Info for starting a skip hire business

banjo38

Hi guys

I am trying to get information on starting up a skip hire business. There seems to be
little or no info on the net with regarding this start up in Ireland.
Is it worth getting into?
Initially I'm looking to do it as a side business with a view to growing it
over the next year or two.
Also its quite difficult to get prices for trucks and skips in the republic.
There does seem to be more availability in the UK.
I have a yard for storage
Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated.

jimmii

Price up how much you think you will have to charge for a job and then call competitors and see what sort of prices they quote for that type of job to see if you are able to price it competitively enough.

pedronomix

Bins and trucks are the easy bit. EPA Licences required for such an operation, not all all easy even for the experienced operator. http://www.environ.ie/en/Legislation/Environment/Waste/WasteManagement/

BorneTobyWilde

What's your location. I think location is key .

porsche boy

before you look into buying anything make sure you can comfortably comply with all legislation and laws, buying a truck is easy but grtting a waste licence is not. It really really isnt.

pedronomix

OP please let us know how you are getting on with the EPA Licencing etc, you will need all of this costed out to do your business plan

rollin paul

Hi lads this is banjo 38
had to change my login to rollin paul.
Thanks for the info I will look into getting the licence as a start.
There does seem to be a lot of competition out there, is there anyone with
experience in the industry to give advice on demand out there?

pedronomix

it is highly unlikely that there is and even less that they would share it. Tony Soprano was big in Waste Mnagement.....

Tell us what you do know about the business, might be a starting point.

jimmii

When you look at how many rubbish trucks have been burnt out would certainly make me think twice before getting into waste management!

wytch

I used to work in the waste industry. I would think you need big money behind you to make it. Years ago small operators made it big by illegal dumping in disused quarries down the country. Nowadays its about taking a skip in and sorting the materials to be sent for recycling. Have you worked at any part of it before. The startup costs must be massive, possibly millions. Machinery is big, maintenance is constant. If you've seen Gold Rush on the Discovery Channell, its quite similar apart from the size of the track machines! Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

rollin paul

In fairness i don't have much experience in the industry only
that i worked on sites for years and we used a lot of small operators.
I would be starting from scratch and drumming up business locally,
this is just research to find out if its worth getting into as I have a
real passion to set up my own business.

rollin paul

Also if 'm disposing of non hazardies waste such as construction materials
will it haveto be sorted for recycling?

cocoman

rollin paul wrote: »

Also if 'm disposing of non hazardies waste such as construction materials
will it haveto be sorted for recycling?

You need to figure out where the end waste is going to be sent. Landfill costs are massive so you need to segregate out anything that can be recycled. Then you need to work out where you are going to send that.

K.Flyer

My advise to the O.P. would be to try get a job with one of the larger long established companies (I know that might be harder than it sounds) to see if you would even like doing the job. It would also give you an insight into the nut and bolt day to day workings of the business.

pedronomix

Do you have the the minimum 1.5 million market entry money available. If not you are wasting your time chasing rainbows. Think instead of maybe of subbing to an existing player with your own truck and customers.

BorneTobyWilde

Whats the population of the area you wish to cover. It's a numbers game I can imagine.
20,000 within a 34 miles radius would bring in less business than 130,000 with in a 34 miles radius.What is location you wish to work.

antoinolachtnai

I think (and this is just an intuiton rather than hard facts) that there is potential to provide a higher quality of service and get some premium on price. At present, the service is weak enough if you ask me, and there are opportunities to increase the level of service and get some premium.

The way to do this would almost certainly not be to put your own trucks on the road. I'd say there are too many trucks on the road and too many small operators already.

The whole waste business is very difficult, and margins are said to be very tight. A number of waste companies operate as unlimited companies and it is said that this is to avoid the need to disclose their margins to competitors.

Alucan

You really need to talk to your local council regarding permits. to collect waste you need a collection permit which is around 2 grand for one county
or five grand for a national collection permit. to get this permit you need letters from recycling facilities confirming they will accept the waste from you. This permit only allows you to collect waste and deliver it directly to a recycling facility or landfill. If you want to bring waste back to your yard there are two options a transfer station licence which would allow you to transfer waste from skips to a bigger truck but not do any sorting or separating of waste streams.Or a recycling facility permit which would allow you to sort and segregate and store the waste in your yard. A collection permit is not that hard to get but it will mean having to tip your skips in one of your competitors facilities this won't be cheap. A transfer station or recycling facility permit is extremely difficult to get and depending on your location will require the correct planning and zoning. you need planning before you can apply for the permit. I won't go into trucks and equipment because it's very unlikely you will get through the the permit stage which will take at least a year and 100000 euro if everything is straight forward with your site and it never is.

pedronomix

and now for the tin hat!! http://www.irishexaminer.com/business/environment-watchdog-using-sledgehammer-to-crack-a-nut-315401.html

porsche boy

I had a brief dealing with waste management, bin lorries, skip trucks etc and what i concluded was it is a very cut throat industry. the big players (names omitted for fear of my wheelie bin being burned out) are running seriously tight margins and profit is made on huge turn over. There also seems to be, and this is only my speculation, a very under handed side to getting one over on competitors. Now I'm not saying for a moment that anything illigal goes on but a few different recycling facilities and a number of waste trucks went up in flames within a very short time of each other around the Ballymount area of Dublin a while back. Smaller companies seem to have been bought up or run out in the last number of years leading to about 3 or 4 massive companies which really can't be beaten on price.
If your looking to start up a business and have a yard or a bit of land perhaps I can suggest buying a tow truck and hooking up with a larger company as a subcontractor and sturage facility. This will have far less red tape and potentially is a viable operation.