Our guide to beginning an air duct cleaning company includes all of the necessary facts to help you determine whether this is the right business for you. Learn about an air duct cleaning company owner’s day-to-day operations, average target market, growth possibilities, beginning expenses, legal issues, and more!
Table of Contents
Follow these ten steps to start an air duct cleaning business:
Plan your Air Duct Cleaning Company
Make your Air Duct Cleaning Company a Legal Entity.
Register your Air Duct Cleaning Company for Taxation
Create a Business Bank Account and a Credit Card
Create Accounting for Your Air Duct Cleaning Company
Get the Permits and Licenses You Need for Your Air Duct Cleaning Business
Get Commercial Air Duct Cleaning Insurance
Create a brand for your air duct cleaning company.
Make a website for your air duct cleaning company.
Configure your Business Phone System
Starting a company entails more than just registering it with the state. This straightforward guide to beginning an air duct cleaning company has been put together by us. These stages will guarantee that your new company is well-planned, correctly registered, and legally compliant.
STEP 1: Make a business plan.
A well-thought-out strategy is vital for entrepreneur success. It will assist you in mapping out the intricacies of your organisation and uncovering some unknowns. Consider the following crucial topics:
What are the initial and continuing expenses?
Who is your intended audience?
How much money may you charge your customers?
Fortunately, we have done a lot of the legwork for you.
What are the expenses of starting an air duct cleaning business?
A domestic air duct cleaning company costs about $5,600 to start, whereas a commercial air duct cleaning firm costs around $10,000 to start. The majority of these expenditures are for air duct cleaning equipment, which comprises a vacuum collecting system, agitating and cleaning tools, an air compressor, a wet/dry vacuum with HEPA filtration, and duct accessing tools. Sanitizer, coil cleaner, personal safety equipment, and other items (e.g., a ladder and hand tools) are also required by business owners, although they are less expensive than the other equipment.
The following statistics do not include the cost of a car, which is also required. Business owners need either a trailer to pull their equipment in or a vehicle large enough to accommodate everything. Most company owners, on the other hand, keep their initial expenses low by using an existing car or trailer.
What are the recurring costs of running an air duct cleaning business?
The continuing costs for air duct cleaning firms are quite low. They include expenditures for gasoline to and from clients’ locations, trailer or vehicle maintenance, and consumables such as sanitizer and coil cleaning.
Who is the intended audience?
Air duct cleaning companies regularly clean people’s personal HVAC systems, but their ideal clients are corporations. Cleaning systems in commercial buildings takes longer, therefore owners of air duct cleaning companies may charge more. Furthermore, firms that own commercial buildings may typically afford to spend more for air duct cleanings than individual households.
How does an air duct cleaning company earn money?
An air duct cleaning company generates money by charging clients to clean the air ducts in their HVAC systems. Rather of charging an hourly cost, most firms charge a flat fee every cleaning.
How much money may you charge your customers?
The majority of air duct cleanings go between $300 and $500. Businesses often charge $35 per vent cleaned. Cleaning a house’s HVAC system with 12 vents, for example, would cost $410 ($35 x 12 vents).
How much money can an air duct cleaning company make?
A regular air duct cleaning takes roughly three hours, which means that company owners may frequently accomplish two cleanings every day. A fully booked firm may earn between $3,000 and $5,000 per week at this rate. Even after deducting staff salary, advertising expenditures, and continuing expenses, the company owner may still make a healthy profit.
How can you increase the profitability of your company?
Offering other HVAC services or working with a local firm that does may help an air duct cleaning company grow its income. A local HVAC business may be ready to pay a commission for any job directed to them.
STEP 2: Establish a legal entity
Sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company (LLC), and corporation are the most frequent business structure forms.
Establishing a formal business organisation, such as an LLC or corporation, shields you from personal liability if your air duct cleaning company is sued.
STEP 3: File your taxes
Before you can begin for business, you must register for a number of state and federal taxes.
To register for taxes, you will need to get an EIN. It’s really simple and completely free!
Taxes on Small Businesses
Depending on the business form you choose, you may have multiple choices for how your company is taxed. Some LLCs, for example, may benefit from being taxed as a S company (S corp).
