Cleaning business advice please

[Matthew87]

Hi everyone, ive registered here to hopefully get some advice from people in the know

My names Matthew, im 26 and a trainee electrician

My partner has had her hours cut at work, and after talking with her for a few days, she has decided she would like to set up her own business cleaning in domestic and small commercial properties

Now to be honest, I would be the one setting it all up, and putting the money down for her to get started, but I really dont have a clue where to start !

The things that are obvious to me are :

Registering as a sole trader with HMRC
Advertising
Start up costs inc cleaning products etc...

Could somebody please tell me what else is involved in setting up a small cleaning company from home as im sure ive missed quite a lot of things out that need to be looked into

Kind regards

Matthew

 

[StevensOnln1]

It would be a very good idea for her get public liability insurance in case someone slips on a floor she has just mopped or something gets damaged. If she wants to employ anyone else she will need employers liability cover too (not needed if she doesn't employ anyone now, but a legal requreiment if she takes on any employees later on).

 

[Matthew87]

Thanks very much Steven, I will look into that

Also can I ask, eventually and hopefully if we manage to get enough work, is it possible for me to hire cleaners on a self employed basis rather than employing them directly ? Im thinking of people I know rather than just anybody who could give the company a bad name

Thanks again

Matthew

 

[UseYourWeb]

To begin with, if funds allow, get a good website that is optimised for your chosen search terms, most websites should come set-up already but I've seen some shockers (no titles, no descriptions, site in iframe, full flash site, etc)
Then market it via something like facebook to begin with, its free, easy to add local people (and a lot of small businesses) and is a good starting point for any small new business.
For quick results, use google Adwords but I think to start with, a website and decent facebook campaign would really help without breaking the bank

 

[StevensOnln1]

HMRC have a set of rules that determine if someone working for you is self employed or an employee (you can't just choose).

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/calcs/esi.htm

 

[Matthew87]

Thanks very much guys, looks like I have a lot of learning to do !

 

[Jeremiah@RHJ Accountants]

Hi Matthew

I have recently taken on a cleaning services company that clean commercial properties so more than happy to see if i can put you in contact with them and see if they can give you some ideas on how to start off etc.

Just send me a PM and i will try to help best i can

where are you based and would she stick to the local area?

Kind regards

Jeremiah

 

[Paul Baldwin]

I look after a few cleaning agencies that have on their books a raft of self-employed cleaners so it can work, but like @StevensOnln1 says above you need to check the HMRC rules or talk to an accountant

 

[splashernet services]

Dear Matthew, do not worry about cleaning equipments and materials these are not expensive, make sure you have a big budget for your advertising, especially your website needs to be SEO for the related keywords and perhaps pay per click will bring clients in almost immediately.

 

[Root 66 Woodshop]

To begin with, personally I wouldn't be too bothered about a website just yet... the first and foremost thing you or she needs to do is get some clients and most importantly experience. Your website can come at a later date when she's got money coming in.

Public liability is a must, check out a couple of companies on here, they're very helpful.

Cost of cleaning products is very minimal, the cheaper products from the likes of Asda or Tesco is just as good as the expensive brands.

Don't aim too high just yet, get some clients and learn from mistakes.

For local work you can use the likes of gumtree and freeindex.

My partner also runs her own cleaning company, she has 3 of her own clients and also cleans for another company as well as her part time job again as a cleaner for a large services company based in the UK. Two of her clients are from word of mouth the other was from freeindex. She's also had 10 deep clean jobs for Landlords in the area, again from Freeindex and gumtree.

I helped my partner set up the company, the overall cost was roughly £100 - this included fliers, business cards and cleaning products and a new vac and ink for the printer.

Use what you already have, i.e. mobile phone number, landline number (don't advertise it as an "office" just use the word's "contact numbers" on your business cards), computer etc.

If you're going to provide invoices for your work, always get an email address, email your invoice and save paper.

 

[DaisyDigitool]

Hey there,

We've been running our carpet cleaning business for 22 years. One thing that's really helped us get new customers and rank better on Google is to get reviews on third-party platforms like Google, Facebook and Yelp. I'd suggest having a review strategy from the get-go, this is a free way to rank better on google and get more customers. I've created a video on my blog that explains the best way to get reviews for your cleaning business - hope this helps a few people out:

godigitool. com/how-to-get-more-google-facebook-and-yelp-reviews/

Daisy

 

[Andri]

Hi everyone, ive registered here to hopefully get some advice from people in the know

My names Matthew, im 26 and a trainee electrician

My partner has had her hours cut at work, and after talking with her for a few days, she has decided she would like to set up her own business cleaning in domestic and small commercial properties

Now to be honest, I would be the one setting it all up, and putting the money down for her to get started, but I really dont have a clue where to start !

The things that are obvious to me are :

Registering as a sole trader with HMRC
Advertising
Start up costs inc cleaning products etc...

Could somebody please tell me what else is involved in setting up a small cleaning company from home as im sure ive missed quite a lot of things out that need to be looked into

Kind regards

Matthew

 

[Andri]

One of my clients is a cleaning business and recently designed a nice flyer for him. I have some ideas on templates if this is of any good or give pointers on flyers already have. Make no doubt, there is setul work to be done before yoh get clients so be prepared to dp flyer rounds etc

 

[Mr D]

The setup was about 4 years ago.

 

[DaisyDigitool]

Hi everyone - I just wanted to check in as I have recently spoken to the owner of a carpet cleaning business who told me all about his use of Referral Source Marketing. It's about putting in some time (and treats!) to build a network of retailers who will refer you. I created a new video about it on my blog if you'd like to check it out:

youtube. com/watch?v=nyKmQkHrE80

Daisy