I talk to new vendors all the time, and the same patterns keep coming up. The enthusiasm is there, the willingness to work is there, but some foundational mistakes can cost months of progress and thousands of dollars. Here are the big ones.
Pricing too low to win clients. This is the classic trap. You’re new, you want volume, so you undercut everyone. The problem is that property preservation margins are already tight. If you’re winning work at prices that don’t cover your actual costs — labor, drive time, materials, insurance, fuel — you’re just paying to work. I’d rather do 50 orders at a healthy margin than 100 orders at a loss. Know your real costs before you submit a single bid.
Ignoring insurance requirements. Every servicer and national has specific insurance requirements — general liability minimums, workers’ comp, commercial auto, sometimes E&O coverage. If you don’t have the right insurance in place, you can’t even get on their vendor list. And if you’re operating without proper coverage, one incident can shut you down permanently. Get this right from day one.
Skipping the documentation process. I know I sound like a broken record on this, but documentation is the business. It’s not a side task — it IS the deliverable. Your photos, your completion notes, your before-and-after records are what the client is actually paying for. The physical work matters, but if it’s not documented properly, it didn’t happen as far as the servicer is concerned.
Not tracking costs per work order. You need to know what each job is actually costing you. Drive time, labor hours, materials, disposal fees, fuel. If you’re not tracking this, you have no idea which jobs are profitable and which are eating your margin. A simple spreadsheet is enough to start — track revenue vs. actual costs per order and review it monthly.
Trying to do everything solo for too long. There’s a ceiling to what one person can handle. If you’re doing field work, uploading photos, managing bids, handling invoicing, and chasing new clients all by yourself, something is going to slip. The quality of your work or the growth of your business — one of them suffers. Build systems early, even if it’s just checklists and templates. And know when it’s time to bring on help.
Avoid these five things and you’re already ahead of most companies in their first year. Property preservation rewards consistency and reliability more than anything else. Be the vendor that does the work right, documents it properly, and shows up when they say they will. That’s the whole game.