Are you thinking about expanding your contracting business? Has the idea of pest control piqued your interest? Are you itching to learn more about common pests and what it takes to get rid of them? And more importantly, is there money in eliminating roaches and terminating termites? Here are some things to consider before grabbing a butterfly net and a pillowcase and heading for the belfry. Or attic, since that’s the most common place bats hang out in a home.

What Are the Common Infestations in Your Area?

Some places are buggier than others. Many bugs such as ants, termites and bees are rather dormant in cold weather, but let their presence be known in a huge way when the weather gets warm. Other pests, such as bedbugs and roaches are around all year.

So, if you want to be a generalist, then you might think of making your services seasonal, or you may want to specialize if you’re in an area where some bugs disappear for months. Now if you live in an area that’s warm year-round, then you can choose your bug adventure.

What’s the Learning Curve?

You most likely know this, but there is more to pest control than a rolled-up newspaper and a can of bug spray. If those were a perfect solution, there would be no need for pest control. Learning how to kill bugs is the easy part. Finding where they live and figuring out how to keep them from coming back is where the expertise comes in. Some bugs are easier to exterminate than others.

For example, roaches are easy to kill; bedbugs, not so much. Also, bed bugs have an alarmingly high rate of recurring, so knowing the best ways to prevent that from happening will make you even more in demand. And because some bugs are more challenging to eradicate than others, learning how to do it could take longer or cost more. But if there’s a demand for the service, getting the skills to meet that demand is still a pretty good idea.

Bugs? Birds? Rodents? Bats?

Pest control isn’t just roaches, ants and bed bugs. There’s a wide variety of pests that property owners will pay you to remove from their homes. For example, down south, pest control entails dealing with some interesting and scary insects that are the size of some small pets, but it’s is not only bugs – it also can include alligators on patios or in pools, snakes in all sorts of places, such as cupboards, closets and even walls, and spiders of all sizes. Other parts of the country might have an issue with birds and bats to go with the fly and flea infestations. Find out the most unpopular pests in your area and get the training and equipment to help people get rid of them.

Availability

If you’re willing to come out at all hours of the day and night, holidays and weekends to take care of a homeowner’s pest problem, to put it bluntly, you can make bank. A family with bats flying around their house at 3 am are going to be grateful and willing to pay for someone to come and remove them by 4 am. Same with the snake in the…well, anywhere.

Are you considering adding pest control to your list of services? What types of pest do you think would be the most profitable in your area?