Starting a new business isn’t easy, but some have a lower entry point than others. In theory, two people and a truck are all you need to start a moving business. However, you’ll be facing a lot of competition, and you want your business to be a success. With proper planning, you will not just earn money, you will make a decent profit. Let’s discuss how to start a successful moving business in 5 steps.
Understand the Market
Understand the market before you start hiring people or buying equipment. If you live in the city, know that 80 percent of moves are both small and local. This means you don’t need a big truck or storage facilities like a warehouse. Just have enough capacity in the truck and people to quickly load up a few rooms’ worth of furniture and move it to the destination.
Craft a Business Plan
Create a basic business plan and do the relevant research. What market do you want to serve? Small local moves are the easiest to serve, but you have to know how to market to this customer base. Know how much your competition is charging and how much they pay their team members. Consider the costs you’ll have to pay from printing flyers to renting trucks. Know how to estimate moving costs for customers and manage your inventory. Have a good idea how many people are required to do the jobs you want to perform as quickly as customers expect it to be done. Plan how you’ll find qualified talent that are available when your clients want to move.
Think about the services you can offer that differentiates you from the competition. Will you offer cleaning services, garbage removal, or furniture assembly services to moving customers or the general public? You might sell packing supplies in addition to charging a fee to pack boxes for customers.
Buy the Right Equipment
You’re going to need trucks to move furniture and boxes. Save money and go for a used daycab truck. Moving is hard work, and you have to pay people well to do that type of labor. Invest in equipment that makes this process easier like hand trucks, dollies, ropes and furniture pads. Bring in moving pads to protect heavy items. Research where you could buy these items used to save money. Stock up on moving boxes, packing and wrapping material. Don’t buy things you rarely need, but know where you can rent them if you need them.
Get Your Papers in Order
Your moving company is a legal business. You will probably need to get a business license, and you may need to get additional licenses and permits. A DOT license may be enough to drive a large moving truck. You also need to secure mandatory business insurance such as auto insurance for your moving truck, liability insurance and cargo insurance. Depending on where you live, local laws may define the minimum amount of cargo and vehicle insurance you must have.
Start Advertising
You should already have developed your brand, such as your company name and target customer demographic. Now you need to start marketing your business.
Set up a website and get listed in business directories and industry associations. Set up your business through services that list local moving services. You may want to create company folders and moving kits, which is a good way to promote your business when doing project estimates in the client’s house. Talk to online brokers, real estate agents and apartment managers so that they can refer customers to you. This will help you fill in your moving schedule.
Moving businesses are one of the simplest, cheapest businesses to set up. However, you need to take the right steps so that you’re able to earn a decent profit and avoid major pitfalls.
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