Deck Sealing & Maintenance Can Be Started With Very Little Start Up Capital

Starting a new business can be challenging but there are very few businesses you can start with such a low start-up cost and lack of experience. 

First knock out the essentials

• Register your business name (DBA) - Just go to your county courthouse and see the clerk. This usually costs around $25.
• Incorporate (Optional but highly recommended) - Incorporating an LLC or INC will help you if you get sued and make you look like a real business.
• Open a business checking account - Go to your bank and get an account just for business
• Buy domain - Buy your business domain to look more professional.
• Setup hosting - You'll need a place to host your website.
• Create logo - Use a service like Canva or Fiverr to get a logo built.
• Setup website - There are easy to build website tools all over. GoDaddy is an easy one.
• Add your business to Google Business - This gets you listed as a business on Google.
• Get business cards - Look professional!

It may seem daunting but getting everything can be done in a couple of weeks if you work hard. Making sure you look professional and legitimate from the get-go is important. People like professional companies who handle their business.

Start getting clients

There are a few ways to get this business going and start getting some leads. 

• Contact deck builders in your area
• Find homes for sale that need the deck refinished
• Create a network with realtors

Contact deck builders in your area

The first thing you should do is search the internet in places like Google Maps, Yelp and Yellow Pages and put together a list of the top 100 deck builders you can find. Make a list of their company names, phone numbers, emails, social media accounts, etc. 

Now reach out to all of them through all channels. Tell them you're a deck staining contractor and you'd love the opportunity to work with them on some of their projects. Send them some photos of your work and keep contacting them each month. This is huge and will help you get some real business.

After a contractor builds a deck, it's important to wait for the deck to dry out and weather some before they stain it. If they have an office go visit them with a business card. As long as you stay in front of them they will remember you when it's time. Everyone looks for good subs. Leave them a positive review on Google or Facebook. Just stay in front of them as much as you can.

Find homes for sale that need the deck refinished

Another smart way to drum up some business is to peruse real estate websites for homes with decks. Zillow.com or Realtor.com are a great place to start. Do a radius around your house then filter the listings with decks. Look at all the photos and see if there's any that need attention! It will only add value to people who are selling their homes.

You can also watch for homes with decks that were just sold. People who have just purchased a home love to move in with a nice, refinished deck! Just leave a flyer on their front door.

Create a network with realtors

The cool thing about real estate offices is they all have mail rooms. When I used to write loans I'd print a bunch of flyers and then visit offices and put a flyer in each real estate agent's mail box.

Real estate agents deal with home buyers and sellers all day every day. Creating relationships with them is a really great way to get referral business. They know that a nice stained deck has curb appeal and can help them close more sales. They can also recommend you to all their buyers with decks.

Make a list of the top 100 real estate agents in your area and do the same thing as you did with the contractors. Reach out them through social media and email and keep contacting them month after month. You never know which one will pay off. (You can even offer to stain their decks a their homes for cheap!)

Master your profession 

Become a master deck refinisher. Learn everything their is to know about every type of stain, how to wash and prep, prepare the surface, power washing, and keep your splash zones clean. There is a lot to learn and so many resources to learn it from.

You can make extra money with addons like algae treatments and specialty stains, light installs, painting, board replacement, and nail/screw replacement.

Make a list of everything you're capable of doing and create a pricing schema. Hand it to every potential client so they can see what options they have. You never know what people will want!

Day-to-day

Nowadays, people are their own marketing firms. If you want to get your name out there you don't need to hire anyone. Just document your work like a crazy person. Take pictures constantly and post them everywhere online. 

• Take before pictures
• Take pictures every couple hours
• Take final pictures
• Take videos of before, during and after
• Upload pictures to Google Business, Facebook, Instagram
• Upload videos to YouTube
• Share, share, share and compliment your customers online
• Every job (with permission) should be posted everywhere you can
• Have customers post the pictures in your reviews
• Geotag pictures and add them to your website

Always be marketing yourself online and in person. Carry your business cards everywhere.

End result

If you do all the things outlined in this post customers will start to come. It takes hard work to start a company but if you know how to stain decks, you can do it. Contractors build thousands of decks every year and realtors come across hundreds of potential customers for you. If you get in with just these two groups your chance of success is very high.

If someone refers you business make sure to send them a thank you card with maybe a special gift card to a local restaurant. Send them Christmas cards and give them tickets to sporting events every so often. They are the gift that keeps on giving!

Grow, grow, grow

Once you really start gaining some momentum, start to reinvest in equipment, software to run your business and even new trucks. Hire employees and get an office. Your growth is only limited by your willingness to succeed!

Tips for success

Here are a few tips to keep you on the right path.

• Answer your phone on the first ring every time.
• When someone asks for a quote, get it to them in record time.
• Follow up with every customer after a few days, weeks, months, to make sure they are happy and if there's anything you can go fix.
• Do invoicing online and make it easy for customers to pay you.
• Get some company shirts with your logo and make sure all your employees wear them for jobs.
• Don't take a job if you can't make money (unless it can turn into bigger business)
• Wrap your truck with your company information
• Use yard signs on every job
• Knock on a few doors while your doing a deck and tell them your working at their neighbors and see if they need work done.
• Sponsor a kid's baseball team in your town
• Showcase a certain customer every week on social media and tell the before and after story, not just pictures. 
• Keep a blog and add customer stories to your website

Starting a business can be a fantastic experience and provide you with independence, pride and true happiness.