How To Start a Cleaning Service

If you appreciate the sense of a job well done, then a cleaning service might just be for you. Entrepreneur Magazine's start-up guide can help you get started fast.

Three businesses in one! Learn how to start a commercial janitorial service, a residential maid service and a carpet/upholstery cleaning service. This guide shows you how to clean up in the professional cleaning service industry of your choice. Start one business or all three - it's up to you.

This easy-to-follow guide will teach you:

• who your customers and competitors will be
• the ins and outs of finding clients
• what equipment and supplies you'll need to get started
• how to hire and train employees
• where to find start-up funds and how to set prices
• and much more

Linda B., president of a major residential maid franchise, says, “The major trend [in the residential cleaning industry] is tremendous growth. As leisure time continues to shrink, more and more people are searching for personal support in the form of housecleaning services, lawn maintenance, errand-running services and more. Our franchises are growing at tremendous rates, and most of them have waiting lists for customers. Our existing customers are asking for additional services, like indoor plant care, or asking us to pick up and deliver dry cleaning and handle other errands. People are strapped for time, they need help, and they are willing to pay for it. So many of our customers tell us that our service has given them the freedom to enjoy life and get rid of the stress that comes when you are overwhelmed with too much to do.” Adds Linda B., “And as the baby boomers hit their income peaks, and their children are beginning to leave home, they have more disposable income, and they’re going to demand more and more in the way of personal services. We are enjoying a time of wonderful opportunities, and that’s not going to change in the foreseeable future.”

But the companies that truly thrive will be the ones with a heavy emphasis on quality and personal services. “I really think the cleaning industry is getting to the point where people don’t want just a basic cleaning,” says Nancy W., a maid service owner in Raleigh, North Carolina. “With all these new and wonderful homes being built, people are becoming more particular about what they are paying for.”

On the commercial side, the dual trends of outsourcing and niche businesses are behind the growing number of janitorial and specialty cleaning services. Businesses need to have their offices and plants cleaned, but it doesn’t always make sense for them to employ their own cleaning staff. Nor does it make sense for them to own the equipment and expertise necessary for jobs such as carpet shampooing, which are done on an infrequent basis.

“We’re not just a cleaning company,” says Mike B., whose outfit provides carpet and upholstery cleaning, odor control and water restoration in St. George, Utah. “It’s not just about pushing a wand or running a machine. It’s not just kicking the dirt out. It’s a matter of taking good care of people.”

This is good news for an entrepreneur who is more interested in building a solid, profitable business than in conquering new horizons.

Here's just a sample of what you'll find inside each exciting start-up guide including How To Start a Cleaning Service:

    

[ Discover more about starting your own cleaning service today ]