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For people who are considering starting a pool cleaning business, we’ve got some tips for you here. While daytime television could make some people think all pool cleaners are always tanned with ripped abs, that’s the least attractive thing about running a pool cleaning business. In this lucrative industry, making is to the top is not exactly easy, but you will get all the important tips on how to start a pool cleaning business- yes, your very own.

There are a few things to know about the industry; what skills are required to start a pool cleaning business, what tools are essential, how to get clients, how to keep getting clients, what will make your clients retain your services, how to remain relevant in the business and also how to secure your business.

Being a pool cleaning business owner also qualifies you to take on jobs and render services in spas, saunas, whirlpools, hot tubs and the likes. You will make sure to remove debris, little toys and even quarters from the pool. You will also scrub pool edges, sides and vacuum the bottom to prevent algae and bacteria from springing up. Pay attention to the filter which holds debris- don’t always keep it on.

Benefits of starting a pool cleaning business

A pool cleaning business can be adventurous, fun (for owner, client and pool cleaning personnel as well), and it has many other benefits apart from giving your skin a good dosage of vitamin D.

• It only takes a short amount of time: This is probably one of the best parts of owning a pool business, especially for the pool cleaner. Most pools get serviced and maintained on a weekly basis, which means that there’s enough time to work for multiple clients within a week- and within a day as well. Assuming that you have prepared the chemicals and other things you would need on the site before you leave base, it takes between 3 to 4 hours a whole month to clean and service a pool. In other words, you spend less than an hour a week on a job and in some cases pool cleaners get the job done in 30 minutes.

• Who needs a degree? Not you! While some technical jobs might require a degree to operate, in the pool cleaning business, that is absolutely unnecessary. Of course having a solid academic background in aquaculture, chemical engineering, microbiology and the likes would be a boost, a way to impress your clients, but it is not a necessity and it does not guarantee your success in the business. However, you might need to attend a short seminar and get a certificate if your aim is to include other services that require some technical knowledge, and it would only take a couple of hours.

• Flexible working hours: In the pool cleaning business, there is usually room improvement (sadly, not every business owner takes advantage of this opportunity) because the hours are flexible and in many cases, you get to pick a time and a date. Although there might be times when a client needs your services urgently to make a repair or thereabouts, but it doesn’t happen all the time. There will be also cases where your client would need you to maintain the pool while they are away on a vacation or a business trip, here you automatically choose what time of the day would best suit you as long as you get the job done.

• You choose your office: Before working remotely spread across different sectors in this modern age, pool cleaning business owners have always had this option. When you are about to start a pool cleaning business, getting an office won’t top the list of things to worry about. It doesn’t matter where you decide to set up your office because a client would hardly drive all around town in search of a pool cleaner when there are people advertising their services everywhere. All you need is a quiet space where you can receive and make calls to leads and sound professional. As long as the kids don’t interrupt your phone or live chat sessions, and the TV is not too loud that it irks your caller, you would sound professional enough and you will be surely taken seriously.

• You can offer extra services for extra cash: Pool cleaning business is not a one-way street type of venture, it is more than just taking debris out of the water and cleaning the edges and filter, there are other ways to add to your income. Many pool cleaning companies specialize in rendering extra services like equipment maintenance, pool inspections, opening and closing pools, chemical adjustment services, equipment maintenance and repair among others. You could also venture into training new pool business owners and their employees. You could offer to be a source which provides other pool business owners with clients to get their businesses running, especially at its early stage, and get paid extra bucks for it.

• Great networking potential: Successful networking will determine how fast your new business will pick up speed.  In pool cleaning business, a very good advantage is that clients get to welcome you into their homes and some of them are influential people who know other influential people. Some pool cleaners who have good people skills could engage in meaningful and productive chats with clients (if the client initiated small talk) and that could be the reason why they enjoy working with you. This could lead to them recommending your services to other people.

The flipside of starting a pool cleaning business

As good as starting a pool cleaning business sounds, it would be dangerous to ignore a few other things that can be a nightmare to a pool cleaning business owner, especially the newbies.

• You need marketing and it’s not cheap: According to statistics, about 6% of homes have pools especially in the U.S. and most pool owners only need to get their pools cleaned on a weekly basis, so it is not likely that your next door neighbor needs your services and you run the risk of advertising to the wrong leads. Since it is not everyone who needs pool cleaning services, advertising on TV for example would be a colossal waste of time and money, therefore you might need to employ the services of some expert marketers who know where to look at and know who to target. They will make sure you are advertising to the right people and it doesn’t come cheap.

