1. Residential or Commercial?
Decide whether you will offer
cleaning services for residential,
commercial or both. While both
residential and commercial cleaners
will need to be bonded and insured,
the need for a business license will
depend on your location and its
bylaws. The manner in which you
price the jobs will be very
different as well. Residential
cleaning, otherwise known as a
maid service will be priced by
the number of duties the homeowner
needs performed whereas most
commercial cleaning services
charge according to square footage
for a basic service with the
opportunity to add additional
services such as drapes, windows,
carpet shampoo and cleaning, etc.
With residential, there is the
opportunity to use the homeowners
cleaning equipment while you provide
only the cleaning supplies. You may
prefer to buy a more industrial
grade of cleaning supplies for
commercial cleaning to accommodate
the frequency of use and need for
transportation from
office cleaning site to site.
2. Be a Joiner
Look at
joining your
National or
Local Business Association,
Community Cultural Group and local
Charities. These organizations
provide an excellent opportunity to
learn the ins and outs of operating
a business in your area and how to
navigate the business licensing
system. You may be able to locate a
mentor to help you organize and
build up your business.
Participating in local events has
the added bonus of free advertising
and exposure to your potential
customer base. By associating your
service with known and respected
businesses, you will be able to
further legitimize yourself in the
eyes of your customer base. These
types of associations tend to act as
a stamp of approval in the eyes of
the public.
3. Know the
competition
Don’t just research
the cleaning services competition in
your area; also look at the
breakdown of cleaning services in
the neighboring cities. Compare
their pricing to that of your chosen
area as well as their list of
offered services, they may have
found some markets that you hadn’t
considered. By contacting them and
creating a professional friendship,
you may be able to have a referral
relationship. That way, if they are
offered a job outside of their area,
they could name you as a potential
service provider or you could help
them for the times that they have
more jobs than they can properly
handle.
4. A Little Help from
Your Friends?
Check with your
bank or financial institution. There
may be both private and
government grants and start up
money available for new
entrepreneurs. Qualifying for a new
or
small business program could be
a benefit to you in many ways. You
could be paired with an experienced
business person in the area that
will help you break into the local
industry as well as expose you to
potential clients and niches within
the business that you may not have
previously considered.
5.
Ease Into It
Consider working
part time while you build your
clientele to ease the pressure on
your new business. After all, most
cleaning businesses must operate
outside of normal business hours,
which will not interfere with a part
time day schedule. Having a reliable
steady income will also prevent you
from having to eat only canned beans
for the first few months while you
wait for new clients to pay their
month-end bills. You may even be
able to make more contacts through
the exposure to your part time
business’s clientele. Above all, it
will prevent you from giving up
during the most difficult part, the
initial start up of the business.
Author Bio: Devon Delaney is a
lifelong cleaning enthusiast and
dusting maniac. When not figuring
out new uses for baking soda and
vinegar he is sharing is knowledge
and love for the cleaning arts on
for
Status Clean.
