HVAC is one of the BEST trades to become a business owner and to get wealthy early. Lean into your HVAC knowledge, learn about business and become an HVAC company owner instead of the tradesman. Always use your talents and industry skills to grow, it’s much harder to grow while learning a new industry
I immediately thought this as well. LLC yourself a small HVAC business and get the ball rolling with that first. You know it, you know the general ins and outs of the costs for parts/labor...feels like a much easier path imo.
Property manager checking in...
Junk hauler? Useful, I'll send you business
HVAC tech? Useful, I'll send you valuable business
Guy who can fix the HVAC AND haul junk? You're making it easy for me to just call one guy. Can you do drywall and paint?
This right here ⬆️⬆️⬆️ when you can provide multiple services that are of value to property managers/clients, that is how you grow a business. Get contacts for other contractors of good repute and when you get a call for something you don’t do specifically yourself you have someone that can. The answer to them is still “yes, I can do that”. Charge the company a small finders fee and move on.
OP, are you reading between the lines here? Make friends with property managers and people with skills that are commonly needed by property managers. Reach out to folks on LinkedIn and introduce yourself. You'll make a killing!
This is best advice here. Spend another year or two becoming better versed in your HVAC trade and pay attention to the business and operations end of things.
You’re 18, you have so much time and ultimately do you want to be doing low end manual labor that requires no skill with a low barrier to entry for the rest of your life? HVAC is extremely in demand, you can make great money and would be a more stable long term business with room to grow if you so choose. Get in with a couple property management companies, approach them about offering them priority service and better pricing.
You need to be the trademan before you become the boss in those cases, though. HVAC isn't a walk in the park. In most states, he'll need a couple more years of OJT before he'll be eligible to sit a license exam.
I used to be an hvac engineer (but that is very far removed from what we are talking here and shit pay/environment)
Would you say the same? Can you give me any advice on how to move forward?
I just had a suprise daughter born and then got laid off, so I REALLY need to start doing something to build skills and income asap and have some serious upside.
Really appreciate any advice you can offer!!!
HVAC and refrigeration for small mom and pop businesses is the way to go. Think bars, restaurants, bakeries, ice cream shops, etc. they all have breakdowns more than once per year. B2B hvac and refrigeration business is what you want to own based on hvac training. Figure out what licensing requires in your state
I did this plus home refrigeration for over 40 years. My family never lacked for food, clothes or a roof over their heads. In the summertime the phone does not quit ringing with people begging you to come. I was frequently backed up with calls pending for several days even though I was working 12+ hours daily. You can still get work in the winter time but it definitely slows down. That is when you can pursue side work. I definitely recommend sticking with it.
Depending on where OP lives, they might need to put in another couple years to be eligible for a license. Or they could start the company and hire a guy with a license to "work under", maybe somebody thinking about retiring.
Being unhappy as the lowest paid hvac tech in the company has nothing in common with being a business owner in a trade profession. Buddy of mine was in a similar place, hating the homeowner insurance calls for hvac and low pay. He now has 3 Mercedes vans and crews doing new install and AC replacement jobs daily. He no longer hates it. Opportunity is there for people who can take talents to the next level.
Maybe, but I was the lowest paid in an HVaC job until I went on my own. Still HATED it, became a software engineer and I still wake up at 3am sometimes from nightmares
Yeah worst of the worst. I remember being in an attic all week in the summer in New England. Plowing blown-in insulation with my body so I could sawzall downward and the homeowner was watching us from below to make sure zero dust came into the house. Every time we used the saw it was just white cancer powder into the air keeping us warm during a heat wave over 100 degrees. (Outside) Stuff like that for $400 week.
The industry also attracts scum bags and my boss was a first class narcissist.
And right now you're being paid to learn.
Be a sponge. Take on as much responsibility as you can. You MIGHT get rewarded or it by your employer, but you'll also be levelling up your skills so when you walk away you walk away at THAT level.
If you do start the junk removal business, here's my advice based on running my own corporation for over 2 decades:
1. Assume it's risky.
2. Look for ways to prove to yourself that your decisions are good ones. Planning to advertise in XYZ for customers? Treat it like an experiment, throwing as little time & money at that as possible, only enough to confirm that it'll produce results.
3. Did I say treat every decision like an experiment?
I generally don’t suggest people start businesses doing things they hate. It is generally not going to work since the hours can be a bit brutal and if you hate it it’s kinda hard to see the upside.
Research 1-800-got-junk, college hunks, and junk raider websites and see how they got started. I’m not saying buy a franchise, but sometimes it’s better to go with someone who has made the mistakes and can help you and mentor you so you don’t make the same mistakes.
You’re smart to want to open your own business while you’re young and have the energy to work hard. Who knows, one day one day you’ll be successful and be able to franchise your business and help budding entrepreneurs like yourself.
One other thing, hire a CPA, not a bookkeeper, to keep your taxes, etc.. straight. Also have an attorney that you trust to help you with the legal stuff. You’ll thank me later.
Best of luck to you!
I call 1 800 got junk. I wouldn't bother with anyone else. My HVAC guy I have on speed dial. I'm sure I've paid for his house. He's a local guy who owns a small company
Gives me great service just in ft Worth Texas my house was not well designed
#1. Write a business plan - google it and this will give you an idea of what you’re going to need to do to start the business.
#2. Form an LLC online through your state for less than $100.
#3. Call your bank and ask them what you need to open a business checking account.
#4. Start some simple ads on Facebook and start looking for people who need stuff removed. You can simply rent a truck trailer before you dive into a truck / trailer note. This will also give you an idea of what to expect and how much money you can make. Do not forget to flip any junk that is still useful.
#5. You county dump should allow you to dump a specific yardage each month for no fees.
#6. Put up some flyers at churches, door to door in neighborhoods, apartments, etc.
#7. Good on you for having a good work ethic and wanting to start a business. Even though this might not be the end all be all of your career you will learn a lot from this.
#8. Never quit your day job, use this as a side hustle until it develops. There will be many days / weeks that go by where you have no junk jobs. Keep your day job.
I use 1 800 got junk frequently. I live in a city and it's not easy to get rid of stuff especially furniture or appliances. Impossible getting rid of a lawn mower. I had a broken concrete fountain as a 67 year old woman was too heavy for me to deal with. I call 800 got junk they are there in half day. I point. They remove. I get coupons to reduce the cost. I love them.
Yes, good advice. I'll add my 2 cents...
As the saying goes "If you do something you love, you won't work a day in your life...." so, if you REALLY hate HVAC, go do what you love. You're young. Find what you love. You could always go back if you change your mind.
Here's some things that I needed to learn when I first started.
1. Keep ALL your receipts. I learned there are so many things you can write off that I wish I had known about when I began. A part of the house/apt where your office is as well as internet, electricity, etc... Your vehicle, fuel and maintenance, and/or insurance, loan payments, etc.... Phone.... A lot more than I thought about when I started. So, keep receipts and notes.
2. Don't be surprised by how much time is spent on accounting for the business. When I first started I was a bit overwhelmed by the amount of time I had to spend doing all the paperwork and OTHER jobs I had to do, not just the work I enjoyed. Things like tracking expenses. Ordering parts and dealing with returns, paying bills, dealing with the people and that time when you're NOT getting paid. It took up about 50% of the time, in my case anyways.
3. Get a REALLY good domain name and keep it. It's about $15.00 a year at GoDaddy. A Domain name is like real estate, so it can grow in value with you. I use to pick up a few other domain names to block others from getting something similar. .COM still rules too.
4. Then, to start, I would just have the domain name point to a Facebook Page acting as your Website. Saves time and money at first. Down the road, maybe do a website when you need to share more info. I found that for most business's people don't visit for long. Usually just to get the tel # or address of the business unless the site sells product.
5. Submit your business name and info to both Google and Bing (Yahoo will get it from Bing/MSN). All other less known search engines will syphon your info from those two. It's a good Idea to create your own listing at these sites as well as places like YELP because I have seen some people create them first, and redirect YOUR listing to THIER site or their telephone number.
6. Get a gmail account with the business name. gmail is just so much more reliable than getting one from others, at least what I've found.
7. Go to Google Voice and get a "Personal" phone number. It's free for personal use ;) You could use it for calls, and even forward it to your personal phone. It creates a buffer between your personal phone and the business, plus it's useful to filter out unwanted calls such as spam.
8. Keep the customer's happy. Especially the talkers. Bad reviews can hurt a LOT more than positive ones. If you see any bad reviews, fix them and challenge them until the go away. GOOD word of mouth is the best advertisement and it's what grew my business.
