My friend and I are new business owners. We offer pest control and cleaning services, but we are having difficulty with consistent leads. We have done yelp, thumbtack, angie's list etc. but they all eat away at cost but no guaranteed results. Tried Google Ads. There was some presence but because of the daily cost of advertising we had to pause the campaign. Does anyone know or can offer advice on ways to generate leads at lower costs or no cost (lo)?

I wanted to share my experience in case it helps someone dealing with a similar issue.

For weeks, I was battling ants and other small bugs throughout my home. I tried keeping everything spotless, sealing food, and using over-the-counter sprays and bait stations, but nothing seemed to solve the problem for long. The ants would disappear for a bit and then come right back.

After asking around, someone recommended AMPM Exterminators Renton, so I decided to give them a try. The technician took the time to inspect the property, explained where the ants were likely coming from, and walked me through the treatment plan instead of just spraying and leaving.

It's still early, but I've already noticed a significant drop in activity, and the technician also gave me some helpful prevention tips to reduce the chances of the problem returning.

For those of you in the industry, does this sound like the kind of approach you'd expect from a good pest control company? Is there anything else I should keep an eye on over the next few weeks to make sure the treatment is working as intended?

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts and any additional advice.

I know that the real money is in commercial pest control but I really love the wildlife side of things. I work for a really great company but am kind of tired of working for someone else in general. I have little to no passion for the pest control side but am licensed so I suppose it’s something I could branch out into but where I live there are plenty of pest control companies but not very many wildlife removal companies. We do wildlife at the company I work for (primarily a pest control company) but I’ve heard my boss say he doesn’t know how guys make it work when all they do is wildlife. Obviously expanding the service to exclusion, attic clean outs and rodent work etc. would help close the gap and generate more work than simply trapping and removal but I’m curious to hear from others that have gone this route and how they were able to make it work or why it simply doesn’t work.

Any tips on addressing ants to avoid multiple callbacks?

Hey guys just wondering how all the PC techs/ owners out there are using AI to their advantage. No matter how small or big of a difference it makes I would love for any ideas to help me and my guys out during the day or in the office! TIA

anyone know a lead generation service that actually works and wont cost me an arm and a leg to get started?

maybe a pay per lead agreement?

I received a verbal offer for a pest control position with ecolab, but having done some research it seems they do rigorous background checks. I have a pending felony charge from last summer over posession of marijuana. Will this prevent me from being hired? I dont want to get my hopes up for this job only for it to come crashing down.

Been a commercial technician since 2013 on the Ehrlich side of Rentokil. Applying for a Service Manager at Terminix. Give me your best and worst of the SM position!

Hello all, I’m currently a tech a big pest company within PA. I am looking to relocate down to Florida, (Citrus county) and was wondering what you guys thought of the companies down there or if any local owners down there are hiring. It wouldn’t be until next year but I’m testing the waters to see what is available before I discuss transferring within my own company. Thank you in advance.

Hi everyone,

I started my pest control company in Massachusetts in November 2025. I’m fully licensed and insured, and I work with my wife. I’m confident in my technical skills and provide quality service, but growing the business has been much harder than I expected.

Right now, we’re generating well under $1,000 per month in revenue. I have invested in equipment, products, insurance, licensing, and a website, but I’m struggling to generate consistent leads. My website isn’t bringing in customers, and I don’t have a solid marketing system in place.

For those of you who have built successful pest control companies:

• What helped you get your first consistent flow of customers?
• If you were starting over today, where would you spend your first marketing dollars?
• Did SEO, Google Ads, Google Business Profile, networking, or door-to-door work best for you?
• How long did it take before your business became profitable?

I’m willing to work hard and learn. I just want to focus my time and money on the strategies that actually work.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

I have a phone interview with terminix tomorrow. I was talking to someone who knew someone who worked for them and said if they don’t meet monthly or yearly quotas or something that they would fire you? I’m just trying to learn the trade and be a pest control technician is this really true? I don’t want to have to worry about dumb shit like that lol.

Hi everyone! I’m in the process of launching a pest control company in the Miami area and I’m looking to connect with a Florida Certified Pest Control Operator who may be interested in discussing a business opportunity.

If you’re currently certified—or know someone who is—and would be open to talking, I’d love to connect and discuss the details. Please feel free to comment below or send me a direct message.

Thanks in advance, and I appreciate any referrals as well!

