10 Things You Need To Do Before Starting Your Garage Door Business
We know firsthand that building a garage door business from scratch isn’t just about wrenches and springs; it’s more about navigating tough starts, fierce competition, and making every dollar count. That’s why we’re bringing you the hard-won lessons from someone who’s lived it.
In this Torsion Talk podcast episode, Ryan, the founder of Markinuity and a successful garage door business in Atlanta, GA, lays out a practical, proven 10-step plan to overcome these hurdles.
He shares actionable insights honed from his experience building Aaron Overhead Doors in Buford, GA, and metro Atlanta, and helping contractors nationwide.
This guide delivers clear advice for entrepreneurs aiming to hit that $30,000 monthly sales mark without unnecessary spending. From crafting a lean business plan to mastering neighborhood marketing, we cover every essential step with real-world examples.
Ryan shares these insights on the Torsion Talk Podcast, Episode S8E68
1. First Things First Before Starting Your Garage Door Business: Build Your Own Roadmap
Right off the bat, I tell people to build a plan for their garage door business. And don’t overthink this! I’m not talking about some fancy, super-polished business plan you find online. Nope, I’m talking about writing it down on a freaking napkin or in your phone notes. The main thing is you need something to help you stay focused and know where you’re headed.
Who’s Your Dream Customer? Really picture them. What do they look like? Where do they live, work, and hang out?
What Services Will You Offer? You don’t have to do everything! I know folks who only do repairs, or only commercial jobs, or just new installs. Maybe you love working with garage door motors, or maybe you don’t. Figure out what you want to start with for your garage door business. You can always add more later!
Where Will You Serve? Pick your service areas. This is tricky. If your area is too small, you might not get enough work. Too big, and you could spread yourself thin. I can’t give one-size-fits-all advice on this, but you need to see if your market can actually support another garage door business.
Is the pie big enough for you to get the slice you need to hit the goals you want for yourself or your garage door business?
Your “Runway” – How Much Cash Do You Have? This is a popular term for startups. It simply means, How long can you keep going with little money before you hit the next level? This is where it gets tough because you have to pay yourself, but every dollar you take out isn’t going back into the garage door business.
But here’s the kicker: I say you gotta take care of yourself first, because without you, there’s no garage door business!
When Can You Hire? You’ll figure this out by doing some projections. I like to do two sets: sales projections and revenue projections. I stress focusing on sales because money always trails sales.
I believe just about anyone can hit $30,000 in monthly revenue in the garage door industry, no matter where they are. When you do hire, think about what that person will do and what they’ll look like.
They’ll probably have to wear many hats, and that’s okay for a startup! Finding super-qualified people can be hard because they want stability, but sometimes you find someone who loves your vision.
2. Getting Your Brand Right: Name, Logo, and Website
This part is super important. You want to look bigger than you are, but not so big you look like a faceless corporation. People need faith in your garage door business!
Logo: Keep it simple! I strongly advise against putting garage doors in your logo. I did that with mine originally, and it was a stupid idea. Focus on the service aspect. Maybe a cool character or avatar that represents your garage door business.
Contrasting colors and good fonts matter. While $150 logo sites exist, a branding company charging $3,000-$5,000 can do a phenomenal job and give you a vector format logo (super important for scaling!).
Also, make sure you get a small, square icon and prefer horizontal logos, as they work well in most places.
Your Brand Guide: Use Canva to set up a brand guide for yourself. This way, when you get shirts, hats, or even vehicle magnets made, your brand colors and look are always on point.
Naming Your Business: It needs to be descriptive. Don’t think too small or too big. The name should relate to that ideal customer you thought about earlier.
Before you settle, do a trademark search (Google “TESS trademark search” or check state government sites). I actually recommend hiring an attorney to do a search, especially if you get a cheap logo online.
Why? Because you absolutely do not want to end up in a courtroom or have to start your brand over because of a name conflict later! This is probably one of the least utilized parts of starting a garage door business, and it’s crucial.
Website: Get your logo, name, and brand colors sorted first. Then, work on a website. I suggest starting with a smaller, nicer site, even just two or three pages.
