Starting a plumbing business might not be as simple as you think. Even if you’re the most highly-skilled plumber on the planet, it doesn’t necessarily mean you can create a profitable business. The good news is, the more organized you are, and the more you know your business inside out, the easier it will be to make your plumbing company a success. Begin by checking out the following six underrated tips you need to know.
1. Learn the Skills You Need
Let’s get the obvious tip out of the way. Before you can start a plumbing business, you need to gain training and experience. Without thoroughly knowing certain fields of plumbing, your business will not go anywhere. You need to know about areas like:
· Installation.
· Repairs.
· Safety procedures.
· New plumbing technologies.
To become educated in plumbing, you can enroll in a specific course or become an apprentice with a plumbing company. It takes a while to learn all the skills required to become a plumber, so take your time to master your craft before you begin to set up a plumbing business of your own.
2. Know Your Numbers
Having the skills to complete a variety of plumbing jobs is only one side of the business. The other is numbers. If you are not fully on top of things like your costs, revenue, and profit, your business will soon take a nosedive. Furthermore, pricing plumbing work is a lot more complicated than in other sectors. It involves variables like labor rates, billable and non-billable hours, materials surcharges, and a lot more. Even simply deciding a pricing model can be challenging. If you don’t know where to start, check out this plumbing pricing guide.
3. Lower Your Overheads
When you are just starting with a plumbing business, you need to gain a competitive advantage. One way of doing that is to offer your services for lower costs than your rivals. But if you cannot do that, find other ways of saving costs such as lowering your overheads. For example, you could run your business from home rather than renting an office. That will save you a lot of money, and you could also gain tax perks for working from home.
4. Create a Niche
Although you will need to have a thorough understanding of various plumbing procedures, if you want to gain a competitive advantage, find a niche in which to specialize. There’s a lot of competition for common plumbing services, so consider specializing in something like custom bath repairs or installing gas and water pipes. Another idea is to specialize in commercial plumbing maintenance. That would allow you to get contracts with places like hospitals and warehouses.
5. Create a Memorable and Unique Logo
You could be the best plumber in the world and have the best prices, but unless you build your brand, you won’t reach a wider audience. One way you can build your brand is to create a memorable and unique logo. It will act as a symbolic representation of your company and be visually attractive to prospective new customers. If your logo stands out against your competitors, you are more likely to gain custom.
6. Generate Leads and Create Loyal Customers
Finding customers can be challenging when you start a plumbing business, which is why things like those above are so important. One way of ensuring you gain more business is to generate leads through marketing strategies such as Google Ads and SEO.
You can do this in-house however, there are plumber marketing experts who can take this work from you and maximise your returns.There are several strategies you can use. For example, you could reward customers who give you referrals by offering them discounts. Another option is to provide follow-up services to customers for free. That way, you can gain long-term loyal customers and make your plumbing business a success.