If you’re starting a cleaning business, you’re going to need all the help you can get.
The cleaning industry is a fairly saturated market to get into, so you’re going to need to be able to apart from the crowd to make yours a success. The good news is, most cleaning businesses operate with similar principles, so being a bit different won’t be hard to do.
Today, we’re going to tell you how to run a cleaning business, what you need to focus on in the beginning to get it off the ground, and how to maintain success down the road. It’s going to take a lot of work on your end.
You’re going to need hard-working, dedicated workers, you’ll need lots of equipment, a fresh perspective, and you’re going to have to market yourself. Combine all of these things, however, and you’ll be on the road to success. Let’s clean some properties.
How to Run a Cleaning Business, Successfully
When you’re coming up with a business plan, you should consider a few key things. One is the geographical area you live in. Are there several other cleaning businesses in your area? If so, it might be difficult to grab a piece of that market.
If you’re confident in your ability to make it work in a certain area, then you can start building your cleaning empire.
1. Find Your Niche
Before you ever start hiring your first employees or purchasing the first bits of cleaning supplies and equipment, you should figure out what this business is going to be. First, are you going to focus on residential cleaning, commercial cleaning, or both?
This decision will inform the next steps of the process. Finding your niche in a crowded market will give you your own client-base from the get-go. If you’re wondering how exactly you can find your niche, you’re not alone.
The reality is, you’ve got to look at your competition to figure out what you’re going to do differently. When it comes to cleaning, a lot of your practices will be the same, but there will be little things you can do to appeal to customers and maybe pry them away from your competitors.
Maybe your niche could be the use of environmentally friendly cleaning products. It could be offering evening and weekend time slots, for those that are uncomfortable with cleaners entering their houses while they’re at work. Figure out what your competition is missing and capitalize on it.
2. Build Up Your Equipment and Staff
Once you’ve got a good business plan in place, you’re going to have to invest heavily in janitorial equipment and cleaning supplies. If you’ve decided to become a residential cleaner, you can start off with a smaller amount of supplies. If you’re going into commercial cleaning then you’ll need more heavy-duty stuff.
Brooms, vacuums, mops, gloves, wipes, and cleaning chemicals. If you think of it, go buy it. You don’t want to be with your first client and have to leave something un-cleaned because you don’t have the proper equipment.
You’re also going to need a company vehicle to travel around in. If you just want to get started, you could use your own vehicle, but you should get something branded for advertising purposes. When you hire employees down the line, you’re going to have to build up a fleet of cleaning supply-equipped vehicles.
Speaking of employees, before you launch your business, you should have a plan for hiring employees. Most likely, when you start out, there won’t be a need to hire anyone. If you’re organized with scheduling, you should be able to handle a good number of clients on your own.
But as your business grows, running your business and being the sole employee will become difficult. It’s just something to keep in mind at the beginning, but always be prepared for expansion.
3. Marketing Your Business
Now, you’re ready to start marketing your new cleaning business and finding your first clients. Having a great initial marketing campaign will be invaluable in getting your company off the ground. You can plan to invest in digital advertising with a marketing firm or try to do it yourself.
Since you might not have the capital to invest in the business licenses, equipment, vehicles, and marketing right off the bat, you should educate yourself on social media marketing, SEO, and old-school marketing. Coming at it from several angles will give you the best chance to build your brand and get those first customers.
Set up a website and social media accounts, then advertise locally with newspaper ads, and at community events. The traditional advertising method is still worthwhile for something like a cleaning business that will get more customers via word-of-mouth.
4. Local SEO
One of the truly important things to keep tabs on is local SEO. Showing up in local searches and listings can make or break a local small business. When someone searches “cleaning company near me”, you want your business to be at the top of the listings.
To capitalize on this, you need to fill out your Google My Business profile, then fill out any other citations around the internet. Make sure your name, address, phone number, and other contact info are displayed consistently on any listings. This will appeal to Google’s search algorithms and help you move up the rankings.
Then, make sure that you have a blog on your website. You can write posts about events, news in your community, and give cleaning tips. Lead people to your service landing pages with a thoughtful call to action at the end of each blog post.
The more links that you have to your blog and website, the higher you’ll rank on the SERP when someone is searching for a cleaning company.
Start Finding Clients Now
The second you’ve got all of these things prepared, then you’ll be ready to launch and run a cleaning business. If you’ve got the proper equipment, found your niche, and promoted yourself well, then you should start off successfully.
As your business grows, you’ll have to gradually learn a bit more about how to manage your and your employees’ time, expand into different regions, and market yourself on a grander scale. These things come with time, however, and you’ve got time to learn. For now, get those first customers and start cleaning!
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