Plumbing Business – Getting Started, How it Works and Tips

Start your plumbing business

If we think about the need to supply a plumber, we can notice not only the importance of this work, but also the high demand it presents, because no matter our activities, we can always need the service of a plumber to solve some inconvenience in our home or workplace.

We want you to know the best businesses about services

To achieve the success that this plumbing business has, it is extremely necessary to go deeper into the market conditions to know how it works and at the same time, an excellent relationship with our customers. If you want to have all this information, plus some additional recommendations, go to the end of the section.

We know that starting from scratch is not an easy process, so here we provide you with everything you need to know to get started:

Plumbing business activity

We know that we will start a plumbing business and this implies having the necessary knowledge to provide the service, however, although we can also hire specialized personnel, it is extremely important that as a business owner, you know all the processes and procedures (in detail), that you will perform in each service. In addition, gaining a little experience would be convenient for you, providing the service in a particular way and adding knowledge.

Tasks of the plumbing service: Among the main functions of this activity, we find the following: sanitary and pipe repairs, revision of water treatment plants, wall filtrations, installation of sanitary parts and pumps, among others.

Train yourself in the plumbing activity

If you don’t have any knowledge of plumbing service, it will be vital to start acquiring it. To do so, you can sign up for a classroom or distance learning plumbing course at learning centers, professional institutes, technical universities, among others, and start working on jobs that will allow you to gain experience in the sector. There are also other options, such as starting the business in partnership with a person specialized in the sector or having already knowledge in the area. For this, under any option, it will be important to continue feeding the experience and knowledge by updating the knowledge with the new tools and materials that are being used in the market.

Activity of the plumbing business is focused on

Once you have the necessary knowledge about the service you are going to provide, it will be necessary to determine and focus the activity that the business will have, since many of them usually focus on selling tools for the service, others on directly providing the plumbing service and even, combine both alternatives to increase the income offering immediately everything that your client might need.

Study the lead market

By studying the market we must analyze aspects such as competition, mainly, and know what they are offering, in which sectors they operate and the conditions under which they provide the plumbing service to know the market conditions and how much you could charge relatively. The market study also involves identifying the main needs of the area in which you are going to operate.

Plan a place of operation for the lead business

Although this type of business is based on working from home, the truth is that we will need to have a space in which we can properly store our work materials and tools, as well as the supplies that we will sell to our customers during the installation or repair that they need. In addition, we must have a space where customers can call us to schedule appointments.

Remember that you don’t need to have a big warehouse, rent a place or build an office, but you can easily arrange a free part you have at home for that.

Identify your customers for the plumbing service

We know that at any time, we could all need the service of a plumber, however, our potential customers will be the people who communicate with the plumber and ask for the service, like the parents of the household, this is where our customers lie.

Acquire permits and licenses for your plumbing

To offer the service, it will be necessary to have the legal permits provided by the regulatory entities of each city and country, so we can operate according to the conditions of law. In order to know these processes and procedures, it will be necessary for you to go to the government offices to make the respective registration of the business and obtain the precise documentation.

Buy your tools and materials to start your lead shop

Business supplies are one of the key pieces of business, so it is important that the materials

that you buy and the tools, are of high quality, coming from specialized brands, because on it, practically, depends the service that you are going to offer. Among the tools you will need to start a plumbing business are: pipes, accessories, saws, pipe wrenches, electric extension cords, manual and electric tools, protective clothing, office material for receiving customer calls and, if possible, a means of transportation to get to each home.

Promoting your plumbing business

When it comes to publicizing our plumbing business, we can take into account several aspects, such as: delivery of flyers and business cards where we point out the services we offer and contact details, social networks and websites to reach a greater number of customers, among others. However, many of the businesses you will have will come from recommendations and the famous ‘word of mouth’, which is only achieved under customer loyalty.

Create a business plan for your plumbing

Once this has been done, it will be time to create a business plan, a document under which we will be able to know and work on each point in order to grow our business, because in addition to identifying the main activities to organize our business, we will also be able to round up an initial investment fee or cost.

To create a business plan, we must focus on the following information: objectives of the plumbing business, market analysis, customer study, purchase of materials and tools for the service, payment of labor and personnel, payments for travel, investment in knowledge, among other uncalculated costs that could appear, under which we recommend keeping a portion of the total income capital.

Requirements to start in the Plumbing Business

The first step in getting into the plumbing business is to learn the best way to start as a plumber’s assistant or take a course that will help you learn the best way to do the job.

Second, to acquire the tools, in the plumbing business it is very important to have all the necessary tools, since the existing set of wrenches and implements for plumbing can vary a lot in size and additives for the installation and maintenance of the water system either in the home or in the industrial area.

Acquiring a location is important as a center of operations where to organize and store the tools of work, and eventually improve the administration as the business grows.

Advantages of having this business

In modern society there is installation of waterways in absolutely all the urbanized infrastructure, so it represents high demand for maintenance and constant installation of new service points, so the service is essential to modern life, bringing high levels of utility as you contemplate the growth of the business.

Another advantage is that this type of business lends itself to being multi-generational, that is, this trade can be that of the family, passing on the technical knowledge of plumbing from generation to generation.

Success stories 

An important case of success in this field can be referred to the company Cegrisa, founded in 1980, which began as a plumbing service office, and quickly became a bathroom and plumbing sales and installation company, positioning itself in service at the top of quality and product differentiation through the decades.

By 1990 the company expanded by acquiring its emblematic location which has represented them until today as an impeccable company in presentation and installation of luxury bathrooms and fine plumbing of the highest quality, attending to the needs of the consumer.

Disadvantages that can appear in your business as a plumber

Acquiring low-quality materials and tools, as well as carrying out processes of which we are not aware, are substantial risks that can gradually become irreversible disadvantages that put an end to our business.

Final recommendation for your plumbing business

In addition to taking into account the above risks, it is also important to work on other aspects such as compliance and what we need to do to build customer loyalty. As we mentioned, one of the channels that will provide more customers will be the positive recommendations, which you can only get by leaving the best image in each service, so in addition to satisfying the need and problem of the customer, it is also convenient to do the work on time and communicate the specific problem to the person, in this way we gain their trust. The loyalty of your clients, the attention and the treatment, will be the keys of the growth of your business.