How To Write A Moving Company Business Plan

Moving homes is an exciting moment for anyone. 

It’s the promise of a new beginning in a new location even if you are staying in the same town or the same state. 

Here is how to write a moving company business plan:

1. Start writing your business plan.
2. Choose your moving radius.
3. Outline business supplies cost. 
4. Apply for business insurance. 
5. Think of your marketing strategy. 

If you love to help people embark on their journey to their new home, you may want to open your own moving company business. 

Owning a business has its rewards, but you must first start by writing a business plan. 

1. Start Writing Your Business Plan

You cannot finish your business plan in one sitting. It will be a work in progress for weeks or even months or years at a time depending on how much time you devote to building your moving company startup.

It’s best to at least get it outlined and start writing the sections that you have information about. 

Key sections to write for your moving company includes the following:

• Executive Summary.
  • Summary of your entire business plan.
  • Best to write this section last. 
• Company Description.
  • Outline the company’s mission and vision. 
  • Give your back story for inspiration. 
• Products and Services
  • Moving services. 
  • Products you may sell are boxes, packing tape, markers, and labels. 
• Market Analysis.
  • Who is your target market?
    • Demographics: Age, income, area, etcetera. 
• Business Strategy.
  • How you will market your business. 
  • Public relations. 
  • Business goals.
  • Industry analysis. 
• Company Organization.
  • Management team.
  • How many employees. 
• Financial Projections.
  • Monthly sales for the first 6 months to 1 year. 
  • Balance sheets. 
  • Income statements. 
  • Cash flow statements. 
• Appendix
  • Supporting documents. 
  • Flyers for marketing events. 
  • Graphs to show moving statistics in your area. 

Tip: Conduct research about the moving industry every day to add something new, even if one sentence, to your business plan. 

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2. Choose Your Moving Radius

Do you want to help people move within a 50-mile radius? Are you open to helping people move within a 100-mile radius or more? 

Every moving company has its designated moving radius. Once you choose this, you can advertise the areas that you serve. 

For example, if you are located in Miami and want to serve the surrounding 50-mile radius, you can list on your website that you serve the following cities:

• Boca Raton.
• Pembroke Pines.
• Coral Springs.
• Deerfield Beach. 
• Hollywood.
• Coconut Creek.
• Delray Beach. 
• Davie. 

Look on Google Maps of your local city and find the surrounding cities. You can also conduct a Google search that says “towns near (your city)” to get a general idea of what cities you can serve based on the moving radius that you desire. 

Tip: Start small with a 50-mile moving radius. You do not want to overwhelm yourself or your employees by starting with too large of a radius, especially if you have too many clients at one time to satisfy in one week. Once you get more moving trucks and increase the number of employees, you can expand your radius to 75 or 100 miles. 

3. Outline Business Supplies Cost

Business supplies for your moving company will include any vehicles, furniture, and other moving supplies. 

Below you will find what you need to run your moving company and the cost associated with each need:

Item	Quantity	Cost Per Item	Total Cost For All Items
Moving Trucks	1	$12,000	$12,000
Four-Wheel Dollies	4	$25	$100
Utility Dollies	4	$50	$200
Appliance Dolly	4	$150	$600
Ratchet Straps	10	$5	$50
Ramps	3	$200	$600
Moving Blankets	3	$15	$45
Tool Kits	3	$60	$180
Shrink Wrap	50	$20	$1,000
Cardboard Boxes	500	$3	$1,500
Carpet Masking	500	$75	$37,500
Label Guns with Labels	2	$30	$60
Shoulder Dolly Lifting Straps	$60	4	$240
		Grand Total	$54,075

To get started with your moving company, you will need at least 1 moving truck. This can help you and your employees to start small before upgrading to having 2-4 moving trucks to work more moving jobs for clients simultaneously. 

Tip: Find a wholesale company that can help you to get the supplies you need for your moving company. Some online moving, packing, and industrial supply companies include Movers Warehouse, Inc and Supplies for Moving, Inc. 

