How to Prepare For and Utilize Busy Months in Pest Control

We’ve touched on how to deal with slow months as a pest control business, but what about the opposite side of the coin? Busy months are always welcomed within the pest control industry as they bring in the bulk of the yearly revenue and offer a constant stream of new business and potential new repeat clients. Now, while this is all great, there is also a need on your end to prepare to handle this type of influx of work. Seasoned pest control professionals may have a plan that is already set up and works for them, but what about the newly opened pest control companies or the smaller ones that may need a little more resources to prepare. Below are some suggestions on how to handle the busy months of the pest control calendar year.

Prepare months in advance:

While slow months mean less revenue, you may want to start financially planning out your needs for the upcoming busy season and obtain equipment accordingly. If you are a new company you may not have a yearly average of work yet, so you won’t have data to go by, but going over what pests you take care of, the equipment needed, etc. could give you a basic estimate of what you need, how much it will cost and can allow you to get all of this in order before the busy season comes.

Hire on new workers:

Beginning around February (for areas that have colder winters) you may want to start considering hiring on some more workers to cover all areas. A one-man pest control company can only do so much during a busy season and you do not want any missed leads, so the expense of hiring on another pest control technician or even a secretary to ensure all calls are answered and returned could ensure you are covering more clients during the same period during the busy season.

Develop a schedule for the pest control team:

A busy season means more business, so it may be good to set your busy season schedule up in advance so people know when they will be working (if you can swing a relatively uniform schedule). When companies go into a busy season without much preparation of a schedule, things can get messy fast with technicians not really knowing when they will be needed. Having the work scheduled laid out will also allow you to see whether or not you will need more technicians to fill any gaps prior to the season starting.

Organize:

It may seem like a meaningless task, but organization is even more important in the busy season than off-season for pest control companies. In the off season, you may feel like you have time to organize your paperwork, payroll, and other important files, but it is just as–if not more–important to do it in the busy season because of the fact that things may slide through the cracks easier. Take the time at the end of the day to at least organize paperwork if you cannot file it, so that you will not be scrambling to find it come tax season or in case of a customer’s question.

Collect data:

The busy season is the time to collect your data. A missed busy season is a missed opportunity to see strengths and weaknesses in your company and its services. Keep a list of the pests you service, how much you are making vs. the overhead spending you need to keep your business going and go from there. Services such as Google Ads and Quickbooks can be very helpful for this and can allow you to see what needs to be done to make the next busy season even more successful than the last. These are some suggestions on how to work with the busy season to create a continuously successful pest control company. There are many others way the busy season can be utilized to your businesses advantage.