Start a dumpster rental business

How Much Does It Cost To Start A Dumpster Business? 

Are you thinking of the best business to venture into? The dumpster business is not one that many people will readily jump into for reasons best known to them. 

However, one thing worthy of note is that there are a lot of opportunities in the dumpster business. You can get the most out of this business, especially in locations where there are no sufficient dumpster rental businesses.

Also, another benefit of the dumpster business is that it’s not time-consuming. The only thing required of you is to answer phone calls from your customers and make dumpster rental deliveries. This business doesn’t require that you sacrifice your entire time because you can easily employ the service of an assistant.

So, do you want to know how much it costs to start a dumpster business? Keep reading to know more about the cost involved and the things to check off the list to start your own business.

How Much Does it Cost to Start a Dumpster Rental Business?

One reason why fewer people are involved in the dumpster rental business is not that it’s a job most people consider dirty. It’s because it requires a huge amount of money to start. The hardest part of running a dumpster business is at the beginning when you have to spend a lot of money. Once you’re able to raise the capital you need, the business can go on smoothly.

When it comes to the dumpster rental business, you spend the most money on trucks and dumpsters; and yes, they can be very expensive. A rough estimate on the price of new roll-off trucks is somewhere between $50,000 to $200,000. If you’re looking to get high-end trucks, this is the price you’d have to pay. 

But for people who are interested in this business but do not have this amount of capital, you have the option of buying used trucks. Purchasing a used truck is a more feasible plan when you decide to start a dumpster rental business. A rough estimate of a used truck is somewhere between $15,000 to over $15,000 if you still want to get quality trucks.

This price may seem exorbitant for some, however, you can solicit help from family and friends to help raise the capital, and at the same time, you opt for a loan.

Dumpster Business Overview

The dumpster rental business is always high in demand because so long as there is trash around, there will always be a need for roll-off dumpsters. Every day, different sizes of dumpsters are always in demand whether for residential, commercial or industrial use. Sometimes, they rent it out for long-term use while some rent it out for a specific period. 

When a customer requests a dumpster, you as a business owner make the delivery of the dumpster to the client’s location. After use, you go back to pick up the dumpster once the time of rent has elapsed. Some rental companies go the extra mile to help their clients dispose of the waste contents in the dumpster from time to time.

The sole purpose of the dumpster rental business is to take the burden of owning a dumpster for personal use off customers’ shoulders. It’s expensive to acquire and as such, everyone cannot own one. 

Dumpsters are only needed temporarily, that’s why they’re always rented out. For dumpster rental businesses, the more you rent out dumpsters, the more profit you make. If you’re able to serve multiple customers, you begin to rake in more profit and cover all the money you spent as capital. You could even go ahead to purchase more dumpsters so you can be able to satisfy more customers.

However, before you venture into a dumpster rental business, you should first do your research. Make a research on the location or the area you want to start your business. 

Check to see if your business can thrive better in that area and also look at the market competition. If you’re new in the business, you should check out what your competitors are doing, and check the rates at which they charge their customers per dumpster

Also, look for certain opportunities that your competitors have missed, if their charges are too high, make yours moderate. If their dumpster sizes are too big, get mid-sized ones. Just make research on the opportunities your competitors have missed and leverage them.

While conducting your research, it’ll be a smart move for you to get in touch with your local landfills. The reason for this is so that you’ll be aware of the waste disposal restrictions in your area. 

Once you get your hands on this knowledge, you may be able to strike a deal with the landfill operators and maybe get a discount. At the same time, you’ll know what kind of waste material can be disposed of there. For instance, hazardous materials may not be allowed to be disposed of in your local landfill so it may affect the price of your service. 

In essence, making proper research gets you familiar with how the business is being run in your area. Then you will be able to incorporate your discoveries into your business plans and become successful at them.

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Checklist for Starting a Dumpster Rental Business

Below, you’ll find a list of things that you should do if you’re serious about starting your own dumpster business.

  1. Write A Business Plan.

You already have the vision of starting a dumpster rental business, so what next? The next step is that you should create a business plan. To apply for loans from financial institutions, you’ll need a business plan. Aside from that, creating a business plan gives you and your business a sense of direction.

  1.  Form A Business Entity

The most common types of business entity is a sole proprietorship, limited liability companies, corporations and cooperatives. Each of these entities comes with its risks and advantages. But when it comes to the dumpster rental business, the best entities are usually sole proprietorship and limited liability companies.