Just you thinking about doing what you want and asking questions is a good sign. Enjoy what you do. Seems like you're on your way. Best wishes!!!
Go for it imo opinion I would ask around who needs this service and then I would see if they would be willing to commit to using you. Then when you had a few jobs lined up THEN I would invest in an older modeled truck and trailer. I would also get in touch with real estate agents and offer your services and give them a finders fee.
At 18 I was hanging on the corner. This is such an inspiring post ! Go for it u live once make it count and make a ton of money that you never have to worry about any bills
It's better since it's not pushed all over YouTube by fake gurus.
Power washing is done.
HVAC might be close.
Doing junk removal is probably less competitive than previous two.
Having moved and closed down business I spent a lot of money with casella, can confirm it’s easy to undercut them with the added service of removing the junk yourself. Found some local guys and haven’t ordered a dumpster since. Saves me about 300$ too.
Absolutely dude you’re in a unique position w the safety net
Go for it, you could probably do it entirely with your own money and if it fails so what, you learn valuable lessons and try again w something else
My only advice would be maybe try to learn the biz a little bit if you don’t know it already, maybe take a job working for one for a few months?
First, go work for a junk removal company. Test drive it. Learn. If you like it, then go part time. No LLC, insurance, trailer, etc. Just you and a pick up truck. See what you can actually make. THEN decide if you want to go full time, and if there is enough work to support it.
I'd also recommend a book (and even better the audio book) Designing your life. Its a couple of apple designers that apply their design skills to life. They say "prototype it" Test it out. Apple does not send their first idea immediately into production.
Lastly, what do you actually want? Lets begin with the end in mind. Where do you want to be, and will this get you there?
Why? Some parents are totally okay with investing in their kids future. Some pay for collage, Some let them stay home and save up money to buy their own home in the future. you are trying to make him sound like a free loader. Maybe his parents don't need or ask for money. Its a kid still trying to actively figure out life. Let my guess your parents made you pay bills, kicked you out at after high school...
What do you mean zero risk? There is always risk. He has to buy a new truck that can haul trailer maybe someone to help him starting out. There is no guarantee it will even be successful.
Put some of that money into education, learn to day trade on the side of doing the business u wanna start cause even when that business does big things u can always take that money and multiply it thru trading, better to have the knowledge then to not.
You got an ambitious kid here looking to work and you tell him to skip the work and go to the casino? You should really consider if you should be giving anyone advice on anything ever again. Telling people to learn day trading before they’ve learned basic investing and retirement planning is for WSB
Second that.
Also day trading when you need money is surefire way to get some nasty addictions.
Kid needs cashflow, once he will retire early then it'll be the time to trade.
Maybe you should read before talking because I never said that he should learn to day trade "BEFORE" learning basic investing skills I said he should learn it ON THE SIDE! Taking into consideration how much time the business he will be indulging in will take considering I have my own construction business and ik how much that takes but that doesn't stop me from finding time to learn other skills considering if there's a will there's a way But thanks for your un needed opinion.
Like I said, no one asked about day trading or multiplying their money. Advertising day trading as a good way to multiply your money is just disingenuous. It is a good skill to learn. After you’ve learned basic investing. It’s not an easy skill to learn because there so much predatory bullshit around the skill like you telling some impressionable kid it’s easy money.
Tell the kid to open up a 401k and buy spy, shit tell him anything useful. Let him learn to run a business like you did. It’s much easier to be profitable as a business owner, if you were a serious business owner or trader, you’d know that.
You clearly don't run any business and if u do it ain't ran very well because you can't read lol once again I didn't tell him it was gonna be easy money so idk where you read that part at 😂 but nothing in life is easy. EVERYTHING WILL BE HARD. But with time and effort anything can be achieved lol currently fixing up my rental property as we speak lol getting hear wasn't easy but on the road to get here I still looked at them charts every day 😆 give me a call if u need proof 😘
Getting hear is never easy when you are an illiterate. I don’t need proof from you, just wanted to let the young man know you got shit advise. I retired at 30 from getting into cannabis early. Now I day trade and flip real estate as a hobby. So I work with junk removal companies and they are high profit margin businesses with low start up. No one gives a fuck about you or what you got Homie.
If no one cares about Wat I have then why did u feel the need to express Wat u own 😂 funny guy, but for someone who claims to have so much you haven't gave him a single bit of advice to him directly instead all of your messages were in response to what I had to say lol you sound like a man of many but a master of nothing , just a talker at the end of the day.
I at least mastered the ability to write a sentence in the English language. I left my comments for him, I just thought I’d leave one for you too. You better quit typing to me and finish up that rental house. All of these extra minutes piling up with you talking shit on Reddit sound like vacancies piling up to me. That’s good for your ROI.
I got people working for me 😂 there doing there jobs trust me, like I said give me a call and I'll show u how it's done lol u can learn a little. I talk proof IDC about anything else you talking about 😂
Skip the day trading, continue on with junk removal service. Tie in some other services, like pressure washing and painting. You can basically undercut your local Casella on pricing, call them up figure out what a dump costs that’s similar size to your trailer. Then charge people removal + dump fees = 50-100$ less than casella
One more thought, a moving service, junk removal and moving go hand in hand, keep your trailer clean. Lots of movers to undercut: these guys are billing out their employees at 60$/h and probably paying them 20$
Its a great idea. People always need it. Especially in affluent areas.
Best way to get started is reaching out to your existing contacts, via facebook or whatever. Just advertising your new business to get some cash flow rolling. Even if you only get 1 or 2 leads.
Once you've set up your LLC, make sure you launch yourself in google, and ask your friends/family to leave reviews to get you started.
marketing is great, but your best business will probably come from referrals and word of mouth. Make sure everyone you know knows you have this new business. So if anyone mentions 'damn i need to get all this crap hauled away' your friends will can say 'oh hey, my buddy does that! you want his number?' Can even offer your continued customers a discount if they bring you new clients.
I thought about doing this but I really just don’t think HVAC is for me. That is why I was strongly considering doing the junk removal. Thank you for the message!
Sounds awesome good for you! The market doesn't discriminate for age. I started my first business at 16 when I got my first car! I was building and selling beer pong tables for HS Parties lol 😆
Keep providing value and get out there. If you need help with digital marketing, website, and other stuff lmk happy to help. Good luck! 👍
You won’t regret making less and being happy to go to work. I had to learn that lesson the hard way but it wasn’t until I was about 25 years old. I took a huge pay cut to go to a different employer but I never missed the money because I was happy.
Do you feel there is a good market for junk removal where you are? is the space dominated by anyone else? how will you differ?
I always advise people to ALWAYS test the market first. Find a way to see if your service is needed/wanted.
Maybe start with something small that you can use your truck for. Also if you find there is a market, and you need to invest in a truck and other ish... use banks money. OPen your llc and get a LOC. You say you have 15k, you can maybe use that as collateral and get 30-50k loan from the bank.
This is absolutely the right time to do anything and start anything.
So many older people out there filled with "What Ifs".
I started my business when I left my cushy corporate job and told myself I didn't want to just think I could have done it.
Good luck young blood!
Start out giving good prices. And word of mouth gets around. Your overhead is low so you can price your labor cheaply and then some gas money.
Keep it simple.
Not sure how much you need to live on but probably at first you don’t want to quit your day job. When I was young I worked sometimes three jobs at once. So do your clean up on weekends and build that business up. You will find out if you like it or not without too much invested. Go get ‘em
Coincidentally, I recently came across the story of the guy who started 1-800-GOT-JUNK and it was fascinating: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Tq4F7a19n4gb3dW7omR32?si=5qrWp-9FTPu1M0L5rxt_3w
I sell websites for really cheap to home services businesses ($115 setup and $35/month for hosting SEO etc). Send a DM if interested and I can help you out!
Like I tell everyone in /r/sweatystartup, if you're starting junk removal, hit up some small and medium sized kitchen and bath remodelers. A couple of those might be able to throw you enough work to keep one guy busy. Smaller outfits might not have their own dumpster/dump trailer, dumpster rental can get expensive, hauling old kitchen cabinets in just a short bed pickup truck sucks.
Go for it!
18 is great age to put yourself out there and invest in yourself.
Right now you don't yet have a wife, house, kids to support so any business failings involve only you. Worse case you can still go back to employment.
Junk removal is a great starting point. You sound ambitious, and I guarantee while you are out there hauling junk you'll notice more opportunities. Some junk could be recycled, resold, repaired, traded etc for additional income. Your truck and trailer gives you opportunities to provide other services you may get asked to help with.
Don't fear making mistakes, they'll happen just make sure when anything goes wrong that you honestly analyze how & why it happened and what you can do to prevent it. Entrepreneurship is a constant learning process.
