There are 142 million homes in the United States, and every one of them needs some kind of service — HVAC, landscaping, electrical services, home renovation, pest control, and more.
This is called the “home services” market, and it offers considerable potential for distributors to sell business forms. Home services contractors need reliable documentation to maintain organized and professional businesses. This includes products such as service agreements, estimates, and inspection forms, and many more.
Why Is Home Services a Great Opportunity?
Why is home services such a good market for printed business forms, in particular? Because these tend to be smaller businesses — many are sole proprietors — and small businesses are more likely to use printed forms. Furthermore, the hands-on, mobile nature of many of these businesses lend themselves to printed forms rather than digital ones.
Not only is this a growing market for distributors, but it is a highly profitable one. As with other forms products, once you win the business, these orders tend to repeat month after month, year after year, with little change. This means more profit with less effort for you.
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To read more about the profile of the types of businesses most likely to use printed forms, download our white paper, “Business Forms & Checks: Underestimated Value, Huge Opportunities.”
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Defining the Home Services Market
The home services sector encompasses businesses that focus on the upkeep and maintenance of residential homes. This is a strong, expanding market, with homeowners requiring everything from landscaping to renovation to pest control.
In the mid-2000s, the home services market took a hit due to the 2007-2009 recession, followed by the U.S. financial crisis. Over the past decade, however, this market has seen a powerful resurgence, translating into an immense need for businesses that can meet the needs of these homeowners.
Here are some key statistics on this market:
- 65.5% U.S. homeownership.
- $657 billion estimated market.
- 5 million home services businesses.
That’s a lot of opportunity to sell forms!
It’s also worth noting that the average age of today’s first-time homeowner is 36 years old. At this age, most employees are starting to enter the period of maximum earning capacity. They are purchasing, renovating, and maintaining homes, and they can often afford the luxuries of paying for someone to provide services rather than doing the work themselves.
Target Markets in Home Services
Distributors looking to sell into this market can target a wide variety of businesses. Target markets include:
- Lawn care and landscaping services
- Appliance repair services
- Plumbing/drain cleaning services
- Home moving services
- Pest control services
- Snow removal services
- Handyman services
- Fuel service providers
- Pool cleaning services
- HVAC service providers
- Interior and exterior painting services
- Gutter cleaning services
- Home inspection services
- Chimney cleaning services
- Concrete restoration services
- Mobile pet services
- Computer repair services
- Carpet cleaning services
Forms Products to Sell
What are some of the most common forms products you can sell?
- Maintenance agreements
- Service disclaimers and warranties
- Fuel delivery tickets
- Work orders
- Service records
- Inspection forms
- Estimates
- Change orders
- Meter tickets
- Invoices
- Statements
Whom to Target
Who should you target when selling home services forms?
- Owners
- General managers
- Office managers
- Warehouse managers
- Transportation managers
- Service Department managers
Distributors may find these small shop owners and managers open to help from distributors. Owners and managers of small businesses must take on a variety of roles, and they benefit from the help of distributors who can offer them guidance when making decisions, as well as streamline their purchasing process. This allows them to dedicate more time and resources towards running their businesses.
Need specific ideas for selling into this market? Give your Wise regional sales manager a call and schedule a meeting. This is a high-profit opportunity we’d love to help you explore!
I find this article about the home services market and its potential for printed business forms to be very interesting. It makes sense that small businesses in this industry would be more likely to use printed forms rather than digital ones, given the hands-on, mobile nature of their work. And with over 5 million home services businesses in the United States, there is certainly a lot of opportunity for distributors to sell forms products.