How to Start A Cleaning Business in 7 Simple Steps
Want to learn how to start a cleaning business?
Congratulations, you have taken the first step successfully by reaching this blog. Here you will find a complete guide to kickstarting your journey towards success and business growth. Stay with us till the end to learn the tips and tricks of the trade, along with the most effective idea to earn profits that you never imagined is possible.
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Cleaning is one of the most tiring and time-consuming household chores. Everything from cleaning the carpets and windows to proper house cleaning is really hectic, especially for people who work full-time. They don’t have the time and energy that everyday cleaning jobs demand. That’s why many happily hand over house and office cleaning to professional cleaners.
In such a scenario, starting a cleaning business can be a lucrative business option for you. However, you need to learn how to start a cleaning business from scratch and build it into a profitable venture.
Having said that, starting a new business is always a challenging task. Especially if you are looking to start a new business with low overhead, the absence of typical operating costs and no fixed customer base. However, a cleaning business tends to have lower up-front costs than other ventures, and this is one of the few businesses you can start operating quickly with little capital. So, this could be a feasible option for you. There’s plenty of opportunity in this sector, and the startup costs are relatively low. So, get ready to learn how to start your own cleaning business and start earning profits in no time.
Table of Contents
1. Do A Market Research and Come Up With A Comprehensive Business Plan
A business plan serves as the backbone of a new business venture. Therefore, before you take any step to launch your cleaning business start-up, make sure you have a clear, well-thought-out business plan. And to do that, you need to do what is going on in the market– what your biggest competitors are doing, what could you do to stand apart from the crowd, and most importantly, what your potential customers are looking for. With this knowledge and ideas, carefully write a business plan for your business. It should include thorough market research, competitor survey, current market practices, financial projections, service lists, pricing plans for your pool cleaning service, and marketing strategy.
2. Identify Your Potential Customers
If you ask what do you need to start a cleaning business, the first thing that comes into mind is customers. Without customers, you will not have any means to offer your services and earn profit. Therefore, the first step in starting any small business is to identify your target market. This means figuring out what types of homeowners (residential cleaning) or business owners (commercial cleaning) you want to work with. Identifying your target market is important because it allows you to set your cleaning services, hourly rate and marketing strategy based on the needs of your ideal customers. Once you’ve identified your target customers and determined your service area, it will be easier to reach potential customers with area-specific marketing campaigns. It also allows you to distinguish your business from other competitors.
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3. Decide What Services You Are Going to Offer
Before you start, you need to figure out what type of cleaning business you want to set up. Do you want to clean the carpets and windows? Or, are you planning to offer full-fledged residential and/or commercial cleaning services to your potential customers? The most common cleaning services that you can offer when you start a cleaning business include:
- Residential cleaning services
- Commercial cleaning services
- Maid services for daily household cleaning and other chores
- Carpet cleaning services
- Window cleaning services
- Laundry and dry cleaning services
- Sanitization and disinfection
4. Build Your Brand
Once you have figured out the groundwork, it is time to build your cleaning business start-up as a brand. To do this, first you need to decide a name for your business. Make sure that to start a service business name is both professional and unique, something that stands out from the pack. Try to think outside the box and give a unique, memorable name to your business. Further, see if it’s legally available. No two businesses that offer similar services can hold the same name if the name is trademarked or if they’re in the same state. Choose carefully, because this is the name that is going to be on your website, your house cleaning business cards, posters, fliers, social media pages, and everywhere else. In short, this is how people are going to know and remember your business.
The next step is to select a business structure. You can select from a sole proprietorship, a partnership, a limited liability company (LLC), or a corporation. Your taxes, liabilities, and level of required paperwork will be dependent on the legal structure you choose. This is essential for registration and tax purposes.
