Start a House Cleaning Business
Friends of mine started a house cleaning
business, and did $103,000 in sales their first year. That would
have been good if they didn't have $101,000 in expenses. Maybe
they should have read this article by Patti Page.
How to Start a House Cleaning
Business Under $200.00
By Patti Page
Information on Starting and Running
a House Cleaning Business
I started a successful house cleaning business
in 1998. I am going to share some tips that I think will be helpful
to you when starting your own cleaning business. I would like
share what I have learned over the years about the cleaning service
business and hope that it will help others that are thinking
about starting a house cleaning business.
Advertising
Advertise in Local Paper: Start by running
a text ad in your local newspaper. Running the ad by the month
is usually less expensive. Make it short and simple. Something
like " Professional, affordable house cleaning services.
Call for a free estimate"
Magnetic Signs or Lettering for your Vehicle:
Having your business name and contact information on your vehicle
is a great way to advertise. Magnetic signs can be purchased
for as little as 60.00. We use the vinyl lettering. The lettering
looks much more professional.
Flyers: You can print nice flyers on your
home computer. Hang flyers at Hair Dressers, Laundromats, Restaurants,
Bakeries, Grocery Stores, etc. Put flyers on car windows at local
groceries stores and businesses. You can even go door to door
in neighborhoods you would like to work in. You cannot put them
in mailboxes. but you can put them in the front door.
Door Hangers: Door hangers are a great
way to get new clients. Pick the neighborhood you would like
to work in and hang the door hangers on the doors. Door hangers
are very professional looking and can be purchased at http://www.direct-color.com/doorhanger.html
You can purchase 200 door hangers for as little as 64.00.
Business Cards: One of the most inexpensive
online shops for business cards is Vista Print. They have professional
quality cards at a very affordable rate. Start passing out your
business cards to friends and family members. You can also ask
your local businesses if you can leave some cards on their counters.
Referral Program: A great way to obtain
new clients is through a referral program. Offer existing clients
a free house cleaning or discount when they refer a friend. We
offer a free house cleaning when a client refers a friend and
the friend uses our services three times.
Website: These days people live very busy
lives so they use the convenience of the internet to shop for
the services they need. A lot of working women will shop for
services while at work. We obtain 90% of our new clients from
our website. You can purchase a website for as little as $300.00.
If you are interested in having a website designed for your cleaning
service please send an email to ppage@att.net owner of Page's
Personal Cleaning.
Supplies
You can purchase all the cleaning supplies
you need to start your cleaning business for about $100.00. Home
Depot or Sam's Club is a great place to buy cleaning supplies
. A step stool, bath cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner, window cleaner,
all purpose cleaner, soft scrub cleanser, furniture polish, wood
floor cleaner, a cleaning carrier and a sack of cleaning cloths
and your ready to clean. Remember most customers prefer that
you bring your own cleaning supplies. That way they don’t
have to worry about going to the store for cleaning supplies
before you clean. Some customers have special cleaners for certain
appliances or floors in their houses. These customers usually
will have these cleaners on hand for you to use. I almost always
use the customers vacuum cleaner. That way you don’t have
to carry a heavy vacuum from house to house. I usually use one
mop for tile and linoleum and another just for wood floors. Some
cleaning services use a mixture of water, 1 tablespoon vinegar
and 3 drops of lemon oil. We use Zep Wood and Laminate Floor
Cleaner. We also use Holloway House Cleaners (floor wash, lemon
oil and Hexol cleaner and deodorizer.
What to Charge
This all depends on the area you live in.
Always charge by the job, not by the hour. If a client knows
they have to pay 65.00, they don’t care if you take 2 hours
or 5 hours. Also your clients will know what they are paying
upfront and won’t have to worry about added expenses. Normally,
for a 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath you can expect to make 75.00 to 85.00
for each maintenance cleaning. You should charge between $125.00
and $150.00 for the initial cleaning since the initial cleaning
should be a thorough cleaning to get the home cleaned well the
first visit. For the larger houses you can add 10.00 to 20.00
for maintenance cleanings if they have 4 bedrooms and 4 baths.
For spring/fall cleanings the starting rate is 150.00 to 175.00.
