How to Start a Service Business in Broward With Under $1,000

The myth: you need money to start a service business

Real talk — most “you need $50,000 to start a small business” articles are written by people who’ve never actually started one. If you’re starting a service business in Broward, you don’t need a storefront. You don’t need inventory. You don’t need a marketing budget that could fund a small wedding.

What you do need is a phone, a vehicle, the right insurance, a way for customers to find you, and a way for them to pay you. That’s it. The rest is optional, and most of it can wait until the business is making money.

This is the actual playbook for how to start a service business in Broward with under $1,000 in startup capital. Mowing, cleaning, mobile detailing, handyman work, pet care, pool service, pressure washing, mobile car repair, junk removal, party rentals — same playbook applies. I’ve watched neighbors in Pembroke Pines and Davie do this for less than the price of a used iPad.

What you actually need (the non-negotiables)

Five things. The rest can wait.

1. The legal stack — about $200

• Florida LLC formation — about $125 through the Sunbiz portal. You can DIY this in an afternoon. Skip the LegalZoom upcharge; it’s the same end result.
• EIN (Employer ID Number) — free from IRS.gov. Takes 10 minutes online.
• Broward County local business tax receipt — varies by city, usually $30-$75. Pembroke Pines, Davie, Hollywood, Miramar, and most other Broward cities have a similar process.
• Florida sales tax registration — free, through the Florida Department of Revenue. You’ll need this if you sell taxable goods or some services.

If your trade requires a state license (electrician, plumber, AC, contractor), that’s a separate (and bigger) cost. But for the unlicensed trades — cleaning, mowing, mobile services, pressure washing, handyman work under specific dollar limits — the $200 covers the legal foundation.

2. Insurance — about $300-$400/year

This is the line item most new owners skip and regret. General liability insurance for a service business in Florida runs roughly $300-$400 a year for a one-person operation. NEXT, Hiscox, and Thimble all do online quotes in 5 minutes. If you ever damage a customer’s property — and you will eventually — this is what saves your business.

Auto insurance: if you’re driving for work, your personal auto policy probably doesn’t cover commercial use. Add a commercial endorsement or get a separate commercial policy. Around $50-$100/month depending on the vehicle.

3. The phone, the email, the way customers reach you — about $20

• Google Voice — free. Gives you a separate business phone number that rings your existing phone.
• Google Workspace — $7-$14/month. Real business email (@yourbusiness.com), Google Docs, Calendar, etc.
• Domain name — about $12-$15/year through Namecheap or Cloudflare.

That’s the communication stack. You don’t need a CRM, a fancy phone system, or a virtual assistant for the first six months. You need to answer the phone when it rings and respond to texts within an hour during business hours.

4. The website + Google Business Profile — about $0-$100

You’re going to need a place customers can find you. Two paths:

• The free start. Set up your Google Business Profile the right way (categories, photos, hours, services). For most local service businesses in Broward, the GBP IS the website for the first 90 days. People find you on the map, tap the phone number, you book the job.
• The paid start. A simple WordPress site with your services, contact info, and photos runs about $60-$100/year for hosting and a domain — if you build it yourself with a free theme. Cheaper than three months of Wix.

If you’re going to take the paid path and don’t want to build it, that’s where our no-money-down web design exists — for owners who need a real working site but can’t put $1,500-$3,000 down up front. You start, the site goes live, you pay over time as the business pays itself.

5. The way you get paid — about $0

• A free business checking account — most credit unions and many banks (Bank of America, Chase) run free small business accounts. Get one BEFORE you take any customer payments. Don’t run a service business through your personal account; the IRS doesn’t like it and your accountant will charge you double to clean it up at tax time.
• Square or Stripe — free to set up. They take 2.6-2.9% per transaction. For a service business, that’s the cheapest payment processing you’ll find. Square gives you a free card reader if you ask.
• Cash and Zelle still work — for many service customers in Broward, especially older customers, cash and Zelle are still preferred. Keep all three options open.

The numbers

Doing the math on the bare-minimum start:

• LLC + business tax receipt + EIN + sales tax: ~$200
• Insurance (first quarter): ~$100
• Phone + email + domain (first month): ~$25
• Google Business Profile: $0
• Bank account + payment processing: $0
• Basic supplies (varies by trade): $200-$500

Total: $525 to $825 to be operational. That’s it. The rest — branded uniforms, vehicle wraps, a real website, paid ads, a CRM — can wait until the business is producing revenue.

What to skip in the first 90 days

The mistakes I see new service business owners make in Broward, ranked by how much they cost:

• Vehicle wraps before the business has revenue. $1,500-$3,000. Skip until month four at the earliest. Magnets work fine for the first 100 jobs.
• Custom logo design. $500-$2,500. You can use a free Canva logo for the first 90 days. Canva also handles your business cards, flyers, and door hangers if you need them.
• Paid ads. Don’t spend a dollar on Google Ads or Facebook ads in your first 90 days. Visibility through Google Business Profile and word-of-mouth is enough to get you started. Ads make sense once you have a working close rate.
• Premium tools and software. Free or cheap versions of everything (Canva, Google Workspace, Stripe, Wave Accounting) cover the first six months easily.
• Hiring. Not in the first 90 days. Run every job yourself first. You’ll learn the actual cost structure, which makes hiring smarter when you do it.

The first 30 customers

Here’s where most “how to start a service business” articles get vague. The first 30 customers don’t come from your website. They come from:

1. People you already know. Tell every friend, family member, and neighbor what you’re doing. Most businesses get their first 5-10 jobs from this. It’s not asking for charity — it’s letting people who already trust you know they can hire you.
2. Nextdoor. If you’re in a Broward neighborhood that uses Nextdoor (most of them do), post once when you launch. Don’t spam. Reply to neighbors who ask “anyone know a good [your service]?”
3. Local Facebook groups. “Pembroke Pines Buy Sell Trade,” “Davie Community,” “Hollywood Florida Locals” — most Broward cities have these. Same rule: be a real neighbor, not a spammer.
4. The Google Business Profile. Once it’s set up and you have 5+ reviews from those first friends-and-neighbors customers, the map starts working for you. This is when the phone starts ringing from strangers.
5. The first 30 customers asking for referrals. Every job ends with: “If you know anyone else who could use [service], I’d love the introduction.” Some will. Most won’t. The ones who do are gold.

Around here, neighbors hire neighbors. The thing about Broward customers is they want to support a local who shows up on time and does what they said. The first 30 customers are how you build that reputation.

If you only do one thing this week

Form the LLC. Today. The rest cascades from there because you can’t get the bank account, the EIN, the insurance, or the local tax receipt without the LLC first.

Sunbiz, $125, online, takes about 30 minutes. The Florida Sunbiz portal walks you through it. You don’t need a lawyer for a simple service-business LLC.

Final Thoughts

Starting a service business in Broward with under $1,000 isn’t a fantasy — it’s how most successful local service businesses around here actually started. The owners I know in Davie, Cooper City, Hollywood, and Pembroke Pines who run real working businesses now didn’t start with capital. They started with one customer.

The capital comes later. The customers come first. We don’t grow unless you do — and that starts with the first job, not the first marketing campaign.