Home Business Idea: Disaster Clean Up
Business description:
If you live in an area that suffers from many natural disasters, such as floods or earthquakes, starting a disaster clean up business from home can be a profitable idea. The reason for this is that when people are hit with a natural disaster or even an unnatural disaster, such as their house flooding from broken pipes, one thing that they do not want to do is clean up the extensive mess that comes along with it. These people would rather pay a professional to come in, clean up so that they can be done with it and move on with their lives.
Materials needed:
- Vacuum
- Shop Vac
- Truck and trailer
- Cleaning supplies - bleach, vinegar, glass cleaner, disinfectant, etc
- Carpet shampooer
- Fans
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Space requirements:
Just like with other cleaning businesses most of the work that you are going to be doing is outside of your house, so you do not need much space inside your house for this business. You are going to need to have a reliable car or truck that is big enough to haul a trailer and your cleaning supplies in, you are going to need the trailer to haul away all of the garbage. In your house, you are going to need to have a small home office that has storage space for your equipment for when it is not in use or for any extra equipment that you might have. You also need to put a computer inside your home office so that you can schedule your appointments and track your income and expense.
Time requirements:
Doing disaster clean up is going to be a time consuming job because it can take you days to simply clean just one house from a disaster. How long it takes to clean up the house or building from disaster is going to depend on how badly it was damaged. For example, did only two rooms get flooded instead of the entire basement? When scheduling jobs you will need to take into consideration how long the job is going to take so that you can give yourself plenty of time to complete that job before you move onto the next.
Income potential:
5 - Disaster clean up is a very financially rewarding job, but you will have to work long hard hours to receive the benefits. You can make anywhere from $50 an hour or more doing disaster clean up. One of the reasons that it pays so high is because you are going to be working in hazardous conditions and unsanitary conditions.
Keys to success:
- You are going to need to know some of the specific requirements for cleaning up after a disaster. In order to properly sanitize things you will need to know what the government agencies recommend. You are also going to need to know about how to clean mold and flooring after something floods or a hurricane hits. Disaster clean up is not just about going in and picking up the mess, you have to make the places livable again.
- You cannot be afraid of hard work and long hours. To clean up after natural disasters you can spend days cleaning the same house just so people can inhabit it again. You need to be willing to put in the hours to make that possible, and you need to be dedicated to your job.
Risks:
- Injuries are going to be your biggest risk when doing disaster clean up. The reason for this is that sometimes natural disasters or even unnatural disasters leave a house a dangerous working place. You will need to follow certain guidelines when cleaning up in buildings to ensure that nobody gets hurt. However, accidents can still happen so you want to make sure that you are first aid and CPR certified, so you can handle any situations until emergency crews arrive, if needed.
