If you're a moving company who successfully survived 2020, congrats!

Whether you're a big or small operation, it was a stressful year.

I connected with Stephan Lowy, CEO at Lowy's Moving Service, to ask: how did you not only survive, but thrive, 2020?

His answer: "Our strength is in diversification. We were prepared for this as we have been for the last 7 recessions we have seen. It's much easier to offer your existing clients more quality services & products than it is to find new clients. We have been successful growing with this strategy."

Don't you wish you were as calm and confident as Stephan? But it didn't just happen overnight. Him and his team created a strategy, and continues to focus on that strategy. He's not the only one that's making sure his business is pandemic-proof. Below are a few ways to diversify your moving business, so that you're not just relying on HHG moves to bring in the dough.

Commercial Moves

If you're looking for better margins, look into moving corporate offices.

Commercial moves are a lot different than HHG but if you hire the right movers and have a good system in place to execute on a tight deadline, you'll be rewarded for it. There's a lot of disassembly and assembly of both furniture and electronics/technology involved. "For O&I, make contacts with the right people and grow your business," says John Carey, VP Sales & Marketing at Atlantic Relocation Systems.

These moves require more manpower in a limited time slot, so if you're having trouble getting your crew to show up on time, check out these tips.

Storage

Storage goes hand in hand with a move, and with consistent profit coming in, this revenue should be able to account for most of your moving company's operating expenses. Research the competitors in the market. There might be a white space opportunity to differentiate yourself with climate controlled storage (then you can store wine since the wine market is booming!)

If you don't want to get into storage, consider partnering with a nearby storage company and work out a referral system. Some might need help transporting storage.

Auto Moves

"Auto moves can either be a potential compliment to a HHG move or also an independent revenue source. I’ve helped assist many agencies/movers who are investing in capturing SEO and PPC traffic for people only looking for auto transport services from a trusted source," says Marco Maggiore, Vice President at McCollister’s Auto Logistics. As a leader in transportation services with a focus on auto, they have both open and enclosed trailers so that your brand new Tesla shows up to your new home as squeaky clean as you last saw it.

Final / Last Mile

Are you looking to declutter your space or did you just order something on Amazon? With online shopping on the rise, the need for final / last mile deliveries comes with. The final step in a product's journey from the warehouse shelf to one's front door is the "last mile" of delivery. Look to develop relationships with local retail companies (furniture, electronics, appliances) and become their go-to delivery partner. Reach out to people who run the operations and learn whether or not they outsource their deliveries.

Government Moves

You'll need to know the right people to get into government moving. Some moving companies are solely focused on government and military relocation, and some are so busy they have to turn away business. It's steady income since 18% of all HHG moves are attributed to the government and military.

Fine Arts Moves

Moving expensive fine art requires proper packaging - specifically custom crating. Develop relationships with interior design studios and get to know their moving needs. Sometimes you'll need to move the art across the country with short lead time.

Pro Athlete Relocation

In the pro sports world, athletes are consistently getting traded between teams and need to move cross country within days. Aim to become the official moving partner for a sports team, which will provide plenty of visibility/marketing for your company.

Make sure you have the capacity to handle these moves since you'll not only be transporting the players to each game, but all of their equipment too. Get inspired by Good Greek Moving & Storage who has a multi-year contract with the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

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"A majority of the time the answers are already in your four walls, you just have to ask the right questions and listen!" says Beau Roskow, VP at Naglee Moving and Storage Inc. "Have a listening session with your key staff members and propose the following questions:
1. What areas of our business do you 'feel' we could spend more time in developing?
2. What services do our local competitors deliver that we have the same resources to do?
3. Fun Question: What’s something different we could do to disturb the traditional way we have always worked?"

(Watch this webinar with Beau Roskow for more insights)

While most of your revenue may come from one type of move, it’s important to have multiple revenue streams to ensure long-term success. If you want to solely focus on just HHG, diversify your sources and optimize your digital presence to increase moving leads. General Manager of Secure Moving Inc., William Wallace advises, "make sure you are tapping into all of the different outlets out there to book HHG moves. I think it’s very possible to only handle that commodity and still be a 'big player'. There are also those out there that only handle O&I, and are very successful. A constant sales effort will do wonders no matter what your hauling preference is."

The key to diversifying your revenue as a moving company owner is to develop new services that complement the core offering and meet the needs of your customers. In all of these different categories above, there are many ways to brand your moving company and speak to the audience you're going after. Developing the right connections will get you business, but if you want to grow the business of a certain sector, you have to become an expert in it.

If you’re looking to diversify and want more ideas, feel free to email us at: info@supermove.com

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