Introduction
Demolition is part of construction and hauling, but it is being more unique niche as many local codes are asking for more recycling efforts. While a regular construction crew loves to demo a building, they are not great at separating recyclable materials from general waste. Where as many of these demo crews know what is what and what has value. They can get resell or donate old cabinets and appliances over to folks in need.
Use Case
Carlos is one of those guys that specializes in demolition in Northern California. His crews can take a two story home down to the studs and bare floors in a day. Typically they show up with multiple trucks and dumpsters. Carpets off to specialized recycler. Sheetrock off to another recycling facility. Furniture, cabinets off to Habituates for Humanity. Appliances hauled to his own shop to be reconditioned and resold. Wood is recycled into mulch. Typically he only has about 10-20% of actual waste in any demolition. Complying to local city ordinances.
Carlos has two Hefe accounts now. One that his foreman uses to hire help for each project which they typically staff from hundreds of contacts. On a typical project they will use between 6 to 20 day workers. But not the day workers off the street, only people they know and trust. These folks know what goes where and gets stuff done quickly. Typically these folks they hire are general construction guys that have an opening in their schedule. They work hard, fast and earn good money. Carlos values quality and speed over low prices.
As for the second Hefe account, Carlos is looking to expand his business. Typically he runs crews for folks he knows, but since they work so quickly, they need to fill the empty spots in the calendars. He has trucks, trailers and folks on tap. So now they are looking to use the app more to build up more smaller demolition and hauling projects. They have been snapping everything off the public listings within minutes of posting for their area.
Best Practices
Here is a few best practices we have learned about this space.
Flexibility. Hefe is great for inconsistent work where a small business can’t afford to keep folks on staff. Carlos’s business is growing but he can’t afford to keep a large staff on payroll.
Quality Workers. Tip from Carlos is that he likes to pay a premium per hour for contract help to get them to get the jobs done quickly, while making it attractive for the best folks. We watched their crew clear an entire house to studs and bare floors in four hours. He was paying $40/hr for the project with 6 guys. Which was $960 in payroll. These guys typically make $20-25hr on regular construction jobs. So making $40/hr excites them, making $160 before lunch. Some of these guys go back to their regular job after lunch. Carlos typically charges around $4,000 for a project to pay for trucks, dumpsters, dumping. All said and done, Carlos nets out $2,000 a day on his demo projects. His competitors are twice the price and takes several days.
Scoring. Carlos religiously uses the scoring and feedback for the workers. Mostly for his own benefit. 5 stars is his mind is somehow that gets invited and hired instantly. 4 star folks are usually second in the invites if he can’t get enough of the good guys. 3 star folks are in his desperate list.
Recruiting Demo Crews. So we asked around our friends to find the best demo crews around. Surprisingly, there is not that many around. When selling into this folks in this space you can cross sell other related jobs with hauling and construction. If you are really desperate, there is always demo guys at the big box or landscaping stores. These guys may or not repress the kind of community business you want to operate. But it is better than nothing.
Getting started selling Demo Crews. Typically most of the early business that we created for the demo crews we have recruited is for home owners initially. Most home owners and it is not big projects. Tearing down sheds, shrubs, broken concrete, etc. But since the demo crews can set their own schedule and bid on the deals, they do’t mind as money is green.
Getting Bigger Deals. As you sell Hefe to construction companies, having couple demo crews that are quick and cheap always interests the general contractors (GC). While they have guys that could do this, they’d rather just sub-contract out the work to a specialized 3rd party, especially if you have folks like Carlos in your area. A couple clicks in Hefe saves the GC having to order a dumpster, deal with recycling and all the headaches with demo work. While they love this work, sometimes its just better to get a crew in there. Especially if there is moving involved, lots of excess non-construction waste, etc. Having a professional crew that is affordable is very attractive.
Wider uses. Demolition is not limited to construction as described here. Lately there has been a lot of demand with businesses that need to reconfigure work spaces, restaurants and more. While businesses love hiring union labor, but have found that they don’t have budget to clear out spaces. Hefe provides an attractive solution for emptying out an office building, clearing an apartment or emptying out a restaurant. We are seeing Hefe beginning to compete against some franchise junk services. Prices typically are half of the other services…and there is no franchise buy-in continued franchise fees to pay either. Just about anyone with a pickup truck and trailer can start a demolition business on Hefe.
Relocation. Another exciting space, especially on the west coast and large cities as folks flee these areas. They want simple and affordable solutions to clear their homes and businesses once the “valuable” stuff was packed. While not exactly demolition, it is hauling services…taking all the stuff they don’t want or need.
Summary
This is an exciting space to begin building out in your local community. Eventually folks won’t be thinking twice about where to get help in demolition and hauling. It will be like Amazon for getting stuff done. Except Amazon doesn’t paying you on every order. Hundreds of deals a day in your community, each paying you commissions. Think about it.