Are you dabbling with the idea of how to make money in the towing business? On average, the revenue for the towing industry is expected for continual growth. This industry’s market size amounts to $7 billion, with a total of 46,821 businesses in the US. Meanwhile, employment for the industry is over 95,855 people. Knowing this information…
Is the Towing Business Profitable
If you’re wondering if towing is a profitable gig, the short answer is YES. However, if you’re someone contemplating whether to dive right into the towing business, you’ll need a more detailed answer than a simple “yes.”
The average charge per two is $120, including the flat fee and mileage charge. Annually, the average towing business owner will earn somewhere between $30,000 to $100,000 annually.
The Cost of Starting a Towing Business
Starting a towing business from scratch will cost you around $150,000 to $2,000,000. With that said, you also need to consider the monthly fees if you’re planning to buy a new truck. Let’s say you purchased one tow truck, here’s an estimated list of expenses that will incur:
- $1200+ Fuel (Assuming you received 220 calls)
- $300 Insurance Fee
- $500 Repair Bills (This depends on the age of your truck and upkeep)
- $500 Estimated Amount for Advertising
- $100 Phone Bill
- $300 Damages
- $75 Uniform
- $50 Miscellaneous (Items such as office supplies and ticket book)
Other purchases might include the following:
- Full equipped tow + Accessories
- Amber strobe lights
- Flatbed
- Floodlights
- Flares
- Traffic cones
- Jacks
- Booster for battery and cable
- GPS
- Lockout kit
- Tire service tools
What You Need to Do to Make Money
To answer the main question, “how to make money in the towing business.” Here are five pointers you need to follow:
#1 Search for an Edge
As mentioned above, there are a total of 46,821 tow truck businesses available in the country. It’s best to do your own research and get an estimate on how many businesses existing near your planned location. After finding out about your competitors, read the services they offer.
Next, you need to brainstorm how to stand out from your competitors. Remember, having “an edge” will make your business more memorable to clients.
#2 Building a Team
If you’re a startup, it’s not necessary to hire employees. However, most established tow truck businesses hire employees to offer 24/7 services. Having an around-the-clock service will give you the advantage to receive more calls from repair shops or agencies from the government.
So, it’s important to invest time and money in employees to make this possible. You can’t manage everything alone.
Explore Partnerships
As your business grows, it’s smart to explore potential partnerships. In this way, you’re not only creating a team within your towing business, but you’re also building your “outer team.” Remember, even if your business can survive alone, think about all the possibilities once you successfully collaborated with a partner. Besides, building partnerships is one way to expand your customer base.
#3 Expand Services Offered
After you get a hang of your towing capacities, it’s best to consider expanding the services you offer. Once you venture into more business opportunities for your tow truck business, you’ll earn higher revenue. Here are other services you can offer to clients:
- Emergency roadside assistance
- Emergency fuel deliveries
- Providing jumpstart
- Changing flat tires
- Leasing tow trucks (If you managed to purchase more tow trucks)
If you want to take a big leap after achieving a milestone, you might want to consider expanding your towing business to:
- Boats
- Specialty vehicles
- Motorcycles
Of course, you need to consider the required licenses to enable the expansion.
#4 Quality Service
A customer will always turn to competitors if they encounter a bad experience using a service or product. To avoid losing customers, you need to offer stellar services. First, you need to focus on offering reliable services for them to trust you on the road. To do this, ensure the shortest turnaround as much as possible.
Remember, your customers do not want to be kept too long waiting for you. Most customers value their time, and they will leave bad reviews if you take “too long.” Next, it’s important to emphasize to your employees to have a pleasant personality.
You need to aim to leave a great first impression on clients. Once you achieve a quality first impression, offer a referral program to your clients. We’ll discuss more details about referrals and repeat customers in the next section.
#5 Tow Truck Marketing
What’s the point of offering stellar services when your business is off the radar? To earn profits, it’s vital to learn how to market your services and your business. If you’re only starting, your problem is increasing your brand awareness. Here are ways how to market your tow truck business:
Know Where Your Potential Customers Are Looking
Like most people, your potential customers will search on the internet, “nearest tow truck service number.” Yes, that means you need to put your business on the map. I’m not talking about a printed map, although that is also useful. However, it’s more convenient to search for a service online.
It’s easy to make a business account on Google and register your business on Google maps. By doing this, you’ll increase the probability of prospects finding your service. You can read more about registering your business on Google here. While we’re on this topic, it’s best if you consider setting up a website or Facebook account for your tow truck business.
If you want to learn more about how to increase website traffic, click here.
Creating a business profile on social media, it’s much easier for potential customers to search about the services you offer. While creating an account, make sure to include ALL details. It’s also helpful if you pin a post on Facebook highlighting your services. After creating an account on various social media, assign a key person to answer inquiries via chat or call.
Learn Online Marketing
For this section, your social media accounts will be useful. If you want to have a wider reach on your location, it’s best to boost your Facebook post as an ad. Did you know that there are 2.80 billion active users on Facebook? There’s a high probability that most of the residents in your targeted vicinity are active online. So, don’t hesitate to invest a small amount in paid promotions.
Another way to market your tow truck business is by opening a website. It will be helpful if your website is ranked on search engines. It’s best if you use a keyword that has “tow truck service” and the location of your business. So if your competitors are not taking advantage of online marketing, there will be a high chance that your business will show on top of the results as prospects search for the nearest tow truck service in that state.
Offline Marketing
There will be an inevitable circumstance where prospects can’t rely on their internet to search for a tow truck service. To further increase your potential in earning profits, it’s best to invest in offline marketing. Here is a list of what you can do:
- Referral program. Offer incentives to customers for referrals.
- Printed ads (flyers, posters, etc.)
- Billboard space
Express Your Business’ Value
It’s essential to express to customers that you’re not just another tow truck business. Most times, people appreciate a business that has a genuine care for its customers. A business that has the full potential not only sells its services but also has a story to tell. Don’t focus on the job alone.
To do this, you must establish the following:
Branding Message
Show clients that you’re more than a tow truck service. Choose a memorable message for the clients that highlights your business belief. If you’re having a hard time establishing your brand’s mission and vision, why not take a look at your competitors? See what type of approach and tone they have as they engage with their clients. For example: market your business as a go-to place for on-the-road problems.
If there’s a lot of competition within your area, choose your best three and focus on them. Here’s a list of guide questions to ask yourself:
- Who’s my business persona? How will I approach my clients?
- The type of experiences your clients expect
- Your customer’s thought process when deciding a tow truck service. Why do they choose you or your competitors?
Target Market
Conduct research on which demographic uses the tow truck service in your local area.
A Great Backstory About Your Company
It’s best to choose a great background story about your company. People sympathize and empathize with a business. Don’t be shy and tell your story. If you have a website, dedicate a whole page to it.
Conclusion
In the end, you learned different strategies on how to make money in the towing business. For sure we already established that the towing business is indeed profitable. However, starting from scratch can be challenging and overwhelming. It’s important that you have a passion for this line of the industry to help you get by as you build the business.
The key takeaway for this article, if you decided whether to push through, it’s important to market your business online. It’s best to take advantage of the power of social media marketing and the internet.
