Thinking about creating your own septic tank business?
Setting up and growing a septic tank pumping or cleaning company is challenging. It requires expertise in septic tank mechanics and investing in the proper equipment.
In this guide, we’ll explore how to set yourself up for success to achieve efficiency from day one.
If you’d like a personalized demo to see how ServiceTitan can help your septic tank business specifically, you can schedule one here.
1. Create a Septic Tank Business Plan
Just like you need a roadmap to reach the right destination, your septic tank business plan is your map of how you want your business to grow.
When you’re creating your business plan, you should:
Describe your septic business services
Identify your target market
Outline your specific service area
Analyze market trends
Know your competitors
Choose a business name
Select your business structure (e.g., sole proprietorship or limited liability company)
Set your septic tank services pricing
Establish an organizational chart
Choose hourly or flat-rate labor rates
Brainstorm marketing ideas
Include financial projections
A septic tank business plan establishes your company’s goals and strategies for moving forward so you can hit the ground running.
A solid business plan keeps your company on track for future growth.
As Courtney Van Delden of Van Delden Wastewater Systems notes, success is about "Efficiency and making your company work as efficiently as possible. Everything just boils down to that.
ServiceTitan makes you efficient in so many ways. Honestly, I can't see how we lived without it before," she says.
How you price, organize, market, and prioritize your services will determine your success. When writing your business plan, keep efficiency in mind as you zero in on pricing, marketing, and budgeting details.
Setting your prices and budget
You may already know what services you want to offer, such as septic tank cleaning and maintenance, installation, emergency services, cleaning grease traps for local restaurants, clearing municipal sewer lines, or maintaining portable toilets on job sites.
Your business plan should describe your services, service area, and target market in detail. That includes analyzing market trends to set competitive base pricing for your products and services.
Before finalizing your pricing, calculate the cost of disposing of waste at disposal locations in your area, the time and distance your team needs to travel to job sites, and the cost of maintaining your equipment, such as septic pump trucks.
This will help you determine how many tanks you must pump per week to cover costs.
According to HomeAdvisor, the average cost for septic tank pumping ranges from $288 to $556. Charges may vary, but most companies charge a flat fee for emptying a septic tank.
Depending on local competition and market demand, some septic tank businesses may struggle to make a 5% profit margin, while others easily maintain a 20% margin.
A plan for starting a septic pumping business also includes an organizational chart for all employees, with clearly defined job roles and expectations. Small businesses may prefer to pay employees hourly, while larger companies may offer flat-rate pay.
Learn more about the advantages of flat-rate pay.
Leave room in your budget for marketing
Your profit margin should also include a budget for marketing. Brainstorm marketing strategy ideas for your septic business, then commit a certain percentage of revenue, around 10 to 20%, for marketing those ideas (more on this later).
Make long-term financial projections
Finally, include financial projections for future budgeting and expenses in the short and long term. Break it down by month so you can easily see projected revenue, overhead expenses, total income, taxes, etc., and then work toward increasing your septic pumping business's profits.
Include an executive summary to summarize the above, along with your company’s mission statement or core values.
A septic tank business can also use ServiceTitan’s Service Business Valuation Calculator to estimate the current value of their business or the Service Business Checkup tool to evaluate the health of a septic business in just 60 seconds.
Learn more about setting up a successful new business in the ServiceTitan Playbook and about ServiceTitan’s Pricebook tool.
2. Identify Septic Business Startup Costs
Starting a septic tank cleaning business can be expensive, especially when buying and maintaining a fleet of sizeable septic pump trucks.
Experts recommend starting a new business with at least a 3,500-gallon pump truck, allowing you to complete two or three jobs before offloading.
A nice, used pump truck — an essential septic business tool — could cost up to $50,000, but you’ll also need to pay for insurance, permits, outfitting the truck, and more. A new pumper truck with more power and greater capacity may cost upward of $150,000 (with some closer to $225,000).
Disposal fees are another important expense for your septic tank business. Fees vary in every municipality and by disposal station; for example, in LA county, disposal fees range anywhere from 5.5¢/gallon to 13.7¢/gallon depending on the station. Explore options in your community for approved waste treatment plants or private companies specializing in sewer systems.
