work with your hands. If those characteristics aren’t your strong suit or simply not your cup-of-tea, then you’re looking into the wrong line of work.

Steps to Starting a Junk Removal Business

Step 1: Plan, Plan, Plan

The very most important step to starting this kind of business is to have a plan. It would be your biggest mistake not to have one, as this is what's going to ensure your company is safe from legal issues, is capable of growing, and will make money along the way. It also prevents you from losing money and being easily susceptible to troubling court cases. You want your business to succeed, so you have to have a plan for the next 5 years, at least, for you to try to stick by.

The first thing you should do is to do research on the area you’re thinking about starting your business in. It’s extremely important that you understand the area. Ask yourself, when you're doing your research, if there is a demand for your service. Is there more demand then there is supply? If there is, what are the rates for the other business? How much money does the other business charge?

Are you worth that much, less, or more? What's the average income for residents in the city? Is the city growing? Is it shrinking? These questions are meant to give you an idea of whether your business would actually be successful and whether you'd actually be able to serve people. You can't go in blind, or you will be blindsided by the lack of attention you're receiving.

Secondly, do some research on how much this particular business will cost you. Don't come up with an imaginary amount that you assume fits this kind of industry.

Research Your Market

Do the research. Look things up. You may not have enough money right now to afford this kind of expense. You may not have enough money for all of the necessary vehicles, equipment, and employees that will make your business run. You also have to look at how much it'll cost you to work in a particular city. There are different rules, regulations, and fees that you will have to pay based on where you are living. Figure these things out and calculate them when you're planning, so you know what to expect.

Lastly, you have to determine the miscellaneous aspects. Think about what you're going to name your business. Think about how big or small you want to start it. Think about who you want your main audience to be. These are smaller factors that are still necessary for you to figure out.

Step 2: Get on the Right Side of the Law

Check in with any local, state, and federal laws that are placed upon junk removal businesses. Check and see if there are any costs you will have to pay or if there are any restrictions or limitations on what you can do. Check to see if there are limitations on the amount of weight you can put on your truck. Take the necessary exams for certifications, if they are required. Get your license. Make sure you also establish a legal entity, so that you are not liable for certain damages or issues.

Step 3: Get Insurance

Get your business some insurance. You don’t want a large amount of money coming out of your pocket if something goes wrong with a customer or, in extreme situations, you get sued. You need to have some way of paying for the damages without going broke in the process, especially if they happen early on in the business’s career.

Step 4: Become Official

Set up an account for your business finances. You need to know how much you’re making and losing, what you’re spending, and how your business is doing. Keep track of all your expenses, so you can tell the performance of your business and figure out how to improve. Don’t mix in personal and business accounts when you first start, or allow yourself to wait until the company is established before you create a separate account. Be on top of all this, so that when you’re ready to begin there are no loose ends.

Step 5: Figure Out Your Company’s Values

Each business has values, principles, and standards that they stand by and support. You need to figure out what yours stands for. Are there any rules of business that you’d like to incorporate into your practices?

Are there certain methods other companies use that you’re not satisfied with, and that you’d like to do differently from? Will you have certain standards for how your employees treat customers? Will you have any special deals, characteristics, or traits that make you a more reasonable, profitable, or friendly company than others in your area? Your answers to these questions, and others, will affect how your target audience views you and your company. Those qualities will define who you are—this is your brand. That’s what separates you from your competition.

Step 6: Advertise Everywhere

Social media is an incredibly useful and popular tool in today’s age. It doesn’t matter if you’re simply trying to become a neighborhood business or not. You need social media and an online website for advertising and establishment. Setup a Google listing and get featured locally.

Websites like LinkedIn, Facebook, Google (think of the ads underneath the search engine), Twitter, and even Pinterest let your target audience know that you exist. Regular flyers and business cards may help, but not nearly as much as releasing yourself online and making your company known.

Whenever people look for a business, they do it online. Not having any kind of media presence will limit your profits tremendously and restrict you to an unknown and failing business. Invest some money into a marketing team who can help grow your business.

Hire someone to create a logo design for your brand and promote that to help build your brand identity. Set up a website where potential customers can find you and learn more about your brand and services. The two methods together will attract more customers and increase your sales.

That’s it! Of course, it requires more than the simple six steps to be a successful company, but these are the basics to getting started. Now that you know, go get started, but keep reading as we’ll now get into the monetary aspects.

How Much Money Can You Make?

You can make a lot of money with this kind of business if you’re willing to put in the work. All it takes is determination and work ethic. You’ll decide how much or how little you’d like to work, what your rates will be, how often in a week your services will be available, etc.

Getting into the technical stuff, you could easily make $106,000 a year if your business runs by the average hourly rate. However, the costs of expanding—purchasing more trucks, paying more salaries, and the like—would make that near unprofitable. Let’s say your business made around $250,000, after all your expenses: labor, disposal fees, advertisement and marketing, gas, tools, vehicular repairs and services, etc. You’d be left with roughly $55,000 in net income.

It doesn’t sound all that great as with that kind of revenue, you’d still be in the beginner stages of your company. There’s still lots of room for improvement, and the prices income will have to be adjusted after you calculate everything specific to your company. Once you’ve done all this, of course, you’ll need to keep working to make more. $55,000 is the average income in the U.S., so get to work.