Which is a better business to start: air duct vent cleaning or sealcoating?
I have the opportunity to start either a sealcoating business or buy a duct cleaning franchise. start up costs are pretty close. Which is the better industry to go into? Which is more profitable?
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awesome14224 said,
March 1, 2010 @ 2:41 am
depends a lot on you. Vent cleaning is more people orientated. you have to go into the house, clean there vents and make sure theres no mess and the people are happy with what you did. some people can be a pain in the , well you know. Sealcoating? like decks? or driveways? sealing driveways is harder work but you can really do a lot of them in a day and it’s instant cash, very messy on your truck and cloths though. Deck sealing is a nice job, same thing a bit labor intensive, powerwasher, chemicals and a good truck. I would thing what ever one you fel more comfortable doing.
curtisports2 said,
March 1, 2010 @ 3:18 am
I would go into sealcoating, and here’s why.
Duct cleaning is still a fairly new business and a much tougher sell. People know very well that if their driveways are not maintained, they will deteriorate and have to be replaced a lot sooner, and that the expenditure of $60 – $75 (the average cost of a residential driveway in my suburban setting), is something not only needed, but quite affordable and a good value compared to the cost of doing it yourself. You, as a bulk buyer of sealcoat, can get if for far less per five gallons (the way it’s sold to retail buyers). It would cost me around $30 to $35 to buy just the sealer (no brush or gloves) to do my small driveway that would cost $45 to pay someone, so to save $10, I’m going to do it myself? Not even in recessionary times when people are looking to cut back will they want to do all that work themselves, but they will still get their driveways done, because it’s a lot more expensive to replace the driveway.
Cleaning out your ducts, while it’s very trendy at the moment – you rarely heard about this 10 years ago, and it was unheard of, residentially speaking, 20 years ago, is many times the cost of sealing a driveway. I’ve never priced it myself, but I believe it costs, for the average home, between $300 – $400. That is a lot of money and a tougher sell. Generations of people never had their ductwork touched their whole lives and suffered no demonstrable ill effects from it. Any studies that say otherwise may be biased to help sell the service. In recessionary times, this is one of the first things people will decide they can put off.
As for how profitable each business is, I have no information. I find it hard to believe that starting up a sealcoating business will vcost more than buying an established franchise, though, and then, you have to pay ongoing royalty and other expenses associated with owning a franchise, expenses you won’t have with sealcoating.