How to Start a Pest Control Business: 5 Steps to Success

When you’re looking at how to start a pest control company, there are some important steps to creating a solid foundation. At Joshua Tree Experts, pest control is one of the three revenue streams that drive our business model, and it’s a service that works well with our key customer audience.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that employment of pest control workers will grow 3% from 2022 to 2032, which is the average of all occupations. They also note the growing number of invasive insects helps maintain the demand for services, and that’s the first step when determining how to start a pest control business: choosing your pests!

Step 1. Choose Your Pests

What pest control services do you plan to offer? There are insects, seasonal pests, invasive pests, and even wildlife. Be mindful that the more in-depth your pest control services, the more equipment and supplies you’ll need.

For example, if you plan to offer mosquito services, you may want to also research how to start a mosquito spraying business to see what equipment you’ll need to perform that type of pest control. The same is true for larger critters like skunks and bats, smaller pests like bedbugs and carpenter ants, and regular pests such as beetles, spiders, and wasps.

Step 2. What Equipment Will You Need?

Understanding your equipment needs is an important element of how to start a pest control business. Equipment might include traps and cages; a vehicle to transport trapped critters; chemicals and applicators; protective gear such as a respirator, gloves, and safety goggles; and a first-aid kit.

It’s important to decide on your equipment needs so you can accurately price your services, which is your next step in how to start a pest control business.

Step 3. Pricing Your Services

Your prices are going to be dictated by your operating costs and the profit you wish to make. As these vary by region, there is no standard price. However, Jobber has a list of 13 pricing strategies that can help you decide how you will charge for your services.

Pest control is one of three revenue streams at Joshua Tree Experts, so that gives us more options when it comes to pricing and overall business costs. When you’re looking exclusively at how to start your own pest control company, as opposed to starting a company that includes pest control services, your pricing structure will be very different.

Step 4. Legal and Business Documents

The U.S. Small Business Administration is a good starting point for the regulatory and legal documents you need to start a business. Again, there will be some variations by region, but at the very least you need to register a business and apply for the appropriate pesticide application licenses.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will tell you the pesticide applicator standards that you need to follow. For more localized information, you can talk with a pesticide control official in your region.

Step 5. Building Revenue Streams

The final step is about building revenue streams. This is important because it determines how you will market your business to attract customers, how you can grow the business, and future partnerships that can be beneficial. Joshua Tree Experts has three revenue streams: pest control, tree care, and lawn care. In some regions, all services will be seasonal; however, tree and lawn care tend to have longer seasons, which helps extend our abilities to generate revenue and market all of our services. In other areas of the country, all three services would be in demand year-round. Your business has to provide 12 months' of revenue regardless of your operating season, and with a single offering such as pest control, that may not be possible. In our business, pest control has the lowest price tag of all our services. However, it has the second highest site visit per service. Pest control supports our other revenue streams and adds to our business offerings for customers.

The Joshua Tree Experts Franchise

You may think of us as a tree service franchise. However, we’re a full-service business that property owners can rely on for exceptional services. Pest control, lawn care, and tree services provide a complete package with recurring revenue streams. You can join Joshua Tree Experts with or without industry experience.

Contact Joshua Tree Experts

Request a meeting with Joshua Tree Experts to discuss our franchise model and how it can be a great fit for becoming an entrepreneur in this industry.