There are many ways to start a cleaning business, I did with $20.00 and a lot of hard work the most important thing is having the skill to clean some of us were just born with it in our DNA. I have found that we are essential just like a doctor when people are sick or an electrician when the lights go out or a plumber when the sink is plugged or a handyman when you need a screen door installed. All the fields I just mentioned are essential and one statement I heard over and over during COVID 19 was you are essential to our family, so you are entering into a very promising business that has been around for centuries. I will give you a few key pointers that will help you successfully start and operate a cleaning business.

Things to consider

1. Are you going to do the cleaning or hire staff?
2. Are you going to supply the equipment and products?
3. Who are your customers and how do you to get in front of them?

These are all things you need to really think about before starting I started by myself and learned in one month that I wanted and needed to hire staff to help me! Cleaning is a very physical job, and it takes strength to do this job everyday. I was a single mom and I wanted to be at home with my kids not work all day and still earn a decent living and I love cleaning!

4 Things to consider before starting a cleaning business

1. Marketing: I started pre digital era in 1995 so print ads and yellow pages were how we reached our clients. You now must have a Website a Google business page, A Facebook business page. Vista print makes it affordable to produce marketing products such as business cards, magnets for your car, fliers to promote your business in the areas you will clean.
2. Staff: This is where the rubber meets the road your company will never be better than the staff you hire to provide the service you must have trustworthy reliable help. Your commitment will always be greater than your staff no matter how loyal or how long they stay in the end it will be you running the show so be prepared for all that goes with running a service business. The better the staff the less problems you will face.
3. Structure: What will be your legal name and how will you file taxes will you have a sole proprietorship, or a LLC or a S corporation. To be honest in 27 years I have been all 3 at first, I was small my income was fair but minimal but as I grew, I had to shift to a different structure a good tax advisor will know when that needs to happen.
4. Tax liabilities: I cannot over emphasize the importance of this know what your state requires get your federal and state tax id’s and know if you are supposed to have a sales tax permit in Minnesota cleaning companies are required to collect sales tax from their clients. Employees versus subcontractors there is a lot to consider. Residential or Commercial cleaning.

I had no idea what I was doing when it came to bidding or how to find good help or how I should charge or any of the things I mentioned but as I kept moving and did my homework pretty much trial and error it all fell into place to be honest you will have to figure it out step by step which is how all good businesses are but I can tell you 27 years later I am still running a successful cleaning company that I started with $20.00.

Now go and take a bite out of grime!