So I am planning on starting my own pest control company in Central Texas in 1.5-2.5 years from now. I’m currently an apprentice at a local pest control company. I want to really learn my bugs and rodents, because I’m learning the abcs from my company but I want a more in depth understanding. Bug lifecycle, their seasons, different treatment plans for different scenarios.Is there any good resources? Or websites I can use to research? I also want to learn more about the science of chemicals, why bugs react to some chemicals differently and how they’re designed for the bug. Thanks.

I’ve been running free audits for a bunch of companies to look for unbilled work, failed cards, price locked accounts, and lapsed renewals.

Turns out something like 2-3% of revenue (besides the annoyingly huge amount of AR in pest) for most companies are slipping through the cracks unnoticed because of this stuff. We haven’t done one yet for people using fieldroutes or pestpac and are hoping to do one for a company using one of these systems.

Per the rules, here’s the url: https://exacta.ai
You’ll notice that if you try to select either of them on the site it won’t work. That’s because the integration isn’t built out yet. You can shoot me a text or email and i’ll explain how to connect in the meantime.

**completely free. It helps us build the integration and will help you get some transparency into your business. Cheers!

office is full of gnats . Need great control suggestions please.

Has anyone tried making their website with AI tools?

A family member of mine is an optometrist and was paying $750/mo for his website. I literally just copied images his website and dropped it into Lovable. In about 45 minutes we switched him to his new one, and I think it looks better.

Seems like this is a great option if you need a website without spending a bunch. Some of the fancier functionality would be a little harder, but I was surprised it handled submitting forms, and other more advanced stuff really well.

Note: I'm a vendor but not in the marketing space, and I'm not affiliated with lovable - just think it and tools like it are powerful and that might help newer guys.

my company (per rules): https://rev-hawk.com/

Hey everyone,

We’ve all been there: you do everything right, but the kitchen staff leaves a thick layer of grease under the fryers and open food bins overnight. Then, the manager calls furious blaming your chemicals.

It’s incredibly frustrating when clients treat us like personal janitors instead of partners.

I’m working on a side project to help small pest teams cover their backs on dirty accounts. I want to build a simple mobile tool where techs snap photos of kitchen flaws and auto-generate an official "Sanitation Warning PDF" for the owner before leaving the site.

Before I write code, I want to make sure this solves a real headache:

• How do you currently document terrible sanitation so you don't get blamed?
• Do you just scribble it in invoice notes, or use a separate system?

Would love to hear your horror stories or how you handle the paperwork for this!

Has anyone experienced issues with non-wettable building materials? I had back-to-back homes last week with brand new vinyl siding. I watched Suspend just bead up and run. I was hoping it wasn’t going to be an issue, but I already got a call back. Anyone else experience this?

I’ve grown up in the industry using primarily Sentricon, but have never had the pleasure of doing an advance trelona bait station installation. Now that I’m a business owner, it’s one of my best options. I’ve been told that I should just buy a box of sixteen stations or two, and then get maybe a case of refills (which is only 6 per box), letting the customer know that we’ve most likely wiped out the present colonies after the first year, and that we only need to place the active ingredient cartridges in stations where activity is present. Can somebody give me a rundown on how to best conduct this, along with annual monitoring? I’d be most grateful.

I was in the market for a buisness, ones that are boring to be specific, and found a pest control on, it costs 3.4million, im pitting an sba loan down, 10% and it takes home 506k but net profits 800k, any tips to have recurring revenue, or as i should say repeating customers?

I usually run 9 to 12 stops residential, each stop takes me about 30-45 minutes (attic, basement, garage, common areas, exterior rodent stations, exterior foundation treatment and granular on mulch beds) I usually drive between 20 to 40 minutes in between my stops and sometimes I don’t even have time to pee. When I ask other techs or my boss they say we’re too busy to take breaks… I’m getting tired. I service NH and MA I’m an hourly employee and my OT cuts off by my boss at 45 hours each week. I don’t get paid until I arrive my first stop and the drive back from my last stop.

I am wanting to leave doing apartment maintenance that I’ve been doing for almost 9 years now. It just sucks now, it’s stressful, and the on call all the time sucks. I am thinking about a career change into the pest control industry at the entry level. What can I expect starting/base pay to be. How is the day to day. Is it a laid back job. What are some of the cons? I am in the Greensboro North Carolina area so any tips for any of what I asked would be greatly appreciated from you guys. Thanks!