A foreclosure cleanup business encompasses primarily the clearing out, cleaning up and maintenance of foreclosed homes. Services can range from interior and exterior cleaning, debris removal, and lawn care, to painting, gutter cleaning, pressure washing, minor repairs, carpet cleaning and removal, the boarding of windows and doors, locksmith services, and more.
Jack of All Trades, Master of None
Many new foreclosure cleanup business owners can quickly feel like they’re “all over the place” in the start-up phase of their new enterprises because they may be trying to offer everything to everybody. It’s typical for new business owners to try to offer as many services as possible because they don’t want to lose out on any business.
However, the business owner will run the risk of being a Jack of all trades and master of none.
How to Successfully Niche Services
An alternative to offering so many services is to simply niche services; provide a few services and become a master of those services offered. Niching will not only guide a business owner in narrowing their business focus, but it will help them strategically define and effectively speak to their target market. Niching will ultimately streamline advertising and marketing efforts and dollars spent on successfully getting the word out about the business.
Niche Specific Foreclosure Cleanup Services
Niche Debris Removal & Cleaning: Interior and exterior debris removal and cleaning can be two services with which to start in a foreclosure cleanup business. Most foreclosures will need debris gathered and removed from the home; and the home will need to be left in broom-swept condition.
To offer these two services at good prices and in fast turnaround times will lead to a niche business with incredible growth potential.
Niche Window/Door Boarding & Lock Changing: Another pair of services that make good niche offerings is the boarding of windows and doors, along with locksmith services. For example, EFG Foreclosure Cleanup Securing could offer to handle property securing, which would encompass those initial services most banks will need: boarding and changing locks.
Niche Winterization: Deciding to offer winterization (preparing pipes, toilets, hot water heaters, etc., in a home for long periods of vacancy), along with property securing, will also fit nicely within the above niche.
Why? Because when a property preservation company is called in, preservation and securing are two of the first things needed after the initial inspections. Boarding, changing locks and winterization services are front-line, evergreen services that can be paired and niched effectively.
Niche Property Inspections: Another hot niche for a foreclosure cleanup business can be foreclosure property inspections. There are various forms of inspections surrounding a property in the pre-foreclosure state as well as during the actual foreclosure process.
A small foreclosure cleanup company that positions itself to handle property inspections will be the first on the scene of the property. This is a bonus in that this niche company can offer to bid on other aspects of the job and outsource those services or refer them out; thereby earning income on aspects of the job, even though they won’t be performed in-house.
Preparing for Successful Growth at Start-up
Though it’s tempting to start out offering a plethora of services in a new foreclosure cleaning business, it may be wiser still to consider offering niche services for successful growth.
Niching Beyond the Start-up Phase
If a foreclosure cleanup business owner is already in operation, but the owner feels the business is spread too thin, niching can still be accomplished with the simple pairing down of services. Entrepreneurs can simply decide which services to eliminate and which services to keep.
The services that are kept should be communicated to the existing client base using a unique selling proposition that will ultimately benefit the client.
Good luck in growing your foreclosure cleanup business by niching your services.
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