Ask Annissa: Just How Much Money is there in Contents Restoration?
If you keep your pencil sharp you can see profit margins in the 65-70% range
Expanding into contents cleaning is a very good profit center to add to any restoration business. It has one of the highest profit margins in the industry if you have a good systemized process and well trained staff. This type of cleaning is also not equipment intensive, so the startup costs can be quite minimal which can be a huge plus to adding this service to your company.
If you keep your pencil sharp you can see profit margins in the 65-70% range. And if you offer HAZMAT cleaning to your services, the profit margins are even higher. The key is to focus on efficiency in your process.
There is also a huge demand for good cleaning contractors in the industry, as contents can be one of the biggest headaches for most adjusters. Adjusters usually have very little experience at handling these types of claims and it can be the more emotional side of any claim for the adjuster to handle. This takes up a lot time that they really don’t have to spare.
A contents job can be completed very quickly and averages around $25,000 for the cleaning portion and another $4,000-$6,000 for packout. Claims for the contents portion of a job are processed separately from the structure side of a claim, so you can see payment for your services fast. We average payment in about 10 days after it is invoiced to the adjuster. So the cash flow is quite nice.
Some restoration companies put the contents side of a claim on the back burner while they focus on fixing the damages to the structure and this drags out the process. But if you show your client and the adjuster that you are committed to getting the job done quickly by giving it top priority, you will ensure that you can have all the contents cleaning jobs your company can handle.
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