One of the main reasons people
start businesses is to make money. For some it’s a
blessing to make money doing something they love.
I’m not saying that you have to love house cleaning
in order to have a successful house cleaning
business; however it would be a good idea if you
didn’t hate it.
How much money you make depends
on how big you want your business to be. It could be
a one person operation where you set up at home and
service areas close to home, or you could set up a
commercial office and hire people to work for you.
Here are 7 simple steps to get
you started on your own house cleaning business.
1) Decide exactly what kind of
house cleaning services you will offer.
Here you decided what cleaning
you will do, like making beds, vacuuming, mopping
and waxing floors, dusting and so on. Also note what
you won’t do, e.g. laundry. You can also decide to
specialize, e.g. by cleaning carpets only, or
cleaning suspended ceilings only.
2) Pricing your housecleaning
service.
To have an idea of how to charge
for your housecleaning service, use your
competition. Check your telephone directory and the
classified ads section in your local newspapers for
cleaning businesses, call them up (pretend to be a
prospective client) and find out exactly what
cleaning services they offer and how much they
charge. With this information gathered decide the
best price to charge for your cleaning service.
3) Workout startup costs.
For this you need to consider,
tools, material, transport, advertising, insurance
etc. Write down a list all the tools and material
you need, like cleaners, sponges, mops, carpet
cleaning equipment etc. Next find out the cost of
each item on the list and write it down next to the
item.
Transport: you will have to
estimate your costs here. You see it depends on
where your client is located and your means of
transportation to get to your client. (Having your
own vehicle would be to your advantage).
Advertising: You can use free
advertising (word of mouth) and paid advertising
(classifieds, telephone directory ads etc). Phone
calls to your local newspaper and the telephone
company who publish your telephone directory will
tell you the cost of placing ads.
Once you’ve gathered all this
information, calculate your total startup costs.
4) Name your business.
Choosing an appropriate name for
your house cleaning business is important. Here are
a few examples I got of the internet, ‘Maid
Brigade’, ‘All Shine Cleaning’, ‘White Glove
Cleaning Service’. Please avoid using ‘Your Name
Cleaning Services’. Using your own name as part of
your business name is over done by many house
cleaning businesses. Brainstorm and come up with a
name that helps you stand out of the crowd.
5) Learn the zoning regulations
of your community.
Check the city clerk’s Office or
your local library for a copy for a copy of the
zoning laws governing your community. Your reason
for doing this is that some zoning regulations
prohibit home businesses in a community.
6) Do a few free cleaning jobs.
Well you’re not actually doing
them for free. You’re doing them in exchange for
references (these add to your credibility for future
paying clients and are invaluable). You can offer
these free cleaning jobs to friends, non profit
organizations in your communities etc.
7) Get your first paying client
then get another and another and another and so on.
Tell everyone you know that
you’ve started a cleaning business and place ads in
the local newspapers. In the beginning you need to
spend most of your time and money getting paying
clients. However, the more clients you get the less
time and money you spend on marketing and more time
you spend on cleaning and making your clients
happy.
This is just the
beginning. Once you start making money take a house
cleaning business course to help you better manage
your business in terms of growth, accounting, taxes,
insurance better marketing strategies and more.
Article source:
EzineArticles.com
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