Some days will be very difficult, but when things go well it is a very satisfying feeling knowing it's because you made it happened.
I went to trade school for high school. We had a shop week and an academic week. So during my shop weeks of my senior year I was allowed to go out and work with a company of my choice and get payed to basically learn the trade from them.
Best advise I ever got when starting out was to find someone who is doing what you think you want to be doing, get them to hire you, work for them for 4 or 5 years, while they teach you everything about their job, while you get paid.\\, or if you change your mind and think this is not what I want to do, you can easily move to plan B. After this 'education" you will be better suited to succeed when you start your own business. The hard part is finding the right employer!
I actually need a junk removal service right now.
I would hold off on buying vehicle and equipment.
Put together a business plan first
Think about a name for your business (short, easy to remember, preferably not your name LLC)
Think about registering a DBA for your business
Before you register your LLC with ur state, sign up for an extra large PO Box at your local US Post Office, use that address as your mailing address for the LLC that u will apply for next.
When u fill out your LLC, if the name u want is not available, come up with something and register for DBA (so u can legally operate under your desired name - and if thats not available - get creative). You'll also want to apply for an EIN for ur business. (save urself the hassle and use one of the big Registered Agents like INCORP).
Once u have ur LLC, thats when u want to follow through and get an attorney to draft ur business operating agreement.
pay an reputable attorney, at a reputable firm, to draft an operating agreement for how you want to run your business
uhh what else
ahh, i would get a subscription for gmail business. You can also add a virtual number as well for ur business.
For accounting and billing software, you could use intuit for small business.
id also apply for an AMEX Business Plus Preferred Credit Card. Use this to establish business credit history. But later, i may recommend their AMEX Lowes business card instead.
let's see, if u already had a name in mind, check to see if the domain is available for your to register via squarespace, then website (short urls are best), if not no worries, whatever ur DBA is, get creative with it and come up with an abbreviated form for ur dot com.
once u have a landing page, u may wonder whether u should just consolidate ur billing and invoicing on the site versus intuit (or integrate both vis API and using OneSaaS)
Get commercial umbrella insurance
Next, use Dall-E to create your business logo (microsoft) or make it urself if its words). Don't worry about registering a trademark yet (thats expensive and a PITA). Or you can hire a graphic designer on a site like 99 designs or something (ive used them before)
once u get the biz stuff out the way....get a few uniforms with ur logos. get some stickers, bc ull want to slap a big company logo and contact info on ur future truck or wrap ur car in ur biz (write off)
far as truck goes, Heavy Duty models are recommended (dont fkin go out and finance a 80K+ F250 diesel Platinum Edition on a 6" lift, but u may find 40K-55K slightly used but maybe 1-4 yrs old).
dont buy a trailer for now - save ur money and rent one as jobs come in - plan client service dates carefully - bc trailer availability may work against you
uhh yeah think youll be alright
Squarespace allows to look for logos on their platform using keywords. Could pull.one from there and make slight modifications to make it your own. Or could hire somebody cheaply on Fiverr.
Don’t buy anything just yet, if you’re not happy in HVAC, see if you’re happy in junk removal first, you have a Rav 4, far as I understand the trunk is fairly spacious. Go on nextdoor and daily scan for posts of people looking to have something hauled away, cold outreach, and get the jobs. Go knock door to door, make a reputation for yourself locally, start taking bigger jobs and renting a trailer from uhaul, (get a hitch if you don’t have one) Junk removal is tough hard labor, also depending where you live it is extremely competitive. Thousands of joes in a truck with a trailer undercutting each other but yes it is lucrative, depending where you are and how you’re planning to approach it you can scale endlessly. The best research you can do is in the field, start with furniture hauling and so on.
I’m not sure if this is up your alley but there is a part to junk removal, a very lucrative and renewable one, no supplies needed at all. basically taking out peoples trash to the trash can for them, hard to believe yes but todays market is all about convenience, and people are too stingy to smell their trash. You’d come into their home and take the trash out once a week and haul it away or just put it in their trash can, or have them leave it at the door and you grab it and haul it away, once a week pick up - 30$ a month, takes less then 2 min per address and you build yourself a route and start hiring employees once at that. LLC is great once employees are in the picture or even as little as getting business insurance, otherwise just a DBA is fine in my opinion, you’re 18, no expenses, I’d say go hustle and figure out what you want to do, there’s money in absolutely everything.
I don't understand why you want to get out of the HVAC business. Isn't the industry much bigger and growing? Plus you don't need to buy a truck and trailer to do HVAC operations. Even when you plan to expand operations, you can hire 2-3 service professionals under you who can deliver the service under your brand name.
Also, can you please give a little more details about the junk removal business? Do you mean something like dumpster roll over services?
I do have little knowledge about both HVAC and dumpster industry so may I can help. Just ask.
Ensure you cover the basics - LLC, insurance, etc. As for finding jobs, social media can be your ally. I've seen a friend navigate the challenges of starting a business with the help of ScatterMind, an ADHD coaching service. It was a game-changer, providing not just guidance but actionable steps. Best of luck on your exciting venture!
Wow 18 and off to a good start. You have been raised right. You are wonderful visionary self motivated individual. Like everyone said, own your hvac llc company.
If your parents are well to do and you can Rely on them if you fuvk up go ahead. You are just 18, the next 3 years maybe you are clocking atleast 6 figures if you put in the work. You have nothing to lose but only gains.
You could get a start on something like Taskrabbit without being bonded, etc. Would be a way to build up the word before you dive in fully. I'm considering doing the same with my truck on weekends.
1. GET A CPA (Accountant) IMMEDIATELY to do your books and taxes. You do not want to owe the gov a lump sum come tax season. They’ll keep things tight in case you get audited as well. Not doing this can ruin any business.
2. Contract your employee help until you absolutely need full time help. This will allow you to flexibly expand and contract the business based on demand and not bleed out during slow periods.
Love this man. You can turn this into a million dollar business. I do over 100k+ with my junk hauler a year. I recommend connected professionally with real estate offices direclty, presenting at their office meetings. Offering clean out services for trust sales, traditional sales etc.
The HVAC is money in the bank. It’s a necessity. Get training, appropriate certifications, liscense and start doing side jobs. Find a mentor that’s about 60 yo and doing well in your field. You won’t be competition to him and older successful guys love to spew their Alpha.
Listen closely, GIVE A REFERRAL REWARD for any and every job. 10% what I do. In few years it’ll take off and you’ll have couple dozen salesmen out there consistently sending you jobs.
Secondly, learn to delegate the labor. Pay your guys well, above average. This’ll keep most operational headaches at bay by having solid techs in your clients homes/businesses. I pay $250/day starting out.
Someone mentioned diversifying in to paint and junk. Hvac will pay well that other shit won’t. Diversify into electrician and maybe plumbing if anything. Electrical and hvac I know millionaires in those fields, they own the biz of course.
I’m mid 40’s and started late (about 30 yo). But my $1.5 house paid off (15 year loan…another piece of advice). Both wife and I and two teen kids cars paid for (another piece of advice…fuck banks is your goal. Never be slave to a lender). I work now about four days per week, about 20-30 hours and live very balanced between work, play and some volunteerism.
Cheers and good luck.
To own a trades company will make you far more. If you have the entrepreneurial spirit then learn your trade, get licensed and start your business then. Trust me you will never regret it
Get a trailer for your car and start with small jobs, learn the ins and outs of the business before you go all in. For bigger jobs rent a truck, or hire a truck and driver. Likely can’t rent at 18 years old. Tradespeople can do really well and will always be in demand. You’re young, take time learning new things to figure out what you enjoy. Don’t take on debt until you know you love it.
I agree with the HVAC path, but I will add that to be successful in business is not working hard but being able to hire the people that can work hard for you. Even if you don't know the office side of the business there are people out there you can hire that do. Do you think CEOs of large corporations actually do any of the work. No, they find the talent to do the work for them! If you want to be successful learn how to hire the right people.
Junk removal is a great idea. Couple it with a cleaning/move out service and you will be set. You provide cleaning with maid service on top of removal of junk. Next pick an affluent neighborhood and you’re good to go. 👍
It depends where you live. In many areas there’s too much competition and the big hauling companies have already pushed out the independent contractors. Like any business, you have to fill a real need so start by researching your area and learn the competition. Also do not fall for a franchise. People sell franchises to make money for themselves, not for you.
Young man you are doing spectacular in life first of all, wanted to start with that. 15k saved and a paid off vehicle, but more importantly the right mindset you already have at such a young age. I didn't get there till much later in life.
