Every year in the United States, approximately 267.8 million tons of garbage is created. With only 328 million people in the United States, that’s 0.8 tons of trash per person. If that has you scratching your head, consider that .8 tons per person is equivalent to 1,600 pounds. That’s a pretty astonishing number. However, based on those figures, it should be no wonder that the trash industry could be sitting on a gold mine, both literally and figuratively.

The growth of industry across the world is driving an increase in the amount of waste created. Developments in the chemical, oil and gas, automobile, and medical industries lead to pollution and the accumulation of trash. And all of that pollution and trash needs to go somewhere. Thus, the recycling, junk removal, and valet trash businesses are in great demand, and they are highly profitable.

In this article, we will explore various trash removal services include recycling, junk collection, and valet trash. Each of these businesses serve a different purpose to potential customers and are highly lucrative businesses for the right entrepreneurial-minded person.

What is a Recycling Business?

In its simplest definition, a recycling business will allow you to make money while helping the environment. However, with tons of trash and recyclable materials being consumed by people each day, you won’t be the only in the business. You’ll have a wide array of competition, with everyone looking for innovative ways to fight the recycling challenge.

Why you Should Start a Recycling Business

If you have an entrepreneurial mindset and are looking at ways to make money while doing good for the environment and your community, then starting a recycling business is an excellent solution. Across the United States, recycling accounts for over 700,000 jobs. Recycling businesses create employment for able workers. Further, it reduces the amount of waste the ends of in landfills and helps to conserve our natural resources such as water, minerals, and timber.

Types of Recycling Clients

In all areas of the waste management industry, typical customers will fall into the commercial, industrial, governmental, and residential sectors.

• Commercial customers usually range from small retail businesses to large office complexes and buildings where the volume of waste is high.
• Industrial customers will require roll-off dumpsters, trash containers, dumpsters, and waste paper recycling equipment.
• Governmental customers will require smaller recycling bins for placement throughout government offices, including courthouses and municipal buildings.
• The residential sector will need recycling containers that can be used to deposit recyclables between a pick-up, usually once a week or every other week.

How to Make Money in the Recycling Business

If you decide to get into the recycling business, there are various ways to make money. The first way, which may seem obvious, is that you can collect a fee from customers that you pick-up recyclables from or that drop off those recyclables to you. This is the most traditional way to make money.

Many recycling businesses set up a warehouse location that the general public can visit to drop their recyclables. In these cases, those items are often old appliances, ink cartridges, and other large household items that could be used by someone else. But there are many non-traditional ways to make money as well. And your warehouse can be the perfect place to stage these items between transactions.

Some of the unique ways to make money in the recycling business include the following:

Old books – Though buy and sell used books stores have popped up in recent years; they aren’t everywhere. Thankfully, there are sites online that you can visit to sell these old books. If you allow customers to drop off their old books at your site, even if the drop-off is free, you can turn around and sell those books online, often for an instant offer.

Cans and bottles – People have been recycling cans and bottles for money for years. But it is harder to find places to make these drop-offs now. Though you might not want to invest in the machinery required to sort and break-down these materials, you can indeed collect them and then make periodic visits to a recycling and sort center where you can trade the materials in for cash.

Used ink cartridges – Simply tossing an old ink cartridge can be harmful to the environment. The volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are found in cartridges can pollute the soil and water once the items have reached a landfill. But, these ink cartridges can be reused, and you can sell them online for some quick cash.

Scrap metal – Scrap metal is highly sought after and is one of the most recycled materials. For this reason, it also means some hard cash if you collect and sell it in the right way. Metals like brass, copper, aluminum, stainless steel, and bronze are all worth some serious coin. Even metals like steel or iron are worth money, though not as much as those previously listed. Your business can collect scrap metals on behalf of your customers, and you can then sell them to a local scrapyard for cash. Your customers may appreciate the opportunity to drop these materials off at your warehouse, especially if it is closer than making a drive to a scrapyard directly.

