Restoration companies help home and business owners from further damage to their property after incidences like a fire, flood, or water damage. Helping people to occupy their properties again is such a rewarding experience.
You begin the job when the property is in disarray, and your hard work allows occupying the property again. Here’s our guide to starting a restoration business.
Create The Business Plan
You need a business plan to start a restoration business. The plan will highlight what your business will offer to make money and your success strategy. You’ll always refer to your business plan for guidance. The business plan will be your roadmap to success.
The business plan for your restoration business should include:
- Executive summary.
This is a short description of your business and how you will make money.
- Competitive analysis.
This section requires looking at your competitors to assess their weaknesses and strengths. You’ll be in a better position to design strategies to beat them.
- Marketing strategy.
You have to highlight how you will pass the word around about your business. This is where you include your marketing plan and the strategies you will use.
- Financial plan.
In this section, you highlight your financial projections for the year. How much are you likely to make and spend? The figures in this section must be based on facts and analysis.
Calculate The Necessary Costs
When considering this business, you must understand how much does it cost to start a restoration company. You have to budget for startup and equipment costs. Let’s highlight some of the costs of running a restoration business and their potential costs.
Office/Storage Space
You‘ll need office and storage space for your business. A good idea is to get space in an affordable location. You’ll need an office where customers can come to book your services. Additionally, having a physical office adds credibility to your business.
Starting your own restoration business involves using various equipment. So, you’ll need enough space to store them. You’ll need to budget for monthly rent, although you save more when you lease the space for a year or more.
Office space costs about $15 per square foot and $5 per square foot of storage space.
Running Expenses
You’ll have to budget for running costs, including gas, utilities, maintenance, and stationery. The expenses depend on the size of your business and location. Office utilities may cost about $200 monthly. The cost of gas varies on how far to reach your clients and the type of vehicle you’re using for your business.
Maintenance Expenses
The money you’re likely to spend on maintenance will depend on the nature of the equipment you have, total, and usage. If you buy new equipment, you’ll likely use it for a long time before it needs maintenance. Additionally, how often you use the equipment determines how regularly they need maintenance. You should budget about $150 for these expenses.
Office Furniture And Equipment
You need furniture and essential equipment for your office. This may include a desk, chair, computer, filing cabinets, and copier/printer. The cost may vary depending on the size of your business, but you may budget about $2,000.
Company Vehicle
A restoration service needs a vehicle for transporting technicians and equipment to clients’ locations. You can begin by using your own car to cut startup costs. However, you should budget for gas and maintenance. These depend on the distance of your clients’ locations.
When buying a truck for your business, you can get a second-hand truck at about $32,000; insurance is an average of $150 monthly.
General Insurance
Insurance is an essential aspect of starting a restoration company. You need cover just in case anything goes wrong. You need liability insurance to cover your business from equipment damage or accidents on the job. General insurance may set you back about $2000 annually.
Equipment And Tools
You must budget for equipment and tools you’ll need to complete customer jobs. Let’s highlight some of the equipment and tools when considering how to start a restoration company.
Equipment | Average cost |
Basic power saw | $200 |
Jackhammer | $120 |
Drywall saw | $350 |
Floor sander | $200 |
Generator | $450 |
Safety equipment | $350 |
Restoration Company Registration
Registering your company is an essential aspect of how to start a home restoration business. You can find more details on how to go about the registration process on the official website. On completing the registration process of your registration business, the next step is to get appropriate licenses and permits.
Get The Necessary Permits And Licenses
There are a few important things to remember when starting a restoration company. You need to get the necessary permits and licenses from the authorities in your state answers what do I need to start a restoration business. The license and permit you’ll need will depend on your field of operation and service location.
You must contact your local chamber of commerce or business licensing office to find out the appropriate license you need for your business. Obtaining the required documentation is key in setting up your restoration business. You have to budget about $400 for the license and permit.
Open A Business Bank Account
Getting an account for your restoration business may be daunting if you don’t know how. There are various accounts, and you must choose the best for your business.
Let’s highlight the options available and what to expect from each.
Savings Account
A savings account earns interest for every deposit. So, it’s a great option to grow your business’ bankroll. However, saving accounts have a lower interest rate and may come with withdrawal limits.
Checking Account
Opening this account is easy. A checking account comes with various features and benefits that may be helpful to the success of your restoration business. Withdraws and deposits from a checking account are a breeze. You can also write to pay bills and suppliers.
After choosing the type of bank account for your business, you’ll be on the next step to growing a successful restoration business.
Hire Professionals For Your Restoration Company
Another aspect of how to start your own restoration business is getting qualified professionals to work with. The employees you’re likely to need may include administrative staff in the office, technicians, and laborers.
You can pay your team by the hour or monthly. Insurance and employee benefits are also very important for every business owner. Depending on your location, the average pay for staff is about $700 monthly and $15.96 per hour.
Find Business Partners
One way to grow your restoration business is to find business partners. You can find business partners at business events, social networking events, and conferences. Some of the business partners you need include:
- Contractors
- Real estate agents
- Painters
- Plumbers
- Roofers
- Handymen
Your connection with business partners may be in the form of a referral program where you reward them for qualified leads.
Create The Website
Regardless of the type of business, you need a website. You need a beautiful website as part of how to start restoration company. This should have features like a portfolio where to showcase your past work, an about us page, and a service page where potential customers can see the services you offer.
You can contact a professional web designer to create a beautiful website with nice visuals. Equally important is for your business site to be optimized for mobile. The website should also have a blog section where to share useful information.
Market your Restoration business
After doing all the hard work to set up your restoration business, it is time to let people know about it. Apart from the website we highlighted earlier, you can use other strategies including::
- Using social media
- Making announcements in newspaper
- Hosting a business launch
- Running online ads
- Partner with local businesspeople
There’s no golden rule on the best marketing strategy to grow your business. A good idea is to use more than one for the best results.
FAQ
Is the restoration business profitable?
A restoration business is profitable and has grown to $210 billion annually.
What is the profit margin in the restoration business?
The profit margin in the restoration business ranges from 40% to 75%.
How can I improve my restoration business?
You can improve your restoration business by offering extra services and using software to streamline your business processes.
Use our Restoration software for your business
To grow your restoration business, use Field Complete. This software is developed by technicians for technicians looking to build successful restoration companies. The software streamlines dispatching, invoicing, and messaging between your clients and technicians in the field.
