How much money do I need? Starting a Pool Service Business

Before starting a project or a business the question always comes up. How much do I need to begin a pool service company? The answer is, not much. Having an understanding of what you will need for a basic maintenance route will let you see that you can get started for very little.

[@justinzorn6125]

i started with nothing!!!!!! just made a tool bag. had a vac system from my former job and bought chems $100 costed me to start and now 8 yrs later 200 highend accounts on long island NY

[@chesfordham8182]

How’s the business going? 200 accounts I imagine pretty good revenue monthly.

[@mathusvaiaoga9787]

How did you market to get your clients??

[@MamiGotHer0wn]

Amazing! I have a cleaning and organizing company in New Jersey for the past five years and I really want to learn more about pool cleaning to see if we can add this for next year

[@justinzorn6125]

@@chesfordham8182 lotta $$$$ and I do it all with inground pools.

[@richardphillips1612]

There’s also realities to the pool industry. I’ve hired many people to do pool work as I was a manager. You won’t believe how many people do not fit the criteria and get hit with their first spring or fall and quit. Do not mislead ppl that it’s easy. Almost no off weeks. Christmas and Thanksgiving most times. You’ll need a certain work ethic and traits: Ability to work outside in all kinds of weather Have enough technical knowledge to troubleshoot all kinds of brands and learn on the fly. Have a great customer service. Have a the ability to learn chemistry easily.

[@rodriguezpoolservice3447]

While I agree that all the things that you have mentioned are true, the point of this video was to show what it takes to get started not how hard or easy it is to do the work. Had I looked at all the negatives I would have never stepped foot into this business that has been rewarding to me and my family. To everyone reading this, what has been commented is 100% true. Not everyone is built for this. It’s not all sunshine and roses and many times you will have 12 hour work days and will come home and work into the night. Only time will tell who will be in this for the long term, and will reap the rewards of running a successful business. This work is not easy and I don’t consider it hard either but like anything that you wish to be great at, it takes dedication and being consistent. Lots to learn, definitely!

[@888tru6]

@@rodriguezpoolservice3447 thanks for your time and advice bro. Just started cleaning pools and I already see myself owning my own business in a year or so with a pick up truck. Any advice for a rookie working under a boss?

[@rodriguezpoolservice3447]

@@888tru6 Learn as much as you can. If you see an issue, Try to troubleshoot it yourself instead of calling it in right away. Truth be told... I learned and continue to learn from experience itself. When it's your customers then you have no choice but to figure it out. Learn as much as your boss will let you learn and when you feel that you are stuck and see no more progress. It's a sign to move on. At that point you have to figure out what is best for you. Everyone has different circumstances. Good luck!

[@mrmighty9862]

You can contract in holidays and being able to hire labor c an break up the burden as well. But yeah, you need to show up at least a little every week or at best checking in.

[@poorstreamer4249]

👍🏼 I appreciate your video to lay down some cost estimates

[@mooky407]

Spot on - it takes very little to get started. In fact, many might be surprised by what you can find on the side of the road. Some folks put up an above ground pool, buy all the cleaning equipment, only to tear it down after a season or two. I've grabbed backup poles, nets, vac heads, vac hoses and connections, brushes - you name it. Much is low dollar stuff, but high dollar stuff breaks and having a backup in place to get through the day (or three) has saved me on more than one occasion. And some new customers will "donate" chemicals and jugs when you take over their accounts. They reason they won't need the stuff anymore.

