Why 90% of Pest Control Startups FAIL | Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
90% of pest control startups fail in their first three years. And it’s not because the owners aren’t good at killing bugs. It’s not laziness either. It’s the pitfalls they don’t see coming.
If you’re grinding right now and sitting under $300,000 in annual revenue, you're actually halfway there—you just might not know it yet. I’ve worked with hundreds of pest control and lawn care companies. I’ve seen the patterns. Here are the five reasons most businesses stall out, and how you can break through them.
1. You Built a Job, Not a Business
If everything in your company depends on you, you don’t own a business—you own a job. And a job with overhead is a job that can burn you out fast.
The solution? Systems. They turn chaos into control and give you the freedom to scale. Start by getting help with the low-leverage tasks. Hire a VA or a call center to answer phones, schedule jobs, and close more leads. That one move alone will level up your customer experience and buy back your time to work on the business.
2. Your Prices Are Too Low
I see this all the time—owners call around, ask for competitor prices, and undercut them. It feels like a safe move, but it backfires.
Low prices attract low-quality customers who complain more, spend less, and drain your energy. Raise your prices. Position yourself as the premium option. Even if you lose half your customers, you’ll do less work and make the same revenue. Plus, you’ll finally attract clients who actually value what you do.
3. You’re Chasing Every Dollar
Just because someone will pay you doesn’t mean you should take the job. Stay focused.
You’re a pest control company. Don’t try to also be a lawn care, HVAC, or roofing business in your first year. The riches are in the niches. When you try to do everything early on, you kill efficiency and take on extra overhead.
Until you’re past the $1 million mark, stay locked in on pest control. Nail one offer, one customer type, and one process.
4. You Treat Marketing Like an Afterthought
Service doesn’t sell itself. The best-known product always beats the best product.
If you’re under $300,000, sales and marketing should be your full-time focus. Wrap your trucks, drop lawn signs, send Every Door Direct Mail, pass out door hangers, build a website, and get your Google Business Profile ranked.
Every one of those methods is cheap—or even free—but they stack fast. The first million is all about making your business visible.
5. You Refuse to Get Help
This one’s personal. For years, I tried to do everything myself. I thought I could outwork everyone, and maybe I did—but some of my friends still grew faster. Why?
Because they built teams. While I was grinding 80–90 hours a week, they had three people working 40–50 hours each and crushing me on output.
What changed for me was finding a tribe. I joined Facebook groups, hired mentors, and surrounded myself with people who were better than me at marketing, sales, finance, and more. Every time I hired someone better than me in a department, it 10Xed that part of my business.
Final Thoughts
The reason most businesses fail isn’t lack of work ethic—it’s working hard on the wrong things.
I’ve been there. Those early years will be some of the hardest of your life. But I can tell you from experience, the reward on the other side is worth it.
If you want to avoid the common traps, start with systems, raise your prices, stay in your lane, take marketing seriously, and find the right help.
We’re building a community to support that exact journey. Let’s build something great together.
Jonas Olson
CEO, Pest Badger
P.S. Watch the full episode here:
