Though it might sound a little strange, a lot of people tend to feel stressed at the mere thought of cleaning their own homes. This provides a great opportunity for commercial cleaning companies to tap into this market. Fact of the matter is, a lot of people are willing to pay good money just so they don’t have to spend hours upon hours tidying up their property. So, how can you kick start your own commercial cleaning company and leverage this demand?
Below are some useful tips to keep in mind from the get-go:
- Get A Name For Your Business
As with any business, you need to find an identity for yours, which means coming up with an appropriate name.
When choosing one, be creative and try to play around with different words, but don’t get too carried away either. Ideally, the business name you pick for your commercial cleaning company should be easy to remember, unique, descriptive of the company, and one that reads well.
You can choose to incorporate a part of your name in the actual business name, but it would sound more professional if you choose something that isn’t too personal or tied to a specific individual.
- Develop A Reasonable Budget
Just like any other business, you’ll need money to start a commercial cleaning company. However, the amount you need to get the business started can be far less than you think. Consider developing a reasonable initial budget for your new business by keeping your costs low. For instance, you can forego hiring cleaners during the early days of the business. This way, you’ll be able to cut down on personnel costs.
Essentially, your initial budget should include the cost of acquiring cleaning supplies, vehicle maintenance, as well as fuel costs. Also, factor in the cost of replacing the products you need, as well as the necessary equipment. Hidden costs like insurance and taxes should also be included in your initial budget.
- Narrow Your Service Scope
It goes without saying that a startup business like yours will have limited capacity in terms of manpower, equipment, and cleaning products. To make this situation more manageable, consider narrowing your scope by providing a specific cleaning service instead of a general one. Doing this will boost your ability to manage the business and your clients as well. It will also enable you to use your capital well and keep you grounded as you grow and expand the business.
Of course, as your business grows and expands and as you develop relationships with clients, you can start adding more cleaning services to your service offerings. Take Commercial Cleaning Chiefs, for example: they handle all manner of cleaning services for all types of commercial spaces. It allows them to build a large customer base.
- Determine Which Cleaning Products To Buy
After narrowing your service scope, consider hiring cleaning equipment first as opposed to buying them. Unless you have adequate capital to enable you to purchase cleaning equipment, lease the tools you need and spend the money you have on marketing your business instead.
Once you raise enough funds to purchase cleaning equipment, think about which ones will truly benefit your business. These could include essentials such as spray bottles, cleaning solutions, scrubbers, sponges, cleaning towels, protective gloves, and housekeeping tools like brooms and mops.
When purchasing cleaning products, also decide whether you want to use green products or traditional cleaning agents like bleach. Finding a way to prevent cross-contamination from happening between customer homes is also a major point of concern. You can adopt stringent sanitation practices or use disposable cleaning materials to address this issue.
- Take Initial Cleaning Jobs
As you begin to take initial cleaning jobs, try to accommodate these yourself instead of finding cleaning staff to do the work. This is because you need to get experience in doing the actual job in order to run the business successfully. To land your first clients, you can ask your friends and family members for referrals.
You can also offer to clean the houses of people in your inner circle to first get a feel of what the job is like. Not only will this allow you to refine your process, but it’s a great way to keep your costs minimal. With firsthand experience, you’ll be able to create a model for your business, as well as determine which best practices your new company should uphold.
Further, you get a chance to build a good reputation for your new business and manage its image from the onset. Once you start getting bigger cleaning jobs, that’s when you can consider hiring and finding cleaners to help you deliver the services. At this point, you can either outsource cleaners to serve regular clients or hire your own inhouse staff.
Final Thoughts
Starting your own commercial cleaning company isn’t a walk in the park, but it’s possible. As with any startup, you have to have strategies in place to get the business off the ground. With the five tips discussed above, you can start and grow your commercial cleaning company from scratch.
