How to Start a Housecleaning Business on a Tight Budget
Some businesses require long-term planning and a considerable wait before you see profits. Housecleaning offers income the first time you take a job, making it an ideal business to start on a shoestring. In very short order, your proceeds should fund your costs, and the rest is money in your pocket.
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Instructions
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Create your own flyers rather than ordering them from a print shop. If you have a home computer and printer, your expense might be as little as a ream of colored paper from your local office supply store. Don't be so focused on saving startup costs that you neglect to think up a catchy name for your service. Make your flyers something special that will urge potential customers to call you rather than a competitor. Include a small chart of your rates. You might add an incentive, such as if customers return the flyer to you, you'll give them 10 or 20 percent off your services, but only for the first week or two.
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Drive to a neighborhood of middle- and upper-class homes with residents who will probably be able to afford housecleaning services. Park in the closest public lot, then set out on foot to save gas. Deliver your flyers to mailboxes and doors. Check your municipality's laws first, however, to make sure they permit this. If they do not, tack your flyers onto community bulletin boards in supermarkets, libraries and community centers. After you canvass one neighborhood, drive to the next and distribute your flyers there.
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Ask your first customer, when he calls, whether he prefers you to use his supplies or bring your own. If he wants you to use your own, take stock of what you already have on hand. Unless you've recently run out of something, it's unlikely you'll need anything to clean someone else's house that you don't already have in your possession to clean your own. You'll mostly likely need a vacuum, duster, broom and various cleaners and detergents for wood, glass and bathroom surfaces. Just make sure your tools are clean and in good repair. If you're missing anything or in short supply of a product, buying at a janitorial warehouse will save you money over supermarket prices.
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Do your first job and make it as perfect as possible. Word-of-mouth recommendations are invaluable and won't cost you a dime.
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Collect your first paycheck. Keep a portion for yourself and set some aside to further invest in your new business. Stock up on supplies so you don't have to keep using your own. After you've built up a little bit of a nest egg, you can buy newspaper or Yellow Pages ads to expand your customer list, or have T-shirts printed with the name of your business and your phone number. Wear the T-shirt whenever you go out on a job, and even when you're doing errands on your own time.
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Tips & Warnings
Although it may not be possible in the very beginning when you're trying to start up your business, eventually you'll want to insure yourself and your service. It lends you credibility and professionalism, and can protect you against accusations from clients if a priceless gem goes missing while you're on the premises, or if an irreplaceable artifact is broken.
A word of advise: Make sure when you start your company that you charge what you would charge if you had employees. Some people make the mistake of under charging when they start out just to get customers and then later on when they grow and need to hire help they aren't making enough money on their houses to pay help. Don't under price your work. Cleaning homes is very hard physical work and you didn't get into this business to work for nothing.
References
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