If the company you work with offers an SEO optimization package, that’s great for adding content later. You can even write your page content in a Google Doc and share it with photos for them to add.
3. Smart Spending: Setup Costs & Budgeting
Cash is King at this point, and you do not have a lot of it. So, the rule here is: buy the absolute minimum of everything you need.
Don’t Go Crazy on Equipment: You do not need a really nice macked-out truck right now. Get something that will get you by because you don’t even know if you’re going to make it yet!
Insurance is Your Best Friend: You’ve never needed insurance more than you do now. Make sure your agent is smart and looking out for you. I even suggest asking about addenda for damages through advertising; this actually saved me in a couple of scenarios if someone sued over an ad!
Business Registration: For example, here in Georgia, it used to be around $125 ($25 for a name search, then registration), and now it’s probably around $200. After that, you get an EIN number like your garage door business’s Social Security number to open a bank account.
Keep Monthly Expenses Low: Identify and keep your monthly expenses low. Build a spreadsheet with projections and get into the habit of job costing. This means your profit needs to include overhead, labor, and material.
A common mistake new owners make is only thinking about the door cost and labor, forgetting about truck payments, insurance, and other overhead. Break down your monthly expenses by day.
For example, if you’re a sole proprietor and want to pay yourself, factor in your pay, insurance, marketing budget, software, truck payment, and even a small monthly budget for tools, maybe $100 a month. Divide that by the days you’ll work, 21-27 days a month in startup mode.
Your job profit needs to cover these daily expenses, plus your pay, plus parts and materials.
Your Commission: Establish a commission for yourself based on what you need to live and what will keep the company healthy. You need enough to live, but also enough to put back into the garage door business for growth.
Gross Profit Margins – Know Your Numbers! This is where many new folks get confused. Markup vs. Margin.
Markup: If a door costs $1,000, and you mark it up by 2 (multiplier of 2), that’s $2,000. But people often forget to mark up the labor, too! If your labor for that job costs $250 a day, you’d mark that up too, making the total $2,500.
Margin: This is how financials are really measured in places like QuickBooks. To get a 50% margin on a $1,000 door, you take $1,000 and divide it by 0.5, which gives you $2,000. If you want a 45% margin, you’d divide by 0.55, which is $1,818. Getting used to calculating with a margin is key.
4. Getting Customers: Your Client Acquisition Plan
This is, simply put, the most important part.
Lead Gen Platforms: Sites like Home Advisor or Angie’s List can give you leads, but they’ve been around forever, and other companies in your area likely have tons of reviews already. It’s tough to get hired with zero reviews.
Yelp is particularly tricky because they don’t allow you to ask for reviews, and its algorithm might hide them if it thinks you did.
Networking Groups: Instead of just door knocking, I suggest going to the Chamber of Commerce, business alliance groups, or business clubs.
Yard Signs: This is probably one of the best Returns on Investment you can get! My buddy, David Carroll from Dope Marketing, often runs specials, like 100-yard signs for $400 ($4 a sign).
Put them out at every job and in common places. Keep them clean and simple – just your logo, “garage door repair and installation,” and a phone number.
Direct Mail: Another great solution, especially if you combine it with other efforts.
The “Six-House Rule” and Neighborhood Domination: This is a fantastic strategy! Let’s say you get a deposit for a new door installation in a neighborhood you want to break into.
The best thing to do is go to the six houses around that customer’s house (across the street, both sides) and knock on their doors. Tell them, “Hey, Miss Susie Smith next door just bought a door from us. I’d love to give you a quote for a new door, or potentially just service your door for free since we’re right here in the neighborhood. Would you be interested?”
If no one’s home, leave door hangers. Before you even go back to do the install, hit that neighborhood with direct mail that says, “Hey, we’re doing work here! Get free quotes or 25% off service while we’re in your neighborhood.”
Try to line up jobs to stay in that neighborhood all day. You can even offer ridiculous deals for tune-ups just to be there. This is how you take over entire neighborhoods! I like to pick neighborhoods that are big, social, and have active Facebook pages.
After the job, simply ask the customer politely if they could do a testimonial video and to post it in their Facebook group. I also suggest doing your own video of the job site as a one-man crew, taking pictures, setting up stages, documenting it all.