• You get exposed to chemicals: Chemicals will be one of your most important tools and no matter how much experience you will come to gain during your stint as a pool cleaning professional, you still risk exposing yourself to them. You definitely must know about chemicals and how they can be harmful. Chemicals shouldn’t get on your skin and they should by no means get through it either.

• It can be seasonal: While there are indoor pools which may not always be affected by the atmospheric condition of where it is located, most pools will have to conform to weather conditions.  There are times and seasons that do not favor the use of swimming pools and sometimes pools get temporarily closed during certain periods. In extremely cold atmospheric conditions or during rainy season, the services of pool cleaners will be rarely required. This will surely limit the income generation by many pool business owners, so you will have to be prepared.

• Growth can be slow: Getting your first clients will not be a walk in the park and that can be frustrating for anyone. The fact that it is not a service that every house needs is a big factor and most pool owners may already have other pool cleaning companies working for them. You could decide to work your way up but it will take time and money to identify, reach and convince a prospective client to give you the job. In many cases, new pool cleaning business owners use sources to get clients which would cost money.

Read Also:How to Start a Fumigation Business

How to launch and maintain your business

As you venture into the pool cleaning world, there are a few vital tools you need to get started:

Modern technology

Work smart, not hard. Gone are the days when the use of modern tools and software was left to the big companies and tech giants, every business that wants to thrive needs them these days. There are smarter and faster ways of doing all the necessary things you need to manage a pool cleaning business outside the pool area.

• Automation tools and software: you can’t rely on storing data and managing schedule manually especially as your pool cleaning business starts to grow.  Accounting and book keeping software are now affordable; you can store important financial information in there.
• Drones for taking bird view photos and videos on site: this is a creative marketing strategy which will you get potential clients to catch a glimpse of what you do and how well you do it in real time. You could document your pool cleaning services and post them to your social media accounts to impress prospective clients.
• New techniques like reverse osmosis: in reverse osmosis technology, you get to clean a pool area without necessarily having to drain out the pool water. It is an impressive and eco-friendly method that saves time and energy.
• Google maps to find pools in the area: Google maps could be one of a pool cleaning business owner’s favorite tools. Since you can’t just go knocking on doors and asking if they have a pool, the smart way is to use Google maps to find these pools.

Automate payment methods

Nobody wants to have to go through stress to spend their hard-earned money these days when there are easier ways of paying for items and services. You must have easier and automated methods of payment if you want to succeed. You can’t always demand for cash or checks, you must have simpler options of getting paid for your services. Most potential clients will hang up the phone if you tell them they can only pay in cash.

Great customer support

The importance of customer relationship management can never be overemphasized especially in this day and age where companies spend huge sums on PR. You must start to plan how to give your clients the best customer support even before they hire you so that it becomes a vital part of your policy.  You should be available to respond to their calls, you should make them feel valued and you must show that you respect and care about their property. It takes a simple misunderstanding to make you lose a client you’ve worked so hard to get in the first place. It costs at least 5 times more to make a new client than to keep the one you already have and studies have shown that an unsatisfied customer is most likely going to spread the word to other people who could have been your clients.

A social media presence

In the 21^st century, a business that has no online or social media presence almost does not exist. You will be doing your business a huge favor by keeping it active on social media. The areal videos and pictures you take as you work for clients will come in handy here. You can post them and engage people who could become your future clients. In addition, you could make money directly from uploading your videos to your YouTube channel if your videos get a number of views, likes and shares. It is another way of letting your “followers”, potential and existing clients share opinions and even refer you to others.

Read Also: 8 Reasons Why Small Business Need a Website for Your Business

Evaluate the state of the business

There’s only one way to keep up with the state of your pool cleaning business and that is by taking some time to evaluate. Pool cleaning is a type of business that lets you choose your working hours among other things, thus you will have time to check how well your business is doing, and you should take advantage of it. If need be, you could summon a meeting of staff members and discuss how to move the business forward. Look at the books, see how well balanced they are, review the quality of your service, review the budget and see where you need to cut costs. The more you evaluate your business from time to time, the more progress you will see.

What should you know or have before you start pool cleaning business?