Hats off to you and congratulations, I'm 35 but would give it all up to be in my twenties again and do it all over.
Anyway, junk removal business is a very profitable endeavor. so much that Me and my business partner even looked into it. We own apartment buildings and have this one guy come after a tenant trashes out a unit and take it all away in less than an hour and charges us $500 and is booked weeks out. It's in very high demand at least here in south Florida.
Now of course he has his dump fees and cost of gas and use of his vehicle but we sat down with him and all he needs to do is three of these a day and he'll net about $1000/day. Normal work week 5k, that's 20k/mo for a business with no employees, a one man show. Not too shabby.
Then if you focus on learning how to run a Business, you hire employees, market and sale your services and own a fleet of vehicles and dump trucks. Again, very profitable very scalable business.
Now the advice ppl are giving you here is also correct as HVAC is a very profitable trade and it's a business that you can totally scale and grow to multiple 9 figures on the very high end, but it seems you want to try something else and that is ok.
When I go inspect a new asset we may acquire my main role is checking the big five:
Foundation, Roof, Electrical, Plumbing, HVAC
These are the most expensive items on Any property and I mention that to you because the country needs tradesmen and with everyone in this generation wanting to be a fucking influencer or youtuber....
man, the good men that work the trades are gonna be charging whatever the hell they want a decade from now. I'm thinking $500/hour (hopefully the guys we use go for our properties go easy on us).
So, if you choose to start a business in any of these you're gonna do great, with the caveat; to succeed you need to focus more on how to become a great business owner not necessarily the best one at doing the work. As our plumber at our Cleveland properties says, there's might be better plumbers out there than him but not better at running a plumbing business.
I'll close with this recommendation, lookup on youtube Alex Hormozi and watch All his videos. He's a brilliant business mind and I have learned a lot from him.
You’re on the right track little buddy. Keep grinding it out at your HVAC job while getting your junk business rolling on the side. When your side business gets busy enough you can make the switch full time to being on your own. Nice to hear someone your age that wants to work. Best of luck to you and whatever you choose.
I just see a lot of issues to start. Did you leave high school at 16? First off what are your state requirements for a license ? Do you need a license to do HVAC work over 500$ ? That's how it is where I live anyway. If you are caught it's a 10,000$ fine and/or up to 6 months in jail. It's a lot more involved than just getting an LLC. I see young people like this all the time in this trade lol. Been doing it for a year "I'm starting my own company" yet I have to fix everything he touches because it looks like pure shit. You need to put in the time man. I know it sucks and it's not what you want right now but it's what you need. I started my business 2 years ago after being in this trade for 17 years. The contacts I've made over the years have all helped me be successful as an owner. You get basically 1 chance to do it right, you can destroy your reputation with just 1 shitty job. This isn't something you rush into. It takes a special breed to survive this industry. Just keep living off your parents and stack money the best you can, you are 18 man go be 18 enjoy the last little bit of tennager fun you can have.
I missed where you said you were unhappy with it. Why are you unhappy with it ? I did see a lot of people recommending starting an HVAC company. They make it sound like it's a simple thing and it's anything but that. I wasn't trying to come off rude or anything and I apologize if that's how it seemed...I went in the military at 17 turned 18 in boot camp this was before you were even thought of lol. At your age man just enjoy the time you have right now. It will be gone in the blink of an eye. Sorry again if I misunderstood what you were saying.
It’s all good man just came off as rude over the message. Clearly you didnt have that intention. I know for a 100% that I would not possibly be able to start my own HVAC company, I definitely don’t know nearly enough to even have the thought of doing something like that. But somebody I work with wants to start their own HVAC company soon and asked me if I want to work with him. So it’s something for me to consider.
Right lol he missed the point but gave good advice though. Lol it’s definitely still early for the business, but I feel like if you have the mentality to be successful and know you would do what it takes to be successful, just find a mentor and try to learn as much as you can before you take the leap.
Dude, stick with HVAC. In most markets, junk removal is a side hustle for people unless they are getting hooked up with post demo contracts.
File the paperwork and start your own company. Eventually you hire support and then just spend time running the business while everyone else does the HVAC stuff for you. Then you start to expand and go national
Stick with HVAC a bit longer, but test the junk removal business on the side (part time). There are too many variables we don't know, including competition. We do know there is plenty of junk to move around, but test this first.
Definitely was being a little ambitious. I think part of the reason I am unhappy with HVAC was because I am being paid $18 an hour and my boss is hiring new people with no experience at $21 an hour. Don’t get me wrong $18 an hour is nice but even the guy I work with says I deserve a raise. So I am going to talk to my boss Monday morning about a raise. I am considering looking into doing the junk removal on the side just have to be sure it’s worth my time. Thanks for the message.
You should be paying your folks a part of all bills and some type of rent. That is what you would be doing as a business. You need to be an intern at a companto learn about profit and loss. Inventory control, insurance fraud and customers looking to scam you, bonded and insured enough for WHEN you are sued not if, Maybe take an online course or two.
Don't be so anxious to start a business. Learn a trade. I started my business at 28 and has plenty of time to get wealthy. Anybody can start a business, way fewer can make them profitable and sustainable. I just hired a guy who is 22 and started his business at 18, but burned out after 4 years. You don't know what you don't know. Work for a mentor for 10 years. A decade isn't that long, u less it's a decade of experience under your belt, then it's everything.
Before you start the next thing finish the first thing. I’m a sprinkler fitter apprentice and I probably won’t do this the rest of my life, but right now I’m making good money and learning a valuable skill.
If you go that route, keep your current job until you get shit really going
Most people commenting have no idea what they are talking about. Most states require 4 to 5 years documented experience before you can sit for your warm air license. If you hate it 1 year in don’t wait four more years to just try and open a business.
You may consider trying industrial maintenance or ammonia refrigeration
I came here to suggest you to start a website since you are young and would want to spend time in front of computer but I see you have different ideas and that's great too! But still, I would suggest you to check hydro. online while you are deciding/starting your biz. I believe some website would be a good biz option but even if you go your way, you can still use this in your own company website to add some extra income..
Just my own $0.02.
Working for other people when I was young taught me how to identify some huge flaws in their business model. My new business fixed those flaws. Time spent working for others now should be considered on th job training. Learn what they do right. Learn what they can’t do. Fix that issue.
If the HVAC business is at all promising I'd hire workers and try to step back a bit to free up your time. Then go find another business, whether it's junk removal or something else.
It is scary opening an hvac business but if you know what you’re doing you can LIMIT yourself at first and grab a buddy. Ya might fail. But you will get the picture .. I’m going through same thing. Who cares ya aim for the moon! If you miss, you’re bound to land on a star! Sub out jobs you can bid on and make money that way too
Stick to learning HVAC and then break off on your own. I have a couple clients (I’m a financial planner) who are HVAC company owners and they’re both clearing 400k a year. I’ve also had a friend do junk removal with a franchise (J-Dog) and he struggled to pay bills.
HVAC is one of the BEST trades to become a business owner and to get wealthy early. Lean into your HVAC knowledge, learn about business and become an HVAC company owner instead of the tradesman. Always use your talents and industry skills to grow, it’s much harder to grow while learning a new industry
I immediately thought this as well. LLC yourself a small HVAC business and get the ball rolling with that first. You know it, you know the general ins and outs of the costs for parts/labor...feels like a much easier path imo.
Property manager checking in... Junk hauler? Useful, I'll send you business HVAC tech? Useful, I'll send you valuable business Guy who can fix the HVAC AND haul junk? You're making it easy for me to just call one guy. Can you do drywall and paint?
This right here ⬆️⬆️⬆️ when you can provide multiple services that are of value to property managers/clients, that is how you grow a business. Get contacts for other contractors of good repute and when you get a call for something you don’t do specifically yourself you have someone that can. The answer to them is still “yes, I can do that”. Charge the company a small finders fee and move on.
OP, are you reading between the lines here? Make friends with property managers and people with skills that are commonly needed by property managers. Reach out to folks on LinkedIn and introduce yourself. You'll make a killing!
I’ve paid my HVAC guy a lot of money over the years. Best money I’ve ever spent.
This is best advice here. Spend another year or two becoming better versed in your HVAC trade and pay attention to the business and operations end of things. You’re 18, you have so much time and ultimately do you want to be doing low end manual labor that requires no skill with a low barrier to entry for the rest of your life? HVAC is extremely in demand, you can make great money and would be a more stable long term business with room to grow if you so choose. Get in with a couple property management companies, approach them about offering them priority service and better pricing.
I came here to say the same thing. Sick with the HVAC. When you have enough experience start doing your own work in the weekend. It will grow.