Other expenses for a septic tank business may include:
Business licenses
Rent for office space
Office supplies
Legal services
Insurance policies (business insurance and general liability insurance)
Vehicle maintenance and repair
Tank inventory
Installation inventory
Fuel for pump trucks
Labor costs
Software tools and digital devices
Use ServiceTitan’s Labor Rate Calculator tool to help you calculate employee costs.
3. Determine Your Business Financing
Once you’ve identified your startup costs, you’ll need to raise the capital to cover them. That includes the fixed assets for your business, such as pump trucks and equipment, initial labor costs, legal fees, disposal fees, licensing and registration, and more.
Consider the startup costs of your septic tank business
Be thorough and include extra funds for contingencies that may come up as you set up operations. The more thorough your accounting is, the more likely you’ll be able to secure funding from investors or business loans.
Even if you’re financing the business independently, this will help you manage your budget effectively.
If you’re unsure, hire an accountant who can offer business advisory services, as they’ll often be able to identify hidden costs that you might not have thought of otherwise.
Decide how to finance your business
There are various ways to finance your business; you can choose one or opt for a combination of sources to diversify your funding.
Personal savings: Having the personal savings to finance your business can help you maintain more control and avoid debt. However, it’s essential to make sure that you separate personal and business finances with a business account.
SBA loans: The Small Business Administration (SBA) offers small business loans and investment capital options that help you fund your septic tank business.
If approved, these loans offer lower interest rates and longer repayment periods than traditional loans, making them an excellent option for new business owners.
Bank loans: Banks also offer a variety of small business loans; however, they often have higher interest rates and are typically more difficult to qualify for. These loans might also require collateral to secure the loan, meaning you’ll have to use business or personal assets to secure the loan.
Investors: Investors can provide starting capital without the high interest rates associated with loans. People often seek investors in their business networks, but you can also find investors if you have a strong business plan and a track record of success.
If you seek investors, you’ll have to decide the net worth of your business and the share of profits they can expect to see as a return on their investment.
Once you’ve decided on a funding source, it’s time to register your business officially and set up shop.
4. Register Your Septic Tank Business
Although it’s possible to do business under a sole proprietorship without officially registering, business registration comes with significant legal and tax benefits.
It’s better to protect yourself legally by officially registering your business. Depending on your business structure, you can register as an LLC, partnership, or corporation.
Choosing a business name
While registering your business, you may also want to register your business name to protect your brand identity. Your business name should be unique to your business and aligned with your service offering.
Depending on whether you plan to stay local or scale across states, you can register at the state or federal level.
If your business name isn’t already taken, you can register a unique domain name associated with your services.
The business registration process
Once you decide on a structure and business name, the registration process is quite simple. You must register at the state level if your business is an LLC, corporation, or partnership.
You’ll also need to register for a tax ID when you register. Most businesses will need a federal one, but you may also need a state ID depending on the state you’re doing business in. Septic tank businesses will usually also need local small business licenses for plumbing.
Getting insurance coverage
Insurance will protect your septic tank business from accidents, damages, and other unforeseen events that could otherwise destroy your business. You’ll want to consider:
Commercial general liability insurance: To get a contractor license, you’ll likely need general liability insurance. This covers the legal costs of property damage, non-employee personal injury, and the consequences of false advertising.
Workers’ compensation insurance: If you’re hiring employees, you’ll need workers’ compensation for medical bills and the costs of employee injuries. Every state except Texas requires you to maintain workers’ compensation to protect your workers.
Commercial auto insurance: Since general liability insurance doesn’t cover your septic tank trucks, you’ll need additional insurance for your commercial vehicles.
Commercial property insurance: Commercial property insurance covers your commercial property, such as office space and inventory. Most providers offer commercial property insurance in a package with commercial general liability insurance.
We recommend you chat with an insurance broker to establish the best insurance plan and ensure you don’t overpay.
Once insured, you can safely set up shop with all the equipment you’ll need for your business.
5. Purchase Septic Tank Equipment
As a septic tank business, your success will depend heavily on the right tools of the trade – so make sure you buy quality, reliable equipment that helps you do the job.