The only downside of the sole proprietorship is that the owner will bear all the risk alone. And for the LLC, the owner can enjoy the liability protection of a corporation while operating the business as a sole proprietor.

  1. Choose a Business Name

Finding the perfect name for your business can prove difficult. Because firstly, you have to ensure that the name has not been used elsewhere. Also, your customers have to understand the name of your business so they can call for it anytime they need it.

  1. Select your Location

Most of the time, the dumpsters will be with the customers when they rent them out for use. However, when they are not out for rent they need a place where they can be stored. When choosing a location for your business, choose one that is closer to your area of operation. Because it will save time and gas when you’re out to deliver dumpsters to your customers.

  1. Apply for Business Licenses and Permits

Generally, dumpster rental businesses do not need a license to operate however the drivers for the dumpster trucks should be licensed. Apart from that, as a business, you need some documents to operate freely without getting in trouble with the law. Documents like Business license, Employer identification number, sales tax permit etc.

  1. Find Financing

This is the most crucial part of starting a dumpster business. Raising capital for this type of business can be difficult to achieve individually. That’s why you must search for funds either from financial institutions or from family and friends. Either way, so long as you come up with the funds legitimately, your business is good to go.

  1. Open a Business Bank Account

For more effective running of your business, you should separate your business finance from your finances. By doing this, you’ll be able to keep track of the finances of your business. You’ll be able to tell if you’re making profits or losses. So endeavour to create a business account for your business.

  1. Get Your Marketing Plan in Place

For your dumpster rental business to thrive, you need a good marketing strategy. Customers are always in need of dumpster services so you have to get in their faces.

These days, people take to the internet to look for dumpster rental services near them. So the smart move to take is to engage in online marketing. Such as paid advertising, social media marketing, etc.

  1. Hire Employees

When you first start your dumpster rental business, you may be able to handle the business all by yourself. But as the brand grows, you need more hands on deck to ensure faster deliveries. You may need to employ additional drivers for the trucks.

  1. Set up an Accounting System

For your business to last longer, you need to set up an accounting system. This helps your business to know how much tax it needs to pay to the government and when to pay it. An accounting system keeps track of all the cash that goes in and out of the business.

If you’re looking for a list of businesses where you can make profits effortlessly, the dumpster rental business would be on that list. Although the dumpster rental business is often associated with dealing with dirt and waste, there is a lot of profit to make out of the business. 

The dumpster rental business industry is worth $500 million which means there’s enough money to go around for everyone in the industry.

If you’re interested in starting your dumpster rental business but you want to know how much you can earn by starting the business, you’re in the right place.

This article will show you how much you can earn, how much you’ll need to start and ways to make your dumpster business more profitable.

How much can you earn with a dumpster rental business?

The dumpster rental business is quite lucrative and you can earn enough per month to help you repay the loans you took to start the business in record time.

If you own enough dumpsters and roll-off trucks, you can make deliveries to about 30 customers in a month. The average price to rent a roll-off dumpster is $469.29. And also note that the price varies depending on the location and type of waste. If you’re dealing with commercial entities and industries, you may have to deal with hazardous wastes. 

The price can change depending on your agreement with your clients. However, sticking with the original estimated cost of renting a dumpster which is $469.29, you’ll be making approximately $14,000 a month. And to get customers is not difficult, so long as you made your research about your customers before starting.

To get a 20-yds dumpster costs an estimate of $6000. This means that if you take delivery of this dumpster to just 15 people at the cost of $400 per week, you get your money back. And after that, you can start enjoying the profits of your dumpster.

The interesting part is you don’t have to start on a large scale. You can start your dumpster business with just a dumpster, then as your business grows, you can get more dumpsters and even roll-off trucks.

How Profitable is a Dumpster Business?

Every day, people have waste to dispose of. This means that so long as there’s waste that needs to be disposed of, the dumpster business will always be relevant. The dumpster business is high in demand because there are not enough dumpster businesses to match up the amount of waste that needs to be disposed of every day.

The dumpster industry is currently worth $500 million which shows that there is enough revenue in the business. 

Quick Facts

  • Investment range – $29,050 – $47,100
  • Time to build – 1 – 3 months
  • Industry trend – growing
  • Revenue potential – $104,000 – $260,000 p.a.
  • Profit potential – $52,000 – $130,000 p.a.
  • Commitment – flexible

Trends in the Dumpster Industry

The dumpster industry is all about providing customers from different fields with their requested size of dumpsters. Your clients could be owners of hospitals, industries, restaurants and what have you. 

