What Is Routing Software And How Does It Affect My Trash Can Cleaning Company?

Over the years, I was surprised to hear from more than a few clients who were ready to launch their bin cleaning business and they'd never heard of routing software before. And yet, some had already purchased a truck or trailer. This, to me, is a clear indication that they may not yet have done enough research on the trash can cleaning industry.

Garbage pickup companies have a much easier job than do trash bin cleaning businesses. This is because garbage pickup simply goes to a neighborhood or development picking up the garbage from each and every house. This is similar to mail delivery where the postman goes right down the line from home to home.

If your trash bin cleaning business has an entire development or town to clean, then congratulations -- you're going to be very successful with your trash bin cleaning service. Since that's not usually the case for most trash can cleaners, the process is very different for you. You'll need to plan your route and know where to go next. Wasting time driving longer distances back and forth is going to make you significantly less profitable. Obviously, you'll spend more time driving and more money on gas. As the old saying goes, "Time is money".

With that in mind, it's important to have a plan and know where you're starting out and where you're going next. "Efficiency" is the key here.

Which Routing Software is the Best for my Trash Can Cleaning Business?

This is a loaded question. You may have spoken or will speak to someone who has a very strong opinion about this topic of routing software. A couple of things to consider though…

First (and probably most important) does the person you're speaking to have any sort of vested interest in making this recommendation? Do they have anything to gain by suggesting a particular routing application? Some people in this industry are part of an affiliate program. Affiliate programs are where one party gets something (usually money) for each customer they bring onboard for the service or product they're suggesting. This isn't so much suggesting as it is selling. In these situations, that other party is going to act mostly in their own best interest and not necessarily in yours. Their suggestion will be biased and motivated by financial gain.

The second thing to be aware of is that we all have different work styles. What one person may absolutely love about a particular routing package may not not matter at all to you. Different routing options offer some very similar features and also some unique ones. As much as a time-consuming hassle as this may seem, it's ultimately up to you to determine which routing software features are most beneficial to your work style and business.

The Good News About Routing Software and Your Bin Cleaning Business

While is may seem a little daunting to have to dive into and education ourselves on routing software, it's really not the first thing you need to concern yourself with. As much as we all want to believe we're going to open our new trash bin cleaning business and immediately be so busy we can start thinking about retirement, this really isn't a realistic scenario. Like any new start-up, trash bin cleaning companies need to have a plan and be prepared to work hard for a few years. It takes time to become profitable, but it can happen.

That said, you're going to start with only a handful of customers. This certainly won't require you to run out and spend approximately $2K/year. This is just another expense. As a new business owner your shouldn't be spending money like there's no tomorrow. You need to be wise with your expenditures and focus on being lean. Routing software can easily be added to your trash bin cleaning business at any point that you need it. Plus, the costs won't hurt as much once you have many customers since the revenue from cleaning all of those bins will cover the costs of the routing software.

Test Drive Your Routing Software Before You Commit

Once you've decided that it's time to start using routing software to run your trash can cleaning business, you'll probably find that most routing companies offer some sort of free trial. By all means, take advantage of this opportunity to "test drive" their software. Make sure that you like all of the features and functionality. 

Payment Gateways and Routing Software for your Curbside Trash Can Cleaning Business

One of the most common complaints I hear from trash bin cleaning service providers about routing software is that they're mad at their routing software provider because of the following…

My trash can washing client is looking to switch to a new routing software and they don't understand why they can't simply take their customer's payments with them to the new routing provider. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way and it's important to know that this isn't the routing software's fault. When a customer makes a payment to your trash bin cleaning company, the process utilizes a payment gateway like Stripe or PayPal. Part of the service that a payment gateway provides is that they securely store all of the credit card information for each of your trash bin cleaning customers. And this is precisely how you want it to be. You don't want to be liable for storing personal information like credit card data on your website. In this way, the payment gateway protects your business by securely storing all of your customer credit card info on their servers.

I've literally had clients call me up and thank me for making this suggestion.