Home improvement services are in demand, especially with homeowners wanting to revamp their kitchens and bathrooms. HGTV shows can make it seem like DIY renovations are simple, but many projects require training and expertise.

On average, the best ROI for home improvement is on projects that add functional space and square footage. Examples include finishing basements or adding new bedrooms/bathrooms.

1. Kitchen & Bath Remodeling

Kitchen and bathroom remodels are two of the most popular home improvement projects. Besides giving a house a fresh new look, they boost its value and can attract potential buyers.

This business also helps homeowners who have aging family members by installing accessible features such as curbless showers and wider doorways. It’s important to stay up-to-date with the latest kitchen and bathroom fads as well as energy-saving appliances.

2. Apartment Prep Services

Apartment turnover businesses specialize in cleaning and basic repair work to help landlords prepare apartments for new tenants. The business can be lucrative as tenants often leave apartments in a messy condition that requires cleaning, painting and carpet shampooing.

Startup costs include hiring employees, renting office space and a van for transportation, as well as the purchase of equipment and supplies like vacuum cleaners, scrub brushes, garbage bags and sprays.

3. Cleaning Services

Cleaning services are a great way to help homeowners and businesses keep their properties in good condition. This type of business typically has low startup costs and is easy to scale.

You can also offer specialized cleaning services like chimney and fireplace cleaning or biohazard cleanup. These types of services often yield higher profits since they are not as common.

4. Home Maintenance & Management

Home maintenance services help homeowners save money in the long run. Regular upkeep like checking drains and dryer vents helps reduce the likelihood of costly repairs down the road.

Keep residents and owners in the loop through the resident portal with push notifications, resident discussion boards, and a full schedule of upcoming inspections and work orders. This can reduce maintenance costs, improve resident satisfaction, and speed up the inspection process.

6. Landscape Design & Installation

A well-designed landscape can add to your home’s value and increase its curb appeal. It can also separate your property from other homes in the neighborhood, giving it a unique look.

Upselling can drive your sales revenue and profits up, especially for items with high markups (patio furniture, lighting kits). Optimizing your field labor ratio can improve your profit margin too.

7. Home Repair & Maintenance

Home repair services help customers keep their homes safe, functional and comfortable. This can include fixing heating and cooling systems, maintaining flooring, walls, and house paint, and repairing fences.

Home repairs also increase property value. Keeping a well-maintained house and yard can make it easier to sell and attract potential buyers. This makes a home maintenance business a smart investment.

8. Window Treatments & Blinds

Window treatments such as blinds and shades can add value to homes, especially when they are designed for specific spaces. For instance, drapery is an excellent addition to rooms that require a sophisticated dimension.

New window coverings can also help reduce energy costs and provide insulation. Plus, they’re easier to clean than curtains and often come with child-safe features for added safety.

9. Painting & Decorating

A fresh coat of paint can give a home or business an instant boost. It can also be a great way to keep insects away and protect the building’s structural integrity.

Painting and decorating professionals work indoors and outdoors in a variety of different environments including homes, public buildings, factories and offices. They apply paint, decorative coatings, wallpaper and gilding to a high standard.

10. Interior Design

Interior design can be a very profitable business. Many home improvement professionals work in this industry because they enjoy creating aesthetically pleasing spaces for clients.

They can also save homeowners money by recommending the right retailers and vendors for certain materials such as wood or granite.

Moreover, interior designers can provide a wide range of services such as developing design concepts; generating 2D or 3D renderings and projects visualisations.

If you want your business to grow, there are certain improvements you should make. Not all of them are obvious, and even if you streamline just one area, it could impact the rest of your company.

Apply these 5 secret techniques to improve your business: 1. Identify and Understand your Customers.

1. Develop a Strong Marketing Strategy

Developing a strong marketing strategy is a crucial element in the success of your business. It can be a challenging task, but it is important to have a clear plan for how to market your product or service.

The first step in developing a strong marketing strategy is to identify your target audience. This can be done by conducting a competitor analysis or by studying the demographics of your target market.

Once you have a clear idea of who your target market is, it’s important to create messages that will resonate with them. For example, you can use a personalized message when contacting your customers to show that you care about them. This will help to build brand loyalty and increase sales. This is also known as customer centric marketing.

2. Create a Strong Customer Relationship

Strong customer relationships drive brand loyalty, encourage repeat purchases and boost a company’s customer lifetime value (CLT). In addition, they help you develop a more effective marketing strategy.

One of the best ways to build a strong customer relationship is through communication. Whether through emails, newsletters or check-in phone calls, be sure to provide your customers with regular updates. This will allow you to better understand your customers and address any issues that may arise.