[@richardphillips1612]

I was a pool manager at a large company and have even owned my own pool business before. It definitely takes a lot of money to start in the pool business. You’ll need at least 3k for chemicals and equipment. 1.) Chemical costs are through the roof! Liquid chlorine isn’t enough in some areas. You’ll need to go tablet. Cal hypo too! 2.) The job itself has more of a learning curve then one might think. If you’re trying to be a legit professional it takes a couple months if not a year to actually be good at troubleshooting. You’ll mess up a lot of customers pools along the way to get it. 3.) Depending on what area you live in. You’ll need a battery powered vacuum around $1000. Even if you didn’t live in a area that needs one. You’ll increase productivity by almost 2x with it. As the battery powered vac can often times be used 90 percent of the time. 4.) have money for repairs 5.) unless you’re willing to make Pennie’s for months. A bought pool route per pool goes for around 9x-12x a customers monthly payment. So say you buy a 20 customer pool route. That’ll be 10x the monthly payment for each customer. Say each customer is at $180 for monthly pool service. That’s $1800 for one customer. Add a escrow clause. The pool industry isn’t something you just jump in. Definitely try working for a company first and possibly mess up learning on their dime before going out on your own. Just imo…

[@2emely]

Thank you for the great info bro!

[@User_92020]

Lol

[@EastBeest-um9wv]

Lotta help. Thanx

[@rodriguezpoolservice3447]

Happy to help

[@markbirmes2225]

I see you with the original pool caddy! Keep pole slangin’ brother!

[@albertopadilla3227]

Thank you sir. Just got my business going, great info and looking forward more videos. God Bless

[@chadbull7855]

I highly recommend getting a Riptide vacuum. It speeds up the pool cleaning big time!

[@hockeyfanbob2001]

How did you start getting customers

[@Staymad13]

How it’s going now?

[@robbyprice8247]

How do you market yourself as just a pool maintenance service and not a full blown contractor who does repairs?

[@Aquatic_Amigo]

What’s LSI ?

[@dashaugh]

Gotta line that truck bed

[@rodriguezpoolservice3447]

I did but damage had been done already. If I get another one in the future I’m 100% getting a liner from the factory to avoid the bed damage.

[@dashaugh]

@@rodriguezpoolservice3447 bummer. I get spray on liner on all of mine.

[@tootiggy1969]

Where did you get the plastic crates your liquid chemicals are in?

[@PlayerOneUp]

Use milk creates….any supermarket USA 🇺🇸

[@user-vd3du4ir9f]

if your just a vac guy ya lol. us guys who do everything with inground pools from renovations, installs, service, etc you need a bit of money for certain tools

[@rodriguezpoolservice3447]

I’m going to take a wild guess and say that most folks watching this video aren’t starting with renovations/installs lol

[@rocketplex8818]

I live in California as well. What exactly is it that I need to open up an accounts like big pool supply warehouses like Superior or SCP ?

[@rodriguezpoolservice3447]

Just a business license (also known as a business tax certificate) is all. You could get one for your city and it's fairly inexpensive. I paid $50.00 for mine when I first started.

[@rocketplex8818]

@@rodriguezpoolservice3447 Great thanks for the quick reply you're awesome 👍😎

[@chucklakes2345]

Basic chemicals for a pool cleaning might be shock, clarifier and alkalinity. Do you ever provide 3” tablets or stay clear of that? Right now I am staying away from that due to cost.

[@rodriguezpoolservice3447]

Some people in the industry don’t use tabs at all. In high use pools you will definitely need tabs or a salt system to produce chlorine on site. We provide Chlorine, Acid and Tabs. Our cost of chemicals per month on average is $40 per pool. Obviously some are less and others are more.

[@ArmchairFinance]

How did you learn the trade? Did you work for somewhere first? Or learn online? How did you generate your first customers?

[@rodriguezpoolservice3447]

Apologize for the late response. I learned by working for 2 different companies. I worked for the first company in Texas for 6 months. I met my wife and moved to California. Here in California I worked for another company for about 7 months. In both companies I worked as a service tech just cleaning and maintaining pools. I learned a lot in those 2 jobs and it was enough for me to feel comfortable to take off on my own. I generated my first set of customers from door hangers. I would not recommend this though as it is very time consuming. Where I really saw growth was through online advertising. I used Google Ads, Home Advisor, Yelp and Facebook. This requires a budget and also requires that you have a great online presentation of your business. A great website and Facebook Page. I started working a part time job while building up my route. It worked perfectly for me and allowed me to have the budget necessary for advertising (about $500/month). Hope this helps.

