Things You'll Need:
- An understanding of the following:
- cleaning
- house cleaning
- cleaning products
- commercial cleaning
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Step 1
Residential/Commercial Cleaning is a popular recession-based, recession-induced, and recession-proof business to start in these tough times because of the low overhead and high profit potential. Here's a brief look on how to start a cleaning business for homes, offices, and businesses.
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Step 2
Step 1) Decide upon the NICHE you are going to fulfill for your cleaning business. Are you going to just clean homes or are you going to clean businesses as well? Are you comfortable cleaning a business on the wrong side of town at 3:00 in the morning? What particular niche will you occupy that will be of most value to those in your community? These are all questions you need to decide before starting your cleaning business.
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Step 3
Step 2) Decide upon the CLEANING SERVICES you are going to provide. Will you provide lawn care, change locks, roof repair, carpet cleaning, etc. or just overall cleaning as most cleaners do? Remember: The key to a successful business is differentiation so don't be like everyone else in the cleaning industry.
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Step 4
Step 3) Set your CLEANING RATES. Don't charge less than $20 an hour per laborer or by the contract. You need to be seen as a cleaning professional and not just an hourly figure that anyone can undercut.
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Step 5
Step 4)Draw up a CLEANING BUSINESS PLAN. Never start a business--especially a cleaning business--without writing a business plan. Included in your business plan should be the monthly financial projections, the monthly business expenses (categorized and subcategorized accordingly) and how you are going to achieve those objectives. You need to track your real numbers in comparison to your projected business numbers so you can grow your cleaning business.
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Step 6
Step 5) MARKET your cleaning business. Guerrilla marketing including mailbox flyers, door hangars, email blasts, bulletin board signs, etc. are perfect for a household cleaning business; talking to business owners and hitting the street are better means of attaining business for those interested in commercial cleaning.
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Step 7
Step 6) I hope this has been a helpful article on how to start a residential and commercial cleaning business. For more information on starting a cleaning business, check out the tip section below. Good luck!
Comments
procleaningguru said
on 10/7/2009 Well that is a nice and simple what to do list.
How do you do it?
Where are the best places to target?
Why is it good business to start?
Who should you target?
I disagree that people pay as little as possible. I have made over $1 per minute cleaning! This would fall under the category of "who"! You have to know what you are doing and who to target.
I agree that house and office cleaning are somewhat different, but they can and do overlap quite a bit as well.
housecleanpro said
on 9/26/2009 I recommend keeping the residential separate from the commercial. The cleaning techniques are NOT the same. The cleaners you hire will specialize in one or the other. Commercial is much more profitable, but who wants to clean or manage people after hours?
tracysmith159 said
on 6/19/2009 Good article. Residentail and Commercial cleaning is a hard job as many people want eveything to shine and pay as little as possible for the cleaning.