How to start a cleaning business on a shoestring budget

Do you want to learn how to start a cleaning business on a shoestring budget? Cleaning services are always needed no matter where you live. After all, life is a mess! Commercial buildings of all types and sizes need to be cleaned daily, weekly, monthly or in between. By offering commercial cleaning services, you can satisfy a need in your community while building a profitable cleaning business at the same time. By taking the right steps at the beginning, you can start your cleaning business with very low upfront costs, and, unlike many small businesses, actually clear a profit in your first year of operation! What are the advantages of starting a cleaning business as opposed to owning and running another type of business?

A successful cleaning business can easily be started by one person doing everything from billing to marketing to actual cleaning.

 You can start the business part-time and keep a full-time job until the business grows and supports your lifestyle. You will be providing cleaning services in a client’s building, so more than likely clients will never go to your “business.” So you can easily run a commercial cleaning business out of your home. A spare room or garage can hold your supplies and tools, and you can use a spare bedroom or small corner room to do your paperwork. Working out of your home saves on the cost of renting or owning a building and you can write off part of your home mortgage and utilities as a business expense.

You can start a cleaning business with just a small investment in supplies and equipment.

 As your business grows and you offer more services like carpet cleaning or floor stripping, you may want to purchase or rent equipment. When you are just starting out you will probably do most if not all of the work yourself. If you need workers you can work with a temporary employment agency and avoid the challenging tasks of payroll and paying employment taxes, social security, unemployment and worker’s compensation. A cleaning business can be started as a sole proprietorship, which is the easiest and cheapest way to establish a business enterprise. As the business grows you may want to consider changing the structure to a corporation or limited liability corporation, which may require an attorney and an investment of several hundred dollars.

What steps is needed to not only start a cleaning business, but to ensure that it is a successful cleaning business?

Start by writing a business plan. This does not have to be a long document, but rather a three to five page document that will help you focus and determine the basic parameters of your Rengøring Erhverv business. Include the following in your business plan: business name, location, geographic area served, competition, business structure, marketing plan, accounting methodology and cash flow spreadsheet. Remember, a business plan is there to help you stay focused – it is not a hard and fast document that outlines the day-to-day operations of how you run your cleaning business.

After deciding on a business name and business structure,

It is important to determine a specific “niche” for your cleaning business. Do you want to clean small office buildings, large office buildings, medical clinics, banks, and new construction or government buildings? It is much easier to start with one particular niche and focuses your marketing efforts on a select group, rather than spreading yourself too thin. You can easily operate on a shoestring budget when you are just starting your cleaning business. Avoid expensive and often ineffective newspaper and radio ads. Market your cleaning services through the web (especially through your local chamber), cold calling (in person and over the phone), talking to property managers and observing new builds going up in your area.

Once you decide to start a cleaning business, develop a relationship with a cleaning supply distributor.

Although it may seem more expensive to buy supplies through a distributor than through a “big box retail store,” there are many advantages to working with a distributor. A distributor can teach you how to use supplies and equipment properly, saving your cleaning business time and money. A distributor is knowledgeable about new products and can tell you when a cheaper product works just as well as a more expensive item. Through a distributor you can purchase concentrated and more effective cleaning chemicals. Knowing what chemicals to use and how to use them can directly impact your bottom line. This is advice you can’t get from a big box store! And in addition to providing advice and training, a cleaning supply distributor can have leads and referrals that can lead to profitable cleaning accounts.