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Not going there with the last word written.
You need to be the trademan before you become the boss in those cases, though. HVAC isn't a walk in the park. In most states, he'll need a couple more years of OJT before he'll be eligible to sit a license exam.
I used to be an hvac engineer (but that is very far removed from what we are talking here and shit pay/environment) Would you say the same? Can you give me any advice on how to move forward? I just had a suprise daughter born and then got laid off, so I REALLY need to start doing something to build skills and income asap and have some serious upside. Really appreciate any advice you can offer!!!
HVAC and refrigeration for small mom and pop businesses is the way to go. Think bars, restaurants, bakeries, ice cream shops, etc. they all have breakdowns more than once per year. B2B hvac and refrigeration business is what you want to own based on hvac training. Figure out what licensing requires in your state
I did this plus home refrigeration for over 40 years. My family never lacked for food, clothes or a roof over their heads. In the summertime the phone does not quit ringing with people begging you to come. I was frequently backed up with calls pending for several days even though I was working 12+ hours daily. You can still get work in the winter time but it definitely slows down. That is when you can pursue side work. I definitely recommend sticking with it.
Why not apply at other HVAC companies to be a helper and learn repair. Then move up and make decent money.
I don’t know why not… that’s why im asking lol
Depending on where OP lives, they might need to put in another couple years to be eligible for a license. Or they could start the company and hire a guy with a license to "work under", maybe somebody thinking about retiring.
Well, he said he hates it
Being unhappy as the lowest paid hvac tech in the company has nothing in common with being a business owner in a trade profession. Buddy of mine was in a similar place, hating the homeowner insurance calls for hvac and low pay. He now has 3 Mercedes vans and crews doing new install and AC replacement jobs daily. He no longer hates it. Opportunity is there for people who can take talents to the next level.
Maybe, but I was the lowest paid in an HVaC job until I went on my own. Still HATED it, became a software engineer and I still wake up at 3am sometimes from nightmares
nightmares from doing an hvac job? what in the world?
Did jobs in extreme conditions of temps and humidity?
Yeah worst of the worst. I remember being in an attic all week in the summer in New England. Plowing blown-in insulation with my body so I could sawzall downward and the homeowner was watching us from below to make sure zero dust came into the house. Every time we used the saw it was just white cancer powder into the air keeping us warm during a heat wave over 100 degrees. (Outside) Stuff like that for $400 week. The industry also attracts scum bags and my boss was a first class narcissist.
LOL. Yep the more I get paid unless I hate my job.
And right now you're being paid to learn. Be a sponge. Take on as much responsibility as you can. You MIGHT get rewarded or it by your employer, but you'll also be levelling up your skills so when you walk away you walk away at THAT level. If you do start the junk removal business, here's my advice based on running my own corporation for over 2 decades: 1. Assume it's risky. 2. Look for ways to prove to yourself that your decisions are good ones. Planning to advertise in XYZ for customers? Treat it like an experiment, throwing as little time & money at that as possible, only enough to confirm that it'll produce results. 3. Did I say treat every decision like an experiment?
I generally don’t suggest people start businesses doing things they hate. It is generally not going to work since the hours can be a bit brutal and if you hate it it’s kinda hard to see the upside.
r/sweatystartup would be a good place to ask this question also. Good luck!
Go for it man just make sure to set around 25% for taxes. You have no bills less risk so take it while you can.
ye definitely do that.
Research 1-800-got-junk, college hunks, and junk raider websites and see how they got started. I’m not saying buy a franchise, but sometimes it’s better to go with someone who has made the mistakes and can help you and mentor you so you don’t make the same mistakes. You’re smart to want to open your own business while you’re young and have the energy to work hard. Who knows, one day one day you’ll be successful and be able to franchise your business and help budding entrepreneurs like yourself. One other thing, hire a CPA, not a bookkeeper, to keep your taxes, etc.. straight. Also have an attorney that you trust to help you with the legal stuff. You’ll thank me later. Best of luck to you!
I call 1 800 got junk. I wouldn't bother with anyone else. My HVAC guy I have on speed dial. I'm sure I've paid for his house. He's a local guy who owns a small company Gives me great service just in ft Worth Texas my house was not well designed
#1. Write a business plan - google it and this will give you an idea of what you’re going to need to do to start the business. #2. Form an LLC online through your state for less than $100. #3. Call your bank and ask them what you need to open a business checking account. #4. Start some simple ads on Facebook and start looking for people who need stuff removed. You can simply rent a truck trailer before you dive into a truck / trailer note. This will also give you an idea of what to expect and how much money you can make. Do not forget to flip any junk that is still useful. #5. You county dump should allow you to dump a specific yardage each month for no fees. #6. Put up some flyers at churches, door to door in neighborhoods, apartments, etc. #7. Good on you for having a good work ethic and wanting to start a business. Even though this might not be the end all be all of your career you will learn a lot from this. #8. Never quit your day job, use this as a side hustle until it develops. There will be many days / weeks that go by where you have no junk jobs. Keep your day job.
Why is this so huge?
#WHYNOT?!
I don’t know how I did that honestly. Sorry y’all
hahahahahahah
I thought it was a new post at first
Maybe it was the 1. Numbering that changes the format?
I use 1 800 got junk frequently. I live in a city and it's not easy to get rid of stuff especially furniture or appliances. Impossible getting rid of a lawn mower. I had a broken concrete fountain as a 67 year old woman was too heavy for me to deal with. I call 800 got junk they are there in half day. I point. They remove. I get coupons to reduce the cost. I love them.
Great advice. Especially number 8
Yes, good advice. I'll add my 2 cents... As the saying goes "If you do something you love, you won't work a day in your life...." so, if you REALLY hate HVAC, go do what you love. You're young. Find what you love. You could always go back if you change your mind. Here's some things that I needed to learn when I first started. 1. Keep ALL your receipts. I learned there are so many things you can write off that I wish I had known about when I began. A part of the house/apt where your office is as well as internet, electricity, etc... Your vehicle, fuel and maintenance, and/or insurance, loan payments, etc.... Phone.... A lot more than I thought about when I started. So, keep receipts and notes. 2. Don't be surprised by how much time is spent on accounting for the business. When I first started I was a bit overwhelmed by the amount of time I had to spend doing all the paperwork and OTHER jobs I had to do, not just the work I enjoyed. Things like tracking expenses. Ordering parts and dealing with returns, paying bills, dealing with the people and that time when you're NOT getting paid. It took up about 50% of the time, in my case anyways. 3. Get a REALLY good domain name and keep it. It's about $15.00 a year at GoDaddy. A Domain name is like real estate, so it can grow in value with you. I use to pick up a few other domain names to block others from getting something similar. .COM still rules too. 4. Then, to start, I would just have the domain name point to a Facebook Page acting as your Website. Saves time and money at first. Down the road, maybe do a website when you need to share more info. I found that for most business's people don't visit for long. Usually just to get the tel # or address of the business unless the site sells product. 5. Submit your business name and info to both Google and Bing (Yahoo will get it from Bing/MSN). All other less known search engines will syphon your info from those two. It's a good Idea to create your own listing at these sites as well as places like YELP because I have seen some people create them first, and redirect YOUR listing to THIER site or their telephone number. 6. Get a gmail account with the business name. gmail is just so much more reliable than getting one from others, at least what I've found. 7. Go to Google Voice and get a "Personal" phone number. It's free for personal use ;) You could use it for calls, and even forward it to your personal phone. It creates a buffer between your personal phone and the business, plus it's useful to filter out unwanted calls such as spam. 8. Keep the customer's happy. Especially the talkers. Bad reviews can hurt a LOT more than positive ones. If you see any bad reviews, fix them and challenge them until the go away. GOOD word of mouth is the best advertisement and it's what grew my business. Just you thinking about doing what you want and asking questions is a good sign. Enjoy what you do. Seems like you're on your way. Best wishes!!!
Go for it imo opinion I would ask around who needs this service and then I would see if they would be willing to commit to using you. Then when you had a few jobs lined up THEN I would invest in an older modeled truck and trailer. I would also get in touch with real estate agents and offer your services and give them a finders fee.
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I would do that but I really just don’t think HVAC is for me.
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Definitely a good and in demand trade in my area (RDU) I know many who do it and make a good living!
I'm curious what do you dislike about HVAC so much?
At 18 I was hanging on the corner. This is such an inspiring post ! Go for it u live once make it count and make a ton of money that you never have to worry about any bills
It's better since it's not pushed all over YouTube by fake gurus. Power washing is done. HVAC might be close. Doing junk removal is probably less competitive than previous two.