In addition to your trucks, you’ll need tools such as:
A septic tank locator for when septic tanks aren’t visible. These can be metal detectors or electronic septic tank locators that find tanks without damaging property.
A septic tank probe to detect buried drain lines.
Septic tank inspection tools that measure liquid levels in the tank. These might also include video tools to check the condition of the tank.
Septic tank cleaning tools including a vacuum, muck rake, wayne ball, wrecking bar, power rodding, and septic tank risers ensure thorough cleaning and maintenance.
Septic maintenance products such as alarms and control panels, effluent filters, and vent pipe odor filters for an efficient and professional job.
Beyond the basics, you’ll also need inventory like safety equipment for your workers, office supplies, and digital tools to keep your work safe and efficient.
Digital tools for septic tank businesses
Digital tools are just as important as the physical tools of the trade. When you can instantly offer estimates, updates, and payment options, you’ll keep your customer satisfaction and project professionalism at every job site.
ServiceTitan offers all-in-one software for septic tank businesses to help you manage your front office, field operations, client service, and management from one place.
This full suite of tools includes:
Estimates that let technicians show forms and price books from their tablets to close sales on their first visit. Techs can record their initial call, enter customer details, and upload paperwork in seconds to reduce purchasing friction.
Inventory software that lets you track and manage materials on all your jobs and projects for accurate reporting. You can access your entire equipment history and filter it by customer, track and manage purchase orders, and manage inventory and vendors from one portal.
Job forms that standardize the information your technicians collect and ensure the same standard of service every time. With mobile integration, job forms also update your front office with on-site information in real-time, so you can stay on top of new work with the right equipment and staff.
Accounting tools that help you stay on top of billing and payments to keep your cash flow healthy. Send professional invoices to your customers with flexible payment options, track payments, view invoice statuses, and integrate with QuickBooks for seamless financial management.
Customizable dashboards that let you view real-time work in progress, long-term revenue trends, customer satisfaction scores, and field service metrics to make informed business decisions.
Once you have all your tools set up, it’s time to hire and train the right people to use them.
6. Hire, Train, and Retain Septic Workers
Septic companies succeed with a strong team, a fully developed organizational chart, and the resources to help them succeed. The following strategies will help you create a winning team:
Build a strong company foundation
Create clear job descriptions
Provide extensive training
Incentivize workers with performance pay
Value your employees (your company’s #1 asset!)
When hiring, create clear job descriptions and expectations for every position and provide extensive training to set up every employee for success. Use performance pay as an incentive to help septic tank workers grow with your business.
Salaries vary for a septic pumping business, depending on the number of trucks in your fleet and the number of jobs you do. Many owners say offering pumping and cleaning services often leads to higher-paying installation jobs.
Some septic pumping companies also offer hiring bonuses to new employees or give current employees a bonus for referring a new hire. The average hourly rate for septic workers is $19 per hour, but those with commercial driver’s licenses (CDL) could earn more.
Invest as much time recruiting and training your septic workers as you do marketing your septic tank business. “An investment in your employees pays off in the end for any company working in the trades,” says Chad
Peterman, President of Peterman Heating, Cooling & Plumbing in Indianapolis.
That investment should include tools that help your employees boost their productivity.
ServiceTitan’s Field Service App lets employees update their status with the office in real time, communicate with customers, and keep both parties in the loop on the status of their work to streamline coordination between the field and the office.
As a keynote speaker at Pantheon 2020, Peterman shared his vivid vision for changing society's perception of people working in the trades.
His company believes in instilling hope, care, and compassion to help employees dream again, set and accomplish goals, and recognize them for it. His strategy resulted in 300% growth for the company in just five years.
“It has been the continual investment in our people that has really been the driving force behind our growth,” Peterman says. “We have worked very, very hard to create a place where people want to come to work and grow into the best versions of themselves.”
Read our articles on hiring techs and training techs for more tips.
