As California looks to turn a corner with Covid-19, we’re likely going to see businesses opening back up. However, there are still businesses that struggled through 2020 and are still looking for ways to help them get back on their feet. We, Sacramento Junk Removal, are a small business in Sacramento just like many others and want to share our tips for how we have thrived during the last year.
Outsource Resources
While we’re busy picking up junk at businesses and homes, we still have to run the administrative side of our business. This means we’re busy working on accounting related things, making sure we’re scheduling appointments with new customers and being sure our computers and phones work as they are supposed to.
Because we had to get very lean in 2020, we tested outsourcing some of these administrative tasks and saved a lot of money. For instance, we outsourced our accounting to a local Sacramento bookkeeping company (huge savings), our scheduling to a virtual assistant and our tech needs to an IT support provider in Roseville. The savings we have experienced by doing so have allowed us to stay in business.
Re-Invest Into Your Business
We also learned in 2020 that we had to promote our own business much more. We had our new website created, promoted it on our social media channels and hired a Sacramento SEO expert to get it listed on Google. These new forms of digital marketing allowed us to reach new customers during the pandemic and keep our junk removal business up and running.
Technology also became an important aspect of progression in the last year. We were using outdated systems for scheduling appointments, checking emails and staying on top of business things. We decided to re-invest into our technology and it made everything run a lot smoother. If you’re using outdated computers and phones, it’s likely slowing you down and hindering how well you can run your business.
New Payment Forms
The days of accepting a check on the job are over. Not only do people keep their checkbooks with them, accepting checks is now a safety concern for us. Additionally, we stopped taking cash payments. We now only take payments via credit card or through a digital service like Square. This makes taking payments easy for us and for our customers.
New Equipment
To successfully grow a business, especially a junk removal business, you have to use the right equipment too. For us, it means having the right trucks, vacuums, cleaning equipment and more. Since investing in new equipment and a few new trucks, we’ve been able to handle more business and scale successfully.
What You Can Do
These are just a few tips that we have found to be helpful in the last year. Depending on your business type, this may be sufficient or this could just be the tip of the iceberg for you. We recommend outsourcing areas of your business that you don’t have time for, find cost effective ways to market your business and invest in areas of the business that really need help.