Do you love pools and are in the market to start your own business? If so, check out these tips for starting your own pool cleaning business.
There are more than 10 million public and private pools scattered throughout the U.S. And while some pool owners opt to clean their pools on their own, there are also many who hire a pool cleaning service to come and do it for them.
With that mind, you might be able to launch a successful pool cleaning company in your city or town and make a lot of money doing it. There is clearly a demand for companies that know how to clean a pool.
But before you decide to launch your business, there are a few things you should ask yourself. Here are 9 considerations you need to make prior to putting your pool cleaning company into service.
1. Is There a Demand for a Pool Cleaning Service in Your City?
The first thing you’re going to want to do before starting a business that specializes in cleaning pools is to try and gauge how much demand there is for pool cleaners in your city in the first place.
Are there a lot of pools in your area? Are there other pool cleaning services available? What do you think would set your company apart from them?
It would obviously be a bad idea to start a business that cleans pools in a place that doesn’t have many of them. It would also be a bad idea to start one in a place where everyone with a pool tends to take care of cleaning it on their own.
So you should try to get some sense of how much interest there would be in your company if you started it.
2. How Much Do You Know About Cleaning Pools?
Outside of gauging interest in your pool cleaning company idea, you should also do some self-reflection and evaluate your own skills as a pool cleaner.
Chances are, you have some idea of what you’re going to be getting yourself into if you’re considering becoming a pool cleaner.
But how much experience do you have in the space? Have you:
- Spent years cleaning your own pool?
- Worked for another company in town that offers pool cleaning services?
- Served as an apprentice for a local pool cleaner?
People aren’t going to trust you to clean their pools if you don’t have any experience doing it. And frankly, you might not trust yourself if that’s the case.
You should check your credentials to see what qualifies you to be a pool cleaner in your town.
3. Do You Know How to Swim and Are You in Good Shape?
If you’re going to spend your days working around pools, you better know how to swim.
You also better be in good enough shape to pick up the equipment used to clean pools and carry it around all day.
Otherwise, you might start your business only to find that you’re not cut out to put in the physical labor it takes to clean pools.
And then what? You will have wasted a lot of time and money for nothing. So make sure you’re ready to handle the physical rigors that come along with cleaning pools.
4. Do You Have a Business Plan in Place?
If you’ve answered the first three questions and are still committed to opening your business, then it’s time to get serious.
You need to put a business plan into place. The plan should clearly state the purpose of your company and how you plan to attract business to it.
You may need to borrow some money to get your business off the ground. To do this, you’ll need to prove that you’ve prepared a business plan and know what you’re doing.
5. Can You Afford to Buy the Pool Equipment You’ll Need?
There is all kinds of equipment that you’ll need to buy to clean pools of all shapes and sizes.
While you might want to start small and just buy a few pieces of equipment at first, you’re going to need to make a decent investment in pool equipment if you want your business to be able to handle any pool.
Do you have enough money to purchase it? If not, you might want to put off cleaning pools until you can.
You will also likely need to invest in a truck to carry all your equipment around. Make sure you can afford something that will reflect well on your business.
6. What Kind of Business License Will You Need?
Most cities and towns require businesses to get a license before they start operating.
You should check with your town to see what kind of license you need to get. You will also likely need to obtain insurance before you can start working on pools.
7. How Much Are You Going to Charge for Your Services?
As you inch closer to opening your business, you’re going to need to create a price sheet that lets people know how much they can expect to pay for your services.
Try researching other pool cleaning companies, both inside and outside of your town, to see the going rates for pool cleaners. It’ll give you a better idea of how to price your services appropriately.
8. What Is the Most Effective Way to Market Your Business?
Marketing your business is extremely important. You will need to get the word out about your company to start drumming up interest in it.
You can try marketing your business by:
- Linking up with other businesses in your area to try and get them to help you out. You can ask a top-notch pool remodeling company like PoolRemodelingCompanies.com to pass along your business card to pool owners
- Using social media to connect with those who own pools in your area
- Running advertisements and commercials in local newspapers and on local radio and TV stations
This should put your business on people’s radars right away.
9. How Quickly Do You Want to Try and Grow Your Company?
The great thing about that cleans pools is that you can build it up as quickly or as slowly as you want.
There are some companies that only clean pools part time. There are others who do it year-round and offer a slew of cleaning services.
Whether you want to take your time and grow slowly or put the full-court press on and try to grow rapidly, you can do it.
Take Steps to Start Your Pool Cleaning Business Today
As long as you’re willing to put in the work to build your business, there’s no reason why you can’t start a pool cleaning company now.
You should be able to accumulate new customers and show them that you’re capable of offering them professional cleaning services.
for additional tips on starting and running successful small businesses.