Electronics – Outdated electronics and phones are worth money to the right buyer. These items can be collected and sold for cash on a variety of websites.

Wine corks – Who would have thought that these items could be collected and sold for money, but they can. Many crafters use wine corks in their artwork and are looking for lots of 20, 30, 40 and more on sites like eBay and Etsy.

Batteries – Similar to used ink cartridges, but tossing batteries in the garbage is bad for the environment. You can sell old car batteries to auto parts stores for some quick cash.

The key to making a profit in the recycling business is to ensure that you are not expending more effort than the reward. So, you may need to experiment a bit to find out what the need is in your community, and how much effort you will need to undertake to turn a profit. However, a hint is to consider the convenience that you can offer to the customers in your area. If you can pick up items from customers rather than make them come to you, you may find that you have tapped into a niche that customers seek.

How to Start a Recycling Business

Starting a recycling business starts with identifying your niche. Many municipalities offer recycling services as it is, so it will be tough to break through that existing offering. Instead, it is better to focus on a unique recycling program that might not be as readily available. As you conduct market research in your target areas, you might find unique needs such as reselling household furniture and working appliances, paper and glass collection to supply to processing facilities, collecting scrap pallets, or collecting old electronics that are otherwise hard for consumers to get rid of.

To get your business up and running, you’ll need to make a few investments. To start, you will need to obtain licenses and permits. If you decide to make this a full-time employment gig, you will also need to ensure that you have enough money set aside for living expenses to cover you until your recycling business starts turning a profit. You will also need to plan for:

• Vehicles to haul recyclables
• A building or warehouse where collected recyclables can be stored or sold
• Employee wages if you plan to hire help (starting a recycling business on your own will be quite taxing in regards to physical effort)
• Machinery that is designed to process recyclables
• Compensation for consumers that sell their recyclables to your business (if applicable)

How to Run a Recycling Business

Before you can run your business, you will need to ensure that you have a business plan in place. Your business plan should be designed to roadmap your business goals and the details you need to achieve those goals. This will include your marketing plan, a list of company milestones you intend to achieve, information about who will manage the company, the roles and responsibilities they will take on, etc. Your marketing plan will also be included and will outline how you plan to tell consumers about your business and the services that you have to offer.

Once your business plan is in place, you can use it as an operational plan to get you going. With your business plan by your side, you can determine your hours of operation and how you will ensure that your customers are properly served. A business plan can make sure that don’t forget any key details when you are trying to get your business off the ground. Further, a periodic check-in against your business plan can make sure that you are tracking towards your financial projections. If you are not, you can start the appropriate course corrections to get you back on track.

Benefits to Starting a Recycling Business

Besides the money that you will earn with a well-run recycling business, you will also know that you are doing great things for the community. Recycling provides some big benefits:

Saves energy – Less energy is required to recycle and reuse material than is necessary to produce those very same materials from scratch. Newspapers, as an example, are recycled and then reused for printing. Newspapers can be made into egg cartons, construction paper, berry boxes, paper plates, etc., just to name a few. For aluminum cans and glass bottles, there are also many reuses. For example, these items can be remade into new aluminum cans, and new containers, jars, and fiberglass.

Keeps items out of the landfills – Our garbage dumps have been growing in size as our global population continues to increase. Sadly, almost 20% of the plastic, 14% of paper, and almost 20% of the food that is put into landfills could have been recycled.

Conserves natural resources – Using recycled materials instead of minerals, metal ores, trees, and other materials that have been harvested from the earth’s resources helps to conserve those natural resources. Recycling helps to relieve pressure on the forestry business which is tasked with tree cutting and mining operations.

Creates jobs – Aside from the job for you, you may find that over time, you can add additional staff to your team. This means more jobs in your community. But aside from the jobs that you are creating within your own small business, you will also help create jobs at recycling centers. After all, they will need employees to help accept and sort the materials that you drop off.

