If you’re thinking of starting a cleaning business, you’re on the right track. That’s because you’re about to enter a billion-dollar industry. The market’s steady growth is projected to reach $111,498.8 million by the year 2030.
Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses and homeowners have become more aware of workplace and living space cleanliness. Wonder why?
Cleaning activities remove dirt and kill germs to reduce allergies and promote a healthy lifestyle. Since most people can’t find the time to clean their homes properly, they opt to hire professional cleaners.
You can choose any niche to start your cleaning business. Regardless of what you select, the cleaning industry can have several pros and cons. Let’s explore the good and bad sides of starting a cleaning business and how you can get off to a good start.
The Pros of Starting a Cleaning Business
Cleaning homes and offices are essential for preventing many ailments. Nowadays, people can rely on cleaning businesses for their disinfecting services.
Here are some common benefits of starting a cleaning business in the lucrative industry:
Easy Set Up
Starting a cleaning business requires way less capital than you imagine. It requires no huge investments and can run sustainably with reasonable funding.
In the initial stages of your business, all you need is the following:
● Microfibre cloths
● A vacuum cleaner
● Mops and buckets
● Cleaning agents
● Brooms and brushes
● Dusters
● Sponges
These items are sufficient for offering some typical house cleaning tasks. In addition, if you do not have enough budget to set up a store, you can start your business from home.
This way, you won’t have to manage the expenses of a physical location. Instead, you can use your revenue to get more supplies for the business.
Low Cost
The variable cost of starting a cleaning business is quite low. That’s because you can use the same products for longer if they’re functional. However, you may need additional supplies and equipment to specialize in specific cleaning service.
Once your business is registered, your variable costs can include insurance, the website set-up cost, advertisements, etc.
Few Personnel Required
You can establish your cleaning service by hiring only a few workers. Additionally, you can manage the many variables all by yourself. From marketing the service to launching ad campaigns, you can be the sole driver of the business.
Flexible Work Hours
When running a cleaning business, you can be your boss. You can maintain your work schedule according to your convenience. Additionally, you can decide the number of clients you wish to serve within a week.
However, you must step out of your comfort zone to expand and grow your business rapidly. For instance, you should work extra hours and serve more clients. Remember that the more your work, the better the reward.
Limited Experience Requirements
To start a cleaning business, you do not need to be a proficient cleaner. Instead, you can begin your cleaning journey with a basic knowledge of the cleaning service.
However, for specialized cleaning fields, you must get proper training. You can acquire the required skills through several multiple online training courses.
Regular Income
Cleaning jobs can generate a decent regular income and have an unlimited income potential. Wonder how?
Cleaning services are a basic requirement in many households and workplaces. They can save time and effort for many people.
As a result, cleaning businesses can survive almost any obstacle. From pandemics, recessions, and calamities, people can call cleaning professionals to get their tasks done. With a stable incoming cash flow, most cleaning companies are easily scalable.
Increasing Demand
The cleaning industry is predicted to grow in the coming years and has great potential. As a result, many cleaning companies are investing in specialized tools and technological advancements.
In addition, households and businesses demand an efficient cleaning service for healthier lifestyles. If you have the right technical tools and a well-trained workforce, your cleaning business can undoubtedly make great progress.
Cons of Running a Cleaning Business
Sanitizing living spaces can improve indoor air conditions. But like every other business, cleaning services can also face several limitations.
Let’s take a look at the cons of starting a cleaning business:
High Staff Turnover Rate
Most cleaning tasks require excessive physical work. They are challenging and can take a long time to finish a single job. Thus, several employees quit their jobs, resulting in a high turnover rate. Many people can also be hesitant to join the industry for the same reasons.
As a result, you may have a hard time finding suitable labour and talent for many cleaning duties. To counter this problem, you should offer your employees a market-competitive pay and maintain a positive work environment. You must also provide your workforce with handy equipment and machinery to increase productivity.
Stressful Work
Clients hiring many cleaners can have high expectations from professionals. These requirements can make work more challenging. Moreover, you must manage your clients, employees, and workflow. While juggling various tasks, you must stay on your toes for any complaints and emergencies.
For instance, a client complaining about damaged upholstery or a worker going on urgent leaves can cause stress.