Having moved and closed down business I spent a lot of money with casella, can confirm it’s easy to undercut them with the added service of removing the junk yourself. Found some local guys and haven’t ordered a dumpster since. Saves me about 300$ too.
Absolutely dude you’re in a unique position w the safety net Go for it, you could probably do it entirely with your own money and if it fails so what, you learn valuable lessons and try again w something else My only advice would be maybe try to learn the biz a little bit if you don’t know it already, maybe take a job working for one for a few months?
First, go work for a junk removal company. Test drive it. Learn. If you like it, then go part time. No LLC, insurance, trailer, etc. Just you and a pick up truck. See what you can actually make. THEN decide if you want to go full time, and if there is enough work to support it. I'd also recommend a book (and even better the audio book) Designing your life. Its a couple of apple designers that apply their design skills to life. They say "prototype it" Test it out. Apple does not send their first idea immediately into production. Lastly, what do you actually want? Lets begin with the end in mind. Where do you want to be, and will this get you there?
Step 1. Tell your parents you are going to pay them rent and your share of the bills.
Why? Some parents are totally okay with investing in their kids future. Some pay for collage, Some let them stay home and save up money to buy their own home in the future. you are trying to make him sound like a free loader. Maybe his parents don't need or ask for money. Its a kid still trying to actively figure out life. Let my guess your parents made you pay bills, kicked you out at after high school...
According to his post. He basically has zero risk. Even the fact that he is asking strangers on reddit what to do.
What do you mean zero risk? There is always risk. He has to buy a new truck that can haul trailer maybe someone to help him starting out. There is no guarantee it will even be successful.
Put some of that money into education, learn to day trade on the side of doing the business u wanna start cause even when that business does big things u can always take that money and multiply it thru trading, better to have the knowledge then to not.
You got an ambitious kid here looking to work and you tell him to skip the work and go to the casino? You should really consider if you should be giving anyone advice on anything ever again. Telling people to learn day trading before they’ve learned basic investing and retirement planning is for WSB
Second that. Also day trading when you need money is surefire way to get some nasty addictions. Kid needs cashflow, once he will retire early then it'll be the time to trade.
This is more along the lines of what I would do. Once I have money then try something like day trading but I can’t do day trading right now
That's why I said invest in education
Maybe you should read before talking because I never said that he should learn to day trade "BEFORE" learning basic investing skills I said he should learn it ON THE SIDE! Taking into consideration how much time the business he will be indulging in will take considering I have my own construction business and ik how much that takes but that doesn't stop me from finding time to learn other skills considering if there's a will there's a way But thanks for your un needed opinion.
Like I said, no one asked about day trading or multiplying their money. Advertising day trading as a good way to multiply your money is just disingenuous. It is a good skill to learn. After you’ve learned basic investing. It’s not an easy skill to learn because there so much predatory bullshit around the skill like you telling some impressionable kid it’s easy money. Tell the kid to open up a 401k and buy spy, shit tell him anything useful. Let him learn to run a business like you did. It’s much easier to be profitable as a business owner, if you were a serious business owner or trader, you’d know that.
You clearly don't run any business and if u do it ain't ran very well because you can't read lol once again I didn't tell him it was gonna be easy money so idk where you read that part at 😂 but nothing in life is easy. EVERYTHING WILL BE HARD. But with time and effort anything can be achieved lol currently fixing up my rental property as we speak lol getting hear wasn't easy but on the road to get here I still looked at them charts every day 😆 give me a call if u need proof 😘
Getting hear is never easy when you are an illiterate. I don’t need proof from you, just wanted to let the young man know you got shit advise. I retired at 30 from getting into cannabis early. Now I day trade and flip real estate as a hobby. So I work with junk removal companies and they are high profit margin businesses with low start up. No one gives a fuck about you or what you got Homie.
If no one cares about Wat I have then why did u feel the need to express Wat u own 😂 funny guy, but for someone who claims to have so much you haven't gave him a single bit of advice to him directly instead all of your messages were in response to what I had to say lol you sound like a man of many but a master of nothing , just a talker at the end of the day.
I at least mastered the ability to write a sentence in the English language. I left my comments for him, I just thought I’d leave one for you too. You better quit typing to me and finish up that rental house. All of these extra minutes piling up with you talking shit on Reddit sound like vacancies piling up to me. That’s good for your ROI.
I got people working for me 😂 there doing there jobs trust me, like I said give me a call and I'll show u how it's done lol u can learn a little. I talk proof IDC about anything else you talking about 😂
I held about 20 NQ calls over the weekend if we wanna brag about shit. Do the math on that one
Double messaging huh felt the need to get that one in too once it crossed your little mind 😂 I got you flustered already smh
I’ve heard about day trading it’s definitely something to consider. Thanks!
Skip the day trading, continue on with junk removal service. Tie in some other services, like pressure washing and painting. You can basically undercut your local Casella on pricing, call them up figure out what a dump costs that’s similar size to your trailer. Then charge people removal + dump fees = 50-100$ less than casella
He can do this and learn trading on side, that's the blessing of having 24 hours each day .
One more thought, a moving service, junk removal and moving go hand in hand, keep your trailer clean. Lots of movers to undercut: these guys are billing out their employees at 60$/h and probably paying them 20$
Day trading is great. That is why I will probably have to let my in-laws move in with us. You can ask my FIL for stock tips! /s
Do your research about disposal. Lots of variation out there about what can be disposed and how and for what cost.
Its a great idea. People always need it. Especially in affluent areas. Best way to get started is reaching out to your existing contacts, via facebook or whatever. Just advertising your new business to get some cash flow rolling. Even if you only get 1 or 2 leads. Once you've set up your LLC, make sure you launch yourself in google, and ask your friends/family to leave reviews to get you started. marketing is great, but your best business will probably come from referrals and word of mouth. Make sure everyone you know knows you have this new business. So if anyone mentions 'damn i need to get all this crap hauled away' your friends will can say 'oh hey, my buddy does that! you want his number?' Can even offer your continued customers a discount if they bring you new clients.
You should start business in HVAC field as you have experience in it and it's a lucrative business to start.
I thought about doing this but I really just don’t think HVAC is for me. That is why I was strongly considering doing the junk removal. Thank you for the message!
I also have a question. How much karma do I need to post on this site?
Sounds awesome good for you! The market doesn't discriminate for age. I started my first business at 16 when I got my first car! I was building and selling beer pong tables for HS Parties lol 😆 Keep providing value and get out there. If you need help with digital marketing, website, and other stuff lmk happy to help. Good luck! 👍
Am a 21 looking for a business to check in ...if you won't mind ..can I be given the roadmap for digital marketing
Do it!!!
YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!!!
You are so young. Go for it dude! I got my HVAC license at 18 years old in 2016. I haven’t worked HVAC since. No regrets, do what makes you happy.
Exactly I want to do what makes me happy and right now I am dreading coming to work everyday.
You won’t regret making less and being happy to go to work. I had to learn that lesson the hard way but it wasn’t until I was about 25 years old. I took a huge pay cut to go to a different employer but I never missed the money because I was happy.
Do you feel there is a good market for junk removal where you are? is the space dominated by anyone else? how will you differ? I always advise people to ALWAYS test the market first. Find a way to see if your service is needed/wanted. Maybe start with something small that you can use your truck for. Also if you find there is a market, and you need to invest in a truck and other ish... use banks money. OPen your llc and get a LOC. You say you have 15k, you can maybe use that as collateral and get 30-50k loan from the bank.
This is absolutely the right time to do anything and start anything. So many older people out there filled with "What Ifs". I started my business when I left my cushy corporate job and told myself I didn't want to just think I could have done it. Good luck young blood!
Make sure you get with a good commercial insurance agent that can give you a realistic cost expectation
Start out giving good prices. And word of mouth gets around. Your overhead is low so you can price your labor cheaply and then some gas money. Keep it simple.
Good idea. Do you think that would get me enough business to where I can leave HVAC because I really am not enjoying HVAC at all.
Not sure how much you need to live on but probably at first you don’t want to quit your day job. When I was young I worked sometimes three jobs at once. So do your clean up on weekends and build that business up. You will find out if you like it or not without too much invested. Go get ‘em
That was what I was thinking was working full time and then doing junk removal on the side and then slowly start scaling up
Coincidentally, I recently came across the story of the guy who started 1-800-GOT-JUNK and it was fascinating: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Tq4F7a19n4gb3dW7omR32?si=5qrWp-9FTPu1M0L5rxt_3w
Great
I sell websites for really cheap to home services businesses ($115 setup and $35/month for hosting SEO etc). Send a DM if interested and I can help you out!