Challenges You Will Face with Your Recycling Business

There are many reasons that businesses fail. If the right diligence isn’t made and market research isn’t conducted, you may inadvertently create a business for which there is no demand. Building a business is expensive too and takes a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to get launched. Recycling business owners will need capital, investors (sometimes), and sometimes a loan to help fund and offset the expense of new equipment. And, if the market is saturated and there is already too much competition, you may find yourself out of business before you even get started.

However, in the recycling business, the greatest challenges you will face will include:

Poorly trained employees – You need to take the time to train employees upfront and ensure that they are ready to deliver on your value proposition.

Employee retention – With a lot of competition out there, your employees will often be tempted to consider other work. But, if you train your employees well, treat them with respect, and ensure there competition is on the upside of fair, you will experience lower attrition.

Language and cultural issues – If you seek a diverse workforce, or if the talent pool is diverse, you will need to be prepared for employees who aren’t as fluent in English as you are. And, they may have cultural traditions that can prevent work on certain days. Take the time to educate yourself on the culture of your employees. Not only will it make you a better leader, but your employees will also respect the effort you have taken.

Lack of industry expertise – When looking for manual laborers, it isn’t uncommon to draw in potential workers that have never worked in your industry. However, this can be overcome with the right level of training. A strong operations manager can also help employees adapt to their new work situation and quickly develop the skills they need to succeed on the job.

How to Market a Recycling Business

As with any business, the most important thing you can do is to create awareness of your products and services. If your target audience doesn’t know you exist, they will not bring business your way. Thus, the essential steps to market your business include:

Advertisement of your recycling business in all applicable mediums – Newspapers, telephone listings, and online.

Vehicle advertising – Ensure that any business vehicles are properly branded with your company name, website URL, and business phone number.

Establish a website presence – Your business needs some sort of website presence. This doesn’t need to be fancy, either. You can create a website easily directly on Google, or you can hire a webmaster to build and manage your website on your behalf.

What is a Junk Removal Business?

A junk removal business is pretty much as it sounds – a business designed to help customers offload their junk. Whether it be old furniture, outdated appliances, or a plethora of other things, people often need items removed from their homes and don’t have either the vehicle or the time, or even the strength, to remove the items on their own.

With a large enough vehicle and a place to temporarily store items, you can start a junk removal business.

Why you Should Start a Junk Removal Business

Not all unwanted items can be thrown into the regular trash. Many municipalities have size requirements for what will be picked up by a weekly service. And even though many communities arrange for larger trash pick-ups once or twice a year, not everyone wants to wait that long to get rid of something that it taking up space.

Businesses and homeowners often need large items such as broken furniture, attic items, and old appliances hauled away. After an estate sale or during a foreclosure, often items need to be removed as well, and quickly. Though the junk removal industry is competitive, it is growing, and there is definitely an opportunity to turn it into a rewarding and profitable business venture.

Other benefits of starting a junk removal business include:

• The ability to be your own boss and set your own hours
• As a sole proprietor, you can get started quickly and can make money almost immediately.
• You can earn more money per hour than in many typical 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. type jobs.
• To get started, all you need is a large vehicle with a possible trailer, and a place to temporarily store items that you have picked up from your customers.

Types of Junk Removal Clients

During the process of developing your business plan (more information on that to come), you will learn that there are a variety of clients that will be in need of junk removal services. These include:

Moving companies – Often, homeowners or business owners will not want to take everything with them to their new location. These leftover items need to go somewhere and need to be picked up by somebody. A junk removal service is a perfect solution in these situations.

Real estate investors/ landlords – When scouting out existing office spaces, real estate investors and landlords will often have to do away with remnant furniture, carpeting, and other materials. As with the situation for a moving company, a junk removal service can help get these items out quickly so that a new business can move in.

Contractors/ construction companies – The construction business often leaves a lot of remnants and waste. Periodic pick-ups from a junk removal business can help keep a worksite safe and clean.

