Having a steam boiler in your business or home is similar to having a reliable powerhouse that benefits you in many ways. For every industry, steam boilers play a critical role, whether for steam production or chemical purposes. Without them, many businesses’ operations and services would be affected.
Maintaining steam boilers in their best condition is critical for every business. Even though boilers are one of the pieces of machinery that require low maintenance, ensuring they’re in their best state would help them provide the optimal performance that a business needs. That’s why boiler maintenance companies are vital today.
Due to demand, many steam boiler manufacturers and maintenance companies are rising. Aside from that, many entrepreneurs are looking into starting their own boiler maintenance companies. But just like any business, starting a boiler maintenance company is no walk in the park.
If you’re determined to start your boiler maintenance business, you might need some tips to help you manage your expectations and kickstart your planning well. To help you, here are five tips when starting a boiler maintenance company.
1 – Research the leading boiler maintenance companies; get ideas for your business plan.
Every business needs a business plan. Your business plan will serve as your business skeleton to guide you in what actions to take to achieve your goals. And the best way to create a successful business plan is by learning from the experts.
With that, start by researching the leading boiler maintenance companies with proven track records. Learn their history, services, and what makes them one of the most popular businesses in the boiler industry. But of course, you should never copy their business design and operations. Use their business success to develop and personalise strategies that benefit your business.
2 – Identify your competitors in the area where you’re planning to operate.
After you idealise and incorporate strategies from leading boiler maintenance companies into your business plan, it’s time to identify your competitors. Ideally, a rule of thumb for entrepreneurs is to include every business within a 10km radius that provides the same services and products as their competitor.
If you haven’t identified who yours are, use the 10km radius rule to help you. Now, why should you know your competitors? So that you know which areas of your business you can improve to better cater to your target audience. In short, you’ll use your competitors’ shortcomings as strengths to attract your audience.
3 – Set a meeting with a boiler maintenance business owner for tips and advice.
It’s one thing to learn from what you’ve read online and another to talk to a person in real-life about business. Many behind-the-scenes events are happening in every company, and most of the time, online content is not covering those. So, how do you learn those things? By talking to someone who runs the same business–you plan to start.
I wouldn’t suggest setting a meeting with your competitors. Why? Because if they find out that you’re planning to start a boiler maintenance business, they’ll only think that your motive is no good. Also, is there any business that would like to advise its competitors?
Instead, you should meet with a boiler maintenance owner from another area. Inform him that you’re planning to start a boiler maintenance company and want to learn from someone in the same field. If you don’t have any experience and background in boilers, this is something that you should consider doing.
4 – If you don’t have enough experience with boilers, consider franchising a boiler maintenance business.
I’ve mentioned in my introduction that starting a business is no walk in the park. Reading tips and tricks like this online could help, but it’s different once you start your journey in handling a business. If you don’t have enough experience with boilers but are still eager to start a boiler maintenance business, I suggest considering franchising.
The great thing about franchising a business is that you already have a game plan for your business operation. You no longer have to curate a brand new mission, vision, and services for your business. But of course, it doesn’t mean franchising doesn’t have a downside.
Since you’ll be operating a business that has established a name in the industry, you must deliver services that meet its standards. It puts a lot of pressure on you, the owner, to operate the business optimally. But on the bright side, franchising would already provide you with an audience and a possibility to gain steady profits than if you’re to start from scratch.
5 – Train a professional, patient, and reliable team to customers’ queries and concerns.
Last but not least is to train your team to be professional, patient, and reliable. Since steam boilers are one of the most technical yet essential machinery many rely on, your team must always be professional and reliable. Keep in mind that not many people are familiar with boilers. Many only know the basics of turning them on and off, so being patient is a quality that your team must have.
Since you’ll be operating a service-based business, all of your customers must feel that you understand, care, and can fix their concerns. No matter how great and detailed your business plan and structure are, it will be pointless if your team is not meeting and exceeding the standard your customers expect.
Your people will be the living representation of your business. That’s why training them to be the best in what they do is as critical as any component in your company.
Make sure to put your great ideas to life to ensure a successful boiler maintenance business.
Hopefully, these five tips I shared will be helpful to your boiler maintenance company. But remember, those great business ideas will be useless if you don’t use them in real life. That’s why you must ensure that every detail, information, and advice you get will be of good use for your business’s success. Hopefully, you’ll also bring these five tips to life as you plan and start your boiler maintenance company.
About the author:
Bianca Banda is a writer for Trilogy Boilers Australia, a veteran specialising in boiler and burner installations, servicing, engineering, and industrial gas plumbing.
