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The
thought of moving is enough to make anyone tremble with painful
thoughts. All of that packing, unpacking, boxes, tape, bubble wrap,
lifting & carrying is a huge stress. But like most great
business ideas, where there is a problem, the solution is often a
solid business idea. To
start a packing service, you will need to be organized, have the
ability to lift up to 40lb boxes and be careful with others'
belongings as if they were your own. The start-up cost for this type
of business is minimal.
You
will need to buy cheap boxes, tape and bubble wrap to be profitable
in this business. If you can get boxes from retail stores before
they throw them away, banana boxes are ideal, which is one way of saving a large expense per
customer. Also, save the boxes after each move and you can save both
time and money with the next move. You can get cheap rolls of tape
at wholesale places such as Sam's Club, CostCo, & Makro.
When
pricing this type of service, you can add a cost of $3.00 per box
for materials (even if you get them for free), plus work on an
hourly rate. $25 per hour would be reasonable for this type of work.
An average packing job would take about 8 hours for a small house or
apartment and maybe a couple of full days for a large house. This
would turn out to about $200 per day, and since you are using
your time, it is almost all profit.
A good
place to advertise would be with rental truck companies such as
U-Haul pickup locations & Van Hire Outlets. Posting flyers within apartment complexes
that have many moves each month could also prove profitable. Try to
network with Realtor or Estate Agents so they will refer people to you when they sell
a home.
You may
want the protection of a corporate entity that you can setup rather
inexpensively. Some insurance would be a good idea in case you break
something of your client's |
