If you’ve always wanted to start a tile business. There’s no better time to start than now. The good thing is that you don’t have to be a tile installer to start this business. Good rapport and networking with tradespeople in this industry can contribute to success.
Starting a tile business requires creating a business plan, learning about the industry, and calculating necessary costs. You must also register your business and acquire the necessary permits and licenses in your state among other things.
We’ve prepared a guide on how to start a tile business to help you avoid the pressure of starting from outweighing your excitement.
Create The Business Plan
A tile business plan outlines the objectives of your business, strategies, and tactics to achieve those goals. The plan helps focus the efforts of your business and communicates your goals and objectives to potential funders.
Lenders and investors want to see whether the business has a solid plan in place before offering capital. A business plan also provides the roadmap that will steer the business to success.
Here are the steps to write a business plan when starting a tile business.
1. Describe The Purpose Of Your Business
The first step involves describing why you’re starting this business and the customers’ problems it seeks to solve. You must also include a vision statement for readers to understand your business idea.
2. Highlight Your Services And Products
This is where you let the reader understand the services and products you’re offering. You must highlight what makes your offerings different from those of your competitors. Research to find out what people want so your offerings meet their expectations.
3. Develop A Marketing Strategy
Every business needs a strategy to let potential customers know about its services and products. A good marketing plan must have a target market, a description of services and products, a competitive analysis, and effective marketing channels.
4. Create An Operational And Management Plan
The section includes equipment, supplies, and necessary permits for running the business. You may also need certifications and safety precautions when working with various materials. The section also includes your management team and the roles of each one.
5. Start-Up Costs And Financial Projections
You must estimate how much the business needs to run every month. It includes running and marketing costs. You must also highlight the expected income in a given period and how you will generate it.
Learn More About Tile Industry
You must study the industry as part of learning how to start a tile installation business. It allows becoming aware of the intricacies of what’s happening and how to gain a competitive advantage. Industry knowledge keeps you abreast with the latest news and current trends.
Studying the industry allows access to dynamics including:
- Market size
- Products and selling
- Suppliers
- Necessary equipment
- Marketing Tactics
- Industry best practices
- Regulations
- Safety guidelines
Here are ways to learn more about the tile industry.
Networking
You should interact with industry stakeholders in person or online when learning how to start a tile company. It allows for sharing and acquiring knowledge about what’s happening in the industry.
Great networking skills allow for acquiring industry trends before they go viral. You can network by attending symposiums, conferences, and seminars, and joining trade memberships.
Reading industry publications
Subscribing to industry-related publications allows access to information from industry professionals. These provide industry information you’re less likely to find in consumer-focused publications.
Reading industry publications opens up one’s mind to industry-relatedness and uncovers information.
Research online
You can learn about current activities in the tile industry and news online. A good idea is to bookmark relevant sources such as blogs, forums, and databases. You can also set alerts on topics that interest you in search engines.
Social media channels such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook are also good for networking with other professionals.
Here are the benefits of learning about the tile industry include:
- Identifying and exploiting new opportunities
- Staying ahead of the competition
- Becoming aware of safety and compliance issues
Calculate The Necessary Costs
Starting a tile company takes passion and dedication. The potential costs to start this business depend on size and scope. You have to budget for essentials including supplies, equipment, rent, staff, and marketing.
Here’s an overview of how much it cost to start a tile business.
Now that you have an idea of how to budget when starting a tile installation business, knowing how to lower the costs is equally important. Some ideas include:
- Market on social media
- Rent office space instead of buying or leasing
- Cut back on unnecessary expenses
- Negotiate with suppliers for better prices
- Be creative with pricing
Register Your Tile Business
You must choose a type of business formation to register your tile business. The options include a sole proprietorship, partnership, and limited liability company. Each has pros and cons so you must weigh your options.
A good idea to choose a business formation is to evaluate your liability exposure. Proprietorships are ideal for start-ups while corporate organizations have better chances of growing.
Regardless of your business type, you must register it in the state where you’re to do business. It gives you the legal protection required to conduct business and protect your assets.
Registering your business requires filling out the necessary paperwork with the state secretary’s office in your state. You can find all information regarding the registration procedure when learning how to start your own tile business on their website.
Get The Necessary Permits And Licenses
After registering your ceramic tile business, the next step is to acquire the necessary permits and licenses from local authorities. These are required to operate legally in your areas of operation. Getting a business license involves filling out an application and submitting it to the local licensing authority.
The body will review your application to determine whether to give you a license or not. Some of the permits and licenses you may need for your tile business include:
- Zoning permit
- Business License
- Occupational license
- Sign Permit
- Sellers’ license
It’s best to check with local authorities to determine the appropriate permits and licenses you need for your business.
Open A Business Bank Account
Getting a bank account for your tiling business requires having your business formation documents, ownership agreements, business license, and employer’s identification number. You can choose from a checking account, savings account, or business credit card.
A checking account is a good option. It allows deposits, withdrawals, making payments, and transfers of funds. Ensure to shop around to compare features and fees before choosing a bank.
The benefits of having a bank account for your business include the:
- Supports accepting credit card payment
- Gives your business a professional impression
- Helps you prepare for growth
- Makes tax preparation easier
- Essential for liability and identity protection
Hire Staff For Your Tile Company
You need to build a team for your business that will ensure its success. Apart from administrative staff, you’ll need other employees as tile setters who go out in the field to work on clients’ requirements. The best places to find staff include referrals, social media, the website careers section, and placing ads.
