A
Anonymous
Guest
Anyone do this? If so, how profitable is it?
Peace,
Chip
Peace,
Chip
A
Anonymous
Guest
Tank Maint is one of the most profitable aspects of this industry. Local guy in town works 9-5 and brings in about 120k a year. Client provides tank and pays for all livestock. The key is setting up the tank as maint free as possible (Auto topoff, magnet for the person to clean the glass, skimmer etc....) I take care of a couple tanks right now and its easy money.
A
Anonymous
Guest
What do you charge per hour/per month? Just looking for a reference point to start...
Peace,
Chip
Peace,
Chip
A
Anonymous
Guest
marillion":j7jaexc2 said:
$2 a gallon/ month is pretty typical here. It is higher in other areas of the country.
We charge a flat rate for existing installs dependent on tank size, 1 to 149G is one rate and 150G and larger is another. New installs get charged an hourly rate.
We offer a few other services as well, all billed at a flat rate.
Hopefully one day we'll have a flat tax as well.
We offer a few other services as well, all billed at a flat rate.
Hopefully one day we'll have a flat tax as well.
Around here, service guys get any where from $40 up to $150 an hour.
$120K a year sounds about right for a top notch service company. Some of the stores/service co's around here maintain on the upwords of 300 tanks each monthly. My friends company was bringing in $30K a month on service alone
$120K a year sounds about right for a top notch service company. Some of the stores/service co's around here maintain on the upwords of 300 tanks each monthly. My friends company was bringing in $30K a month on service alone
GreshamH":2sjuf08f said:Around here, service guys get any where from $40 up to $150 an hour.
$120K a year sounds about right for a top notch service company. Some of the stores/service co's around here maintain on the upwords of 300 tanks each monthly. My friends company was bringing in $30K a month on service alone
I've noticed in my visits to my folks in miami that most of the stores are just fronts for the maint business. It allows exposure to potential maint customers and allows storage of critters for their clients. Their hours are pretty good too ranging from opening between 10-1pm and closing between 5-7.
I've got a friend that has a store just for the maintaince end of things. Well that is where all the money is anyway. He gives away 55 gallon reef set ups for a 2 years contact on the maintance. Cost him about 500 bucks to set it up and he makes 1900 on it. ($99.00) a month. Not a bad idea, just like cell phone contacts.
It amazes me how many people pay for "service" - and pay well - and their tanks look like crap and the "service" doesn't do their job. I often pick up accounts from one-man operations that fudge on the job - they don't test, they don't do water changes, they show up (occasionally) and do an algae wipe, and take the money. Customers are oblivious until one day the tank crashes, and then they call somebody else in (like me) and I test their water to find nitrates off the charts, and other issues. I took over one account a few years ago, specific gravity was 1.014, nitrates 200+ ppm, phosphates off the chart, and the customer couldn't understand it because the tank was 'professionally maintained' twice a month. Water change? What water change? Just what the 'professional' was doing, I'll never know but he collected his fee, that's for sure.
Anyone can set up their own service company - there's no standard and most freelancers don't have any of the licences that a storefront needs, and it's hard to file a complaint against a service company whereas if you see crappy conditions in a store a call to the appropriate agency can get them an inspection, fine or worse.
Sort of deviating from thetopic a bit - but crappy "service" companies peeve me off. I have nothing against companies or individuals doing service as long as they do it correctly. Just seems, around here anyway, there are too many out there who aren't doing it right. I've seen poorly plumbed/set up systems, and when the customer has a problem and they change companies, they don't often want to pay for the necessary upgrades to make the tank function properly.
If I can steer this rant back to the topic/question at hand, here's a bit of advice for you, Chip - if you are doing maintenances, and you're called in to take over care of an existing setup and you find it to be MacGyvered, or substandard in *any* way - write them a fair quote for what needs to be done, and *insist* that upgrades be done before you'll maintain it on an ongoing basis. I made this mistake when I was new and hungry for business - I'd write the quote but some did not want to spend the money to make the system work properly - tanks with not enough filtration or not enough pump or no skimmer etc., and I'd limp along with them but problems were inevitable - in hindsight and going forward, I don't do that anymore. If the system is adequate, I'll take it over, no problem. If it's inadequate, I write a quote for the upgrades and if they don't want to spend the money, I tactfully but firmly tell them why they will continue to have problems with their system and I'm not willing to take it on if it's not going to support the livestock - at that point they can either all another service, or have the necessary work done. It may seem a bit snobby or elitist, but in the long run it saves a lot of aggrivation, and possibly being 'dumped' for another service if things don't work out well with the tank. A substandard system could be the reason they're dumping the previous service in the first place.
As I've said before, I don't think leasing is a good idea... sell the system outright then you aren't left with used equipment if they decide to turn it in at the end of the lease. If price is an issue, look into getting a finance company involved - we're about to get into financing systems, our new finance company is coming to meet with us tomorrow - we'll get paid for the system right away, the customer pays over time... win/win.
Jenn
Anyone can set up their own service company - there's no standard and most freelancers don't have any of the licences that a storefront needs, and it's hard to file a complaint against a service company whereas if you see crappy conditions in a store a call to the appropriate agency can get them an inspection, fine or worse.
Sort of deviating from thetopic a bit - but crappy "service" companies peeve me off. I have nothing against companies or individuals doing service as long as they do it correctly. Just seems, around here anyway, there are too many out there who aren't doing it right. I've seen poorly plumbed/set up systems, and when the customer has a problem and they change companies, they don't often want to pay for the necessary upgrades to make the tank function properly.
If I can steer this rant back to the topic/question at hand, here's a bit of advice for you, Chip - if you are doing maintenances, and you're called in to take over care of an existing setup and you find it to be MacGyvered, or substandard in *any* way - write them a fair quote for what needs to be done, and *insist* that upgrades be done before you'll maintain it on an ongoing basis. I made this mistake when I was new and hungry for business - I'd write the quote but some did not want to spend the money to make the system work properly - tanks with not enough filtration or not enough pump or no skimmer etc., and I'd limp along with them but problems were inevitable - in hindsight and going forward, I don't do that anymore. If the system is adequate, I'll take it over, no problem. If it's inadequate, I write a quote for the upgrades and if they don't want to spend the money, I tactfully but firmly tell them why they will continue to have problems with their system and I'm not willing to take it on if it's not going to support the livestock - at that point they can either all another service, or have the necessary work done. It may seem a bit snobby or elitist, but in the long run it saves a lot of aggrivation, and possibly being 'dumped' for another service if things don't work out well with the tank. A substandard system could be the reason they're dumping the previous service in the first place.
As I've said before, I don't think leasing is a good idea... sell the system outright then you aren't left with used equipment if they decide to turn it in at the end of the lease. If price is an issue, look into getting a finance company involved - we're about to get into financing systems, our new finance company is coming to meet with us tomorrow - we'll get paid for the system right away, the customer pays over time... win/win.
Jenn
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