The moving company launch plan
Every step from deciding to opening, in the order it happens, shaped to your situation, with your own numbers beside it. About 46 steps in 8 phases, 22 of them specific to a moving company. Free to read; ticking steps off and putting in your own numbers come with membership.
The plan46 steps
- 01Not started0/6Fold
Decide with the numbersa week or two
Before a dollar is spent. Most expensive mistakes happen here, and this phase costs nothing.
A moving company makes money four ways, and the mix decides how smoothly cash flows.
Typical for one unit is $300,000 to $3,000,000 a year; the owner keeps 15 to 25% of it before paying themselves. If that band does not cover what you need, that is the signal to pause and look again.
~50% survive 5 years. Roughly half of all new U.S. businesses reach five years.
Twelve questions about your money, time, experience and temperament, scored. Then the 5 questions this business asks of its owner, about the hours and the work. Answer both before you spend a dollar.
Rule of thumb: if you can buy a company with reliable crews likely to stay, real commercial and recurring accounts, and clean authority and insurance, buying buys you years. Answer it in your situation above and the plan reshapes.
Customers, prices, rent, staff pay, what it costs to open. We filled in typical numbers; change what you know and everything on this page follows.
- 02Not started0/5Open
Plan the moneya week
What it costs to open, where the money comes from, and the cushion that keeps you alive until the business pays for itself.
A moving company needs no , because the truck is the shop, but three trucks are real money.
The itemized cost to open10 lines
- Moving trucks (three 16 to 26 ft box trucks): $121,000 to $420,000Used trucks bought outright to new non-CDL trucks
- Pads, dollies, hand trucks and straps: $2,800 to $8,600Six to eight dozen pads and four dollies per truck
- Opening stock of boxes, wrap and mattress bags: $1,500 to $6,000
- Truck lettering, logo and website: $3,300 to $22,500Door lettering with your USDOT number up to full box wraps
- Phones, dash cams, laptop, uniforms and safety kits: $1,750 to $8,500
- Truck sales tax, title and plates: $6,000 to $28,500Tax follows the truck price
- USDOT, household goods authority and state mover license: $600 to $2,600
- Insurance down payments (auto, cargo, liability, workers comp): $7,000 to $22,500Required to hold authority and bid commercial work
- Hiring, launch marketing and business setup: $2,000 to $13,000Screening, recruiting ads, first paid leads, LLC and license
- Initial working capital: $20,000 to $80,000Crew payroll, fuel, and the winter trough, 3 to 6 months
Costs start on day one; customers take months. Map the first twelve months of cash so the business does not run out of money while it is getting going.
The business has to earn your pay like any other bill. Set it in your numbers and watch the month it move.
How deals in this business are financed4 lines
- SBA 7(a) loan (Up to 10 yr · 75-85% government-guaranteed)The workhorse for buying an existing moving company or funding a startup’s trucks and working capital.
- Seller financing (Often 5-25% of price · 3-7 yr)Common when buying a company.
- Equipment & fleet financing (Secured by trucks & equipment)Finance trucks and major equipment, secured by the assets themselves.
- Line of credit (for seasonality) (Revolving · sized to off-season payroll)A revolving line to float crew payroll and fuel through the winter trough and ramp up before the summer peak.
Most new shops pair an with 10 to 20% of your own cash. Know the monthly payment before you look at a single space.
Before you shop. A lender tells you what they would fund, what they need from you (credit, your cash in, a plan with numbers), and a pre-qualification letter makes a landlord or a seller take you seriously.
- 03Not started0/4Open
Set up the companya day or two
A day of paperwork, and it has to come before the space: a lease, a loan application and every permit are in the company’s name.
Your state’s business name search, the trademark register, and the domain, before the name is on a sign, a van, or a lease.
A , an , and the S-corporation election each change what you keep and what you are exposed to. Compare them with the numbers, confirm with a CPA and an attorney, then file with your state.
After:The is free from the IRS in minutes once the company exists. The bank account needs both. Keep business money separate from day one.
After:Pick the accounting software and connect the bank account now, so every cost of opening is captured and the numbers you later are real.
- 04Not started0/4Open
The territory and the vehiclea week or two
A moving company has no storefront: your "location" is the territory you serve.
What decides it for this business: high household turnover (renters, job market), office & commercial activity, middle-to-upper household income, adequate density (route efficiency), not oversaturated with movers.
Mobile businesses still answer to city rules: where the vehicle can be kept overnight, whether you can run the business from home, and what the state licenses.
The van or truck is the shop. Price it, outfit it, insure it, and brand it before the first job. The quotes go into the loan application.
Commercial auto for the vehicle, for the work. Customers and any lender will ask for the certificate.
- 05Not started0/2Open
Get the loanfour to eight weeks
Four to eight weeks with an SBA lender, longer if the file is incomplete. Everything else waits on this, so send a complete file.
Your plan with numbers (download it as a PDF from this page), the company’s papers, the vehicle and equipment quotes, your personal financial statement, and proof of the cash you put in.
The lender funds against the quotes and the insurance; the money goes to the vendors and the build.
After:
- 06Not started0/10Open
Permits and the vehicletwo to four weeks
Moving is a regulated transportation business: you carry other people’s property and operate commercial trucks, so registration, authority, and insurance are real barriers, and a moat against the truck-and-a-guy...
Bind the policies you had quoted before a contractor, a vehicle or a customer is in play. Keep the certificates; the landlord, the lender and the city will ask.
After:With the money in hand: the vehicle, the , the branding, and the state inspection most cities require before it can work.
After:Register your or corporation and obtain a city or county operating license.
With your state, before the first taxable sale. Usually free and online; check your state.
Federal registration for commercial motor vehicles, for interstate moving and for intrastate operation in many states.
Many states license or register intrastate household-goods movers and regulate their estimates and tariffs.
Coverage for the goods you carry and your operations, to operate and to bid most commercial work.
coverage for every truck in the fleet.
Binding versus non-binding estimates and any tariff or disclosure rules must be followed on every move.
- 07Not started0/9Open
Set up to runduring the build
During the build, so the business runs from day one: the systems, the prices, the people and the routine.
The backbone: books moves, builds estimates (binding and non-binding), schedules and dispatches crews, and tracks jobs and inventory.
Collect deposits at booking and the balance on completion, by card or ACH.
A dedicated account keeps residential, commercial, and storage separate from personal money, essential for clean books and any future sale.
You carry other people’s belongings and drive a fleet.
Interstate moves require a USDOT number and FMCSA operating authority.
See the price the the business needs implies, then check it against what the market pays.
Early morning: Dispatch sets the day: assign crews to jobs, confirm trucks are... Move day: Crews run jobs: load, transport, unload, and reassemble. Summer peak: Bookings flood in around month-end and weekends.
Opening, closing, the sale, the complaint, the cash. One page each. This is the manual a franchise would have sold you.
Free, and it is how most people will find you. Address, hours, photos and the menu or price list, live before opening day; then the sign, the soft opening and the first regulars.
- 08Not started0/6Open
Open and measurethe first ninety days
You own it. Now run it on the numbers.
Friends, neighbors and a short menu or list. Find the problems while the room is forgiving.
Enter the real numbers and see every cost line against the for this business.
Crew & reliability; Lead cost per booked move; Damage claims.
Wages are the start: , insurance, training time and the hours you stop billing. Register as an employer and carry workers’ comp before the first payday.
Growth consumes cash before it produces it. Find the rate your own cash funds before you push.
Moving companies sell to next-owner buyers and, increasingly, to consolidators rolling up local movers into regional brands.