New Cleaning Business Start Up

May 8, 2005

I'm new to this forum and would like to hi!

I'm hoping to set up a cleaning business and wondered if anyone out there has had any experience in this area?

I have just completed my first builders clean and really enjoyed it - I'm raring to go!!

Thanks for any advice

Lisa :wink:

gj · May 8, 2005

My experience in dealing with cleaning company clients is that you need good reliable staff, otherwise you spend all your time cleaning and can't grow the business.

Staff not doing the job to the same standard that you would results in disgruntled clients, and you redoing work etc.

If you can't break through that issue you will struggle to make any real profit.

Watch your prices too, many new cleaning companies undercut the competition, only to find that they just can't do the job properly for a lower price.

Finally, think about the sort of cleaning you want to do - and consider some kind of specialisation - builders cleans would be one possibility. Those companies that do a bit of residential, a bit of office a bit of heavy duty eg degreasing etc and a bit of builders cleans, seem to me to spread themselves too thinly. Be prepared to say no to some sorts of business.

Hope that helps

Good luck

Graham

Eagle · May 9, 2005

Hi Lisa

If you go and have a chat with your local Business Link, I'm sure they'll have some good advice for you. They may even be able to tell you what competition you'd be up against locally.

They'll no doubt advise you to look into creating a business plan - just so you don't go in blind!

Mark

barry.hynd · May 9, 2005

Hi Lisa,

I run a successful cleaning business up in Scotland mainly specialising in office and retail work although we are about to launch a seperately branded domestic side very soon. Feel free to PM me with nay questions or difficulties you are having. :lol:

May 9, 2005

Thanks for all the above information.

I have been researching the cleaning business for a while and have found an excellent forum which gives newbies like me plenty of advice about pricing.

The only two cleaning companies I was able to get in contact with were inundated with clients but were unable to get the staff. The one company was only charging the client £9.30/hr which made me wonder what they were paying their staff!!

I intend to charge a decent amount in order to pay decent wages. After insurance, sick pay, holidays, materials, H & S courses etc there seems to be no other alternative. I will also use bonus incentives to encourage punctuality and quality of work. The clients will have the opportunity to give me feed back by filling in a form at the end of each invoice as to whether they are happy with our service.

I have thought about specialising and I was thinking of builders cleans/end of tenancy/house moving/deep cleans. The only problem I can forsee with this type of cleaning is the irregularity of it. Domestic and office are usually regular which might suit my employees more.

I have been on the Business Link web site and will make a point of attending one of their courses.

Barry I will definitely be in touch once I know how to pm - thanks for the offer of advice.

Regards,

Lisa :wink:

Eagle · May 9, 2005

You're welcome!

Black sheep · May 11, 2005

Hi im new to all this.

I just read micsampipn bit above and wanted to know
About priceing, its the only thing I cant find out about, and is vital when starting up. I want to give a good wage in order to get good staff, i had heard of 8 pound per hr which I thought was low can anyone give me an idea of what I should charge for factory cleaning and offices, also how to estimate

May 12, 2005

Black sheep I have posted a reply about your above question in my market research post. Don't ask why - I'm very confused!!

Hope it helps anyway

Lisa

VeryMark · May 12, 2005

Dear Micsampip (catchy name!),

Hooking up with people like builders, painters & decorators, and estate agents seems like a good idea to me. We also have a concierge business locally that feeds work to cleaners amongst others.

I belong to the local BNI business networking group in Bromsgrove but there are other similar groups in Worcestershire. We have a cleaning company as members and it seems to work reasonably well for them.

May 12, 2005

Thanks Crossguard.

(The user name is purely for this forum and are the first three letters of each of my children's names.)

I would be very interested in finding out more about the local BNI. My husband is an electrician and knows quite a few builders, plumbers, carpenters etc which could be quite handy. I also spoke to someone in charge of lettings at a local estate agents. She said she would certainly give us a go.

Another idea I had was to get double sided business cards done with my husband, so whenever we hand out our cards the potential customer gets two for the price of one!

Thanks for the ideas,

Regards

Lisa :wink:

P.S. I was in Bromsgrove today - I have been studying accountancy at the local college. It's a small world!!

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New Cleaning Business Start Up

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