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7. Develop Laser-Focused Marketing Strategies
The more focused your marketing strategies are, the more likely they will pay off. When you’re deciding on what marketing strategies to use, make sure you:
Identify your target audience with specific demographics
Send septic service flyers to reach your specific audience
Automate marketing campaigns for better efficiency
Save on cost per lead with targeted email marketing
You can also use upselling and cross-selling strategies; for example, a septic tank business that offers pumping and cleaning services can generate more job leads for septic system installations and repairs, which leads to more revenue for your company.
The same philosophy applies to pumping restaurants’ grease traps every few months to secure higher-paying commercial septic tank pumping accounts.
No matter which audience your company markets services to, targeting the right audience at the right time is important. Let potential customers know they can depend on your septic tank business for emergencies — and offer a warranty on any work performed.
Another good marketing practice for septic companies involves educating customers about the importance of maintaining their septic systems. Show them how they can:
Save money: A malfunctioning septic system can cost $750 to $3,000 to repair and $3,600 to $10,000 to replace, whereas maintenance costs run $200 to $800 every two to four years.
Protect home value: Septic systems needing repair drastically reduce property values and may introduce legal liability.
Keep drinking water pure: Proper septic system maintenance prevents harmful pollutants from contaminating groundwater and nearby water wells.
Here are more ideas on how to boost your septic tank marketing:
Promoting maintenance agreements
Sell septic service maintenance agreements to residential and commercial customers for steady yearly revenue.
Advise against letting septic tanks back up into the house or flooding the drain field before they call for service.
Advocate for routine maintenance and automate with digital reminders to notify customers when their tanks are due for service.
Modern software will help you sell more maintenance agreements.
With an intuitive mobile app like ServiceTitan Mobile 2.0, your septic workers can access service agreements in the field with just a few quick taps on a tablet instead of rummaging through paper documents.
You can also make the membership forms mandatory for certain service calls, ensuring your techs always know when to pitch a septic maintenance contract to a customer.
ServiceTitan lets you select agreements from a wide range of templates and set up and store as many as needed to suit different membership types, from septic tank cleaning to routine maintenance.
Each template is fully customizable with a menu of recurring services, including the number of visits for specific services on each call. You can record all the key details for each contract, including:
Contact information
Membership type
Duration of agreement
Recurring service types and frequency (monthly, annually, etc.)
Billing frequency and pricing
Agreements are easy to set up and can be integrated with other ServiceTitan tools such as scheduling, executing jobs, and estimates. You can even tie agreements to individual equipment (e.g., septic systems) so there’s no confusion about what needs servicing.
Read more about how to use maintenance agreements to maximize profit.
Local business cards and direct mail
Leave your septic pumping business cards with local restaurants to inform them of your grease-trap cleaning services.
Capture local customers’ attention with creative direct mail marketing offering incentives or coupons.
Combining traditional marketing materials like business cards and postcards with social media posts and other digital marketing can work well for many septic tank businesses.
ServiceTitan has a library of postcards that septic businesses can use to execute their direct mail campaigns. Setup takes minutes—simply choose your design, adjust the text, and print and mail your postcards to your desired audience.
Direct mail campaigns cost a flat rate per postcard, so you only pay for the number you send. You can track the results of each campaign to see precisely which drives revenue.
Optimize your septic business website
Optimize your septic business website with popular, locally relevant keywords people use when searching online for companies to hire, such as “Charlotte septic cleaning” or “septic pumping near me.”
Claim your Google Business Profile page with a locator map so your website ranks higher when customers search for “local septic tank cleaning services” or "septic tank business near me”.
Learn more about SEO with this guide for contractor businesses and how to improve your website.
Make your septic brand sticky and disruptive
Use branding on your tech uniforms and the company trucks as mobile billboards for your septic tank business.
Include a visible company logo, phone number, and website.
According to Dan Antonelli, President and Creative Director of KickCharge Creative, branding can make or break a small business, so in times of economic uncertainty, it’s imperative to set your brand apart from the herd.
“By sticky, we mean it stands out in their mind, they can remember who you are when they need to,” Antonelli says.
“As contractors, we're trying to counter the fact that a lot of homeowners are scared about who's coming to their home, right? They want to figure out, ‘Who can I trust to be inside my home and fixing something of mine?’”
Be disruptive by standing out from the crowd. Your septic company brand should be unique to avoid being missed in the crowd.
