How to Start a Chimney Sweep Business – What You Need to Know

Looking to open a chimney sweep business? Perhaps you’re drawn in by the industry’s low startup costs, which can range from $27,000 to S87,000, or the pride you’ll take in providing customers with quality services and support for their chimney cleaning needs. Knowing you want to open a business is one thing; however, choosing the right steps to begin this new endeavor is an entirely different obstacle.

Read on for what you need to start your chimney sweep business:

• Legal Steps to Starting Your Chimney Sweep Business
• Benefits of Utilizing Field Service Software

Legal Steps to Starting Your Chimney Sweep Business

The following steps can help you successfully create your startup chimney sweep business and avoid any legal issues down the road:

1. Form a legal entity: Establishing an LLC will prevent you from being personally liable from business-related debts.
2. Register for taxes: Before opening for business, you’ll need to register for state and federal taxes.
3. Open a business bank account: You’ll want to have this established before accepting or spending money on business expenses.
4. Set up business accounting: To help you understand and forecast your financial performance throughout the year, you first need to keep accurate records of your expenses and sources of income.
5. Obtain necessary permits and licenses: Not having proper city and state licenses can leave you susceptible to fines, or even worse, the closing of your business. The Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA) can help grant you nationally recognized certification for your new business.
6. Insure your business: Depending on your state’s requirements, having general liability insurance can protect your business if one of your techs get injured at a job site.  
7. Gather your tools. One critical component to your business’s success is having the right tools to complete service requests and keep customers happy:

• A standard chimney sweep kit consisting of a wire brush, a polypropylene bush, smoke chamber brush, and chemical cleaners
• A Powered Air-Purifying Respirator (PAPR) helps protect you and your workers from carcinogens 
• A field service management software that efficiency optimizes how your business runs, especially in terms of dispatching, invoicing, and tech scheduling.

Benefits of Utilizing Field Service Software

Starting a new chimney sweep business is an exciting new venture. Why not stay ahead of the competition by removing the burden of more paperwork with RazorSync’s field service management software? Vital to your new business’s survival is saving time and money, RazorSync can help you accomplish both goals by streamlining your operations with on-the-go revenue improvement features, drag-and-drop scheduling, easy access to customer records, and more. Additionally, our mobile credit card reader can save you more money over time with a competitive 1.75% processing rate, as opposed to Squares’ 2.75%.

RazorSync’s field service software helps you manage your team and inventory to ensure that you’re able to provide high-quality chimney cleaning services. Contact RazorSync for details, or try it free for 14 days today!