Out of business ideas? You’ve probably asked everyone you know for suggestions, but nothing sounds right to you. Well, it may be time to consider running a cleaning service!

The greatest thing about a cleaning business is that it has relatively low upfront costs, not to mention that it’s usually in high demand. With this in mind, it might be a good idea to learn how to start a cleaning business.

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Before you rush out to buy cleaning supplies, you should take some time to learn all there is to know about the job. You can easily achieve this by accompanying a cleaner on a job to see if you have what it takes.

Will you be able to meet the expectations of your customers? Do you need more time to hone your skills and techniques to perfection?

Of course, this may be a bit tricky to determine if you don’t handle an assignment or two yourself. To make the picture clearer, consider offering a free house cleaning to a relative or a friend. Once you learn all the tricks, you can move your thoughts to the next step.

Step 1: Do Some Industry Research First

The world of professional cleaning is divided into multiple specialties. To get a correct estimation of your future budget, you must know the type of services you'll be offering. Plus, you should determine the size of your business.

Will you be offering basic house cleaning or more specialized services such as carpet cleaning or pressure washing? Or do you want to focus on deep bathroom or kitchen cleaning?

When it comes to the size of your business, you can either go the individual cleaner route or provide cleaning teams. Of course, individual cleaners will mostly work in personal residences, and they’ll have you spend less on their transportation, supplies, etc.

On the other hand, teams will tackle bigger projects, and they’ll require a large sum of money upfront.

Making up your mind about either scenario depends on your funds, your experience, and what you’re ready to provide.

Step 2: Determine the Type of Cleaning Services You’ll Be Providing

An essential part of your research revolves around knowing your market needs. For example, if the area where your business will be has enough house-cleaning services, you may want to consider other specialized alternatives.

Just take note of what other cleaning businesses are missing, and try to come up with ideas to fill that gap.

Usually, residential cleaning is easier to start with than commercial cleaning. This is because the latter is mostly dominated by large janitorial enterprises. Unless you invest in one of these bigger companies, your best bet is to start with residential cleaning.

Another important part of your research should be about transportation. Remember that the wider your service radius is, the more you’ll spend on transportation. Thus, you should try to find some balance between the areas where your services will be most needed and transport expenses.

Step 3: Consider Market Needs

This may seem like the trickiest part when starting a cleaning business. Yet, if you’ve successfully thought about all the necessary details concerning your business, funding it should be a bit easier.

Here, you could take out a business loan or spend on credit, and the amount of money will depend on the scale of your business. Generally, your costs will include the price of cleaning supplies, insurance, business permits, and advertising.

However, the best thing about a cleaning business is that the supplies and products are usually the same in all specialties. Mostly, you’ll need mops, window cleaning products, paper towels, latex gloves, brushes, etc.

Of course, you’ll have to buy other items if you’ll be running a deep bathroom or kitchen-cleaning services. Fortunately, the prices of these cleaning products are relatively low, helping you keep your debts to a minimum.

Step 4: Fund Your Business

When it comes to the legal parameters of domestic services, things may not be so clear. If your business is only about one person dealing directly with a client and getting paid in cash, you might not need to register your business.

Still, if you’ll be making more than a few hundred bucks each month, you’ll probably have to report your income to the IRS.

Of course, a larger business will need to be registered. Simply enough, contact an attorney to get legal advice on the permits and licenses required by the law of your state. 

Remember that you’ll need to come up with a name for your business at this point. Make sure that the name fits your company right as it will be the identity of your business.

Step 5: Get Your Business Registered

Promoting your business is almost as important as any previous step. Spending money on advertising will be worth it because it’ll get your brand the recognition that it needs to expand.

As a start-up business, consider using the power of social media in marketing. Establishing a social media account is free, requires no experience, and can be done by anyone. Let’s not forget that the majority of the population is present on social media platforms on a daily basis.

When your brand makes an appearance on Facebook or Instagram and your posts find their way to potential clients, your popularity should grow. Soon enough, everyone in your area will be familiar with your services.

You could always go the old-school way of printing business cards if you like. However, it’s essential that you maintain an online profile and keep your information up-to-date. This way, clients should find it easy to reach out to you.

Step 6: Spend Some Cash on Marketing

Fortunately, you can do it in a few basic steps. Start by learning more about the industry, then do your market research and find your specialty. After that, you can figure out all the details concerning funding, costs, transport, and more.

Sure, starting a cleaning service requires hard work. However, your efforts should pay off in the long run, and soon enough, you’ll be ready to expand your business.

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