Learn more about logos and branding in the ServiceTitan Playbook.
Send targeted email campaigns
Targeted email marketing also works as a cost-effective strategy for keeping your brand top of mind with customers, says Megan Bedford, who runs Mugyver Consulting to help small companies in the trades.
Not only is targeted email marketing cheaper ($12 or less per lead), but it’s also the type of communication customers prefer, as opposed to direct mail or a promotional text message.
ServiceTitan's Marketing Pro allows you to segment your email audience by ZIP code, equipment age, date of last service, new homeowner, and more.
Using data collected in ServiceTitan, you can target previous customers with a win-back email campaign, follow up on unsold maintenance agreements, or offer discounts to new homeowners who may consider a septic tank installation or maintenance check.
Sending targeted emails is simple. Choose from our vast range of email templates, adjust the text to fit your campaign, and deliver to your chosen audience.
Targeted emails mean higher open rates and more calls coming in.
With ServiceTitan, you can also monitor the exact ROI for each campaign by tracking the email performance and the revenue attribution within the ServiceTitan dashboard.
Use key online marketing strategies, which we'll discuss in our next section, to make your septic tank business more visible online.
8. Market Septic Tank Cleaning Services Online
Today’s customers research 59% of all purchases with Google – which is why trade experts suggest spending half of your marketing budget on digital platforms.
Some customers find your septic tank company online because they need your services today. Others may remember your company because they noticed a pump truck with your logo in their neighborhood or the business cards you left with local restaurant managers.
For the best digital septic service marketing, focus on doing the following:
Post Content Regularly
Post regular, helpful septic tank maintenance content to boost search engine optimization (SEO).
Target high-ranking keywords.
Writing helpful content for your target audience, posting it on your website, and sharing it via social media builds authority and lets your septic tank customers get to know you.
Target high-ranking keywords such as “septic tank disposal” or “replace septic hoses” and offer helpful information and tips. Sharing content on social media pages will drive more traffic to your website, and regularly updated websites rank higher on Google and other search engines.
Read more about how to get more leads for your business.
Invest in Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising & Google Local Services Ads
Invest in PPC (pay-per-click) advertising to increase brand awareness and target online leads.
Expand your service area in conjunction with Google’s Local Services Ads.
Investing in PPC ads and Google Local Services Ads will guarantee your septic business appears at the top of Google search results.
Note: Google Local Services Ads will appear above PPC ads and organic listings.
Local customers looking for septic tank services can view a snapshot of your business—such as the company name, Google review rating, and years in business—to determine whether it fits their needs.
Costs for Google Services Ads vary, but you only pay when a customer contacts your business through the ad so that it can be cost-effective.
ServiceTitan integrates with Google Local Services Ads, allowing homeowners to schedule online appointments with your company directly. It also provides business owners with ROI metrics on every campaign.
Learn more about marketing with Google Local Services.
Track Your Marketing Efforts with ServiceTitan
Successful septic companies also measure and track their marketing efforts with specific metrics from ServiceTitan reporting, such as:
Sales: Track your ratio of leads to sales.
Production: Track non-billable hours when you pay your employees but aren’t making any profit, such as when driving or completing paperwork, weather delays, and equipment failure.
Balance sheets: Track outstanding accounts payable (money you owe) and accounts receivable (money you are owed).
Cash flow: Track monthly or weekly cash flow, operating expenses, and profits.
ServiceTitan lets you create a marketing scorecard of all current campaigns and tie new customers to the specific marketing campaign that brought them to you (such as Google Local Services Ads).
This way, you can increase spending on campaigns with higher returns and drop channels with poor performance.
Don’t make the mistake of focusing only on digital platforms for your septic pumping business advertising.
Personal relationship-building tactics still work (such as knocking on doors and introducing yourself to new homeowners, word-of-mouth, or leaving septic service flyers for future maintenance or repairs). Most customers often appreciate the personalized effort in today’s digital world.
When you speak with satisfied customers, ask them for Google reviews so you can leverage social proof to grow your online presence even more.
9. Use Rave Reviews to Pump Up Profits
One survey found that nearly 90% of customers factor reviews into their buying decisions. That makes them extremely important when managing your septic company’s reputation.