[@ktulu310]

​@@rodriguezpoolservice3447Hey there! Did you need special licensing besides the standard business license?

[@rodriguezpoolservice3447]

@@ktulu310 Nope. If you are just starting out in residential service no one is going to ask for anything. Present yourself as a profesional and learn as you go. There's no better teacher than experience itself.

[@888tru6]

@@rodriguezpoolservice3447 is there any license or permit you recommend?

[@rodriguezpoolservice3447]

@@888tru6 A business license is good if you work in a specific city a lot. I know that when I opened my account with SCP (My local distributor), they required a business license or contractors license that was related to the pool industry. These city business licenses let you work in specific cities and are usually cheap to get. I pay $50 for mine each year when it comes time to renew it. CPO is a certification that is ok but not necessary unless your local code requires it for servicing public pools. I would not recommend bidding on public pools though until you have a good grasp of the pool industry as some can have issues from the very beginning. If you have any other questions feel free to ask.

[@user-pq9zd4lh7l]

Hello! Great video, had a question... I see a lot of people recommending vacuums upwards of prices around 800$. What vacuum did you purchase, and does it get the job done regardless of the price?

[@rodriguezpoolservice3447]

So if you are just starting your business I wouldn’t recommend an expensive vacuum because you can always clean with a vacuum hose and manual pool vacuum. If it gets really windy and you have heavy debris you can always use your net as best as possible and vacuum the following week. I made it without a riptide for over a year and there are plenty of huge companies out there without the fancy vacuums still holding up. If spending the cash won’t hurt you financially then go for it but it’s not necessary.

[@user-pq9zd4lh7l]

@@rodriguezpoolservice3447 gotcha thank you very much, this is sort of a stupid question… however, when using the hose and manual vacuum, one side of the hose hooks up to the vacuum. Where does the other hook up too?

[@rodriguezpoolservice3447]

@@user-pq9zd4lh7l you would hook up to the pool system. Depending on the pool that would either be the skimmer suction hole or if a cleaner, port is available, then it would be a cleaner port.

[@anthonyramirez4980]

What do you use to measure TDS for the LSI?! Thanks

[@rodriguezpoolservice3447]

Salt/TDS meter made by lamotte

[@markbirmes2225]

@@rodriguezpoolservice3447 Do you test phosphates in the field? Do you have a test strip you trust?

[@wwfera00]

I have a question which may seem dumb but it's been bothering me: If I start my own pool service, and let's say a part of my clients filter needs to be replaced, who pays for that part? Do I buy it with my own money and charge him later for what I paid + labor? Or does the client buy the part, and I just charge him the labor to replace it? Same thing when it comes to if the pool needs a certain chemical, does the client buy it then I charge the labor? How do you charge people

[@rodriguezpoolservice3447]

Usually you inform the customer of what is needed. You give them a price for the part+installation and if they agree then you move forward. You’ll have some customers who will want to purchase the part themselves. For those you just charge for labor. Usually these costs do come out of your pocket and then you bill them at the end of the month. For bigger jobs with more expensive equipment I always ask for a 50% deposit. At the end of the day it’s your business and you decide what works best for you.

[@FlashHarbor]

If they want to purchase the part themselves you tell them to shove it.

[@daniellemurray1987dm]

Let them pay upfront, people will burn you.

[@darinferreira4448]

@@FlashHarbor yeas that aggravates me. I just tack another 25% on my labor. If they think its part of the service, THEN tell them to shove it HA!!

[@darinferreira4448]

Everythging 100% upfront. All 65 of my customer pay in advance, no exceptions. I get ALL my payments on the 1st day of the month via credit card. Yes I pay fees to the bank, BUT it beats the hell out of chasing money.

[@user-gw9sg1ve9n]

If you only had to choose one Riptide or Bottom feeder?