Keeping in touch with your customers also shows that you care about them. Providing them with personalized experiences, like calling them by name, helps to build trust and loyalty. This is an excellent way to stand out from your competitors. Moreover, it also shows that you value your customer’s feedback and want to improve upon their experience.

3. Invest in Your Employees

Employees are the backbone of every business. They are responsible for delivering the products and services to customers, which is why it’s important to invest in your employees. This includes fostering an environment that encourages growth and providing them with opportunities to build their network.

Employee turnover is costly for businesses. It can cost up to 2x an employee’s salary in recruiting, training, and lost productivity. Investing in your employees can help reduce employee turnover and improve the overall culture of your company.

Investing in your employees doesn’t have to be expensive. Even small things, like hosting monthly happy hours, can go a long way to fostering a healthy workplace culture. And don’t forget to listen to your employees and understand their needs. This will ensure that you’re investing in the right things.

4. Create a Strong Brand

Branding can increase the know, like and trust factor of a business which leads to easier sales and consumer loyalty. Branding also allows a business to differentiate itself from its competitors and is an effective way to build a competitive advantage. However, building an extraordinary brand requires organization and planning. Identifying your target market is critical as well. You should use customer profiles, also known as personas, to develop key messaging and branding that appeals to your target market.

In addition, you should be willing to invest in marketing and advertising. These strategies will help you grow your business and generate more sales. But remember, these secrets are not magic bullets and you must continue to work hard and stay focused on your goals.

5. Focus on Customer Service

Customer service is an important aspect of any business. A good customer experience can help improve a company’s reputation and increase sales. Customer focus involves putting the customer at the center of all decisions. It also involves creating a culture where employees feel like they are part of the customer service team.

Customer focus can be achieved by training your employees, providing incentives, and sharing positive customer feedback. It can also be achieved by offering personalized customer experiences and focusing on meeting customers’ needs.

A business that focuses on customer service will see increased brand loyalty and customer retention. In addition, they will be able to make better recommendations and increase revenue. It is also important to note that customers who have experienced poor customer service are more likely to switch to a competitor.

Sharing your plan with stakeholders in a transparent manner helps build a sense of ownership and allows you to truly understand their concerns. This step also gives you a chance to adjust your plan to secure their commitment before locking it down.

By creating a contingency plan, you can better address risks to your business and fast-track disaster recovery. This is a great way to help your team stay focused and on track.

1. Identify Your Goals

Whether your business is a startup or an established company, you need goals. Without goals, you may find yourself going in a number of different directions without a clear idea of where you want to end up.

When creating goals, make sure that they are specific, measurable, attainable, and relevant. This will help you keep your focus on what matters and will let you know when you have reached your goal.

Identifying your goals is only half the battle, though. You must also create a plan to achieve them. This means breaking your overarching goals down into small action steps that you can take each day. This will allow you to experience small victories along the way and keep you motivated to reach your goal.

3. Develop a Marketing Plan

Developing a marketing plan allows you to see your goals come to life and helps ensure that you are spending time and resources wisely. This process identifies your strengths and weaknesses, outlines a strategy to attract customers, and provides the framework to measure results.

Once you have a clear strategy, the next step is to develop the tactics that will achieve your strategy. For example, if your strategy is to improve customer retention, you may need to set up a monthly outbound call campaign. This requires you to configure teams, implement a call script, and establish a system to escalate calls.

Creating an audience-centric framework enables you to coordinate your campaigns and maximize the value of each marketing effort toward a single, cohesive strategy. This ensures higher engagement and fuels business growth.

4. Set Goals for Your Team

To help ensure that each member of your team is working towards their contribution to the overall business goal, you must set individual and team goals. These should be specific, measurable and attainable. It’s important that these goals are linked to the larger company goal but should be differentiated from it by the tasks involved.

Using the SMART system (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound) for setting goals can help with this, but it’s also necessary to ensure that any timelines you set are realistic. You can also encourage the team to achieve their goals by tying them to incentives.

However, it’s important to regularly review and adjust these goals as circumstances change. This will prevent your team from wasting time on an ineffective project.

5. Create a Contingency Plan

Creating a contingency plan forces business leaders to consider every potential threat and its impact, giving them a more methodical approach to prevention, resolution, and bounce-back. It’s also important to make sure that all of your staff members are aware of the plans and know their responsibilities.

Start by identifying the critical areas of your business that keep it up and running on a daily basis. Next, prioritize the threats according to their impact and probability. Lastly, create an action plan for each risk that details how your team will respond.

Use ClickUp’s whiteboard template to collaboratively plan out all of your risks and strategies in one place. Be sure to review and update the plans on a regular basis, taking into account any lessons learned from internal or external incidents, as well as new challenges that may arise.