How much does it cost to start a plumbing or electrical trade?
About $55,400 all in for a small one, opened by one founder in an American city: $37,300 to open the doors and $18,000 to keep going for the 4 months it typically takes to pay its way. Below, every item at low, typical and high with where it comes from — and your own quote, for your country, your town, how you start and the money you have.
To open: $37,300
Used service van: $22,000 ($15,000–$40,000). ZenBusiness: vehicle $10,000-$50,000 new vs used; service van or truck $10,000-$40,000 (plumbing startup tables)
Plumbing tools, drain machine and camera: $7,000 ($3,000–$15,000). plumbing startup tables: tools and equipment $5,000-$15,000; ZenBusiness $1,000-$5,000 for basics; a drain camera alone $2k-$8k (estimate)
Opening parts stock on the van: $2,500 ($1,000–$5,000). Our estimate: fittings, valves, supply lines, water-heater and toilet parts to finish common jobs on the first visit
Plumbing contractor licence and exam: $400 ($200–$1,000). ZenBusiness: licensing and certification $200-$500; varies by state
Contractor licence bond: $250 ($100–$500). Plumbing startup guides: some states require a $5,000-$25,000 surety bond; bonds cost 1-3% of the bond a year
General liability insurance, first year: $1,380 ($1,000–$2,500). Insureon plumbers cost page: average $115/month ($1,378/yr) for general liability
Website, van wrap and launch ads: $3,000 ($1,000–$9,000). ZenBusiness: initial marketing and branding $1,000-$9,000
Forming the company: $800 ($150–$2,500). An LLC's state filing is $50–$500 (state fee schedules), plus an EIN (free) and a registered agent; the World Bank measured the procedures at about 1% of income per capita, about $850 (Doing Business 2020); a lawyer's formation package $500–$2,000.
To keep going until it pays its way: $18,000
Running costs while sales build: $3,810 ($931–$17,600). Commercial auto insurance, Fuel, Field-service software, Google Local Services and ads, Consumables and small parts, Phone and answering, until it breaks even; sales are taken to grow evenly to cover them, so about half is needed. Break-even: Our estimate: service plumbing is paid on completion, so cash arrives with the first jobs; the guides give no month figure, filling the van's schedule takes a few months
Your own living costs until it can pay you: $14,200 ($7,120–$32,000). A one-person household spends about $3,560 a month in America (BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey 2021–22); nothing is paid to you until the business breaks even.
All in: $55,400
About $55,400 all in ($29,500–$125,000): $37,300 to open and $18,000 to keep going for the 4 months it typically takes to pay its way.
With $10,000 of your own you are $45,400 short: borrowed as an SBA microloan at 11% over 5 years, about $987 a month.
The trade's published range, before the months it takes to pay its way: $10,000–$60,000. ZenBusiness 'Plumbing business startup costs': $10,000-$50,000; ServiceTitan/Housecall Pro guides: $20k-$60k (current file); a solo operation $15,000-$50,000 (Housecall Pro, as cited by Pipeline)
How much does it cost to start a plumbing or electrical trade?
About $55,400 all in ($29,500–$125,000) for a small one, from home, in an American city. To open: Used service van $22,000; Plumbing tools, drain machine and camera $7,000; Opening parts stock on the van $2,500; Plumbing contractor licence and exam $400; Contractor licence bond $250; General liability insurance, first year $1,380; Website, van wrap and launch ads $3,000; Forming the company $800 — $37,300. To keep going for the 4 months it typically takes to break even: running costs while sales build $3,810; your own living costs until it can pay you $14,200 — $18,000. The trade's published startup range is $10,000–$60,000 (ZenBusiness 'Plumbing business startup costs': $10,000-$50,000; ServiceTitan/Housecall Pro guides: $20k-$60k (current file); a solo operation $15,000-$50,000 (Housecall Pro, as cited by Pipeline)), which leaves the months before it pays its way out.
What does SparkTower's simulator pay to open it?
The simulator pays the one-off opening costs before the first customer — the running costs and the founder's living it plays month by month: Van (used) and tools $28,000; Licence and insurance $3,000; Forming the company $1,000; Opening marketing $2,000. A one-van plumbing business: $20k–$60k (ServiceTitan and Housecall Pro plumbing startup guides); a used van $15k–$25k, tools $5k–$10k.
How much of that do you keep?
$28,000 of it — the kit, fit-out or stock it bought — is still yours afterwards, something a buyer would pay for and a lender would lend against; the other $6,000 is spent.
What if my own money doesn't cover it?
With $10,000 of your own you would be about $45,400 short. Borrowed as an SBA microloan at 11% over 5 years, that is about $987 a month. Most founders borrow the rest. A small-business term loan runs about 11% a year over 5 years (SBA 7(a) loans are the prime rate plus 3 to 6.5 points), repaid every month from the start — before the business has found its customers. In SparkTower's plumbing or electrical trade simulator the founder starts with $30,000 of their own money. The launch costs take all of it and $12,500 is borrowed — at 11% over 5 years, about $272 a month from the first period.
Can you start a plumbing or electrical trade with no money?
Not in full: lenders want the owner to put in about 20% (the SBA's own floor for a start-up is 10%), and lend against the kit, fit-out and stock a launch buys, not its marketing or a software build. What a founder with nothing does is open smaller — the owner's own vehicle and tools — on about $7,300 of essentials (tools $4,000; licence and insurance $3,000; forming the company $300), borrowed as a microloan (the SBA's are up to $50,000, at 8–13%) or, for a few thousand dollars, on a card at about 22%. The rest is bought once the business can afford it. A licensed trade starting with the owner's own truck: $5k–$10k of tools, licence and insurance (ServiceTitan and Housecall Pro trade startup guides).
Will it earn the money back?
That depends on what you charge, how many customers you win and what your rivals do. The free plumbing or electrical trade simulator pays these costs before it opens, borrows what the founder's cash doesn't cover, and plays the business forward against real rivals, so you can see whether it earns them back before you spend them.
What it costs to start others like it
- Cost to start a small-town business — $126,000 all in
- Cost to start a café — $155,000 all in
- Cost to start a restaurant — $223,000 all in
- Cost to start a salon or barber — $128,000 all in
- Cost to start a gym or studio — $208,000 all in
- Cost to start a food truck — $116,000 all in
- Cost to start a bakery — $145,000 all in
- Cost to start a retail shop — $160,000 all in
- Cost to start a cleaning service — $27,100 all in
- Cost to start a landscaping business — $53,900 all in
- Cost to start an auto repair garage — $156,000 all in
- Cost to start a daycare or nursery — $117,000 all in
- Cost to start a construction company — $80,700 all in
- Cost to start a trucking company — $113,000 all in
- Cost to start a solar installer — $99,000 all in
- Cost to start a property developer — $937,000 all in