How to start a home services business you actually own

A home services business is any business that does work at people's homes: cleaning, lawn care, pressure washing, handyman work, painting, pest control, or a licensed trade like plumbing, electrical or HVAC. Plenty of people work in these trades for someone else and wonder about running their own. The work itself is the part you already know. What trips new owners up is everything around it: picking what to sell, the paperwork, the price, finding customers and collecting money. This guide covers those in the order you will hit them.

1. Pick what you will sell

Start with what you can already do well, or can learn quickly. Then ask three questions about it:

• Does it need a license where you live? Plumbing, electrical, HVAC and roofing usually do, often with years of supervised experience first. Cleaning, lawn mowing and pressure washing often need only a general business license, but rules vary by state and city.
• Is it recurring or one-off? Recurring work like cleaning, mowing and pool service gives you steady income and a predictable route. One-off work like painting or remodeling pays more per job but needs a steady stream of new customers.
• What does it cost to start? A cleaning business can start with supplies and a car. A pressure washing business needs a machine, surface cleaner and hoses. A tree service needs much heavier equipment and more insurance.

The table is a rough guide only. Your state and local government set the rules, so check with them.

2. Do the paperwork in order

The U.S. Small Business Administration's business guide (sba.gov, checked October 8, 2026) lays out the launch steps: choose a business structure, choose a name, register the business, get federal and state tax IDs, apply for licenses and permits, open a business bank account and get business insurance. For a home services business, here is what each means in practice.

1. Structure. Many one-person shops start as a sole proprietor or a single-member LLC. The difference is mainly liability and taxes. A short call with an accountant is worth it.
2. Name. Pick something people can remember and say on the phone. Check that it is not taken in your state and that the web address is available.
3. Register. With your state, and with your county or city if they require it.
4. Tax IDs. The IRS says you generally need an Employer Identification Number (EIN) to hire employees or run a partnership or corporation, and that applying is free; it warns you never have to pay a fee for one (irs.gov, checked October 8, 2026). Many sole proprietors get one anyway to keep their Social Security number off invoices and forms.
5. Licenses and permits. Ask your state licensing board and your city or county. For licensed trades this is the big step.
6. Bank account. Keep business money separate from day one. It makes taxes and pricing much easier.
7. Insurance. See below.

3. Insurance before the first job

The SBA's insurance page (checked October 8, 2026) lists general liability insurance, which it says protects against financial loss from bodily injury, property damage and similar claims, as one of the common types. It also says businesses with employees are required to carry workers' compensation, unemployment and disability insurance, and that some states require more. Working at someone else's house means you will break something one day, so general liability is the policy most homeowners and property managers will ask about. If you drive a truck for work, ask your agent whether your personal auto policy covers work use, or whether you need commercial auto.

Ask for a certificate of insurance you can send when a customer or property manager asks. It comes up more than you would think, especially for commercial work.

4. Plan for taxes from the first invoice

When you work for yourself, nobody withholds taxes from your pay. The IRS says the self-employment tax rate is 15.3%, made up of 12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare, and that you file Schedule SE if your net self-employment earnings are $400 or more. It also says you may have to pay estimated taxes quarterly (irs.gov, checked October 8, 2026). Income tax comes on top of that. A simple habit: move a set share of every payment into a separate tax account the day it comes in, and ask an accountant what share fits your situation.

5. Price for profit, not to be cheapest

New owners almost always charge too little. They price against the cheapest competitor, forget the hours that are not billable, and find out at tax time that the business paid them less than their old job.

Build your price from the bottom up:

1. What you need to earn. Start with what you would pay someone to do your job. For reference, the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for May 2025 puts the national median wage at $26.65 an hour for roofers and $23.75 an hour for painters (bls.gov, checked October 8, 2026). Look up your own trade and area there.
2. Billable hours. You will not bill 40 hours a week. Driving, estimates, buying materials, invoicing and bad weather all eat time. Count the hours you can really charge for.
3. Overhead. Truck, fuel, insurance, phone, software, tools, advertising. Add it up for a year.
4. Materials and job costs priced per job, with a markup.
5. Profit. On top of your pay, so the business can replace equipment and survive a slow month.

Divide your pay plus overhead by your billable hours to get the least you can charge per hour. Then price jobs from that. The free profit margin calculator shows the difference between margin and markup, which is where many new owners lose money. Our trade pricing guides go deeper: pressure washing, lawn care, commercial cleaning, painting and roofing.

6. The first customers

Your first jobs usually come from three places:

• People you know. Tell everyone, ask for introductions, and do the first jobs very well.
• The neighbors of every job. People notice a truck in the driveway. Door hangers or a postcard to the homes nearby with a photo of the finished work turn one job into the next. Koira mails cards to the 50 homes nearby most likely to hire you after each job.
• Google. Set up a Google Business Profile with your real business name, services, hours and photos, and ask every customer for a review. Our guide to SEO for contractors covers the basics.

A simple website that shows what you do, where you work, a price or price range and a way to book helps all three, because people look you up before they call. Koira builds one from your business on the free plan, with Book online and Get a price on every page. To see how your business looks online today, get the free AI report.

7. Get paid on the day

Cash flow sinks more new businesses than a lack of work. Three habits help:

• Deposits on bigger jobs. Take a deposit when the customer signs, so materials are paid for. Our post on deposits covers how much and how to ask.
• Invoice from the driveway. An invoice sent at the end of the job gets paid faster than one typed up on Sunday.
• Take cards. Customers expect to pay by card or phone. The processing fee is a cost of doing business; build it into your prices.

Koira's free Office plan includes estimates with signing and deposits, invoices and card payments. On Office, Koira keeps 2% of each card payment, plus Stripe's processing.

8. Keep the tools simple

You need a phone, a way to send estimates and invoices, a calendar, and a place to keep customer details. Avoid paying for big software built for shops with dispatchers before you have a crew. When the phone starts ringing more than you can answer from a ladder, look at a receptionist that texts back missed calls; Koira's is on Grow at $249 a month plus usage at cost. There is no per-person fee when you hire your first helper. See pricing.

9. The first year

• Track where every job came from, so you know what to keep doing.
• Raise prices when your calendar fills more than a couple of weeks out.
• Offer repeat customers a plan, such as twice-a-year service, so next year starts with booked work. Koira sells maintenance plans on the Front Office plan.
• Look at your margin every month, not just at tax time.

Questions contractors ask