Good times or bad, HVAC services are essential for homes and businesses throughout the year. From a business perspective, an HVAC business is one of the most encouraging prospects, guaranteeing success if you take the right approach. Market wise, HVAC businesses will continue to see growth in the future. As per a report, it is expected to reach about 367.5 billion US dollars globally by 2030.
If all of these figures, statistics, and outlook towards the HVAC sector sound interesting, and you’re looking to start an HVAC venture of your own, we have curated this guide to help you start your journey and establish your HVAC business.
Create a Business Plan
This is the essential step before you proceed any further with your business setup. Your business plan should be highly detailed. The business plan document should have details regarding your competitors, your target customers, the marketing plan for various products, finances, expected yearly income, among others.
For example, to begin with, you can check your possible competitors on sites like city-data.com and the US Chamber Of Commerce. These websites will help you easily get information like the HVAC companies in your service area, the target audience demographics, their monthly income, and other related data. Once you have a business plan, it’s time to focus your attention on finances.
Calculate the Startup Costs
Starting an HVAC business is costly. The initial costs can run up to 100,000 US dollars, assuming that all the business assets are purchased upfront, like trucks, safety equipment, marketing materials, and equipment like an oil-less air compressor, to name a few. However, to reduce the startup costs, you can consider leasing as many tools as possible. This will help minimize the entry barrier and reduce the dependency on external financing like investors and bank loans.
Some essential things for which you will need to calculate the costs include:
- Vehicles, preferably trucks, to carry the tools and equipment
- Workers compensation and insurance
- Supplies
- Safety equipment
- Marketing costs
- Overhead costs
If you don’t have the finances, you will need to look for investors or apply for a bank loan. Depending upon your requirement and the source, you will need to produce various documents related to the business. Similarly, the amount you repay and how do you plan on repaying will vary.
Ensure Certification
If you are starting the business single-handedly without any employees, in the beginning, you will need to have the necessary HVAC certification. Depending on where you want to operate, you will require an HVAC certification from an accredited program. You will also need to have the necessary licenses to operate. Similarly, the employees that you hire will need to have experience in HVAC operations.
The different types of certifications that you can consider are:
- EPA Type I, II, and III certification
- Universal EPA certificate
- North American Technician Excellence (NATE) certification
Make It Look Professional
To garner the trust of customers, you must make your business look as professional as possible. Some steps that you can take in this regard are:
Set up a website
Develop a website showcasing the services you offer. Nowadays, people use the internet to search for the services they need. Hence, it would be best if you have a detailed, informative website to attract customers. The website should clearly mention the services you offer, your business timing, and contact information.
Invest in digital marketing
Just having a website is not enough. You need to invest in digital marketing strategies like Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM), and Social Media Marketing (SMM) to increase your awareness, customer base, business operations and stay ahead of your competitors.
Provide after-sales support
Have a dedicated customer support team to address the issues of the customers. Create an email id where customers can drop in their questions and complaints. Answer them as soon as possible. Similarly, provide voice call support for customers wanting to get their queries solved over a phone call. It would be best if you provided 24-hour customer support, including weekends.
Focus on branding
Create a recognizable brand for your business. Get uniforms for your employee with the business name and logo printed on them. Similarly, have business cards printed for your employees stating their job designation. Add signage to your company vehicle and display your business name, services offered, and contact details.
We hope that this blog will help you launch your HVAC business. Start small and get an understanding of various elements involved in running the business. Once you have a strong foothold, expand your business by providing your services to a larger area or increasing the size of your business.