With a name that reflects your brand voice and identity, you then proceed to create a strong online presence. This is going to be your primary tool for marketing your cleaning business. To build a successful business in today’s time you cannot but invest in digital marketing. To get your first leads and customers, you need to show up where they’re searching for cleaning houses businesses like yours. There are several ways you can promote your brand, and more often than not, you cannot choose between them. So, begin by marking your digital territory through covering this “starting a cleaning business checklist”:
- Claim your domain name and create a professional website
- Engage in SEO activities for your website
- Claim your business page and enlist your pest control company leading sites such as Google My Business, Yelp, etc.
- Create business pages/profiles on social networking sites and post regularly
- Make a provision for online reviews on your website
5. Take Care of the Legal/ Federal Requirements
Besides establishing your brand, you need to set up your cleaning business as a legal entity as well. To do this, you need to register your business with the state and obtain necessary permits and license for cleaning business. You can get the paperwork from your state agency’s website or office, or simply complete the registration process online. Once you take care of the registration, get insurance for cleaning business. Also, don’t forget to apply for an employer identification number (EIN) with the IRS if you’ll be hiring employees or operating as a corporation or partnership.
6. Organize Resources
Now that you are ready to start, decide how it is going to be done. Unless you plan to work on your own, hiring the right people for your business is crucial. They are going to be your biggest assets in running the company successfully. You will need skilled employees and train them at the level of a successful cleaning business. But if you don’t want to spend a fortune on training, hire people who have experience in the cleaning industry. You can easily train them as they already understand how the work is done and the best way to do it.
After you gather your field service experts, you will need to provide them with proper tools and resources. You can smart small and get only necessary things in the beginning, and level up as your business expands. Here is the essential cleaning supplies list for cleaning business:
- Sponges and scourers.
- Yellow dusters/microfibre cloths.
- Glass polishing cloths.
- Cleaning brushes.
- A mop and bucket.
- A dustpan and brush.
- Protective gloves.
- A plastic caddy to carry the essentials
7. Optimize Your Resources through Automation
If you want to make the most of your resources with minimum investment, automate your processes with software solutions. For example, you can systematically schedule technicians for work orders using the scheduling software for service business. These digital tools add transparency and efficiency to your business operations, reduce overhead costs, prevent revenue leakage, speed up cash flow, and improve customer satisfaction.
Before We Wrap Up
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Field Promax has been designed with the needs of small and medium pool service businesses in mind. It is built to cater to all your automation needs with the provision for further customization. However, the basic plan offers every feature you can possibly need, including scheduling and dispatching, work order management, estimates, asset tracking, repeat order management, billing and invoicing, monitoring, reports and analytics, GPS monitoring, integrated mobile app, cloud storage, QuickBooks online integration, and much more. All these are available at an amazing price, along with 24/7 customer support. There is no better choice for a new cleaning service company than this on the market. So. what are you waiting for? Get Field Promax today and become a successful cleaning business owner.
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Commercial cleaner refers to a professional cleaning service hired by a company or organization. It is a general term for a person or company that provides cleaning services for businesses such as offices, shops, factories, bars, restaurants, etc.
If you have a strong business plan and you’re ready to cover a new niche in the market, it’s definitely worth starting a cleaning business. Starting a cleaning business is inexpensive and you can easily have clients within hours of launching. It’s also fantastic for cash flow because you get paid at each cleaning or even in advance of the appointments.
In the USA, there are two licenses you might need: a vendor’s license and a doing business as (DBA) license. At a high level, business licenses allow your company to legally conduct business in your state. If you are going to hire employees, you must also apply for EIN (employer Identification Number) with the IRS.
- Write a business plan
- Pick a name for your business
- Decide company structure
- Get licences and permits
- Plan marketing strategies
- Promote your business
- Hire employees
- Get cleaning tools and supplies
- Get cleaning service software to automate your business
According to market experts, some cleaning business franchises start as low as $3,500 in startup costs, while others can soar as high as $200,000, and come with vehicles, a location, and all kinds of advanced equipment.
- Residential Cleaning Services.
- Commercial Cleaning Services.
- Janitorial Cleaning Services.
- Laundry and Dry Cleaning Services.
- Sanitization and Disinfection.
- Green Cleaning Services.
- Pressure Washing Services.