This means that the waste product from these various fields varies from each other. Most roll-off dumpster companies rent out their dumpsters for a specific period and at the end of the lease period, they go to retrieve their dumpsters from the location. 

The length of time of the rent, and the cost of renting the dumpster for that period are what make up the revenue and profits of a dumpster rental business owner.

Recently, the increase in waste that needs to be disposed of demands the increase of dumpsters. The reason is that every day, new sources of waste spring up. Talk about the various construction activities and the increase in corporate activities. 

These recent trends have led to an increase in demand for the dumpster rental business. Due to the steady growth of the industry, the industry experienced a 2.3% increase in revenue every year which makes up for the $500 million at the end of 2019.

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Ways To Make Your Dumpster Business Profitable

Every successful dumpster rental business out there is successful because it’s being backed up by a professional business plan. Before you venture into the dumpster rental business and invest a lot of money into it, you need to have a proper plan. 

There are certain factors you need to consider and things you need to put in place before you start the business. 

You should first do enough research on how lucrative the business will be especially in a specific area. Check if there’s any competition in that area. Check how your competitors operate and the costs they charge. 

You most likely want to be the only dumpster rental business in your area, so you need to do adequate research. And if there’s no other choice but to compete with other existing rental businesses, then you need to come up with a plan to beat your competitors.

You could come up with a new strategy that your competitors don’t know about. You’d indeed run a dumpster rental business but you can go out of the box and build relationships with partners that are in any way related to the dumpster industry. 

They can include your clients, real estate management officers and even the community garbage collectors. When you build a relationship with them, it gives you an edge over your competitors. 

Instead of limiting your business to just renting out dumpsters, you can include other services like garbage collection. 

It not only gives you a competitive edge, but it also increases your pay from your clients and consequently increases your profits.

Below are two effective ways to boost your dumpster rental business profits:

  • Trash Collection Contracts

One of the best ways to make maximum profits in the dumpster rental business is to sign a contract with big companies or even cities. 

Most cities sign a contract with dumpster rental businesses and most of the time, these contracts last for years. When you sign contracts like this, you don’t just have a competitive edge, your competitors don’t even stand a chance to compete.

Plus, you’re still at liberty to work for other clients. It all depends on how well you’ve invested in getting roll-off trucks and dumpsters. This is one proven way to earn more than your competitors and make more profits.

  • Trash Recycling

Trash recycling is closely related to the dumpster rental business industry. With the right connection, you can build a relationship with partners from the recycling industry and that helps boost your profits. ,

The Recycling recycling industry needs those plastic bags, wood and metals from your dumpster. But most of the time, the recycler does not have the resources to go about finding this trash themselves. So they need a dumpster rental business that can bring the trash directly to them.

You could strike a deal with trash recyclers and they invest in your business. This means you can get more roll-off trucks and more dumpsters. This is another way to have an edge over your competitors and earn more profits while at it.

What barriers are there to starting the dumpster rental business?

There are different barriers to starting your dumpster rental business but we’ll only consider two. Check them out below:

  • Finding necessary start-up funds

Of course, it’s not easy to start a dumpster rental service. You’ll need a huge capital to start. The cost to start up a dumpster business is somewhere between $20,000 to $50,000. 

This is quite a huge sum and may be difficult for you to raise alone. Although this is a barrier, it can be scaled through. There are financial institutions that are ready to invest in your business by granting you loans. All that’s required of you is to provide a concrete and professional business plan.

There’s also the option of seeking help from your friends and family. The pain of this business is in the initial stage of finding funds to start up. But once you’re able to get past that, the profits are enough to make you smile again.

  • Entering a competitive market

This is another barrier to starting a roll-off dumpster business. The fear of competing with an existing dumpster rental business can be overwhelming sometimes. 

However, this is where having a concrete business plan comes in. As part of your business plan, you’ll have to do extensive research on the market and your competitors. 

You’ll have to know what your competitors are doing, how they’re doing it and how well they’re doing it. At the end of your research, you’ll know the perfect area to start your business and thrive.

On a final note;

This article has been able to explore the cost involved in starting a roll-off dumpster business, the profits you could make and how to increase your profit even more.

If you’ve ever had any doubt about how profitable the dumpster rental industry is, by now, you should have had a change of heart. The dumpster rental business is a gold mine only for those that are ready to pay the price and implement the right strategy.