Rodent Exclusion Services

First 30 days

Get licensed according to your state pest-control rules and buy a basic exclusion kit: inspection camera, sealants, metal mesh, traps, PPE, and a ladder. Build one tight offer: inspection, entry-point map, sealing, trapping, and 30-day follow-up. Make a simple site targeting restaurants, property managers, duplex owners, and small warehouses. Photograph every hole, gnaw mark, and repair so your estimate looks more like evidence than sales copy.

Days 31-60

Visit 40 local restaurants, bakeries, bodegas, and strip-center property managers. Offer a low-friction paid inspection, typically $99–$199 credited toward repairs. Build relationships with plumbers, HVAC techs, and handymen because they see rodent entry points before the owner admits there is a problem. Standardize pricing by linear feet, number of entry points, and cleanup risk.

Days 61-90

Add recurring monitoring plans: monthly trap checks, exterior inspection, sanitation notes, and priority callouts. Create before-and-after case studies without gross theatrics. Hire a part-time helper once you consistently book more than 8–10 exclusion jobs per month. Keep the business boring: same checklist, same photo report, same follow-up cadence. Rats are chaotic. Your invoice should not be.

Typical operators report inspections around $99–$250, small sealing jobs around $400–$1,200, and larger restaurant or multifamily exclusions around $1,500–$5,000+. A solo operator doing 4–8 jobs per week plus 20–50 monthly monitoring accounts can build meaningful cash flow without a big shop. Material costs are usually modest: mesh, sealant, traps, bait stations where legal, and PPE. Labor, insurance, licensing, fuel, and callbacks are the real cost centers. Net margins commonly land around 20%–40% when estimating is disciplined and follow-up visits are controlled.

• Inspection mirror and borescope: $50–$300
• Headlamp, respirator, gloves, coveralls: $150–$500
• Traps, stations, and monitoring supplies: $300–$1,500
• Copper mesh, hardware cloth, sealants, foam: $400–$2,000
• Ladder and basic hand tools: $500–$2,000
• Service vehicle or used van setup: $3,000–$15,000
• Reporting/invoicing software: $30–$150/mo

Within 2 weeks, walk into 25 independent restaurants between lunch and dinner rush. Ask for the owner or manager and offer a $99 exterior rodent-risk inspection with photos, credited if they approve repairs. Bring a one-page sample report showing entry points, not scary copy. Also call 15 property managers and offer the same report for small multifamily buildings. Close customer #1 by making the deliverable obvious: photos, marked-up map, fixed-price repair, and a follow-up date.