There are a ton of different business ideas to keep your off-season busy but here is one that stands out as easy to get started and summer-centric. This way you can focus on Christmas lights in the winter and something else in the summer. Pool cleaning and maintenance is a great seasonal opportunity that's relatively easy to get started with minimal investment.

Pool Cleaning in the Summer

Pool cleaning and pool maintenance have been reliable business plans for as many years as Americans have owned pools. This type of business saw huge growth during COVID to the tune of about 20% from 2019 - 2021. A friend of mine just purchased two additional trucks and services 150 residential and commercial customers. He is on track to make over $300,000 in revenue this year (2022).

Start Up Supplies

Pool cleaning is definitively one of the lessor expensive businesses to start. The supplies you need looks something like this which you can pick up at your local pool supply store.

• Water test strips (and test kits)
• Pool shock
• Algae brush
• Manual pool vacuum
• Leaf skimmer
• Telescopic pole
• Multi-purpose surface cleaner
• Filter cleaner
• Pool cover

Build a Website

Building a website can take a ton of time and effort but there are easier ways to do it. It's important to make sure you have a nice, professional look online, people will literally pick YOU because of the way your website looks and functions. There are a few ways to get a nice, quick website.

• Hire a professional - This is probably the most expensive way but you can get exactly what you want. There are a couple of ways to do this; freelance website like Freelancer or Fiverr where you bid and hire someone to do it, or find an agency through a website like Clutch.
• Use an online tool - There are a bunch of 'do-it-yourself' website tools where you can give it a try yourself such as Wix, Squarespace, Weebly and even GoDaddy.
• Buy a complete website - This is probably the easiest and fastest way. There are a ton of companies who offer fully complete website templates, then you just hire someone from a freelancer site to put it up for you. Companies that sell templates are Themeforest and TemplateMonster.

Social Media & Directories

In order for people to find you - you need to be on as many places as possible, especially social media. There are some that are more important than others but make sure you're added to Google Business, Yelp, Facebook Business, Instagram Business, LinkedIn Business, Yahoo Local, & Bing Places.

These websites can produce just as much business, if not more, than your main website. Set each one of these accounts up with all your information including pictures, videos and keep them updated on a weekly basis. 

Getting Customers

There are ton of ways to get new customers but here are a few that a lot of businesses try to do.

• Door-to-door - Google Maps Satellite View helps you identify homes with pools in their backyards. Pick a neighborhood you want to target and create a route to drop door hangers at all the houses with pools in a specific neighborhood. You can use May for openings and September for closings as a start.
• Service aggregators - There are several platforms you'll want to be on, especially in the beginning. It will take some time to grow these accounts and get ratings but start early with low pricing to get yourself going. Some of the more popular services are Thumbtack and HomeAdvisor. Make sure you're on Nextdoor too!
• Purchase a pool route - If you have the start-up capital, there's really nothing better than buying an already established pool route. There are brokers out there that will sell their routes to you. National Pool Route Sales and Springboard Route Brokers can give you an idea of what this would cost.

Get Certified

There is actually a certification for a Pool/Spa Operator called a CPO that you legally need to operate a business with this focus in 24 states. The certification includes chemistry knowledge, safety requirements and best practices. Even if not required, it sure looks good on your company resume when you start looking for new business. The CPO course offered by Pool & Hot Tub Alliance is a good one and is nationally recognized.

Registering Your Business

One of the first things you need to do is to register your business. Whether you have an LLC or a Sole Proprietorship, you'll want to be legal. The SBA (Small Business Administration) has a lot of information on how to do this and so does a blog post I wrote, How to Start a Christmas Lights Installation Business. It contains great information for how to get any business started. It's really important to make sure all your T's are crossed when you venture into your own business. 

Taxes & Insurance

Success is built on morality and bureaucracy! That's what my Dad always said. He meant that running a business requires you to treat everyone with honesty and do everything you can to keep the government off your back. Make sure you do your taxes, from the beginning. This requires obtaining a tax ID number and filing your state and federal taxes, every quarter. You'll need this same number to open a business checking account, to get business credit and any business licenses or permits.

Also, get yourself a good commercial general liability insurance policy that covers bodily injury and property damage claims made against your business. Let's say you had a few too many the night before and accidentally destroy someone's pool system. If they sue you - you might be mortgaging your home to pay for the attorney and lawsuit. Get insurance! 

Get a Contractor's License & Do Repairs

Although you sure don't need it to start a pool business, pool repairs can be a huge revenue generator. If those repairs cost more than $500, most states require a license. 

Having a Contractor's License will not only set you up above the rest (most cleaning businesses don't have a license), but it will enable you to make a ton of extra money by not having to sub out repairs to someone else.

• Edge over competition - Since there's a cost involved to getting your license and most cleaning businesses don't have them, you can stand out in your market by being able to provide more than just cleaning and maintenance services.
• Prevent competition from poaching your clients - If you only focus on cleaning and maintenance, customer have to find someone else to do repairs. If they end up using someone else for repairs, that business could easily take that customer from you! Don't let this happen.

Pool cleaning and maintenance is a great business to do during the summer when your Christmas lights installation business is waiting for snow. You can get it started relatively cheaply, find customers fairly easily, and the work is not as back-breaking as other jobs. Jump on in and get wet!