Business Overview:

If you are a skilled plumber wanting to make your own hours and be your own boss, you should start a plumbing business of your own. If you’ve spent any time working for a plumbing company, you know the demand is always high for plumbing services. And as houses continue to age, problems will occur more and more often. The only real issue you’ll face in this business is getting your name out there. Once you have a few satisfied customers, word will spread and you’ll have all the business you can handle. But before you quit your current job, you need to do some research into how to start a plumbing business. You should work on a business plan that outlines whether you will try to purchase a franchise business or if you’ll start from the ground up. A franchise will come with equipment and may even come with a truck or van. If you don’t buy a franchise, the start-up costs are relatively low since you likely already own most of the equipment you will need. And what you don’t own, you can rent specialized equipment on those rare occasions when you need it. As your client list grows and your days fill up with jobs, you will need to hire plumbers to help complete the work. As you can see, if you’re looking for a great business idea, a high quality plumbing business can be a really smart business to get into.

A Day in the Life of a Plumbing Business Owner:

This article brought to you by Business Ideas! If you enjoyed this article, make sure to subscribe to the Business Ideas Newsletter to get ideas sent straight to your email inbox.Your day will begin with a check of your scheduled appointments. You will go to your appointments and diagnose the problem and then make the repair. You will likely get calls throughout the day from other clients needing your services. If you have plumbers working for you, you will assign them certain jobs and check on their progress periodically. You will spend a portion of your day marketing your business. This will be in the form of placing advertisements, talking with clients about your referral program or leaving fliers in home improvement stores. At the end of the day you will record the day’s income.

About Your Customers:

Your customers will be homeowners, landlords or office managers who need high quality plumbing service.

What You Need to Start:

• Business plan
• Marketing plan
• Truck or van
• Various plumbing supplies
• License and insurance
• Plumbers (optional at first if you choose to do the work yourself)
• Computer with finance software

The Good:

• Demand will always be high for plumbing services.
• You are likely to get repeat business from customers pleased with your service.
• The real investment in this business is labor, which you can charge top dollar for if the results are favorable.
• You don’t have to work in an office all day.
• You can work as much or as little as you like.

The Bad:

• The hours can be long.
• It can take some time to get enough customers to turn a profit.

Resources:

• Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Association
• United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada
• Master Plumbers Association
• Bureau of Labor Statistics on Plumbers, Pipelayers, Pipefitters and Steamfitters
• Wikipedia on Plumbers

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