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How To Start A House Cleaning Business
by Fayola Gaia
Cleaning the Window Frame
One of the main reasons people start a house cleaning business is to make money. For some it's a blessing to make money doing something they love.
I'm not saying that you have to love house cleaning in order to have a successful house cleaning business - however it would be a good idea if you didn't hate it.
How much money you make depends on how big you want your cleaning business to be. It could be a one person operation where you set up at home and service areas close to home, or you could set up a commercial office and hire people to work for you.
Whatever you decide, here are some steps you need to know for starting a house cleaning business.
1. What House Cleaning Services Will You Offer?
Here you decided what house cleaning you will do. Will you make beds, vacuum, mop, wax, dust and so on.
Also note what you won't do, e.g. laundry. You can also decide to specialize, e.g. by cleaning carpets only, or cleaning windows only.
2. Pricing
To have an idea of how to charge for your house cleaning service, use your competition.
Check your telephone directory and the classified ads section in your local newspapers for house cleaning businesses, call them up (pretend to be a prospective client) and find out exactly what house cleaning services they offer and how much they charge.
With this information gathered decide the best price to charge for your cleaning service.
3. Startup Costs for Your House Cleaning Business
For this you need to consider, tools, material, transport, advertising, insurance etc. Write down a list all the tools and material you need, like cleaners, sponges, mops, carpet cleaning equipment etc. Next find out the cost of each item on the list and write it down next to the item.
Transport: you will have to estimate your costs here. You see it depends on where your client is located and your means of transportation to get to your client. (Having your own vehicle would be to your advantage).
Advertising: You can use free advertising (word of mouth) and paid advertising (classifieds, telephone directory ads etc). Phone calls to your local newspaper and the telephone company who publish your telephone directory will tell you the cost of placing ads.
Once you've gathered all this information, calculate your total startup costs.
4. Name Your House Cleaning Business
Choosing an appropriate name for your cleaning business is important. Here are a few examples I got of the internet, 'Maid Brigade', 'All Shine Cleaning', 'White Glove Cleaning Service'. Please avoid using 'Your Name Cleaning Services'.
Using your own name as part of your business name is over done by many house cleaning businesses. Brainstorm and come up with a name that helps you stand out of the crowd.
5. Learn the Zoning Regulations of Your Community
Check the city clerk's Office or your local library for a copy for a copy of the zoning laws governing your community. Your reason for doing this is that some zoning regulations prohibit home businesses in a community.
6. Do a few free House Cleaning Jobs
Well you're not actually doing them for free. You're doing them in exchange for references (these add to your credibility for future paying clients and are invaluable for the success of your house cleaning business). You can offer these free house cleaning jobs to friends, non profit organizations in your communities etc.
7. Get Your First Paying Client for Your House Cleaning Business, then get another and another and another...
Tell everyone you know that you've started a house cleaning business and place ads in the local newspapers. In the beginning you need to spend most of your time and money getting paying clients. However, the more clients you get the less time and money you spend on marketing and more time you spend on house cleaning and making your clients happy.
This is just the beginning. Once you start making money take a house cleaning business course to help you better manage your business in terms of growth, accounting, taxes, insurance, better marketing strategies and more.