To get good reviews and keep them flowing, your techs must deliver outstanding customer service and always exceed the customer’s expectations. Good reviews must be earned, but they’re a proven way to grow any home services business.
Think about the following:
Does your company make it easy for customers to leave a review?
Do your techs ask for feedback once they complete a job?
Does your office staff make follow-up customer service calls or send emails with a specific link to leave a review?
If you can answer yes to all three questions, you’ll be well on your way to gathering reviews for your business.
Travis Ringe co-owns ProSkill Services, a full-service air conditioning, electrical, plumbing, water heater, and water treatment home services company in Arizona. It’s a $14 million operation with over 3,000 5-star Google reviews.
Ringe says he focused ProSkill’s marketing on getting more 5-star Google reviews by using ServiceTitan’s built-in survey tool to customize a personal message and ask customers to leave a Google review.
“If you want to drive reviews,” Ringe says, “you have to deliver a full experience worthy of writing a review.” Additionally, you need to make it easy for customers to leave a review. “We get between 5 and 15 Google reviews per day, on average,” Ringe says.
ServiceTitan’s customer experience software automatically sends survey requests to customers after completing a job. This makes it easy for customers to share their experience on an online review site (Google, Yelp, etc) while it’s still fresh in their minds.
We also offer a reputation management tool that automates sending review requests to customers, lets you reply to reviews, and gain insights into which techs they relate to.
Septic service customers value their money and time, so don’t make them waste either. Soon, they’ll be raving about your company, and you’ll be pumping up net profits.
Learn more about how to ask for customer reviews.
10. Increase Efficiency with Septic Business Software
Still wondering if septic tank pumping is a profitable business? Owning a septic tank business requires hard work, but digging yourself into debt doesn’t need to figure into the equation. The industry offers fantastic opportunities, with annual revenues reaching $6.5 billion in 2022.
Work smarter, not harder, with septic tank cleaning business software to flush away your company’s operating inefficiencies, increase your average tickets, and grow profits.
Septic business software allows clear customer communication using automated scheduling, GPS-based dispatching and tracking, and online booking. Use customized data reporting to monitor and boost your techs’ productivity, track marketing campaigns, and understand which KPIs (key performance indicators) matter the most for growing your septic tank business.
ServiceTitan’s all-in-one septic business software offers features that help you manage the entire septic business, including:
Tools for price book management
Estimate and proposal templates and builders
And more
These features integrate to make running your septic tank business a seamless process.
To learn how ServiceTitan’s software can help you grow your septic tank business, schedule a free personalized demo here.
Over to You
A septic tank business can be an intimidating startup. But if you can cover the costs and stay organized, you’re well on your way to making a profit.
Fortunately, many resources are out there to help keep your business running. Look at our inspection checklist, maintenance checklist, and work order template to help you get started.
ServiceTitan can help you manage all the admin so you can focus on quality service. Book a free demo today to learn more.
ServiceTitan is an all-in-one platform for end-to-end service business management. From front-office services like proposals, scheduling, and lead generation to field operations, client services, and management insights, ServiceTitan is your A to Z performance enhancement tool.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Still have questions? Here are a few common things people ask about starting a septic tank business.
How much does it cost to start a septic tank business?
The cost of starting a septic tank business depends on the price of your equipment and scale of your operations, but you can expect to spend upwards of $200,000 on initial expenses.
It will also depend on factors such as insurance, employee training, salaries, and registration fees which can vary significantly depending on where you’re located.
What salary do you get by owning a septic tank business?
It depends. Your profit margin and revenue will determine how much you can make, but you may decide to re-invest heavily in your business, particularly in the beginning when you need to buy new tools, hire employees, and expand your marketing efforts.
Are septic tank businesses profitable?
Septic tank businesses can be very profitable, but profit will depend on how you run your business and the demand for services in your area.
ServiceTitan Septic Business Software
ServiceTitan is a comprehensive undefinedSeptic Business Software built specifically to help companies streamline their operations, boost revenue, and achieve growth. Our award-winning, cloud-based platform is trusted by more than 100,000+ contractors across the country.