Then, run Instagram Reels and boost Facebook posts in the surrounding areas, creating a custom audience for that specific location. This is super hyper local, super hyper focused, and I promise you, this works! It worked for me, it’ll work for you if you do it right.
5. Essential Software for Your Garage Door Business
I list a few key software types you’ll need, keeping your budget in mind:
QuickBooks: Just do it! I understand it can be extremely intimidating, and I even tried to avoid it with other software like Xero, but it just created more problems. Every CPA and bookkeeper knows it, and it integrates with most systems. It’s like buying toilet paper; you just have to pay for it!
Dispatch Software: I recommend checking out Housecall Pro, Jobber, and Service Fusion. I actually launched with Jobber myself. I’ll tell you about Jobber: when I started, I grew out of it when I hit a little over a million dollars because I wasn’t getting the reports and data I was looking for.
But I’ve heard they’ve gotten much better. I think Jobber does an amazing job with keeping their app super clean and user-friendly for everyone. I’d make Jobber your first phone call, then Housecall Pro, and third Service Fusion.
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) System: This can be a little tricky, but it’s super valuable for nurturing leads.
monday.com: You can use it for CRM and project management. If you go door-knocking and get leads, you may want to nurture them. You could simply tell people you’re going to get them in your system, and it will automatically reach out every six months for recommended garage door service. This is absolutely beautiful to automate.
Tags and Automation: This is brilliant! You can use tags like needs motor for customers who aren’t ready to buy a new motor yet. You could then send them a coupon in 30 days for $25 off, then $40 off in 60 days, and $50 off in 90 days, until they hit your rock bottom price.
You can set all this up in a good CRM system. monday.com has some stuff for automated communication and great platform for project management too.
Social Planner Software: Find one of the cheapest! Why? Because in a startup, you won’t control your time as much as you think. This lets you dedicate Sunday nights to planning a week’s worth of posts and scheduling them to go out automatically.
I love Social Pilot for this; it’s fairly inexpensive, around $25-$30 a month for 10 social media accounts and one user, which is all you need. It lets you manage Pinterest, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and more. Blast your photos and posts out there!
Social Pilot also has a review management platform for $30 a month, but your CRM or dispatch software often has this too.
Google Workspace (formerly Google Suite): I absolutely recommend setting this up. It gives you a custom and secure business email using your domain name.
For about $6 a user per month with a one-year commitment, you get custom email, 100-participant video meetings, 30 GB of storage per user, security, management controls, Google Drive, and Calendar.
Set up a Google workspace. Don’t use a generic “@gmail.com” email on your truck; nothing says small-time more than that!
6. Sales, Sales, Sales!
You have nothing if you have no sales. I even say to “screw all that” talk about company manuals, processes, and systems when you’re a one-man show. Not important right now.
Focus on Getting Sales ASAP: Your main goal is to get sales as quickly as humanly possible.
Sales isn’t Dirty: I know sales has a bad connotation for a lot of people, but it doesn’t have to be pushy. I teach a non-pushy, proven sales training.
Create Packages: I love creating packages for clients.
Know Your Pricing: Make sure your pricing covers everything you need and still makes a profit.
Sharpen Your Skills: The most successful business owners are great at sales and marketing 100%. If you push against sales, it’s going to push against you.
7. Tell Your Friends & Family Before You Launch
This is a clever one. If you’re launching your business in, say, January, I would start leaking the news to your friends and family in November.
Offer Free Service: Tell them, “Hey, if you or anybody you know needs garage door work, please let me know. Since I’m just getting started in my garage door business, prior to my launch, I’ll come over and I will do a free service for you.”
Get Reviews: Your goal here isn’t cash; it’s to wow them and get a review for your new business. Put a sticker on their door, give them a card, anything to make a good impression and get that review. Reviews are super important because they compound!
8. Treat Every Customer Like They’re Your Last
This goes hand-in-hand with getting reviews. If you do an amazing job for every single customer, you will naturally get reviews. It costs you nothing but doing good work.