Important qualities when hiring employees for your tile business are:
Excellent Color Vision
Working with tiles requires determining color variations. The person must also have the capacity to distinguish between color patterns to ensure that customers get the best finishes.
Exceptional Customer Service
Customer service skills are essential for all your workers. They must be courteous and considerate when handling customers. especially while completing jobs at customers’ locations.
Detail Oriented
Your workers must be thorough and exact when ensuring proper alignment of the ceramic tiles. Apart from ensuring minimal material. It guarantees that customers are always happy after the job is completed.
Great Maths Skills
Measuring is an important task when handling tiling jobs. The tasks involve measuring the work areas and calculating the necessary materials. All measurements must be precise to make budgeting and planning for materials easier.
Possession Of Physical Stamina
You need people who are strong and physically able to handle the job requirements. The job may require kneeling or standing for extended hours when applying adhesive or placing tiles.
So, your employees must be able to do whatever it takes to get the job done on time without compromising quality. Completing tiling jobs requires lifting, carrying, and setting heavy flooring materials into place.
The duties of tile setters include:
- Remove existing materials from the floors
- Measure the work area and determine the necessary materials
- Arrange Materials according to the design plan
- Place materials and secure them with adhesives
- Fill joints and remove excess compounds
- Apply sealants
Find Suppliers And Contractors
The business requires working with other tradespeople including plumbers, general contractors, and electricians. So, you must build rapport with as many people as possible. Networking or professional interaction with other tradespeople boosts word-of-mouth (WOM) advertising. This works fast in the home improvement industry.
Your team must have a reputation for providing quality services. How they interact with other tradespeople and homeowners determines whether your business gets referrals or not.
Building a great relationship with suppliers and contractors is equally important including those supplying mortar, tiles, tiling tools, and other necessary supplies in your trade. These can offer you favorable pricing, outstanding service, and access to exclusive offers.
Make The Website
Your business needs sales to thrive. Having a ceramic tile business website has various benefits including boosting sales. It’s very important to acknowledge that most potential customers are online today. The website offers 24/7 availability, builds a brand reputation, and shows customers how to reach you.
Here are the features that your website must have.
Gallery Section
Your business must have a gallery to show customers how beautiful your tiles are. The gallery must also have a section to showcase tiling projects. You must include before and after pictures of completed projects.
Ensure to include a logo and beautiful images on the product and service pages. However, ensure that the images aren’t generic but taken from your projects. The images must be optimized to boost SEO with alt text. They should not increase website load speed.
Relevant Content
The website must have a blog section to share relevant content with visitors. You must update the blog regularly with design inspiration content. It must also inspire homeowners on the right tiles for their projects. Additionally, the content must be informational and answer questions your readers may be having.
Optimized For Local Searches
Your website must be optimized to appear when people search for your services near them. The site must have keywords people are likely to put in search engines. Google brings results of companies with those keywords including information on how to reach them.
Your business will appear if the site has relevant keywords. You can boost this by claiming your Google My Business profile, updating it, and responding to reviews.
Contact Us Page And Location Finder
It’s worthless to drive potential leads to your site without having the option to convert them. Your website must have a contact us page with your address and phone number. You can also give them options to contact you online.
Another idea is to have a location finder with an easy-to-find search. It makes it easy for potential customers to come to your location
Market Your Business
Apart from having a website, you must understand other ways to market your tile business. Fortunately, various options match anyone’s budget.
Here are our recommendations,
Build Relationships
You must build relations with reputable building contractors. Building projects need tiling before completion. Having a great relationship with builders ensures that they recommend you for every project they handle.
You must also offer great customer support and maintain good rapport with past customers. These are more likely to recommend you to people they know who may need your services. People are more likely to trust working with a service provider recommended by their friends or family.
Use Social Media
Homeowners have groups on social media for interaction and to share ideas. These are good for any tile business owner to join. The chances are high that someone will need your services at any time.
You must also create pages on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram for your business to interact with customers. Running sponsored social media ads also allows people to know about your services.
Promos and Discounts
Running special promotions is also a great idea to market your ceramic tile business. You can give a commission for referrals and recommendations. Offering discounts to repeat or first-time customers also boost sales.
Use Printed Materials
You can also print flyers and brochures to let people know about your services and products. Giving them out at a business shopping center or to everyone who visits your showroom gives them information about what you do.
The choice of marketing depends heavily on budget and personal preference. However, a good idea is to use a mix of marketing strategies for better results.
FAQs
Is A Tiling Business Profitable?
You should not expect a lot of profits when your business is less than three years old. However, some businesses have recorded as high as $50,000 in their first year. The profits increase as the business grows because people are ever building properties. Additionally, there’s always a way to bring out the beauty in a structure including adding new tiles.
What Is The Profit Margin In Tiles Business?
You can expect a profit margin from 7% to 10% for a start-up. A stock-based business can have from 12% to 18% or higher.
How Can I Improve My Tile Business?
You can improve your tile business by boosting your marketing efforts and streamlining operations using software for a tile business.
Use Our Tiling Software For Your Business
Our tiling software is the best way to improve your tile business. It simplifies scheduling, job management, payments, and subcontracting tasks. You’ll have everything you need to run your tile business at your fingertips.
