New Cleaning Business

[GavinW2018]

Hi everyone,
I am in the process of starting up my own cleaning business, I have over 5 years experience and training, so I thought it was time to start my own.
I would be very grateful for all kinds of help and advice on a start up, plus if anyone knows of any free or good deal appointment/invoice software, that would be great.
Many thanks in advance
Gavin

 

[Fiona B]

Firstly think about your business structure, do you intend to work as a sole trader or Ltd company? Do you intend to hire people? A great starting place is the Library which now gives business advice. Try the government websites and read entrepreneur magazine, as well as posts on here for really helpful tips.
On a personal level, I've found sites such as Wix to be good, it's very simple to set up your own website, there is payment and booking facilities, they help with google Ad words and SEO's and you can get your business website set up very quickly indeed. Good luck!

 

[Socio South West]

Remember that turnover is vanity.... Profit is sanity....

Many businesses starting out grossly underestimate the fixed costs of running a business, especially depreciation, and end up working for peanuts.... or even less.
Keep an eye on the profit you are making, and make sure running the business is worthwhile.

 

[Zoltan Lange]

Hi Gavin, Welcome here. There are so many detail in starting a business up properly, I don't know where to start, but you already have brilliant advice here. I also can recommend to contact your local chamber of commerce and maybe get a start-up mentor.

 

[Mr Monday]

I myself was recently looking to set up a cleaning company and the best advice I can give, is utilise the internet. Learn from other peoples mistakes, there are a lot of forums with cleaning advice from experienced individuals within the cleaning industry.

A few things I picked up

Decide what you want to do, CORPORATE OR COMMERCIAL???

When you decide, research into the different types of work/services you are going to offer

End of tenancy
Spring cleaning
Domestic cleaning
Office cleaning
After build cleaning
Window/carpet cleaning included???

Upholstery cleaning and maintenance?
After party clean up?
Graffiti removal?
Emergency cleaning?
Premium cleaning?


Are you looking for contracts only or pay as you go/call outs or both? Both, how?
Are you charging per hour or a set rate based on the size of the premeis?
Are your employees going to be self employed or hired by yourself?
Are your employees going to have background checks?
Public liability insurance?

Beneficial business relationships - Letting agents, Painters and decorators/Builders, Local shop/restaurant owners, Schools, GP surgerys etc


Contracts, drawn up by a solicitor or or purchased online??? Depends*

And ask yourself the most important question

Why would people want to spend money on my company rather than

1.Stay with the company they are with
2.Choose from any one of the other more experienced cleaning companies that will charge the same or cheaper than what I am charging

Cleaning companies will always make money regardless of the USP, but as a business wanting to grow, nothing special will happen if you dont try to make it special

So research x10 and try to stand out, by combining the USP of others (competitors) to create a machine