Start A Cleaning & Maintenance 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.
A Cleaning & Maintenance business is a service-based business in which you are the owner, operator, and lone employee. In a cleaning and maintenance business, you provide a specific service such as carpet servicing or pest control. It's important to note that although it seems straightforward, this business type can grow very quickly if done properly.
Cleaning and maintenance can be a real hassle, especially if you have a lot of employees or just your own staff. The cleaning and maintenance industry generates over $40B a year in the US alone. This makes it one of the largest, most competitive industries in the USA.
Starting a cleaning and maintenance business is pretty easy. You can start small with residential clients or businesses. Just make sure you check with your local government to ensure licensing (or certification) requirements.
Starting a cleaning & maintenance business requires a great deal of effort, dedication, and most importantly passion.
If you're interested in how to sell cleaning & maintenance services, or selling cleaning & maintenance services 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 | |
|---|---|---|
|
Employee & Freelancer Expenses |
$151 |
$252 |
|
Website Costs |
$223 |
$7,015 |
|
Business Formation Fees |
$600 |
$4,700 |
|
Vehicle Expenses |
$0 |
$10,000 |
|
Retail Business Expenses |
$1,250 |
$6,650 |
|
Advertising & Marketing Costs |
$75 |
$3,986 |
|
Software Expenses |
$162 |
$2,720 |
|
Office Space Expenses |
$0 |
$100 |
|
Specific Industry Expenses |
$0 |
$500 |
|
Total Startup Costs |
$2,461 |
$35,923 |
Case Studies
•
$100K/mo
Successful Businesses
| Business | URL | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
CITY WIDE |
gocitywide.com |
234,844 |
|
|
Cleaning & Maintenance Management |
cmmonline.com |
326,742 |
|
|
AMC Commercial Cleaning |
amcclean.com.au |
928,206 |
|
|
Spaulding Decon |
spauldingdecon.com |
970,130 |
|
|
Orange Window Cleaning |
orangewindowcleaning.com |
1,217,681 |
|
|
Clean Up Now System |
start-cleaning-business.com |
1,381,998 |
|
|
MaidThis |
maidthis.com |
1,484,884 |
|
|
IGL Coatings |
iglcoatings.com |
1,773,122 |
|
|
BMS |
bmsbuildingservice.com |
1,796,582 |
|
|
Hella Maid |
hellamaid.ca |
1,910,773 |
|
|
Source Supply Company |
sourcesupplycompany.com |
2,196,287 |
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Description |
|---|---|
|
Little startup costs required |
The cost to start a cleaning & maintenance business costs significantly less money than most businesses, ranging anywhere from 62 to 35,923. |
|
Rewarding work |
Starting a cleaning & maintenance business can be really rewarding work. After all, you are solving an immediate issue for your customer and you're working on something you truly care about. |
|
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 & Maintenance 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 & maintenance 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. |
|
Gain exposure and experience |
This career allows you to gain experience working for multiple different businesses - which will benefit your resume and also keep things interesting for 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. |
|
Longer Sales Process |
A cleaning & maintenance business can be a big time and money investment for your customer, so it's important you plan and predict a longer conversion funnel and stay in communication with potential customers. |
|
Work can be inconsistent |
As a cleaning & maintenance business, the amount of work assigned to you and schedule tends to be more inconsistent, which may make your income less stable. It's important to set boundaries and budget accordingly based on the amount of work you plan to have. |
|
Lack of benefits |
With a cleaning & maintenance business, you are typically self-employed and responsible for finding your own insurance, which can be quite costly and time-consuming. |
|
Taxes |
As a cleaning & maintenance business, you typically pay self-employment taxes which can be quite high. It's important to understand what you will be paying in taxes each year so you can determine if the work you're taking on is worth it. |
|
No safety net |
Typically, as a cleaning & maintenance business, you do not receive a consistent pay-check and instead earn money based on your transactions each month. During the slow periods, you typically take away less since the job is based on commission. It's important to budget accordingly for the slow times. |
Hey! 👋 I'm Pat Walls, the founder of Starter Story.
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