You didn’t start your pest control business to work 70 hours a week, chase late payments, and barely break even. But if you're like most owners stuck under $1 million in revenue, you’re trapped in a cycle that’s burning you out—and you might not even realize why.
I’ve seen a lot of great technicians become broke business owners. Not because they weren’t capable, but because they made these five deadly mistakes.
Let’s break them down.
1. You’re Still Doing Everything Yourself
Being both the CEO and the technician doesn’t work.
If you’re answering the phones, doing the treatments, running the schedules, and trying to grow—your growth will stop. It’s not optional to delegate. It’s survival.
Start small. Hire a virtual assistant to handle admin, calls, and scheduling. That move alone can buy you back 10 to 20 hours per week and let you focus on revenue-generating tasks.
2. You Have No Follow-Up System
Most leads won’t convert the first time. Yet 80% of small business owners don’t follow up.
A simple automated email and text sequence can increase your close rate by 30% or more. Set up a CRM with automated reminders, follow-up messages, and reactivation campaigns. It doesn’t need to be fancy—it just needs to exist.
3. Your Prices Are Too Low
This one hits hard.
If your margins are thin, you will burn out. And let’s be honest—cheap clients are usually the most difficult ones.
Raise your prices. Deliver a better experience. And attract the kind of customers who respect your time and your work. The right customers are not looking for the cheapest option. They’re looking for peace of mind.
4. You Don’t Have a Reoccurring Revenue Strategy
One-time jobs mean one-time income.
If you’re still running a business based on one-off sprays, you’re building a hamster wheel. You’ll hustle forever and never gain traction.
Instead, build out monthly or quarterly service plans. Give them names. Focus on selling peace of mind, not just pest control. Reoccurring revenue is what turns a stressful business into a valuable, scalable asset.
5. You Don’t Know Your Numbers
How much does it cost to acquire a customer? What’s your profit per job? Per route?
If you don’t know these numbers, you can’t grow strategically. Get obsessed with your KPIs—your customer acquisition cost (CAC), lifetime value (LTV), gross margins, and route density. These are the dials you’ll use to scale.
A Real Example: Two Offices, One Shift
I bought two offices in nearly identical situations. One had 5,000 customers. The other had 800.
The 800-customer office was doing $300K to $350K in revenue, mostly on one-time services. We didn’t add more customers. We changed the business model.
We built packages, added reoccurring plans, improved pricing, and automated follow-up. Within 11 months, that same office was doing $800K in revenue—with the same exact clients.
Final Thoughts
I’ve made all these mistakes. Most owners do. But entrepreneurship is about identifying and fixing the leaks—one at a time.
Where are you stuck right now? Which of these mistakes are holding you back?
Drop it in the comments. I’d love to hear from you and help however I can.
Fix one leak this week. Then move to the next. That’s how you build something that lasts.
Jonas Olson
CEO, Pest Badger