Rural residents without large trash and refuse pick-up services – Those who live in rural communities often don’t have the benefit of extra services offered by the city or suburb-based trash pick-up services. Junk removal businesses can make these visits quite profitable as many rural customers are willing to pay for someone to travel the distance to pick up those larger items.

How to Make Money in the Junk Removal Business

In most cases, each junk removal pick-up vehicle can service one home per hour. However, some jobs will take longer. The benefit of a longer job is that these will often make your more money. Though you will need to explore the market in which your business will operate, many junk removal businesses have a minimum of charge of $100 to $125 to cover the expenses related to one hour of work. However, keep in mind that the size of your target market will affect your drive time, which will feed into your efficiency per hour.

For one junk pick-up vehicle, you can estimate to make an income of $500 to $1500 per day. From that, you will need to subtract out taxes you will need to pay to the government, wages to any applicable employees, fuel, and any overhead costs related to your storage building, vehicles, etc. If you can invest in a larger fleet of vehicles, you will naturally increase in profitability, especially when you can get to customers quickly.

How to Start a Junk Removal Business

When starting any new business, it is important to start with a business plan. A business plan should capture the following items:

Executive summary – This is your elevator pitch that allows you to summarize the key aspects of your junk removal business quickly.

Business description and structure – this is where you outline exactly what it is that your business will do. It should explain why you are in the business and the types of products that you will include in your junk removal pick-up services.

Market research – This is a very important element of your business plan and should detail the research you conducted on the area where your business will be located, and the demand that you identified for junk removal services.

Management and staffing – this is where you will identify the staffing structure of your business. If you will be the sole proprietor and will be the only employee, this should be indicated. But, the chances are that you will need to add some staff to ensure you can manage the demand for your services. So, take time to list out the key roles and responsibilities of each role for your business.

Financial documents – In this section, you should provide the financial numbers that will back up everything you described in the previous sections. Many people that are starting new businesses turn to an accountant to help them create this section. Help from a trust financial advisor or accountant can help you ensure that you haven’t missed any important expenses or tax liabilities that you will be responsible for.

Once you have your business plan set up, the next phase will be preparing to launch or start the business.

How to Run a Junk Removal Business

To get started in operating your junk removal business, you will need to acquire the appropriate vehicles. The right vehicle might mean a dump truck or a large truck and trailer. Depending on the state in which your business will operate, you will also likely need to get a business license, permit, and insurance. Be sure to check out the requirements in your state before you get started.

If you plan on hiring employees, you will need to obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). This number helps to identify your business and is free to set-up. Once you have your vehicle and your EIN, you will want to determine what other supplies you will need. Basic supplies will include a shovel, trash bins, garbage bags, etc.

You will want to determine then how your business will operate on a day to day basis. You will need to focus on both the hours spent picking up items from your customers and the time spent getting rid of them. After all, you won’t want to plan on keeping those items in your warehouse or storage facility any longer than necessary. You should plan to resell valuable items you additional cash, donate newer and gently used items to the Goodwill, Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity, or other worthwhile causes, or recycle applicable items that shouldn’t end up in our landfills.

If you eventually choose to expand your business, make sure you prepare for the additional responsibilities that you will take on.

• Set clear goals with achievable targets
• Maintain communication with all members of your business
• Provide helpful feedback to your employees so that they can be efficient and effective in their work
• Lead by example

Benefits to Starting a Junk Removal Business

Aside from the money that you will earn with a well-run junk removal business, you will also likely experience the following benefits:

Low up-front investment – Aside from the trailer mentioned above and potential temporary storage facility (the latter might not be necessary based on how you structure your daily operations), you won’t need a lot of cash to get started. Initial set-up costs are estimated at $20,000 or more. In many cases, you can take out a small business loan to get started or fund your start-up costs on your personal credit card, provided you have a low interest rate.

Strong demand – There will always be demand for junk removal services. Believe it or not, the typical American moves once every five to ten years. With every move, there will be furniture and other items to get rid of. People collect a lot of stuff over the years. And even in a volatile financial market, there will be needs for this type of business.