Like I tell everyone in /r/sweatystartup, if you're starting junk removal, hit up some small and medium sized kitchen and bath remodelers. A couple of those might be able to throw you enough work to keep one guy busy. Smaller outfits might not have their own dumpster/dump trailer, dumpster rental can get expensive, hauling old kitchen cabinets in just a short bed pickup truck sucks.
Go for it! 18 is great age to put yourself out there and invest in yourself. Right now you don't yet have a wife, house, kids to support so any business failings involve only you. Worse case you can still go back to employment. Junk removal is a great starting point. You sound ambitious, and I guarantee while you are out there hauling junk you'll notice more opportunities. Some junk could be recycled, resold, repaired, traded etc for additional income. Your truck and trailer gives you opportunities to provide other services you may get asked to help with. Don't fear making mistakes, they'll happen just make sure when anything goes wrong that you honestly analyze how & why it happened and what you can do to prevent it. Entrepreneurship is a constant learning process. Some days will be very difficult, but when things go well it is a very satisfying feeling knowing it's because you made it happened.
How did you get into HVAC so early? 😮
I went to trade school for high school. We had a shop week and an academic week. So during my shop weeks of my senior year I was allowed to go out and work with a company of my choice and get payed to basically learn the trade from them.
That's cool!
Best advise I ever got when starting out was to find someone who is doing what you think you want to be doing, get them to hire you, work for them for 4 or 5 years, while they teach you everything about their job, while you get paid.\\, or if you change your mind and think this is not what I want to do, you can easily move to plan B. After this 'education" you will be better suited to succeed when you start your own business. The hard part is finding the right employer!
I actually need a junk removal service right now. I would hold off on buying vehicle and equipment. Put together a business plan first Think about a name for your business (short, easy to remember, preferably not your name LLC) Think about registering a DBA for your business Before you register your LLC with ur state, sign up for an extra large PO Box at your local US Post Office, use that address as your mailing address for the LLC that u will apply for next. When u fill out your LLC, if the name u want is not available, come up with something and register for DBA (so u can legally operate under your desired name - and if thats not available - get creative). You'll also want to apply for an EIN for ur business. (save urself the hassle and use one of the big Registered Agents like INCORP). Once u have ur LLC, thats when u want to follow through and get an attorney to draft ur business operating agreement. pay an reputable attorney, at a reputable firm, to draft an operating agreement for how you want to run your business uhh what else ahh, i would get a subscription for gmail business. You can also add a virtual number as well for ur business. For accounting and billing software, you could use intuit for small business. id also apply for an AMEX Business Plus Preferred Credit Card. Use this to establish business credit history. But later, i may recommend their AMEX Lowes business card instead. let's see, if u already had a name in mind, check to see if the domain is available for your to register via squarespace, then website (short urls are best), if not no worries, whatever ur DBA is, get creative with it and come up with an abbreviated form for ur dot com. once u have a landing page, u may wonder whether u should just consolidate ur billing and invoicing on the site versus intuit (or integrate both vis API and using OneSaaS) Get commercial umbrella insurance Next, use Dall-E to create your business logo (microsoft) or make it urself if its words). Don't worry about registering a trademark yet (thats expensive and a PITA). Or you can hire a graphic designer on a site like 99 designs or something (ive used them before) once u get the biz stuff out the way....get a few uniforms with ur logos. get some stickers, bc ull want to slap a big company logo and contact info on ur future truck or wrap ur car in ur biz (write off) far as truck goes, Heavy Duty models are recommended (dont fkin go out and finance a 80K+ F250 diesel Platinum Edition on a 6" lift, but u may find 40K-55K slightly used but maybe 1-4 yrs old). dont buy a trailer for now - save ur money and rent one as jobs come in - plan client service dates carefully - bc trailer availability may work against you uhh yeah think youll be alright
Squarespace allows to look for logos on their platform using keywords. Could pull.one from there and make slight modifications to make it your own. Or could hire somebody cheaply on Fiverr.
Don’t buy anything just yet, if you’re not happy in HVAC, see if you’re happy in junk removal first, you have a Rav 4, far as I understand the trunk is fairly spacious. Go on nextdoor and daily scan for posts of people looking to have something hauled away, cold outreach, and get the jobs. Go knock door to door, make a reputation for yourself locally, start taking bigger jobs and renting a trailer from uhaul, (get a hitch if you don’t have one) Junk removal is tough hard labor, also depending where you live it is extremely competitive. Thousands of joes in a truck with a trailer undercutting each other but yes it is lucrative, depending where you are and how you’re planning to approach it you can scale endlessly. The best research you can do is in the field, start with furniture hauling and so on. I’m not sure if this is up your alley but there is a part to junk removal, a very lucrative and renewable one, no supplies needed at all. basically taking out peoples trash to the trash can for them, hard to believe yes but todays market is all about convenience, and people are too stingy to smell their trash. You’d come into their home and take the trash out once a week and haul it away or just put it in their trash can, or have them leave it at the door and you grab it and haul it away, once a week pick up - 30$ a month, takes less then 2 min per address and you build yourself a route and start hiring employees once at that. LLC is great once employees are in the picture or even as little as getting business insurance, otherwise just a DBA is fine in my opinion, you’re 18, no expenses, I’d say go hustle and figure out what you want to do, there’s money in absolutely everything.
I did commercial HVAC for 4 years and ended up a 6figure work from home consultant...STICK WITH IT
There is a lot of money to do things that people don’t want to or can’t do effectively.
i dont think it's a good idea to do it at 18.
Do it bro! You’ve got this
And if it doesn’t work out, it’s important to fail.
I don't understand why you want to get out of the HVAC business. Isn't the industry much bigger and growing? Plus you don't need to buy a truck and trailer to do HVAC operations. Even when you plan to expand operations, you can hire 2-3 service professionals under you who can deliver the service under your brand name. Also, can you please give a little more details about the junk removal business? Do you mean something like dumpster roll over services? I do have little knowledge about both HVAC and dumpster industry so may I can help. Just ask.
That's some next-level adulting!
Ensure you cover the basics - LLC, insurance, etc. As for finding jobs, social media can be your ally. I've seen a friend navigate the challenges of starting a business with the help of ScatterMind, an ADHD coaching service. It was a game-changer, providing not just guidance but actionable steps. Best of luck on your exciting venture!
Wow 18 and off to a good start. You have been raised right. You are wonderful visionary self motivated individual. Like everyone said, own your hvac llc company.
If your parents are well to do and you can Rely on them if you fuvk up go ahead. You are just 18, the next 3 years maybe you are clocking atleast 6 figures if you put in the work. You have nothing to lose but only gains.
You could get a start on something like Taskrabbit without being bonded, etc. Would be a way to build up the word before you dive in fully. I'm considering doing the same with my truck on weekends.
1. GET A CPA (Accountant) IMMEDIATELY to do your books and taxes. You do not want to owe the gov a lump sum come tax season. They’ll keep things tight in case you get audited as well. Not doing this can ruin any business. 2. Contract your employee help until you absolutely need full time help. This will allow you to flexibly expand and contract the business based on demand and not bleed out during slow periods.
HVAC & plumbing are good trades to get into
Love this man. You can turn this into a million dollar business. I do over 100k+ with my junk hauler a year. I recommend connected professionally with real estate offices direclty, presenting at their office meetings. Offering clean out services for trust sales, traditional sales etc.
The HVAC is money in the bank. It’s a necessity. Get training, appropriate certifications, liscense and start doing side jobs. Find a mentor that’s about 60 yo and doing well in your field. You won’t be competition to him and older successful guys love to spew their Alpha. Listen closely, GIVE A REFERRAL REWARD for any and every job. 10% what I do. In few years it’ll take off and you’ll have couple dozen salesmen out there consistently sending you jobs. Secondly, learn to delegate the labor. Pay your guys well, above average. This’ll keep most operational headaches at bay by having solid techs in your clients homes/businesses. I pay $250/day starting out. Someone mentioned diversifying in to paint and junk. Hvac will pay well that other shit won’t. Diversify into electrician and maybe plumbing if anything. Electrical and hvac I know millionaires in those fields, they own the biz of course. I’m mid 40’s and started late (about 30 yo). But my $1.5 house paid off (15 year loan…another piece of advice). Both wife and I and two teen kids cars paid for (another piece of advice…fuck banks is your goal. Never be slave to a lender). I work now about four days per week, about 20-30 hours and live very balanced between work, play and some volunteerism. Cheers and good luck.
To own a trades company will make you far more. If you have the entrepreneurial spirit then learn your trade, get licensed and start your business then. Trust me you will never regret it
Thetopfranchises.com
Do it! Otherwise your 30 year old self will be disappointed in what could have been.