[@rodriguezpoolservice3447]

Depends. The cart takes so much strain of your body. Riptide with cart beats the bottom feeder. If you were to choose between the XP RIPTIDE OR BOTTOM FEEDER then I would choose the Bottom feeder because with the Riptide Xp you have to carry a battery separately making a second trip to the truck necessary. Depends what you are looking for. An all in one? Or a powerful machine with a cart that can carry everything in it. That’s your choice at the end of the day.

[@user-gw9sg1ve9n]

Thank You so much for replying

[@Beh0ldas0n]

Hi, thanks for video. How do you deal with your taxes? Do you usually owe?

[@rodriguezpoolservice3447]

Yep. As a self employed individual you will always owe about 25% of whatever you profit so make sure you put money aside! You don’t want to be figuring out where to get the money last minute.

[@Beh0ldas0n]

@@rodriguezpoolservice3447 appreciate you!

[@fleqse]

Did you have competitors in the area?

[@rodriguezpoolservice3447]

Many competitors. But we continue to grow with good work and good advertising.

[@RockyStatue]

I always see these pool guys on YT with liquid chlorine and no tabs. How long does that liquid last? Unstabilized? Thinking of switching a commercial pool over to liquid

[@rodriguezpoolservice3447]

I do use Chlorine tabs in high usage pools. If you want to get rid of tabs in a commercial pool you’re going to have to have a liquid feeding system. Like a rola-Chem or Pentair’s Intellichem.

[@rodriguezpoolservice3447]

Liquid won’t last unless the pool doesn’t get used at all and with a high enough cya level (like 80-100) and depending on your area some city health regulations won’t allow for stabilizer levels over 30 or 50 in a commercial pool

[@Favfn]

Do you recommend buying a pool route or making one yourself?? And where did you get the blue tote, Thank you!

[@rodriguezpoolservice3447]

I would recommend building a route. This allows you to learn how to negotiate with people. It will allow you to learn from your mistakes. The thing with buying a route is that you instantly get into debt without knowing if this os something you will enjoy doing (unless you have already serviced pools before) but even then. Building a route is not difficult especially if you learn to advertise and market yourself.

[@rodriguezpoolservice3447]

The blue tote was purchased from superior pool products. Depending where you are at they might go under a different name. Look up PoolCorp and you’ll find a branch near you.

[@Favfn]

@@rodriguezpoolservice3447 How can i advertise and market myself in order to get more clients? What do you recommend doing? Thank you again for the response!

[@rodriguezpoolservice3447]

@@Favfn Website, google my business, google ads, Facebook ads. In that order.

[@wwfera00]

@@rodriguezpoolservice3447 what do you mean by a pool route? And buying/building pool route.

[@user-yp8hw4kf3b]

I was wondering if you think it would be more difficult for me as a young person 21 to get clients since they will see I'm young and not trust me ?

[@rodriguezpoolservice3447]

A profesional at heart will never have an issue acquiring customers. If you have good customer service and can explain your service well You can definitely get customers. Age is nothing but a number.

[@darinferreira4448]

tip- dont quote over the phone. People looking for pool service are going down the list on google looking for the lowest price. Always tell them you will be right over, so you can see the pool and give the best rate. THEN, sell yourself, meet them with a smile and handshake, and take a look at their pool and equipment, and tell them everything looks great. Get your foot in the door, and always show up same day, same time, customers will most always stick with you. Make sure to have them pay in advance, dont get burned. I had to learn the hard way.

[@billcereske7211]

@@rodriguezpoolservice3447 A different industry AND retired now BUT I started my own alarm service business at age 19. When I treated my customers well and gave them professional service, I asked for referrals. The only time my age worked against me was when I let my hair get too long and "Hippy". Go for it, young one!

[@Aquatic_Amigo]

What should we charge to clean a pool .. how do we charge ?

[@rodriguezpoolservice3447]

What you charge will depend on you and what you want to make and what kind of service you are providing. If you are just starting I would suggest calling several companies(in your area) to see what their starting rate is at. You will get a pretty good idea as to what you should start your service at. You don’t want to be too high but you also don’t want to be too low because it will hurt you later on when trying to expand and hire.