Low technical skills needed – Other than the skills required to manage your staff, you won’t need serious technical abilities. Many of the services you will need to market your business can even be handled via a low-cost freelancer that you can find online. Websites such as Upwork and Fiverr can provide you with access to marketers, bloggers, social media experts, website specialists, and more, that can manage your marketing needs for a very low cost. This allows you to focus on the core aspects of the business to maximize your revenue.

Scalability – Over time, you will find that it is easy to scale a junk removal business. Simply add more vehicles and more staff as your business dictates. And if you find your business has become too large to manage, you can either hire additional staff to help you with your operations or sell off equipment to lower your overhead costs. Your business can be as big or as small as you want it to be.

Easy to Learn – Most of the skills you need for this type of business are easy to learn. There are a variety of tools available online that can teach you what you need to know. And, if you and your employees are physically fit and can take on the manual requirements of such work, you should be in good shape to get going.

Early retirement – If you build a strong enough business, you may find that you don’t need to be involved in the day to day operations. This might mean early retirement. You can also invest in yet another business that can operate independently, all while you reap the benefits of your ongoing junk removal business.

Challenges You Will Face with Your Junk Removal Business

With every business, you will face challenges. Your junk removal business will be no different.

Dependent on people – If you aren’t a people person, this is likely not the right business for you. You will find that you will need to interact with employees and customers each day positively. Further, junk removal is physically taxing. When our bodies are tired, it can become more challenging to maintain positive and friendly interactions.

Equipment break-downs – With equipment and vehicles that are used daily, you increase the risk of a break-down. Thus, it is imperative that your cost structure (what you charge to your customers) can help offset sudden expenses that will come up. IF your equipment breaks down, it can cost you daily work, and your customers will go somewhere else for your services. Make sure that you have enough cash on hand to cover emergencies and keep your business operating.

Equipment reinvestment – Just as your equipment may break-down, it will not last forever. Equipment and vehicles that are subject to daily wear and tear will break down faster. This means that you may need to be prepared to reinvest in new equipment periodically.

Marketing never stops – Advertising and marketing of your business is not a set-it-and-forget-it type of endeavor. You need to keep marketing to customers to stay top of mind. Though customers need junk removal periodically during their lives, this isn’t like a lawn care business where you will develop repeat customers. When customers only need you every few years, their brand recall will be lower and they may easily turn to a competitor (sometimes unknowingly).

Competition – With a business that is always in need and is easy to start, the competition will be fierce. Make sure that your business can be differentiated from the various competitors out here.

Customer service – Not all customers will get the information they need from your website. Further, even if you provide an easy online system for customers to schedule a junk removal appointment with you, many customers will want to reach you via phone. If you don’t have an actual person that can answer the phone, you will likely miss some cash-rich opportunities. When customers want items removed, they often want speed-to-market and quick action. Therefore, you may find that you need to invest in a telephone receptionist or an answering service that can ensure you don’t miss important or timely messages.

Fluctuation demand due to seasonality – If you plan to start your business in a northern state that is more subject to inclement weather, you may find that your business will quiet down a bit during those periods. Be prepared for seasonality based on where your business is located, and know that you may have weeks or months throughout the year where your profits will dip.

Physically taxing – As we said before, junk removal services can be physically taxing. You and your employees will be subject to variations in outside temperatures and conditions and you will be expected to lift and carry heavy and potentially dangerous items. You may even be subject to snakes, bugs, and other nuisances.

Your employees’ ability to handle stress and long hours will play a vital role in the success of your business.

How to Market a Junk Removal Business

As with any business, the most important thing you can do is to create awareness of your products and services. If your target audience doesn’t know you exist, then they are not going to bring business your way. Thus, important steps to market your business include:

Create a differentiator – Make sure that your services aren’t the same as all of the other junk removal businesses out there – your customers will appreciate it if you offer something unique or different from the rest.

Advertisement of your junk removal business in all applicable mediums – Newspapers, telephone listings, and online.