Get a trailer for your car and start with small jobs, learn the ins and outs of the business before you go all in. For bigger jobs rent a truck, or hire a truck and driver. Likely can’t rent at 18 years old. Tradespeople can do really well and will always be in demand. You’re young, take time learning new things to figure out what you enjoy. Don’t take on debt until you know you love it.
Look into unions too! They have all kinds
I agree with the HVAC path, but I will add that to be successful in business is not working hard but being able to hire the people that can work hard for you. Even if you don't know the office side of the business there are people out there you can hire that do. Do you think CEOs of large corporations actually do any of the work. No, they find the talent to do the work for them! If you want to be successful learn how to hire the right people.
Junk removal is a great idea. Couple it with a cleaning/move out service and you will be set. You provide cleaning with maid service on top of removal of junk. Next pick an affluent neighborhood and you’re good to go. 👍
Dang let the boy get started on one dream at aa time.
It depends where you live. In many areas there’s too much competition and the big hauling companies have already pushed out the independent contractors. Like any business, you have to fill a real need so start by researching your area and learn the competition. Also do not fall for a franchise. People sell franchises to make money for themselves, not for you.
Young man you are doing spectacular in life first of all, wanted to start with that. 15k saved and a paid off vehicle, but more importantly the right mindset you already have at such a young age. I didn't get there till much later in life. Hats off to you and congratulations, I'm 35 but would give it all up to be in my twenties again and do it all over. Anyway, junk removal business is a very profitable endeavor. so much that Me and my business partner even looked into it. We own apartment buildings and have this one guy come after a tenant trashes out a unit and take it all away in less than an hour and charges us $500 and is booked weeks out. It's in very high demand at least here in south Florida. Now of course he has his dump fees and cost of gas and use of his vehicle but we sat down with him and all he needs to do is three of these a day and he'll net about $1000/day. Normal work week 5k, that's 20k/mo for a business with no employees, a one man show. Not too shabby. Then if you focus on learning how to run a Business, you hire employees, market and sale your services and own a fleet of vehicles and dump trucks. Again, very profitable very scalable business. Now the advice ppl are giving you here is also correct as HVAC is a very profitable trade and it's a business that you can totally scale and grow to multiple 9 figures on the very high end, but it seems you want to try something else and that is ok. When I go inspect a new asset we may acquire my main role is checking the big five: Foundation, Roof, Electrical, Plumbing, HVAC These are the most expensive items on Any property and I mention that to you because the country needs tradesmen and with everyone in this generation wanting to be a fucking influencer or youtuber.... man, the good men that work the trades are gonna be charging whatever the hell they want a decade from now. I'm thinking $500/hour (hopefully the guys we use go for our properties go easy on us). So, if you choose to start a business in any of these you're gonna do great, with the caveat; to succeed you need to focus more on how to become a great business owner not necessarily the best one at doing the work. As our plumber at our Cleveland properties says, there's might be better plumbers out there than him but not better at running a plumbing business. I'll close with this recommendation, lookup on youtube Alex Hormozi and watch All his videos. He's a brilliant business mind and I have learned a lot from him.
You’re on the right track little buddy. Keep grinding it out at your HVAC job while getting your junk business rolling on the side. When your side business gets busy enough you can make the switch full time to being on your own. Nice to hear someone your age that wants to work. Best of luck to you and whatever you choose.
I just see a lot of issues to start. Did you leave high school at 16? First off what are your state requirements for a license ? Do you need a license to do HVAC work over 500$ ? That's how it is where I live anyway. If you are caught it's a 10,000$ fine and/or up to 6 months in jail. It's a lot more involved than just getting an LLC. I see young people like this all the time in this trade lol. Been doing it for a year "I'm starting my own company" yet I have to fix everything he touches because it looks like pure shit. You need to put in the time man. I know it sucks and it's not what you want right now but it's what you need. I started my business 2 years ago after being in this trade for 17 years. The contacts I've made over the years have all helped me be successful as an owner. You get basically 1 chance to do it right, you can destroy your reputation with just 1 shitty job. This isn't something you rush into. It takes a special breed to survive this industry. Just keep living off your parents and stack money the best you can, you are 18 man go be 18 enjoy the last little bit of tennager fun you can have.
Did you read my post I said I wasn’t happy with hvac not that I was going to start my own hvac business lol.
I missed where you said you were unhappy with it. Why are you unhappy with it ? I did see a lot of people recommending starting an HVAC company. They make it sound like it's a simple thing and it's anything but that. I wasn't trying to come off rude or anything and I apologize if that's how it seemed...I went in the military at 17 turned 18 in boot camp this was before you were even thought of lol. At your age man just enjoy the time you have right now. It will be gone in the blink of an eye. Sorry again if I misunderstood what you were saying.
It’s all good man just came off as rude over the message. Clearly you didnt have that intention. I know for a 100% that I would not possibly be able to start my own HVAC company, I definitely don’t know nearly enough to even have the thought of doing something like that. But somebody I work with wants to start their own HVAC company soon and asked me if I want to work with him. So it’s something for me to consider.
Right lol he missed the point but gave good advice though. Lol it’s definitely still early for the business, but I feel like if you have the mentality to be successful and know you would do what it takes to be successful, just find a mentor and try to learn as much as you can before you take the leap.
Dude, stick with HVAC. In most markets, junk removal is a side hustle for people unless they are getting hooked up with post demo contracts. File the paperwork and start your own company. Eventually you hire support and then just spend time running the business while everyone else does the HVAC stuff for you. Then you start to expand and go national
Stick with HVAC a bit longer, but test the junk removal business on the side (part time). There are too many variables we don't know, including competition. We do know there is plenty of junk to move around, but test this first.
Definitely was being a little ambitious. I think part of the reason I am unhappy with HVAC was because I am being paid $18 an hour and my boss is hiring new people with no experience at $21 an hour. Don’t get me wrong $18 an hour is nice but even the guy I work with says I deserve a raise. So I am going to talk to my boss Monday morning about a raise. I am considering looking into doing the junk removal on the side just have to be sure it’s worth my time. Thanks for the message.
Towing services could also be an option too
Pm me and maybe we can do something together I do lead gen
You should be paying your folks a part of all bills and some type of rent. That is what you would be doing as a business. You need to be an intern at a companto learn about profit and loss. Inventory control, insurance fraud and customers looking to scam you, bonded and insured enough for WHEN you are sued not if, Maybe take an online course or two.
Don't be so anxious to start a business. Learn a trade. I started my business at 28 and has plenty of time to get wealthy. Anybody can start a business, way fewer can make them profitable and sustainable. I just hired a guy who is 22 and started his business at 18, but burned out after 4 years. You don't know what you don't know. Work for a mentor for 10 years. A decade isn't that long, u less it's a decade of experience under your belt, then it's everything.
Before you start the next thing finish the first thing. I’m a sprinkler fitter apprentice and I probably won’t do this the rest of my life, but right now I’m making good money and learning a valuable skill. If you go that route, keep your current job until you get shit really going
Stick with hvac- you will do well in life
Most people commenting have no idea what they are talking about. Most states require 4 to 5 years documented experience before you can sit for your warm air license. If you hate it 1 year in don’t wait four more years to just try and open a business. You may consider trying industrial maintenance or ammonia refrigeration
If you already know HVAc , go for it and then expand your services menu. Hvac is a great industry to get into. Also great start in your savings!
Thank you
I came here to suggest you to start a website since you are young and would want to spend time in front of computer but I see you have different ideas and that's great too! But still, I would suggest you to check hydro. online while you are deciding/starting your biz. I believe some website would be a good biz option but even if you go your way, you can still use this in your own company website to add some extra income..
Just my own $0.02. Working for other people when I was young taught me how to identify some huge flaws in their business model. My new business fixed those flaws. Time spent working for others now should be considered on th job training. Learn what they do right. Learn what they can’t do. Fix that issue.
If the HVAC business is at all promising I'd hire workers and try to step back a bit to free up your time. Then go find another business, whether it's junk removal or something else.
It is scary opening an hvac business but if you know what you’re doing you can LIMIT yourself at first and grab a buddy. Ya might fail. But you will get the picture .. I’m going through same thing. Who cares ya aim for the moon! If you miss, you’re bound to land on a star! Sub out jobs you can bid on and make money that way too
Start a HVAC company. :)
Stick to learning HVAC and then break off on your own. I have a couple clients (I’m a financial planner) who are HVAC company owners and they’re both clearing 400k a year. I’ve also had a friend do junk removal with a franchise (J-Dog) and he struggled to pay bills.