Business Idea Center:
Parking Lot Power Sweeping

Business Overview

Look around at many parking lots and what you’ll see are leaves, paper, cups, food wrappers, cigarette butts, and broken glass. All leave a negative impression about the business. Here is your opportunity to clean up your community and help business and property owners project the right image, by starting a parking lot power sweeping service. There are basically two styles of power sweeping equipment—truck chassis mounted sweepers and vacuums, and portable sweepers. The first are classified as heavy equipment, the type cities use to power-sweep streets. These models are very expensive, which will put them out of the financial reach of many entrepreneurs. The second style, portable power sweepers, are inexpensive and can be mounted on the back of any pickup truck. The second biggest advantage of portable power sweeping equipment, next to the cost savings, is that your truck can be a duel-use vehicle—power sweeper in place for business, and power sweeper removed for personal use. The equipment is also small enough to allow for sweeping of underground parking lots where the larger power sweepers cannot get in. This also creates a great opportunity to operate the business part-time on nights and weekends.

The Market

Potential customers will include property managers, shopping centers, schools, strip plazas, hospitals, car dealerships, grocery stores, and every other business, agency, or organization with parking lots that need to be kept clean.