Disaster Restoration Service
The shortcut: Don't sell to homeowners. Insurance pays the bill. Get on three adjusters' speed-dial for water mitigation, and the work finds you at 2am.
Industry: Cleaning & Maintenance
Investment level: Mid-High — $15,000-$40,000
Time to launch: 8-12 weeks
Best for: People who can answer a phone at 3am and won't flinch at a flooded basement. You're a fit if you're handy enough to operate a moisture meter and a thermal camera, comfortable on roofs and in crawl spaces, and willing to live with a phone that rings on holidays. What you'll likely make: ~$5-$8K/month after expenses by month 3, and $12-$18K by month 6 if you land on two adjusters' preferred-vendor lists.
Market Opportunity
The franchises own the front door. Servpro alone runs about 2,200 locations and has the green truck on every corner. That sounds bad for a new shop. It's actually fine — adjusters get burned by slow franchise crews constantly, and most metros have one or two adjusters quietly rooting for an independent who picks up the phone before 7am.
- US Janitorial Services (NAICS 561720): $112.0B in 2026, growing about 1.8% this year — IBISWorld Janitorial Services Market Size
- The broader US cleaning services market is on path to hit $147.6B by 2030, growing 5.6% a year — Grand View Research US Cleaning Services Outlook
- Servpro runs ~2,200 franchises, ServiceMaster Restore ~1,500, plus Rainbow International, Belfor, and 1-800-Water Damage — Servpro franchise overview, ServiceMaster Restore
- Water damage runs about 70% of restoration jobs, with the average mitigation invoice in the $2,000-$15,000 range and fire/smoke jobs $5,000-$50,000+ — IICRC S500 Standard for Professional Water Damage Restoration
Target customer: Insurance carriers and their independent adjusters — Allstate, State Farm, USAA, Liberty Mutual, plus IA firms like Crawford & Company. The homeowner makes the call. The adjuster is the customer. Property managers running 100+ unit buildings are the third leg. Pipes burst there constantly and they want one number on the wall.
Why this is a good time to start: Adjusters are tired of waiting six hours for Servpro to dispatch a crew after a Saturday burst pipe. Independents with IICRC firm certification, Xactimate billing, and a 30-minute response radius win those callbacks. Five years ago you needed a truck-mount and an office to compete. Now a $15K equipment package and a clean Xactimate sketch get you on the preferred-vendor list.
Start with this idea — free signup, no card required.
