Document Shredding & Destruction

Provide secure document shredding and confidential destruction services

Startup Cost
$45,000-$150,000
Difficulty
Intermediate
Time to Profit
6-12 months
Profit Potential
$10,000-$46,000/month

Overview

Document shredding services charge $50-$150 per visit for residential or $150-$800 monthly for commercial contracts.

Servicing 100-400 business clients generates $120,000-$550,000 annually with 55-75% margins after equipment, trucks, paper recycling revenue, and labor.

In 2025, GDPR, HIPAA, and data privacy regulations require businesses securely destroy confidential documents, creating consistent demand.

Services include on-site mobile shredding (truck with shredder), off-site plant-based shredding, providing secure console bins for ongoing collection, scheduled pickups (weekly, monthly), one-time purge projects, hard drive destruction, certificates of destruction for compliance, and recycling shredded paper.

Successful businesses invest in mobile shredding trucks or plant shredders, get NAID AAA certification (security standard), maintain chain of custody procedures, provide certificates for customer compliance, and offer both on-site and off-site options.

Medical offices, law firms, financial institutions, accountants, and businesses with confidential data are primary clients.

Paper recycling revenue (selling shredded paper) offsets costs.

Mobile shredding commands premium pricing over off-site due to security and convenience.

Required Skills

  • Data Security
  • NAID Standards
  • Route Logistics
  • Customer Service
  • Compliance Documentation
  • Equipment Operation

Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Recurring monthly revenue from business contracts
  • Growing demand with data privacy regulations
  • Paper recycling revenue offsets costs
  • NAID certification creates competitive advantage
  • Can add hard drive destruction for premium pricing

Cons

  • High startup costs for mobile shredding trucks
  • Equipment maintenance expensive for industrial shredders
  • Competition from large national shredding companies
  • Need secure facility for off-site shredding
  • Liability for security breaches

How to Get Started

  1. Get NAID AAA certification for credibility
  2. Purchase mobile shredding truck or plant shredder
  3. Implement chain of custody and security procedures
  4. Develop pricing for on-site, off-site, one-time, and contracts
  5. Target businesses with confidential data (medical, legal, financial)
  6. Market security and compliance benefits
  7. Build recurring monthly contract revenue base

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