Foreclosure Cleanup Business: How to Start Quickly and Cheaply While Working Fulltime
Foreclosure cleaning is a hot small business opportunity right now. And, smart entrepreneurs are realizing that it’s not just a good business to start right now, but one that is evergreen because as long as real estate is bought, sold and rented, there will be a need for the services that foreclosure cleanup businesses offer.
If you’re thinking about starting this kind of business but wonder if you have the time and capital needed, here are some guidelines for how to get started quickly and cheaply . . . even if you’re working fulltime.
Get Licensed and Insured: You simply can’t operate a foreclosure cleanup business without being licensed and insured. Why? Because your clients are going to be banks, realtors, mortgage companies, property management firms, etc.
They expect and require foreclosure cleaning companies that contract with to be licensed and insured. It’s to protect them – and you. So get it before you start.
FYI, regarding insurance, if you’re going to hire workers, you’re going to need workman’s comp insurance. What’s required in the way of insurance for your foreclosure clean up business varies from state to state. To find out what you need, speak with your insurance agent and tell them on the kind of business you will be starting, the types of services you’ll be offering and whether or not you’re going to be hiring workers. They’ll instruct you on what’s required.
Offer Services You Can Do Yourself: Foreclosure cleaning is the type of business where you can offer a range of services – everything from lawn maintenance to painting to installing sheetrock to cutting tree branches. This is one of the reasons it’s such a lucrative business opportunity by the way; there are simply so many ways to make money.
But, to start quickly and cheaply (ie, not having to hire workers), only offer the services you can handle yourself.
For example, if you don’t have any skills, just offer to do lawn maintenance and general trashouts. Everyone knows how to cut a lawn and remove trash and debris, right?
As you learn more and/or subcontract with other firms, you can add on more services. But, by starting with just what you know how to do, you’ll never have to worry about hiring workers and/or depending on somebody else to complete a job before you can get paid.
Do Grassroots Marketing: With the advent of the internet, you don’t have to spend a penny on marketing your foreclosure cleanup business. Send emails to realtors, bankers, property preservation companies, etc.
And, if you have a computer and printer at home (and most do these days), make up cheap flyers and hand them out in your area. Also, visit your local chamber of commerce and network for free. Eventually, they’ll want you to sign up, but you’ should be able to attend a few meetings for free.
As the Chamber of Commerce is where all the small business owners in a community are, you can get leads from many different types of business owners, eg, realtors, appraisers, bankers, etc.
Foreclosure Cleaning Business Marketing Tip: Make a certain number of contacts every week. For example, if you send out at least 20 emails a day (M-F), that’s 400 contacts a month; 4,800 a year. With just a 1% return, that’s 48 jobs a year – or approximately one a week.
If you averaged just $500 on each job — and that is extremely low – that’s $24,000 per year. Not bad for a “part time” business, right?
And, this is how you have to think of marketing. It’s a numbers game. The more stuff you put out, the more likely you are to land jobs. Any successful sales person will tell you this.
Schedule Jobs on the Weekends and Evenings: This will probably be the hardest thing to do, as most clients will want any foreclosure cleaning jobs they hire you for completed as soon as possible. But, if you can schedule a job to be done right away, even if it means going directly from your 9 to 5 job to a property and working until midnight or later, you will be able start making money and building your client list that much sooner.
Ask for Referrals: After every job you do, get in the habit of asking how they heard about you and can they refer any other business your way. This must, must, must become a habit. Sometimes, you’ll get a foreclosure cleaning job or a referral just because you asked this one simple question.
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Copyright © 2010 Yuwanda Black for Foreclosure Business News. Article may not be reprinted or reproduced in any manner without the express, written consent of the author.