In this recession, many people are seeing the advantages of starting their own business.
Many businesses, however, have very high start up costs as well as high overhead.
Not so with a cleaning business.
A major advantage to this kind of business is that you do not need an office.
Operating your business from your home saves you $1,000-$2,000 each month by not having to rent a commercial space.
Additionally, it takes very little start up capital to get a cleaning business going.
However.
there are a few things you need to know before you decide to get serious about making via the cleaning biz.
1) Cleaning professionally is not the same as cleaning your own house.
2) You need to get serious about marketing.
3) Establish a specialty (office cleaning, residential cleaning, floor care etc).
4) Be patient and persistent - you won't become successful overnight.
As I stated, cleaning your own house is different from professional cleaning.
When you are cleaning your own house, you don't need to be very efficient - you can take breaks whenever you want and you don't have to worry about making a certain amount of money per hour.
If you want to clean professionally, I would advise you to purchase a few books on professional cleaning and to visit your nearest janitorial supply store.
At the janitorial supply store they can show you the basic chemicals you will want to use and how to properly dilute them.
When you are cleaning professionally you will want to be economical; a gallon of super concentrated cleaner goes a long way.
Buying your own spray bottles and adding a small amount of concentrated cleaner and then filling up the remainder with water is much cheaper than buying your cleaners from the grocery store.
Making friends with your nearest janitorial supply store will be a lifesaver.
Cleaning professionally also means becoming much more efficient.
If you are cleaning offices and residences, I would recommend getting a backpack vacuum, as it will greatly speed up your caning time.
Additionally, I would get a window cleaning bucket or wooden toolbox to fit all of your supplies in.
You don't want to be lugging around 2 or 3 different little caddies - very inefficient.
Keep everything you need within arms-reach.
Also, I would get a tool belt, or apron and have most of what you need to clean affixed to your body.
Having your cleaning cloths and spray bottles at your side like a gunslinger is the smart way to clean.
Now that you know how to clean, you need to market yourself.
Not only is a phone book ad very expensive, you may need to wait until the next one comes out to see any results.
For quick inexpensive results, I would create a quality website with lots of information and then print up tri-fold brochures (if you are doing office cleaning or janitorial) with information about your services your website prominently displayed.
Your website will be your selling point, and the brochure will point them towards it.
Go to all the businesses in your area and hand deliver your brochure.
As I stated, you need a specialty.
Pick a niche that suits you, whether that be office cleaning, residential cleaning, or large facility cleaning.
Research how to price your cleaning.
This is crucial.
You can buy books with charts showing you how to do this based on the square footage and other factors.
If you are housecleaning, you may be able to simply charge by the hour, but for most types of cleaning you will need to make a bid.
Seriously think about your pricing and come up with a thoughtful system.
Be persistent, and create systems for doing things.
Your well designed systems will save you a ton of effort (pricing system, cleaning system, marketing system etc).
Many businesses, however, have very high start up costs as well as high overhead.
Not so with a cleaning business.
A major advantage to this kind of business is that you do not need an office.
Operating your business from your home saves you $1,000-$2,000 each month by not having to rent a commercial space.
Additionally, it takes very little start up capital to get a cleaning business going.
However.
there are a few things you need to know before you decide to get serious about making via the cleaning biz.
1) Cleaning professionally is not the same as cleaning your own house.
2) You need to get serious about marketing.
3) Establish a specialty (office cleaning, residential cleaning, floor care etc).
4) Be patient and persistent - you won't become successful overnight.
As I stated, cleaning your own house is different from professional cleaning.
When you are cleaning your own house, you don't need to be very efficient - you can take breaks whenever you want and you don't have to worry about making a certain amount of money per hour.
If you want to clean professionally, I would advise you to purchase a few books on professional cleaning and to visit your nearest janitorial supply store.
At the janitorial supply store they can show you the basic chemicals you will want to use and how to properly dilute them.
When you are cleaning professionally you will want to be economical; a gallon of super concentrated cleaner goes a long way.
Buying your own spray bottles and adding a small amount of concentrated cleaner and then filling up the remainder with water is much cheaper than buying your cleaners from the grocery store.
Making friends with your nearest janitorial supply store will be a lifesaver.
Cleaning professionally also means becoming much more efficient.
If you are cleaning offices and residences, I would recommend getting a backpack vacuum, as it will greatly speed up your caning time.
Additionally, I would get a window cleaning bucket or wooden toolbox to fit all of your supplies in.
You don't want to be lugging around 2 or 3 different little caddies - very inefficient.
Keep everything you need within arms-reach.
Also, I would get a tool belt, or apron and have most of what you need to clean affixed to your body.
Having your cleaning cloths and spray bottles at your side like a gunslinger is the smart way to clean.
Now that you know how to clean, you need to market yourself.
Not only is a phone book ad very expensive, you may need to wait until the next one comes out to see any results.
For quick inexpensive results, I would create a quality website with lots of information and then print up tri-fold brochures (if you are doing office cleaning or janitorial) with information about your services your website prominently displayed.
Your website will be your selling point, and the brochure will point them towards it.
Go to all the businesses in your area and hand deliver your brochure.
As I stated, you need a specialty.
Pick a niche that suits you, whether that be office cleaning, residential cleaning, or large facility cleaning.
Research how to price your cleaning.
This is crucial.
You can buy books with charts showing you how to do this based on the square footage and other factors.
If you are housecleaning, you may be able to simply charge by the hour, but for most types of cleaning you will need to make a bid.
Seriously think about your pricing and come up with a thoughtful system.
Be persistent, and create systems for doing things.
Your well designed systems will save you a ton of effort (pricing system, cleaning system, marketing system etc).