Difficult to Expand
Although cleaning service can generate sufficient profits for your company to grow, you can face several obstacles on the road to success. Your challenges include impatient customers, inefficient employees, and excessive working hours.
In addition, you should brace yourself for a neck-to-neck competition for the same service. With technological upgrades and many people joining the cleaning industry, you may have to deal with competitive pricing.
Five Ways Your Cleaning Business Pros Can Outweigh the Cons
Although starting a cleaning business can be stressful, you can take several measures to make it successful. If you follow the steps correctly, your cleaning company can reach great heights in no time.
Following are some useful tips you can use to turn the odds in your favour:
Understand Your Market
When stepping into the cleaning industry, you must research what other businesses offer. Find out what additional services you can offer to attract more customers. Additionally, you should provide your clients with price incentives to increase customer loyalty.
Your research should also focus on reading reviews on Google and Yelp to understand what customers complain about and compliment. If the customers demand flexible cleaning options, you can grab the opportunity and fill in the market gap.
Pick a Specialty
Once you’re done with market research, you must concentrate on choosing a specialty for your cleaning business. Know whether there’s a higher demand for residential or commercial services.
You must also evaluate which side has the least competition. Whatever route you choose will significantly determine your training requirements and the type of insurance you should get.
To help you get a quick insight, here are some common differences between commercial and residential cleaning jobs:
Commercial Cleaning Services
Commercial businesses offer services to offices, schools, hospitals, retail storefronts, and other similar spaces. Typically, these services offer large businesses with janitors who keep their workplaces tidy and clean. The disciplined workers should also ensure that the office premises are in order so people can easily move around.
To offer commercial sanitization services, you must buy specialized equipment. Additionally, some clients can demand overnight services so their company’s business operations are not interrupted during the daytime.
Your cleaners should also enrol in specialized classes or possess professional cleaning certifications. These requirements are mandatory for working in spaces requiring extra precaution with sterile environments and biohazards.
Lastly, your cleaning team must routinely visit commercial sites. The staff should know their daily tasks and must finish their jobs on time.
Residential Cleaning Services
Residential disinfection services require you to work in residential spaces or clients’ homes. In this business, your client may give working directions per their preference. In addition, many clients can alter their specifications each week. Thus, your staff should be respectful and adaptable to follow new instructions.
Residential cleaners should look for details and remember how a client’s own home is organized. These services can usually take more time due to many customized requests. The good side of a consumer cleaning business is that you can charge higher rates. The price you set can compensate for the low business volume each day.
Choose Between Niche or General Services
Once you’ve selected your specialty, you can choose your niche to grow in the cleaning industry.
For instance, you can specialize in cleaning carpets as a residential cleaner. You can offer your services by using certified materials safe for expensive carpets. Alternatively, you can run a hospital cleaning business by stocking up on special cleaning materials and learning the best hospital cleaning practices.
In addition, you can also choose to offer basic cleaning jobs like mopping, vacuuming, dusting, etc. To attract your customers, you can use strong ad campaigns for consistent, high-quality cleaning.
Set Your Service Rates
To set your cleaning business rates, you can use three distinct ways:
● Hourly
● Flat
● Square footage calculations
Flat and hourly rates are suitable for both commercial and residential cleaning. It’s a smart move to offer hourly rates for consumer homes initially. Later, you can calculate flat rates for your services depending on the time your cleaner takes to finish cleaning an average home.
For commercial cleaning, you can set your rates by calculating square footage. That’s because the work in workspaces is usually repetitive and involves fewer alterations daily.
Set Your Budget
To control your business expenses, you must stick to a set budget. For instance, think about all the processes involved in your cleaning business. If your business requires specialized equipment, you must invest your capital in buying reliable and durable machines and cleaning accessories. This way, you’ll get a head start to initiate your services.
Final Thoughts
Starting a cleaning business can have both bad and good sides. Although there are more pros to setting up a cleaning business, the cons can cause significant trouble.
For instance, you do not need big capital investments to pursue your own business idea. The market also possesses unlimited income potential. Yet, you must plan your budget to control expenses and avoid debt or loss.
Additionally, taking the right steps can overcome your limitations and run a successful cleaning service.