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4. Apply For Business Insurance

Any business should have general liability insurance. This insurance will pay for any employee injuries that happen during a moving assignment. Also, if the client’s belongings are damaged while on the job, it will cover the cost of a replacement thanks to the policy. 

However, general liability insurance will not cover the worker’s compensation needed as the employee is stabilizing after the injury. Hence, you will have to apply for workers’ compensation insurance as well. 

Commercial property insurance is important for your moving business headquarters in case your office equipment, furniture, and anything else in your building may be damaged because of a natural disaster. 

In conjunction with commercial property insurance, it’s crucial to also hold business interruption insurance. If you are not able to conduct business because of a natural disaster, your business and employees can be covered with payment through that period. 

Say that your moving trucks are damaged because of a natural disaster and/or your headquarters. Business interruption insurance will compensate your business and employees until the moving trucks and headquarters are fixed back to normal. 

Professional liability insurance will cover your company if your clients claim that you or your employees conducted themselves with negligence or caused harm during service. 

Umbrella insurance covers additional costs of a claim that cannot be fully compensated with your other insurance coverage. This is best to have so that you do not have to pay out of pocket. 

Commercial auto insurance is needed to cover your moving company trucks if there were to be accidents on the job. 

Tip: Rather than get insurance policies from multiple different companies, try finding an insurance provider that gives you all of these policies in one package so it’s less overall maintenance. 

5. Think Of Your Marketing Strategy

A business is nothing without marketing. Get your moving company on the right foot by thinking of your marketing strategy. 

Word-of-mouth marketing is a powerful tactic. Have business cards on hand to give out to all your potential clients. Give a couple of extra to each client and ask them to spread the word to those who need moving services. 

Place flyers around the different businesses in the community that allows you to post on their bulletin boards. Have paper hanging strips that have your business name, phone number, and email so that potential customers can tear off the information to contact you about moving services. 

Social media is a key marketing tool. Make a Facebook and/or Instagram for your moving business and post business updates, new promotions, or even polls to get the conversation going with your customers. 

Final Thoughts For Writing A Moving Company Business Plan

Take it slow as you begin to write your business plan for your moving company. Working a little on it each day will lead you to your grand opening day. 

Remember to choose a moving radius, find a wholesale company for your supplies, and apply for all the business insurance policies that you would need to get your moving company in proper operation. 

Frequently Asked Questions

As you write your moving company business plan, we imagine that you have some more questions as you complete this key factor in opening your future venture. 

What is the difference between appliance dollies, utility dollies, and four-wheel dollies?

Appliance dollies are much like utility dollies. However, what’s different about an appliance dolly is that there are straps to keep your larger belongings in place. 

While utility dollies usually have one handle to hold, appliance dollies will have two handles to keep the heavy item steady as you move it from the old home to the moving truck and into the new home. 

Utility and appliance dollies only have two wheels. Hence its name, four-wheel dollies have 4 wheels rather than 2. 

Four-wheel dollies can move wider furniture such as flat-screen televisions. Appliance dollies can move mattresses, dressers, chairs, and cabinets. while utility dollies can move refrigerators. 

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What is the weight limit for dollies? 

General dollies can hold a maximum of 800 pounds. Other general models may be able to hold only 600 pounds. More heavy-duty dolly models can hold upwards of 1,200 pounds. Check your dolly’s manufacturer details to find out the weight capacity for the dollies you have for your moving business. 

How else can I purchase business insurance?

Besides purchasing business insurance from an insurance company, you can also go to an insurance broker or apply for the policies on an online insurance marketplace. 

If you are not sure about the main parameters of business insurance, it would be best to purchase them from an insurance company and talk to a representative in person to be sure that you have everything you need. 

To learn more on how to plan your own moving company business click here!

Please note that the contents of this blog are for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. Any action taken based on the information provided in this blog is solely at your own risk. Additionally, all images used in this blog are generated under the CC0 license of Creative Commons, which means they are free to use for any purpose without attribution.