Starting your own business can be a fantastic way to create financial independence and establish a career that you enjoy. By establishing a home services business, you’ll be providing homeowners with skills and services they need. You’ll also naturally create repeat customers, since homeowners often need these types of services on a regular schedule. As a result, you can fill your schedule and establish a steady income.
While there are many potential home services fields to explore, these 20 are some of the most popular and in-demand. Any of these ideas could turn into a profitable home service business.
1. Landscaping and lawn care
A landscaping and lawn care business is responsible for everything from mowing and garden design to tree and shrub care and more. This type of business can market to a wide audience of homeowners, including those with smaller yards who just don’t have time to mow regularly and those with large, sprawling properties who need help keeping their landscaping looking its best.
It’s possible to get started with minimal equipment, but you’ll need a trailer, a large mower, and other basics like weed whackers and garden tools. There’s no special training required, though you may want to get trained and certified to handle and apply chemicals like pesticides, which could give you an advantage over other landscaping businesses.
If you live in a location with a cold climate, keep in mind that landscaping work is seasonal. Consider offering snow plowing and snow removal services to keep your schedule full throughout the year.
2. Interior and exterior painting
House painting businesses typically offer both exterior and interior painting services. These businesses may offer extra services like wallpaper removal, pressure washing, popcorn ceiling removal, and more. There’s almost always a demand for house painting, though that demand is highest when home sales and new construction are on the rise.
There isn’t any special certification or training needed for painting, and one of the best ways to get started is to work as a painter for another company. This will give you the experience and skills necessary to start your own business.
3. Housekeeping
Housekeeping businesses offer many different types of cleaning services. Some housekeepers focus on basic cleaning, like vacuuming, laundry, and mopping, while others offer deep cleaning services that are particularly useful after a tenant has moved out of an apartment. Homeowners may request cleaning services every few days or once a week, making it fairly easy to build out a full schedule of cleaning appointments.
4. Carpet cleaning
Homeowners often need professional carpet cleaning services. You’ll need training on the specialized equipment for this service, as well as a certification to handle some of the chemicals that are standard in the industry. Consider offering eco-friendly products for a more specialized, niche business that could help you attract new clients.
5. Moving
When homeowners move, they often need help with the process. If you’re strong and enjoy physical work, you could start a small moving company. You might offer services like packing, organizing, and loading items onto a truck.
6. Plumbing
Plumbing is a home service that’s in high demand, and plumbers are called on to do everything from unclogging drains to installing hot water heaters. If you want to be a plumber, you’ll usually need to have a plumber’s license, depending on your state. To get that license, you’ll need to go through vocational training, apprentice under a professional plumber, and pass an exam. While the process to become a plumber takes years, plumbing can be a financially rewarding career, and the demand for these services is consistent.
7. Pool maintenance
If you live in an area where there are plenty of in-ground pools, then chances are there’s also a need for pool maintenance. The same is true of hot tubs. You can become a service and maintenance technician by taking courses, and you can then use that specialized knowledge to start your own business. You might get calls to fix broken heaters, clean and service filtration systems, and maintain chemical balances.
8. Home maintenance
If you have a background in carpentry and home maintenance, you could start a business offering maintenance services to homeowners. You’ll need a versatile skill set, and you might help with everything from replacing old windows to repairing floorboards and installing new tile. This can be an exciting type of career where no two days are the same.
9. Residential HVAC
HVAC technicians are in demand year round, since they work on both heating and cooling systems. You’ll need plenty of training to start this type of business, but it can produce steady income, especially if you build up a large customer base. You could potentially expand your business into hiring employees and adding a fleet of repair vehicles, too, if you have plans of going big.
10. Organizing
If you love organizing — and are skilled at it — you could help homeowners get their homes tidy and organized. It will be helpful to have some before-and-after photos of a few homes that you’ve worked on, and be sure to get testimonials from people you’ve helped.
11. Interior decorating
Put your decorating skills and excellent taste to work by starting your own interior decorating business. Homeowners might hire interior decorators to help with a single room or a whole house. You’ll need to be aware of trends, be able to connect with people and identify the details of their personal style, and be creative — while also being aware of budgets.
12. Home staging
If you have an eye for design and a knowledge of home-selling best practices, you can offer your services to people looking to sell their homes. You’ll use your expertise to stage a home and make it most appealing to potential buyers, hopefully helping the sellers bring in a higher price and sell their home faster.
While there isn’t a specific education or training required for this career, it’s helpful to stage several homes and have before-and-after photos of your work to help you gain those first few customers.
13. Pest control
There’s always a need for home pest control, whether that’s removing raccoons or killing mice, rats, and insects. Training and certification are required for this career, particularly when it comes to baits and chemicals, so if this is a business you want to start, you’ll need to plan ahead and invest in that training.
14. Home IT support
With so many more people working from home or even starting their own home-based businesses, there’s an increased need for home IT support. IT consultants can help establish IT networks, maintain those networks, and troubleshoot technology and network issues. They also can answer IT questions and may make recommendations about equipment purchases and upgrades.
With an IT support business, you might specialize in one type or size of network or offer a wide variety of services. You can even perform some of this work remotely, saving you travel time.
15. Apartment preparation
When landlords or homeowners are renting out an apartment, they sometimes hire apartment preparation services to take care of getting the space ready for new tenants. If you start this type of business, you might refresh an apartment with a new coat of paint, do a deep cleaning after a previous tenant moves out, and other tasks. You can offer similar services for Airbnb rentals, which might get you steadier scheduling.
16. House sitting
Consider starting a house sitting business to help homeowners when they go on vacation. Typical responsibilities include watering plants, bringing in the mail, and sometimes spending the night in a house. You’ll need to be trustworthy and responsible and have reliable transportation for this type of business.
17. Pet sitting and dog walking
If you have experience with different types of pets, a pet sitting and dog walking business can let you pair your love of animals with a career. For this type of business, it’s helpful to know about different types of animal care and first aid; certification in pet CPR is also a bonus. Dog walking tends to be a pretty regular gig, but pet sitting can be more sporadic, so you may need to look for plenty of clients to fill up your schedule.
18. Babysitting and nanny services
If you love kids, consider offering babysitting and nanny services. While there’s no certification or training required, it’s a good idea to become certified in CPR. You may find that parents need only specific hours, so you might be able to start this business as a part-time operation in addition to a part-time job.
19. Elder care
In-home elder care is in high demand, especially as the large population of baby boomers age. Elder care can involve everything from light house cleaning and meal prep to more intensive care like bathing assistance and medication management. Training is generally beneficial, and you’ll also need plenty of physical strength for some caregiving responsibilities.
20. Grocery shopping and delivery
You can easily offer a grocery shopping and delivery business using your own vehicle. This can be a great business option if you want to do some part-time work. You’ll need good attention to detail and communication skills for this type of business.
The smart way to get your home service business started
As you start up your home services business, it’s important to make it as easy as possible for customers to connect with you and schedule services. Jotform’s home services app template is a convenient solution. You can customize the app with your logo, different background colors, the services you offer, and more, and there’s no coding knowledge required.
Once you’ve customized the app, you can add it to your social media profiles or share a link so customers can use it and easily request your services. An app is an excellent investment in your business, and it helps position you as a professional who customers can trust — and reach easily.
Photo by George Milton
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