Did you know that the average dog creates more than 274 pounds of dog poop each year? That’s a lot of pet waste to clean up.
It’s no wonder that some pet owners decide to hire a pet waste removal business to help remove their dog poop. If you’re looking for an easy business to start, you should explore how to start a pooper scooper business.
We talked to William Milliken to learn how he turned a $1,000 investment into a $2 million pet waste removal business. We’ll share how he got into the industry, the pet supplies he uses, marketing strategies to get customers, and tricks he’s learned to become the “Poop Scoop Millionaire.”
Keep reading or click on one of the links below to jump to the segment you want to learn more about:
Learn About the Waste Management Industry
The pet waste removal industry is part of the larger waste management services industry. Businesses in this sector collectively generate $25.1 billion in revenue each year with an average profit margin of 7%.
What is a pet waste removal business?
A pooper scooper business is a company that goes to people’s homes and commercial properties to remove pet waste. The most common type of pet waste is dog poop.
It’s a fairly low-cost business to start because pet waste removal doesn’t require a bunch of fancy equipment and tools.
How many dogs are in the U.S?
According to the American Veterinarian Medical Association, approximately 44.5% of American households have dogs. That equates to approximately 59 million households that need to remove pet waste.
How much do poop scoopers make?
Pet waste removal businesses normally make between $20 to $45 per visit to a home, depending on the number of dogs and the size of the yard. They often offer discounts for repeat customers who hire them to come out more frequently.
For commercial properties, you may want to take the number of units and multiply it by 0.45 to estimate the number of dogs. This will make it easier to calculate the total costs of scooping poop.
William told us:
Are pet waste removal services profitable?
Yes, a pet waste removal business can be highly profitable. Like most service businesses, you can expect gross margins of approximately 50% and net profit margins of up to 20%.
How much does it cost to start a pet waste removal business?
The cost of starting a pooper scooper business is really reasonable. You can start collecting pet waste for under $1,000. However, it can cost between $5K and $60K to become fully licensed and insured. The main costs break down to include the following:
- LLC or corporation: Under $1K
- Business licenses: Under $1K
- Business owner insurance policy: $500 to $2.5K
- Commercial vehicle insurance: Approximately twice as much your personal car insurance
- Equipment: $100 to $1K
- Systems and software: $200 to $10K per year
- Work vehicle (if needed): $30K
- Marketing:Over $10K annually for best results
Next, let’s look at a pooper scooper business that’s already making more than $2 million per year.
Swoop Scoop®: Pet Waste Removal Service
William told us:
Then, my wife was pregnant and I didn’t have time to scoop the poop. We hired a poop scooping company and they didn’t do the job well. My friend Levi wanted to start a business, so we decided to start scooping poop.
William and Levi analyzed how to make a better poop scooping company. They started with $174 and a simple marketing strategy. They posted pictures of a dog poop bag and said they’d pick up poop for $50 a day.
They’d close a third of the people who reached out. Then when it got harder to manage the volume, they started hiring people, getting trucks, and running ads. Now they make more than $200K per month.
Check out our interview with them below:
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How to Start a Pooper Scooper Business
Pet waste removal companies can be great businesses to start, but it helps if you think about your business model before you start offering your pooper scooper services to dog owners. We suggest the following process:
- Research your market.
- Write your waste removal business plan.
- Create your business structure.
- Get poop scooping equipment and supplies.
- Promote your poop scooping business.
- Plan routes.
- Provide stellar customer service.
Let’s look at each step of how to start a poop scooping business.
Step #1. Research Your Market
Researching the market will help you establish some baseline characteristics about your local area.
- Number of potential customers: Assume around 14,833 dog owners per 100K population unless you can find more accurate statistics for your area. This is based on the fact that each household has roughly three people and about 44.5% of households have dogs.
- Number of competing businesses: Competition will be stiffer if there are more pet waste companies in your area.
- Median income: Neighborhoods with higher incomes tend to have more need for a pet waste removal business.
You’ll want to include all your findings in your business plan.
Step #2. Write Your Waste Removal Business Plan
A business plan will help you meet your goals by outlining where you currently stand and what you hope to achieve in the future. At a minimum, you’ll want to document what you found in your market research, your financial goals, and how you plan to achieve them.
Your dog poop removal business should clearly define:
- Services: Do you just offer outdoor poop pickup services, or do you offer other services like cat litter cleanup? Do you focus on homes or will you also work with apartment complexes or other businesses?
- Pricing: Define how much you charge for each service to simplify the process of providing estimates.
Next, you’ll want to create your business structure.
Step #3. Create Your Business Structure
Your business structure consists of all the systems that support your pooper scooper business. This includes a business name, business entity, business license and permits, and bank account.
You’ll want to brainstorm pooper scooper business names that are easy to remember and available as domains and trademarks. Once you’ve verified which pooper scooper business name ideas are available, you’ll choose one and buy the domain name.
For help, check out our business name generator. Not only can you generate new name ideas, but you’ll also be able to see whether those names are available as domains.
Then you’ll want to form a business with the secretary of state’s office in your chosen location. You can choose between a sole proprietorship, limited liability company, or corporation. Since you’ll most likely want employees at some point, it’s best to avoid a sole proprietorship.