For move-in/move-out cleanings the stating rate is 150.00 and
up depending on if the client wants windows, refrigerator and
oven cleaned. You can add 20.00 each for refrigerators and ovens.
Some companies charge $25.00 for refrigerators and ovens. Window
cleaning depends on the amount of windows in a house. 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.
Also if you are too cheap, customers will think you aren't experienced.
Don’t under price your work. Cleaning homes is very hard
work.
New Construction Cleaning
If you decide to do this type of work you
will need more equipment. You will need ladders, window cleaning
kits with long extensions, a shop vac, etc. These types of jobs
are usually 2 to 3 person jobs. New construction cleaning requires
a lot more cleaning. You may have to remove stickers and labels
from windows and bathroom showers, sinks and toilets. Some require
that you clean the vents to remove dust from construction work.
There will be ceiling fans to clean, scrubbing floors, and cleaning
woodwork to remove dust. New construction cleaning rates depend
on the area you live in. Normally they run from .12 cents per
sq.ft. to .18 cents per sq.ft.
Insurance and Bonding
You need to be an honest person and somewhat
personable. People will need to trust you to be in their homes.
Most clients are concerned about having someone new in their
house, with good reason. You should be bonded and fully insured.
Liability insurance runs between 350.00 to 500.00 per year. Note
that this price is for one employee only. Each person you hire
will increase your liability insurance. It’s well worth
the cost. You can pay quarterly or yearly. You can purchase your
bond through your local insurance company. You will need to renew
the bond every year. *Note: if you hire employees and cover them
under your insurance, they must be an employee on payroll and
not a sub-contractor. If you employ them as a sub-contractor
your insurance will not cover them. If they are a sub-contractor
they are required to carry their own insurance.
Taxes
I have listed a few links that are very
helpful with answering questions about taxes for your cleaning
service business: starting a business and keeping records, deductions
for your business, employee taxes and a very nice withholding
calculator:
(links currently inactive)
Business Taxes
Starting a Business and Keeping Records
Businesses with Employees
IRS Withholding Calculator
Credit Cards
The easiest way to accept credit cards
is through your website. PayPal offers credit card services with
no set up and only 2.9 percent per transaction. Some clients
will prefer to pay with a credit card. They simply sign on to
your website and make the payment. The payment goes into your
account immediately.
Gift Certificates
House cleaning gift certificates make great
gifts for any occasion. Birthdays, Anniversaries, Housewarmings,
Weddings, Baby Showers, Christmas and Valentines Day. I have
a lot of requests for gift certificates around Christmas. If
you have a website you can email the gift certificates to the
recipient. Always remember to keep a record of gift certificate
sales. Some clients who receive gift certificates wait several
months to use them.
Hiring Help
If you start out cleaning the homes by
yourself, you will eventually get to the point where you need
to expand your business. Start out with one part time employee.
Train her and let her take your place one day a week. Then have
her take your place 2 days a week and so on. This will give you
the free time that you need to market your business and obtain
more clients. After you get more clients you will be able to
hire more part time help. Eventually you will be able to stop
doing the cleaning yourself and just run the business end, which
is the only way you will be able to grow your business. When
training new employees, always either train them yourself or
have a lead person train them.
Remember one of the most important qualifications
for a cleaning service is TRUST. A client has to know they can
trust you alone in their home. After you acquire a few cleaning
positions ask the clients if you can use them for a reference.
Most of the time they are more than willing to let you use them
for a reference. This is how you build your business and acquire
new clients is through referrals. Be dependable. Most clients
will want to be set up on an every week or every other week schedule
on the same day of the week. Try to always keep this same schedule
unless the client asks you to switch to another day. If you have
to cancel a cleaning date, make sure you try to reschedule at
the earliest possible date to make up the cleaning.
Below is a quote that I read from someone
in the cleaning service business and I really believe this to
be true.
"If you use Emotion and Love to drive
your sales and your business, you will create Loyalty Beyond
Reason. And I promise you, you will build relationships and enjoy
a business that exceeds beyond your wildest expectations".
Patti Page is the owner of Page's
Personal Cleaning in Cincinnati OH.
Website: http://www.pagespersonalcleaning.net/cleaningarticles.htm
Note Link not working. If you are the author
please contact me.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/
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