These guides will teach you more about small company taxes:
Taxes on LLCs
LLC vs. sole proprietorship
Corporation vs. LLC
S Corp vs. LLC
How to Form a S Corporation
S Corporation vs. C Corporation
There may be state taxes that apply to your company. In our state sales tax guides, you may learn more about state sales taxes and franchise taxes.
STEP 4: Establish a company bank account and credit card
Personal asset protection requires the use of distinct business banking and credit accounts.
When you combine your personal and business accounts, your personal assets (your house, vehicle, and other possessions) are at danger if your company is sued. This is known as penetrating your company veil in business law.
Furthermore, understanding how to develop corporate credit may help you get credit cards and other financing in your company’s name (rather than your own), lower interest rates, larger lines of credit, and other benefits.
Establish a business bank account.
Opening a business bank account is not only required when asking for business financing, but it also:
Separates your personal assets from the assets of your firm, which is required for personal asset protection.
It simplifies bookkeeping and tax reporting.
Create a net 30 account.
Net 30 accounts are used to develop and grow company credit while also increasing cash flow. Businesses use a net 30 account to purchase items and refund the whole debt within a 30-day period.
Many net 30 credit suppliers submit information to the main business credit agencies (Dun & Bradstreet, Experian Business, and Equifax Business Credit). This is how firms establish business credit in order to get approved for credit cards and other lines of credit.
Apply for a business credit card.
Obtaining a business credit card benefits you in the following ways:
Put all of your company’s costs in one location to separate personal and business spending.
Build your company’s credit history, which will be important for raising funds in the future.
STEP 5: Establish business accounting
Recording your numerous costs and sources of revenue is crucial to assessing your company’s financial status. Keeping precise and thorough accounting also makes yearly tax filing much easier.
STEP 6: Obtain all required permissions and licences
Failure to get appropriate permissions and licences may result in significant penalties or possibly the closure of your firm.
Requirements for State and Local Business Licensing
Most states require air duct cleaners to be licenced mechanical contractors. Applicants for such a licence must have either appropriate education (usually a bachelor’s degree) or industrial experience. This will qualify them to take and pass the Mechanical Contractor License Exam. Visit the SBA’s reference to state licences and permits to learn more about licencing requirements in your state.
STEP 6: Obtain all required permissions and licences
Failure to get appropriate permissions and licences may result in significant penalties or possibly the closure of your firm.
Requirements for State and Local Business Licensing
Most states require air duct cleaners to be licenced mechanical contractors. Applicants for such a licence must have either appropriate education (usually a bachelor’s degree) or industrial experience. This will qualify them to take and pass the Mechanical Contractor License Exam. Visit the SBA’s reference to state licences and permits to learn more about licencing requirements in your state.
Workers’ Compensation Insurance is another important insurance product that many companies need. If your company will have workers, your state may require you to purchase Workers’ Compensation insurance.
STEP 8: Establish your brand
Your company’s brand is what it stands for, as well as how the public perceives it. A strong brand will help your company stand out from the crowd.
How to Promote and Market an Air Duct Cleaning Company
Because most air duct cleaning companies, at least when they initially start out, service a very limited geographic region, advertisements in local publications may be excellent marketing strategies. Advertisements may be purchased from radio stations, newspapers, and even local deal books.
How to Keep Customers Returning
Simply being nice to clients may help air duct cleaning companies stand out. Arriving on time, wearing booties inside, and cleaning up once a service is completed will set a firm apart from the competition.
STEP 9: Create your company’s website.
After you’ve defined your brand and designed your logo, the next step is to build a website for your company.
While developing a website is an important step, some may be concerned that it is out of their grasp due to a lack of website-building skills. While this was a fair concern in 2015, online technology has made significant advances in recent years, making the lives of small company owners considerably easier.
The following are the primary reasons why you should not put off developing your website:
Every genuine company has a website, period. When it comes to bringing your company online, it doesn’t matter what size or sector it is.
Social media accounts, such as Facebook pages or LinkedIn company profiles, are not a substitute for your own business website.
STEP 10: Install your company phone system.
Getting a phone for your company is one of the finest methods to keep your personal and professional lives distinct and private. That isn’t the only advantage; it also helps you automate your company, provides it legitimacy, and makes it simpler for prospective clients to identify and contact you.