Great people – No business will be successful without great employees, especially since your employees will be interacting with your customers.

Vehicle advertising – Make sure that any business vehicles are properly branded with your company name, website URL, and business phone number.

Establish a website presence – Your business needs some sort of website presence. This doesn’t need to be fancy either. You can create a website easily directly on Google, or you can hire a webmaster to build and manage your website on your behalf.

If marketing and advertising aren’t your cup of tea, know that there are many inexpensive yet talented freelancers available online to help you. You can easily “outsource” this type of work to the experts to focus on your day to day operations.

What is a Valet Trash Business?

A valet waste removal service can be looked at similarly to a valet parking service. Basically, it means that someone else is taking care of your trash removal on your behalf. For valet trash customers, they just need to leave their trash tied up in bags in a bin on their doorstep. Then, a trash valet service will come and collect that trash during the designated hours.

Why you Should Start a Valet Trash Business

Many people would never consider starting a business that involves the trash of others. However, valet trash services can be quite profitable and getting started is easy. There are many reasons to consider starting a valet trash service:

Unlimited revenue potential – If you are willing to put in the time and effort, your revenue potential truly is limitless. If you get a contract with an apartment complex, it can mean big money. But imagine if you get a contract for two, three, or even ten apartment complexes serving one or two of those complexes each day. This can be a cash cow.

Job stability – Regardless of where you live or set up your business (unless of course you are setting up shop in a rural community), there will always be a need for valet trash services. Further, with multi-year contract terms, you will be able to forecast out your revenue for some time to come, allowing you to plan ahead.

Start-up is low – To get started, all you will need to do is spend some money on marketing. You will want to attract interested property managers so that you can begin the process of contract negotiations. Once you land a contract, you will be best positioned to make the appropriate investments for insurance, trash containers, and hauling vehicles.

Strong market demand – There are millions of apartment complexes throughout the United States. As the population continues to grow, it is believed that more complexes will go up across the country.

Types of Valet Trash Clients

The primary customer for valet trash services are apartment complexes. This is a proven amenity that can help attract potential residents to these complexes, as the notion of not having to take your trash down to a dumpster each week can be quite lucrative. Further, valet trash services can help to provide a cleaner environment, which residents often love.

How to Make Money in the Valet Trash Business

Valet trash services, sometimes referred to as doorstep trash collection services, provide a great benefit to those who live in apartment communities. And to make money, all you need to do is determine a fair service fee that you will charge to the property management company. This fee then gets divided up amongst the residents for the service that you are providing. All you have to do is pick up their trash a few nights each week. Many valet trash companies can make several hundred, if not a few thousand dollars, each week.

How to Start a Valet Trash Business

Most businesses follow the same steps to get started. Specifically, however, for a valet trash business, you should follow these steps to get your business underway.

Do market research to identify a niche – Take some time studying the communities where you wish to provide a service, to see if competitors have already filled the need. Even if a competitor is already in place, don’t hesitate to set up time with property managers to find out what is going well with their service and where there may be challenges. Even though you might not be able to get the business (they may be locked into an existing contract), you will be able to uncover information that can help set you apart. Further, you never know when you might hit up a complex at the right time and walk away with your first deal.

Develop a business plan – Most business plans follow the same format.

Executive summary – This is your elevator pitch which will allow you to briefly and succinctly summarize the important aspects of your valet trash business.

Business description and structure – This is where you outline exactly what your business will do. It should explain why you are in the business and the types of products that you will include in your valet trash services.

Market research – This is an essential element of your business plan and should detail the research you conducted on the area where your business will be located, and the demand that you identified for valet trash services.

Management and staffing – This is where you will identify the staffing structure of your business. If you will be the sole proprietor and will be the only employee, this should be indicated. But, chances are that you will need to add some staff to ensure you can manage the demand for your services. So, take time to list out the key roles and responsibilities of each role for your business.

