Can You Start a Moving Company on a Budget?

First of all, if you are under the impression that you need a lot of staff and commercial size trucks to start a moving business, forget everything you think you know about the moving industry. Fortunately, you’re completely wrong.

In a residential area, approximately 90% of moving jobs consist of furniture or household items. Moreover, individuals and families are always looking for an affordable moving service and hesitate to get in touch with full-service moving companies, which can be quite expensive. Such customers look for small, affordable and local moving companies when they want to move a few pieces of furniture such as sofas and tables.

To supplement your income, you can start a small moving business with a moving van or truck and provide services on weekends. You might be surprised to see how much money you can make doing small moving jobs in your neighborhood. However, it’s important to know the ins and outs before opening your own moving company.

Required skills

To start your own moving company, the only two skills you need are dedication and good health. Believe it or not, you don’t need strong heavy lifting muscles to run your small moving business.

You can hire one or two helpers who are quite physically fit to assist you with your moving efforts. Anyone who is in good health can help lift sofas or other furniture and household items. You may need to train the helpers to ensure you are both on the same page.

Start-up costs

If you already have a loading truck or pickup, most of your expenses will be your investment in the fuel tank, loading/packing equipment, and tools. Moreover, if you plan to offer interstate moving services to make some extra money, you must have the required permits and licenses such as DOT Authority. However, it is important to remember that most of these costs are one-off and you get what you pay for.

You can promote your new moving company for free on sites like Craigslist. Leave flyers and brochures around the neighborhood and contact furniture stores to discuss the possibility of delivering furniture pieces to their customers.

Monthly income

Your monthly income will depend on how much time you are willing to spend on your new move. While you should be able to make a good amount of money on the weekends doing moving jobs, it’s important to remember that small moving companies don’t charge as high as full-service moving companies. The cost of each moving job you perform will depend on the size and weight of the items and the miles traveled.

Monthly expenses

You might agree that the only monthly costs of a moving company are gas mileage and mileage. However, in addition to the cost of providing moving services, many small local moving companies also include gas and mileage costs in their fees. You can incorporate this type of pricing structure and your total monthly income should remain unaffected by gas and mileage costs.

Keep in mind that due to increased mileage and frequent work, you may need to repair your moving truck or van. So it is always a good idea to save some of your profits every month for such problems.

Time to break even

If you already had a loading truck or van, your start-up costs will be minimal; the time to break even may be as little as a week. However, if you purchase or rent a moving van for your business, it will take a little longer to break even.

Possible bumps in the road

When you start your moving company, you may encounter a number of bumps. For example, the housing market may slump and now fewer people need to move in your neighborhood. You can offer other services and address such issues, such as junkyard hauling.

In today’s world, many people participate in events such as rummage sales and streamlining to cope with storage costs. Many people are always looking for moving help, trucks and vans to transport their unwanted belongings to the junkyard.

The moving company can be an easy weekend business for you, especially if you own a truck or van. If you plan to keep your moving business a side hustle, you should always aim to minimize costs for a significant increase in your overall monthly income.