[@Aquatic_Amigo]

Why do you need sockets and drivers

[@rodriguezpoolservice3447]

Later on when you start repairing stuff you’ll need these to open up equipment.

[@AmpedUpx]

Did you need a license in California?

[@rodriguezpoolservice3447]

just a business license to open an account with superior or scp. So you can purchase your chemicals and parts.

[@pureboom9436]

Do i need license to run a serves business in Florida

[@rodriguezpoolservice3447]

No, I was watching a video earlier this week and the guy (chlorine king) mentioned that no licenses are required to provide maintenance to residential pools in Florida.

[@kennethsmith3522]

If you are doing service only and minor repairs no license required. But if you are changing out pumps, motors you need a pool contractor license. I’m in Florida also.

[@greghackney8437]

Another thousand or so for liability insurance.

[@rodriguezpoolservice3447]

For auto maybe but commercial liability is quite cheap to start a new policy

[@Roottech25]

What about insurance?.... do you need that to start or you can manage without one at least for the beginning stages?

[@rodriguezpoolservice3447]

I would recommend starting off with insurance now that I know better. When I started I didn’t have insurance. General Liability in specific. I have never had to use my insurance (going on 4 years). The chance of something going wrong is rare but if something does go wrong you will wish that you had got insurance. Conclusion: The right thing would be to get insurance from the beginning to protect your business in case of property damage.

[@elkat_bori_pr7791]

Oh well the first thing I do was to get the CPO certification. Then later when I went to the store I spend about $400.

[@ericbartoszak5211]

CPO certification?

[@elkat_bori_pr7791]

@@ericbartoszak5211 Certified Pool Operator

[@dallasvirusremoval1868]

Why is it when I see pool guy's trucks, there is never any chemicals except chlorine? When you talk about LSI factor you should heed your words and help your customers by actually balancing their pool and not just brush, vac, and shock! Try to do them and yourself a favor and adjust their alkalinity & PH up or down and adjust hardness levels. Not to mention CYA. Your truck does not have these chem's on it! you might have Acid, but surely no adjusters like bicarb or soda ash which are granular and you don't have them in your truck based on what I can see in this video. Can you explain why ???

[@rodriguezpoolservice3447]

Good eye! This truck was brand new at the time of this video and it lacked many of the things you mentioned. If you take a look at the trucks currently you would see all the aforementioned chemicals. Thanks for the input and again. Good eye!

[@canadamed1890]

Hi! How much minimum salary?

[@kmc662]

that little 4ft bed is gunna get eaten up in no time.

[@tiryakidetiryaki1826]

Hi boss, you are buying many chemicals and paying gas everyday, do you really making money? 🤔 And what about tax?

[@rodriguezpoolservice3447]

Well, you have to sit down and find out if you are charging enough for your service. If you charge too cheap and have all these costs then you could almost be making no money. On average I keep about 35% after all my costs. I have an employee just for reference. If you work solo then you would keep more.

[@tiryakidetiryaki1826]

@@rodriguezpoolservice3447 👍

[@randylouis2890]

Shot me a massage

[@rodriguezpoolservice3447]

You can’t send messages on KZbin.

[@conqueringlion420]

I spent 100k but I service the largest pools in California

[@kyleanderson6227]

Largest pools are the worst pools to service

[@Cuete590]

How’s it going man I’m out of Northern California and I was looking into starting a mobile pool cleaning service… I checked around and there’s none in my county but a lot of people have pools… how do I gain knowledge on pools and how to clean and maintain them can you give me some advice via email thank you 🙏

[@rodriguezpoolservice3447]

Usually I would say to work for a company for a bit. But since you said there are no companies. Just understand pool chemistry as best as possible. Especially how conditioner/cyanuric acid works in a pool. Then LSI (which is still part of the chemical balance). It will be a huge learning journey especially at the beginning but if you want it you’ll make it happen.

[@crismejiaflores10]

Do you have an email to contact you

[@rodriguezpoolservice3447]

[e-mail]