When to Raise Your Junk Removal Prices
Follow These Tips from Junk Removal Authority
Determining when to raise prices at your junk removal business isn’t always the easiest decision. That’s because pricing is a delicate balance that can determine what sorts of customers you get—and which ones you don’t get, too. Make your prices too low, and you’ll find yourself getting ripped off by every regular Joe who wants a good deal. On the other hand, make your prices too high too fast, and you won’t be seeing many regular Joes at all. (Maybe you’ll get an irregular Joe every now and then, but either way, he won’t pay all your bills!)
It’s crucial to know when to raise your prices. Timing is key, and you want to make money, don’t you? Of course you do—especially if you’re aiming to eventually make up to $100K per year. Some good news for you: Junk Removal Authority specializes in making these sorts of business decisions, and we’re willing to share our knowledge with you.
Learn when to raise your junk removal prices. Read below to find out more.
“Cheapest” Doesn’t Always Equal “Best”
People like cheap, right? It’s why big box supermarkets have been putting mom-and-pop stores out of business for decades now. Back in the day, people would stick around at Kmart to catch the “Blue Light Special”, and once that stopped being the cheapest around, everyone stopped shopping at Kmart. So, where’s Kmart now?
That’s right. Nowhere.
“Then a savvy business needs to adapt,” you might say, “and always have the cheapest prices.”
Our response: not quite. You need to offer something more than being the cheapest because you’re not always going to be the cheapest. You’ve got expenses to pay, and you need to leave room for growth (more on that later). What happens when another business rolls around, and they’re offering services that are even cheaper than yours?
You’re going to wind up like Kmart.
Another angle for you to consider: as a locally owned business, you need to learn to act like the “big guys.” That’s right, you need to learn to act like the franchises. And when was the last time you saw a franchise junk removal business brag about having the cheapest prices? Never. It’s because they’re not interested in building up a customer base that’s only interested in getting stuff for cheap, then losing them the moment something cheaper comes up.
In short, find a good selling point that isn’t being the cheapest. That way, when you need to raise your prices, you won’t lose your entire customer base in one fell swoop!
Raise Prices Regularly to Allow Growth
When you start a junk removal business, chances are, you’re going to be riding that truck everywhere, and you’re going to be hauling a lot of junk. Maybe you like working outdoors. “It’s good exercise,” you might say. That’s totally fine. But do you really want to be doing all the hard work at your business for as long as your business is open? Or do you want to expand it, hire the helping hands you need, and eventually assume a supervisory role?
A highly successful junk removal business owner can work part-time. That part-time work mostly involves checking in on the company and coordinating with management. Do you have management? If not, then there’s room to grow.
Remember when you were a teenager and you could eat a metric ton of food every day? It was because you were growing, and growing people need sustenance. Similarly, a growing business needs money. Otherwise, it won’t be able to obtain the resources it needs to excel: more employees, more trucks, more advertising, and more jobs.
We recommend raising your prices by five percent twice a year so you have the cash you need to build your business! A big increase in prices might see pushback, but a five percent uptick will hardly be noticed by your customers. For your business, however, it might make all the difference.
Don’t be afraid to raise those prices and be confident in them. Then, take those extra profits and put them back into the business. It’s the only way to keep the ball rolling!
About the Competition’s Prices
When you first start your junk removal business, it’s good to assess the competition’s pricing and figure out how yours ought to compare. Some of your typical franchises have gotten really good at hiding their prices, however. Need to find them out? Then it’s fair game to give them a call and ask for a cost estimate for some hypothetical appointment you’ll never follow up on. Pretend that you’ve got a sister who’s running on a shoestring budget if you like. Eventually, your competitors will cough up some pricing numbers—and you’ve got something to work with.
Those are good things to consider when starting your business, but… at what point can you stop worrying about the competition’s prices, anyway?
Firstly, do you have good reviews? A collection of five-star reviews can make all the difference when it comes to booking jobs. Some customers don’t look for the cheapest, they look for the best-reviewed, and if that’s you, then you’re their pick! We can’t understate the importance of having good reviews, so be sure to request a review at the end of any junk removal appointment. (Unless, of course, the customer seems like they really, really won’t provide it.)
Secondly, do you have good branding and strong advertising? An excellent first impression on the customer is sometimes all it takes to land an appointment with them. The source of these first impressions could be any of the following: a spiffy logo, an impressive truck with your business’s name on it, a team in branded uniforms, top-ranking results on Google, and a good advertising campaign. Don’t have these things? Get them!
Once you’ve got good reviews, good branding, and strong advertising, then you can stop worrying about the competition’s prices and raise your prices even higher.
Consult with JRA for the Help You Need
With Junk Removal Authority, you have access to people who know how to expand your business. We can consult with you, make a plan for your pricing model, and even take control of your website and advertising campaign so you can have high results on Google and a strong advertising presence, too. It’ll cost you some money, but it’ll be well worth it.
If we had to sum up this blog in one sentence, we’d say, “Sometimes, you have to spend money to make money.” So don’t stick with the same prices forever, or you’ll never have room to grow. Don’t let your business dwindle and die like Kmart. Let it grow big and tall like a teenager. You’ll thank yourself when your business is all grown up and you don’t have to babysit it anymore.