Expert articles, guides, and insights to help you start, grow, and scale your junk removal business.
Start with a reliable truck (pickup or box truck), moving blankets, tie-downs, dollies, and basic tools. Invest in a truck with good payload capacity—most successful operations use trucks that can handle 3,000+ pounds.
Protect your business with proper licensing, insurance, and disposal permits. Most areas require commercial vehicle registration, waste hauler permits, and relationships with disposal facilities.
Establish your business foundation: choose a business structure (LLC recommended), set up business banking, get an EIN, and create professional branding. Build relationships with local disposal facilities early.
Dominate local search results by optimizing your Google Business Profile, collecting reviews, and creating location-specific content. Most customers find junk removal services through "junk removal near me" searches.
Build relationships with real estate agents, property managers, contractors, and estate sale companies. These partnerships provide steady referral business and larger commercial jobs.
Use Facebook and Google Ads to target homeowners, businesses, and property managers in your service area. Focus on keywords like "junk removal," "furniture removal," and "estate cleanout."
Pricing junk removal requires understanding volume, weight, disposal costs, and labor. Learn how to price by truckload, estimate loads accurately, and factor in disposal fees.
Accurately estimate loads before arriving on-site. Use photos, descriptions, and your experience to determine truck capacity needed. Over-estimating leads to lost jobs; under-estimating kills profits.
Factor disposal fees into every quote. Landfill fees vary by location ($30-$100+ per ton). Recycling centers may charge less but require sorting. Build disposal costs into your pricing structure.
Accurately estimate loads before arriving on-site. Use photos, descriptions, and your experience to determine truck capacity needed. Over-estimating leads to lost jobs; under-estimating kills profits.
Maximize profits by sorting items for recycling, donation, and resale. Build relationships with donation centers, recycling facilities, and resale shops to reduce disposal costs.
Understand your truck's true capacity and optimize loading. Efficient loading means fewer trips, lower fuel costs, and higher profit margins per job.
Build recurring revenue with property management companies, construction sites, and businesses. Commercial accounts provide larger, more predictable income.
Expand into demolition, construction debris removal, or hoarding cleanup. These services use similar equipment and can be upsold to existing customers.
Monitor revenue per job, profit margins, disposal costs, customer acquisition cost, and customer lifetime value. Data-driven decisions lead to sustainable growth.
ServiceWizard helps you estimate loads accurately and price jobs competitively. Track truck capacity, disposal costs, and profit margins—all in one place.
ServiceWizard helps you track loads, manage disposal logistics, optimize routes, and handle invoicing—all in one place. Spend less time on admin and more time growing your business.