In pool cleaning business, knowledge is power.  It is a responsibility which requires that you take preventive measures to maintain pools, keep them safe and free from bacteria. Here are some important things you need to start as well as some knowledge you will need to acquire:

Register your business

You must treat your pool cleaning business like a legit business. You must register your business just like every other business, get all the paperwork done and get accreditation or a license to operate depending on your location. Different states and counties have their own regulations therefore you have to know which one applies to you. If you are only going to be involved in residential water treatment, you may not require a certificate to operate. On the other hand, if you will be embarking on going a step further in rendering additional services like installation, maintenance or repairs of pool equipment, you may require a certification to operate as a commercial business. You also need to have a business plan, sometimes financial institutions ask for it.

Know your chemistry

Acquiring chemicals, testing, balancing, using and storing chemicals will be some of your most important duties. A good knowledge of what and how to deal with chemicals would be beneficial to both your health and your client’s expensive pool.  Some of your duties may involve checking the chemical levels of the pool water. There are about 6 chemical levels to inspect; the cyanuric acid level, the free chlorine level, the ph level (alkalinity/acidity), the total alkalinity level, and the level of calcium hardness. External liquid or gaseous chemicals can get into the body through injection, a possible cut; digestion, if a drop in your mouth somehow; inhalation, if a strong smell goes in through your nose; and irritation. You should also be aware that chemicals should not find their way through your skin.

Legal protection

In some cases, there could be a misunderstanding between you and a client who might threaten you with a lawsuit, you should be ready. Having legal backing is another form of security for your business and your image. You will be working within the premises of an individual or an organization and if any accident occurs on your watch, theft for example, the owner of the property might hold you responsible. To prevent future problems, get a legal adviser.

Read Also: Checklist for Starting a Company

Join relevant associations

As a newbie, you need all the help you can get in starting a pool cleaning business. One of the best places to get help is in an association that is all about pool cleaners. A wealth of knowledge on how to succeed in the business will be shared, as well as vital information and new development that could affect everyone involved in the pool cleaning industry. Also, you could get sources which would cut you a good deal in exchange for clients to help you kick-start your business. There is a common assumption that if you’re not one of them, they could get you blacklisted and if that’s true, then that should not be how you intend to start your journey in the industry.

A good marketing strategy

As essential as marketing is to a pool cleaning business, not all marketing strategies bears fruit. Some marketing strategies will not work for certain types of businesses and if you don’t know which one will be the most suited for your business you might end up wasting money. The most potent form of marketing your pool cleaning business, apart from making posters and flyers, is phone marketing. Records have shown that in most cases, leads that receive phone calls from agents or business owners become clients.  You can’t know the best way to market your business when you’re just starting it up that’s why you may consider hiring a marketing specialist.

Start-up capital

Just like in every other business, money is needed to put a few things together. You will need a budget for marketing your business and sometimes you might need to hire professionals who specialize in these areas to do the job for you. You will need extra hands to help you in the business and you should be ready to pay them even if you don’t get enough clients at the early phase of the business. You will need some equipment to work with, like the water cleaning and purifying agent and a truck to carry both the pool cleaner and the other pool cleaning tools to the cleaning site. Registering your business will cost money as well and you might have to get a technical license or attend mandatory classes as directed by the government of your location.

Read Also: How to Raise Initial Investment Capital for Small Businesses

Knowledge of the business

No entrepreneur should ever go into a business they don’t know about. You don’t need to know everything about pool cleaning neither do you need to do the job yourself, but you should know how the process and the industry as a whole works. Even if you will be hiring someone to do the dirty job, clients would ask you some questions that are related to pool cleaning, some will ask for a professional advice on any issue of that nature, and you have to give them an answer because if they have a hunch that you don’t know what you are doing, you may never see them again. Further to this, some employees might want to take advantage of the fact that you don’t know what’s what to rip you off., besides, if you don’t have enough money to hire workers, who will do the job then if not you?

Start your pool cleaning business already

The pool cleaning industry reached over $6.5 billion in 2019; it is high time you took advantage of that with some quality service for your clients. People spend thousands of hard-earned dollars to make swimming pools and they expect to get the best care for their priced possession, so you should be made aware of how important these trapped bodies of water mean to their owners. For a lot of them, it’s their source of livelihood; it is the center of attraction in some establishments in the hospitality industry. For others, it is a bit like an accessory, it can mean so much to them, especially during certain periods of the year.

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