Start A Cleaning Business - Business Ideas
Please note that the data provided in this article are estimates and may vary depending on various factors, and should not be considered as perfect or definitive.
Starting a cleaning business is an excellent opportunity to be your boss and make money doing what you love. This business is relatively easy to create and does not require much equipment or funds.
There are many cleaning services, so deciding what services (or combination of services) you will offer and what hours of the day or week those services will be available is essential.
To start cleaning service, you’ll want to consider investing in professional cleaning equipment such as a vacuum cleaner, a quality mop, and a good cleaning bucket. You will also need to buy environment-friendly cleaning products such as detergent, bleach, paper towels, and trash bags.
Starting a cleaning business requires a great deal of effort, dedication, and most importantly passion.
If you're interested in how to sell cleaning, or selling cleaning online, you can use this page as a guide for everything you'll need to know.
Key Stats
Startup Costs
| Min Startup Costs | Max Startup Costs | |
|---|---|---|
|
Office Space Expenses |
$0 |
$7,000 |
|
Employee & Freelancer Expenses |
$151 |
$352 |
|
Website Costs |
$223 |
$7,215 |
|
Business Formation Fees |
$600 |
$4,700 |
|
Equipment & Supply Expenses |
$63 |
$200 |
|
Advertising & Marketing Costs |
$75 |
$3,686 |
|
Software Expenses |
$150 |
$2,420 |
|
Total Startup Costs |
$1,262 |
$25,573 |
Case Studies
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$100K/mo
•
$60K/mo
•
$600K/mo
•
$3K/mo
Successful Businesses
| Business | URL | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Service Master Clean |
servicemasterclean.com |
212,611 |
|
|
The Cleaning Authority |
franchise.thecleaningauthority.com |
277,141 |
|
|
My House Cleaning Biz |
myhousecleaningbiz.com |
504,890 |
|
|
VANGUARD |
vanguardcleaning.com |
521,226 |
|
|
Savvy Cleaner |
savvycleaner.com |
540,193 |
|
|
CleanLots.com |
cleanlots.com |
580,194 |
|
|
Cleaning Business Boss |
cleaningbusinessboss.com |
720,500 |
|
|
Book Your Home Cleaning Online |
kingofmaids.com |
777,335 |
|
|
Executive Cleaning Services |
executive-clean.com |
787,192 |
|
|
Omegasonics |
omegasonics.com |
875,937 |
|
|
MFS Trade School |
exhausthoodcleaningschool.com |
1,081,114 |
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Description |
|---|---|
|
Flexibility |
You can put as much time into the business as you'd like. If you like the work and have some initial experience, you can start small and manage all aspects of the business on your own. |
|
Ability to start your business from home |
It's not necessary to have a physical storefront or office space to get your business started. You can do everything from the comfort of your own home, at least in the beginning! |
|
Meaningful business connections |
You never know who you will meet as a cleaning business. This could be the start of an incredible business opportunity! |
|
High customer retention rates |
Once a customer invests in your product, they've invested their time and energy to utilize your product/service which is highly valuable to them. Typically, your product or service becomes indispensable to your customer. |
|
Pick & choose the clients you work with |
Cleaning Businesses have the ability to choose the clients they work with. You have the freedom to work with only a few loyal clients or with hundreds of clients! |
|
Control of workload |
With starting a cleaning business, you have the unique ability to choose how little or how much you want to work. You also have the freedom to decide which projects you want to work on, and can turn down the ones that do not interest you. |
| Cons | Description |
|---|---|
|
Motivation of employees |
If you plan to have a sales/content team on board, finding creative ways to motivate them can be a challenge. It's important that you're able to offer great incentives and a good work environment for your employees. |
|
Low margins |
The gross margins for your cleaning business are typically around 35%, which can make it more challenging to incur new expenses and maintain profitability. |
|
High employee turnover |
In the cleaning business, employee turnover is often high, which can be quite costly and time consuming for your business. It's important to try and avoid this as much as possible by offering competitive pay, benefits, and a positive work environment. |
|
Stressful work |
This line of work can be stressful for both you and your clients. This type of transaction is a significant financial decision for your client, so expectations are very high for you. Although this career path can be very rewarding, it also comes with its challenges and stressful moments. |
|
High overhead expenses |
With starting a cleaning business, there are overhead expenses that come with selling a physical product. You will want to make sure you strategically budget for these overhead costs. We discuss this more in the startup costs section below. |
|
Churn |
In this business, customers can cancel their membership or subscription for your services - which can make revenue forecasting challenging and unpredictable. It's important to focus on your churn rates and trends so that you can prevent this as much as possible. |
Marketing Ideas
-
1
Affiliate Program
Affiliate marketing is a great way to bring in a new revenue stream, especially when you don't sell products or services.
Simply put, an affiliate program is an agreement where a business pays another business or influencer ("the affiliate") a commission for sending traffic and/or sales their way.
The affiliate typically gets a unique link where clicks and conversions can be tracked.
-
2
Direct Sales
Direct sales strategy implies a direct contact between a seller and a consumer without the involvement of any third party. Direct selling is popular in sectors where sellers communicate with their clientele personally. The sales technique occurs at non-store locations which include at home, work, or online.
For direct selling to succeed, hire a few (or many) salespeople to support the sales conversion process. It's critical that you assign them specific roles and responsibilities to nurture the client and provide excellent support.
-
3
Word of mouth
Word of mouth is when a consumers reflects their interest in a company’s product or service in their daily dialogues.
Therefore, word of mouth advertising is essentially a free advertising triggered by the customers experience.
According to Nielsen, 92% of people trust recommendations from friends and family.
Therefore, in today’s hyper-connected world, a single recommendation through a word of mouth can have a huge impact to your business.
Hey! 👋 I'm Pat Walls, the founder of Starter Story.
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