How to Write an HVAC Business Plan [Free Template]

1. Cover page and table of contents

A professional-looking and easy-to-read business plan shows potential investors that you are organized and serious about your HVAC business. 

To make a solid first impression, start your HVAC business plan with:

• A cover page that includes your business’s logo, address, contact details, and the date you created the document.
• A table of contents to help readers see what’s in the business plan and skip ahead to specific sections. (If your HVAC business plan is only a few pages long, you can skip this step.)

Although this will be the first page of your business plan, it’s best to complete the cover page and table of contents at the end when you have all parts of your business plan in place.

2. Executive summary

The executive summary is a short overview of your entire HVAC business plan. Use this section to describe the people behind your business, your business goals, as well as what readers can expect from your plan.

At a minimum, your executive summary should include:

• Company history: How did you start your HVAC business? Who are your business partners (if you have any), and what makes you a strong team?
• Mission and values: Why does your business exist? What do you want it to become? What qualities are important to you in a service team?
• Business goals: What do you want to accomplish in the coming year? What does success look like for your business?
• Competitive advantage: What sets you apart from the HVAC competition in your market?

Keep your executive summary short (less than one page)—the rest of your HVAC business plan will give all the detail your readers need.

This can be easier said than done, so if you need some help, take a look at some HVAC business plan examples to see how others have written their executive summaries.

3. Business overview

Your business overview sums up the kind of HVAC work your business does and how it operates. In other words, it describes your HVAC business model.

Here’s what you should include in your business overview:

• Company summary detailing your vision for your HVAC company.
• Company ownership (sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, etc.)
• Your legal and trade name (if you’re operating under a different HVAC company name than what’s on your business license)
• The problems your business is solving for your customers.
• Where your business will operate from
• Assets that will help you run your business (like a van, garage, phones, and computers)
• Startup costs (all your assets, plus office supplies, marketing materials, and HVAC business software)

If you’re struggling to put your vision into words, look up some HVAC business description examples for inspiration.

4. Management team

Investors want to know who is running the business and who is doing the work. Adding a section introducing your management team allows anyone reading your HVAC business plan to put a face to the business.

Make sure to highlight the names and roles of the people on your management team, which includes the business owners, managers, and key contacts. If you are working alone to start, you should still include a profile with a short biography and explaining your vision for the business.

5. HVAC services list

By this point of your HVAC business plan, you have outlined the basics of your company. Now it’s time to detail the specific services that your HVAC company offers.

Write down all of the HVAC services you plan to offer, and how often you’ll be servicing customers. For example, you might offer:

• Furnace repair
• Furnace tune-up and maintenance
• Furnace installation
• Air conditioning repair
• Air conditioning tune-up and maintenance
• Air conditioning installation
• Tankless water heater installation

Your services will vary depending on what your competition is offering and what your target clients need most. Make sure you do research to ensure that you can actually follow through with these services, and that there is demand for them.

Finally, as you write your service list, take note of what equipment you already have and what you need to complete these services. Save this list for the financial planning section of your business plan.

READ MORE: Use our free HVAC installation checklist

6. Operations plan

With your HVAC services in place, your plan needs to explain how you will execute those services to your customers and run your business. This is where an operations plan comes in.

Your operations plan should include information such as:

• What will be in your HVAC service contracts
• The software you will use, such as HVAC CRM software
• Business policies and standards

You don’t have to go into too much detail on the day-to-day of your business, but giving investors a glimpse into your operations shows transparency.

READ MORE: Top 10 HVAC apps to boost productivity

7. HVAC pricing

Now that you know your core services and have an operations plan, add a section to show how you’ll price those services to keep your company profitable.

A business plan for HVAC company success is incomplete without pricing. In fact, many people reading your business plan may skip straight to this section and ensure that your prices align with your financial projections and marketing efforts.

Use this section to describe your HVAC pricing strategy, including:

• Your hourly rate (with and without employee pay)
• Overhead and equipment costs
• Any adjustments for special services and materials
• Your goals for operating profit margins and gross margins
• All taxes and fees

8. Industry analysis

Knowing current HVAC industry trends provides a good foundation for your business planning. Your market analysis informs the rest of your business plan and provides support for your pricing. 

Try to answer these questions in your HVAC business plan:

• Client demographics: Who is your ideal customer? What’s their age, annual income, and the types of services they look for? Are they looking for residential or commercial HVAC services?
• Competitor analysis: Are there many well-established competitors in your area? Who are your top competitors? What are they doing well and what can you do better?

Understanding your ideal clients and top competitors early on helps you adjust your HVAC business model to provide the best service possible. 

Your management team should conduct an industry analysis to answer these questions and determine which direction to take your HVAC business.

9. Marketing strategy

Use your industry analysis above to understand where to put your marketing efforts.

Your HVAC business marketing plan helps you promote your business to the right people with the right strategies.

In this section, list your current sales and marketing strategies, as well as any new ones you’ll be using this year, like:

• HVAC website
• Social media marketing
• Lead generation sites
• Facebook page for your business
• Customer referral program
• Local Services Ads on Google
• HVAC business cards, flyers, or door hangers

Explain how each marketing tactic will help you get HVAC leads, then estimate how much you plan to spend on each. (e.g., $940 to print postcards, $150 for a DIY website).

READ MORE:4 HVAC sales tips for competitive selling

10. Employee planning

Budgeting and planning for labor is crucial to your HVAC business plan, even if you work as a lone HVAC contractor. 

As your business grows, you might decide to hire HVAC technicians as employees or subcontractors, in which case you’ll be happy that you already accounted for employee hiring in your plan.

If you do decide to hire, include these details in your employee planning section:

• How many subcontractors or employees you need
• A job description for your HVAC technician
• Time, effort, and cost to hire HVAC dispatchers and technicians
• How many jobs you typically have per week
• How much revenue you need to make from each job
• Local labor rates and cost of living
• Employees’ hourly wages or salaries

11. Financial planning

If you’re looking for funding, this section is the most important for potential investors. 

You should make this section concise while still including all of the information investors want to know. Your financial plan should include:

• Sales forecast: Where do you see your sales month after month? What are your predicted profit margins?
• Personnel costs: If you’re hiring HVAC workers, how much will this cost you? What skills do they need to work for you (HVAC certification, licenses, work experience)?
• Overhead and equipment expenses: What HVAC tools and equipment do you need, and how much do they cost? What are your monthly overhead costs?

Indicate how much all of this would cost your business for at least the next year, if not the next two to three years.

READ MORE:How to create a small business budget (with free template)