Financial documents – In this section, you should provide the financial numbers that will back-up everything that you have described in the previous sections. Many people that are starting new businesses turn to an accountant to help them create this section. Help from a trust financial advisor or accountant can help you ensure that you haven’t missed any important expenses or tax liabilities that you will be responsible for.

Obtain the appropriate business licenses – If you are going to be a sole proprietor with no other employees, you may not need to apply. However, it is best to check with your state and local municipality to determine what type of licensing you need to acquire and any regulations you need to observe.

Identify the tools and supplies you will need – In most cases, you will be able to acquire garbage bins that apartment residents can use to collect their trash. On the night that you conduct your pick-up service, residents simply need to set the bins outside their door.

Begin marketing your services – Aside from going door to door visiting with property managers, you will want to consider vehicle advertising, a website, and online advertising, among other marketing strategies.

How to Run a Valet Trash Business

Before you land your first contract, you will want to consider the hours you want to work between servicing, sales and marketing. With this information identified, you can work with the property manager on the best time of day for valet trash pick-up. The property manager will then send a communication to apartment residents, informing them of the service and letting them know when trash pick-up will occur. You’ll also provide your own information to each resident’s door as well.

To run your valet trash business, you just want to make sure that you are prepared to meet the complex’s demands and pick up the trash during the allotted time window. Make sure your services hours are clearly outlined and what exact services you’ll offer. These details can be ironed out in your valet trash service contract. This will help both you and the property manager if any issues should arise.

Benefits to Starting a Trash Valet Business

Property managers will experience a variety of benefits by hiring a valet trash company. Benefits can include enhanced community asset value, increased net operating income, lower staff payroll, increased operational efficiencies, improved curb appeal, and increased resident satisfaction.

However, as a business owner, you’ll experience several benefits as well. Besides the benefits previously listed tied to reasons to start a trash valet business, you will also experience the opportunity to be your own boss and be the master of your own income.

Challenges to Starting a Trash Valet Business

With every business, you will face challenges. Your trash valet business will be no different.

Dependent on the needs of apartment complexes – If apartment complexes already have a contract with another valet trash provider, it might be some time before that contract is up for renewal. On the flip side, you may find certain complexes that aren’t interested in the services that you have to provide.

Marketing never stops – Advertising and marketing of your business is not a set-it-and-forget-it type of endeavor. You need to keep marketing to apartment complexes to stay top of mind. Further, you need to pay attention to new complexes that might be coming to the area to get in before your competitors do.

Competition – With a business that is always in need and is easy to start, the competition will be fierce. Make sure that your business can be differentiated from the various competitors out here.

Customer service – You will need to be available for calls that come in from property managers. Occasionally, you may need to make a repeat trip.

Physically taxing – Trash valet services can be physically taxing. You will be subject to significant walking and lifting, which can be hard on the back and shoulders.

How to Market a Valet Trash Business

The most important thing you can do is create awareness for property managers interested in your services. If your target audience doesn’t know you exist, then they are not going to bring business your way. Thus, important steps to market your business include:

Create a differentiator – Make sure that your services aren’t the same as all of the other valet trash businesses out there – your customers will appreciate if you offer something unique or different than the rest. Flexibility is critical in this business too.

Advertisement of your trash valet services in applicable mediums – Newspapers, telephone listings, and online are all important, but for valet trash services, you may want to look into relevant trade publications in your area too.

Reliable people – No business will be successful without reliable employees. Your business will quickly get into trouble if resident trash isn’t picked up on time, so hiring service valets will be important when the time is right.

Vehicle advertising – Make sure that any business vehicles are properly branded with your company name, website URL, and business phone number.

Establish a website presence – Your valet trash business needs some sort of website presence. This doesn’t need to be fancy, either. You can create a website easily directly on Google, or you can hire a webmaster to build and manage your site on your behalf.

Once you have effectively marketed your valet trash company, you will be able to secure meetings and close some contracts. When you have one in place, the easy part is servicing the client. Now all you have to do is repeat the steps to finding additional multifamily communities and your business will be booming in no time!