After your new business is formed, you’ll need to get an employer identification number from the Internal Revenue Service. You’ll also want to get any tax documentation and business licenses you need from state and local governments.
Once you have all the government documentation, open a business bank account to keep your personal and business finances separate.
Finally, pet waste removal companies need to have software like a payment processor and a customer relationship management system. William told us:
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Step #4. Get Poop Scooping Equipment and Supplies
A dog poop removal service doesn’t require a lot of equipment, but it does need some. You’ll want a pooper scooper, smell-resistant trash bags, rubber gloves, and pooper scooper business cards.
Depending on what other services you offer, you may also want the following:
- Cleaning products
- Litter
- Liners for litter boxes
- Broom and dustpan
- Trash can
- Leashes
Step #5. Promote Your Poop Scooping Business
Pet waste removal businesses have to be a little creative to make as much as William does. The search volume on Google is low for the following terms:
- Pooper scooper near me
- Pooper scooper services near me
- Pooper scooper service near me
- Dog poop clean up service near me
- Dog poop pick up service near me
- Dog pooper scooper near me
- Pooper scooper business near me
- Dog poop service near me
- Pet poop removal service near me
- Dog poop removal near me
- Pet waste removal near me
- Dog waste removal near me
- Poop scoop services near me
- Dog poop removal service near me
- Dog poop clean up near me
- Poop pick up near me
That means you’ll want to consider a variety of strategies while trying to attract new customers.
Creating Flyers
Flyers are a great tool for a new business offering a poop scooping service. You can leave them on neighbors’ doors when you service a property. You can also mail them to prospective customers.
You can also post them at local pet stores, veterinarian offices, and dog parks. Be creative with it. You never know where you’ll find more customers.
Using a Facebook Business Page
Facebook business pages are an incredible tool when starting a pooper scooper company. You can use your page to share tips about keeping your yard clean, feature useful pet products, and make customers aware of your business model.
William explained:
You can also try other social media platforms to see how they work for pet waste removal professionals.
Encourage Repeat Clients
For a poop scooping company to be highly profitable, you’ll need a full roster of recurring clients. Offering a routine customer discount is a great way to encourage people to keep coming back when you’re starting a pet waste removal business. William told us:
In other words, his waste disposal business is making approximately $1,250 annually per client, or $24.04 per week. With this many customers, going to a client’s house needs to be fast or business expenses will eat the profit.
Next, we’ll discuss how pooper scoopers minimize additional costs.
Step #6. Plan Routes
When you pick up dog poop, you’re normally charging a fairly small amount per visit. That means a dog waste removal service needs to be really smart about costs.
Your pooper scooper business startup will probably lose money at first because the cost of traveling will be more than you make. Market your business where you get entire neighborhoods and walk from house to house. Then a drive for $25 can become $50, $100, or even more.
Planning routes is probably one of the hardest parts about starting a pooper scooper business or any service. But once you master the dispatching, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a world-class poop scooper.
Step #7. Provide Stellar Customer Service
At this point, you should know how to start a dog poop removal business. The final step is showing up, doing a good job, and scooping the poop. Here’s a few things to help your customers appreciate your service:
- Let them know when you’ll arrive.
- Drive a professional-looking vehicle.
- Wear a clean uniform.
- Don’t park on their driveway.
- Greet them by name.
- Wear booties if you have to enter the house.
- Scoop all the pet waste.
- Pet at least one dog.
- Thank them.
Dog Poop Scooper Service FAQ
Let’s answer some common questions people have while researching how to start a pooper scooper business.
Is there a dog poop franchise?
There are a number of pooper scooper franchises including:
- Doody Calls: This cleverly named dog pooper scooper business costs over $64K to start and averages $223,767 per territory. Check out Doody Calls.
- Pet Butler: Pet Butler costs between $79K and $99K to start.
- Poop 911: I don’t love their website, so I’d probably avoid this one.
- Scoop Soldiers: Scoop Soldiers offers both territories and predeveloped locations for sale.
How to use a pooper scooper
There are different types of poop scoops, but most consist of a modified dustpan and a rake or claw. With this setup, rake the poop into the pan and then empty the pan into a trash bag. Seal the trash bag when you’re done.
With a scoop, you’ll need to pick up the poop and put it directly into a trash bag.
Where to buy a pooper scooper
You can buy a pooper scooper at any pet store, Walmart, Home Depot, or on Amazon. There are different prices and qualities of scoopers, so take some time to establish which type you would prefer.
Given you’ll be working with it all day, you’ll want a higher quality one than for people who just use them at their own homes.
Conclusion
At this point, we’ve discussed how to start a pet waste removal business in detail. You’ve learned about the number of pets in the U.S, startup costs, and how to conduct market research.
We also explained the need to purchase equipment and follow local regulations. Then we discussed how to market your own business and plan routes to reduce startup costs.
A dog poop business doesn’t require any special training. You can do it as a side hustle after your day job or as a full-time gig. There’s high demand because of the number of dogs in the United States.
So what do you think? Is a dog poop scoop service business right for you?
