When you think about a cleaning business, what comes to your mind? Do you think it is a business suitable for certain people, or do you think it is not a high-profit business? Well, you may not know this, but most people find it difficult or stressful to clean their homes themselves, while others just prefer to get professional help once in a while to clean their homes thoroughly.
With this in mind, don’t you think starting a cleaning business will be very lucrative? If you have been searching for an excellent business to venture into that is easy to establish and will yield good profits, a cleaning business may just be what you need.
So, if you want to start a cleaning business, this article will come in handy to provide you with everything you need to know about starting your own cleaning business.
Starting a cleaning business may not be as challenging as you think; once you get started, you will discover that it only takes a few actionable steps, which are discussed below.
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Develop a Business Plan
Writing a business plan isn’t mandatory, but when starting any business, a good plan will go a long way in helping you stay on track and helping you follow a well-organized business start-up process.
Business Plan Considerations
- An executive summary: this is an overview of everything your business entails, the services you intend to provide, and what problems they will solve.
- Your competitors: you should study your competitors, find out what you will be competing with, and write down how you will differentiate your business concept from theirs.
- Your target customers: who do you expect to patronise your cleaning service? Write a summary of everything about the people you intend to project your business to, from age to sex, to beliefs, lifestyle, and so on.
- The funding requirements for your business: you need to consider what it would take to fund a cleaning business and how you plan to get the start-up capital.
- Your financial projections and future sales targets: write down how much you can afford to invest in your business and a realistic expectation in sales and profits.
Register Your Business
Every country has regulatory bodies in charge of business registrations. For example, the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) in Nigeria, the Companies and Intellectual Properties Commission (CIPC) in South Africa, etc. So it doesn’t matter which country you live in; you will be required to register your cleaning business if you render your services to corporate clients.
In addition, you are free to register your cleaning business with your preferred ownership structure after you must have carefully decided on what is best for it. There are three business structures that may be suitable for your cleaning business.
Business Ownership Structures
- Sole proprietorship: this is when you alone will be responsible for everything concerning your business, including profits and losses.
- Partnership: this business structure entails a shared responsibility between you and one or more people.
- Limited Liability Company: in this form of business, you can include shareholders, co-owners, or partners in your business operations to limit personal liability but it still offers the benefits and flexibility of a partnership business.
Get a Business Licence
A license is what makes your business legal and permits you to provide any form of professional services for people.
If you think getting a licence for your cleaning business at this early stage is not vital, then you should learn more about the penalties of running a business without a licence in your country. You will find out that it is safer and cheaper to get a licence before you even clean a single house than to face punishment when caught.
Get Insurance
Running a cleaning business without insurance is risky; you or your staff may accidentally damage a client’s property, and you will have to pay for damages. You might run into debts if your business does not have enough money to cover these unexpected expenses. If you continue at this rate, the chances of your business growing and succeeding will be very low.
It is also possible for accidents to occur in your company that may lead to property damage or loss, and insurance would help make sure you do not lose your business. Therefore, you should get insurance for your cleaning company to protect your investments and your employees.
Create Your Unique Brand Identity
Your brand is how you want people to see your business; creating a unique and captivating brand will help you boost the value of your business and give people an accurate understanding of your services and business priorities.
There are several things that should be included in your brand, but the most important is a business name that is unique, easy to remember and can accurately describe your business. You might also consider getting a logo to give people an eye-catching picture of your business and a business card for a quick introduction of your business wherever you go.
Lastly, it is also vital to create a website for this business. People do not need to visit your office or see you before they can request your services, as a business website is an easy and one of the most professional ways to do so.
Choose a Location
For a home cleaning business, you do not necessarily need to have an established office at the early stages of the business since the main tasks in the job are done on-site. However, as the business grows and you employ people, you will need a permanent or temporary business office.
Your clients are inviting you to the place they consider safest and most personal; their homes, so having a business office where people can locate you will help build trust with clients and help you gain stability.
Set up Accounting and Bookkeeping
Running a business with your personal bank account is not a good practice, it is best to create a separate account for your business to help you monitor the cash flow separately from your personal financial transactions.
It would be best to keep a record of all expenses in the business, calculate your profit minus taxes and pay yourself from the profits. This way, you will easily know how fast your business is progressing, and you will be able to consistently pay your staff and still have savings.
Decide on a Suitable Pricing Structure
When starting a cleaning business, you might wonder how much you should charge for your services. Well, the pricing for your business can significantly contribute to its growth and success, so you need to research and plan it carefully.
You can start by researching your local market to find out how much other companies charge for their cleaning services. Also, consider the expenses for the services you will provide and how much profits you intend to make from each service rendered. Some other factors to consider when pricing your cleaning services include:
- Location of the job.
- Job frequency.
- Size and condition of the home.
- Labour.
- Type of cleaning.
- Your experience level.
Once you have identified these factors, you can choose a suitable pricing structure for your cleaning business. The most common pricing structures for cleaning jobs in many countries are per hour and per square foot rates. You can also find a more detailed pricing guideline here.
Get Your Supplies and Equipment Ready
Of course, you won’t rely on your clients to provide what you need to clean their homes; you should get everything you need ready before your first job. Here is a checklist of cleaning supplies and equipment.
- Vacuum cleaner.
- Mop.
- Broom.
- Dustpan.
- Bucket.
- Spray bottle.
- Extendable duster.
- Disposable gloves.
- Bleach and disinfectant.
- Glass cleaning cloth.
- Paper tower.
- Soap scum remover.
- Tile brush
- Mini grout brush.
- Apron and facemask.
- Toilet brush.
- Dixie cups.
- Knee pads.
- Scrub pads.
Market Your Services to Attract Customers
After setting up everything required to start a cleaning business, the next step is finding clients to patronise your services. Marketing your cleaning company doesn’t have to be complex; you can maximise a simple word-of-mouth strategy or use social media to create awareness. You can also run ads on your local paper, TV, radios and more.
Whatever marketing strategy you choose is good as long as it is effective and you can notice a rise in the demand for your services. in addition, it is good to try different strategies and platforms, especially when you are not getting your desired results from a particular platform.
Hire and Train Cleaners to Increase Work Efficiency
Hiring cleaners is the last step because when trying to provide professional cleaning services, it is important to do the initial work yourself.
Of course, if you have the funds, you might be tempted to employ people at the early stage of your business, but it is not advisable. Instead, you need to build a good reputation for your business and train your staff based on already established work principles and systems of operations.
So when you have completed all the steps in starting your cleaning business and built a stable customer base, you can hire cleaners to expand the business and increase work efficiency.
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Starting a business is not easy, and today, by learning about the cleaning business with this guide, you have taken the first step to becoming a successful business owner. So congratulations on following this guide till the end; it shows your dedication and passion for the cleaning business, and that is precisely what you will need to become successful in it.