9. Get Social Media Ready BEFORE You Invite Anyone
Nothing’s worse than being “that guy” who starts a new business every two months and invites everyone to his empty social media pages!
Build It Out First: Set up all your social media accounts with your branding, making them look similar.
Quality & Real Photos: Use quality photos, and make sure you’re in them! Don’t have them just be of doors, that’s boring. Do NOT use stock imagery on your website or social media.
Ryan and the crew at DIGIMACRON 2025. Skip stock images and show the real people behind your brand.
Action Shots: When you do that free service for a friend, have them take pictures of you working in the garage, getting tools off your truck, even shaking their hand when you walk up. Use these in action photos on your website and social media.
Post Before Inviting: Start posting content before you invite all your friends and family. Get some good content out there first. Then, you can run Instagram Reels and Facebook posts and boost those in the surrounding areas, creating a custom audience for that specific location.
10. Master Your Cash Flow
I wish somebody had taught me this early in the game. This is probably number two in importance to sales.
Multiple Bank Accounts: When you open your bank account, I want you to open two or three checking accounts and at least two savings accounts.
Deposit Account: One of the savings accounts should be a deposit account. All the money you get for selling job materials (like doors or motors) goes here. If you can set up Net 30 Terms with suppliers, keep that money in this account, ideally an interest-bearing one.
Your deposit should at least cover your material cost. This money is not your money, don’t spend it unless you absolutely have to. When the customer pays on site, that money goes here too. You’ll pay your material bills from this account a few weeks later when they come due. This helps avoid confusion!
Operating Checking Account: This is your main checking account where other money comes in and out. If a credit card payment for a deposit comes here, transfer it to the deposit account. You’ll pay most other bills from this, or you can even name a separate bills account.
Profit Account: If you’re a “Profit First” fan, open a separate profit account. When a deposit hits, after accounting for material, you’d shovel a percentage (10%, 15%, or 20% net profit) into this account.
Credit Card Fees: If you accept credit cards (which you should!), factor those fees into your pricing. For example, if you do 20 jobs a month with an average ticket of $1,500 ($30,000 total), and 60% of that is paid by credit card (at 3% fee), that’s $540.
Divided by 20 jobs, that’s $27 per job you need to add to your price for everyone, not just those using credit cards. Don’t charge your customer the credit card fees – People don’t like being nickel and dimed, and nothing says small time more than charging people extra for using credit card.
Professional Email: Nothing screams small time more than having an email address that says like [email protected]. Get a custom, secure business email using your domain name through something like Google Workspace.
Inventory Low, Net 30 Terms: Keep your inventory low. Don’t buy a pallet of Springs, dumb idea. Just carry enough for two or three weeks. Get Net 30 Terms with all your suppliers.
Even if you have the money in the bank, take the free money (30 days to pay) because you’re going to need it later as growth happens.
Keep Overhead Down: Keep your overhead as low as possible for as long as possible.
Hiring Your First Person: That $20,000-$30,000 monthly mark can feel like a glass ceiling for one person. It takes a huge leap of faith to hire your first person in the field. I suggest doing things that get you out of the position that bogs you down the most.
You need to hire someone as soon as humanly possible, but it must be the right person. Start recruiting early, build a relationship, and make sure they align with your values. You can’t afford to strike out on this one.
I would hire an installer first, then maybe an office person who could also do some bookkeeping to free me up for sales and networking.
Bonus Insight: Your Vision & Values
I also want to touch on something super important: come up with a vision statement, mission statement, and core values.
Inspirational Values: At this stage, your core values should be inspirational, focusing on getting things done, growth, and customer service. When you hire, you need to hire based on these values.
Roadmap for the Future: Your mission and vision define where you’re going and what you’re doing. Take some creative time, grab sticky notes, and get this nailed down, it’ll guide your roadmap.
These strategies ensure you build a thriving company. Our success with Aaron Overhead Doors and clients like J.A.G. & Sons proves their impact. Home service business owners and marketers can apply these tactics to any trade.
For tailored guidance, schedule a free consultation! Join Garage Door U or our Summit to network with industry leaders and refine your approach. These steps deliver results when executed consistently. Start building a business that stands out in a competitive market.
