Everyone needs their house or office clean and orderly. However, not everyone finds time to get their homes or business premises clean and for sure, cleaning is far from the most interesting tasks out there. For this reason, there will always be a demand for professional cleaning services, making it a great business opportunity.
Today, there is no word like “limitation” when it comes to being a great entrepreneur. You can easily access clients for your cleaning business, starting with your next-door neighbor and it’s easy to get referrals. Your quality service markets you, and this will gradually expand your clientele to beyond just your local area. Furthermore, it’s satisfying when you relieve people from the discomfort associated with untidy homes and the frustrations they go through when trying hard to keep their surroundings sparkling clean and smelling fresh. With a larger bias on cleaning equipment, here are a few things you need to prepare when starting a cleaning business.
Target Clients
Every business starts with a vision and for you to achieve it, you need to put your target audience into perspective. To start with, there are two major types of cleaning services depending on the target market. You can either be a commercial cleaning service or a residential cleaning service and once you’re off the ground, you can serve both commercial and residential clients.
Commercial vs. Residential Cleaning
Commercial cleaning involves cleaning in large business premises, offices, hotels, malls, schools, universities, and other organizations. A cleaning company is contracted to carry out cleaning services for a certain period. It may also involve collecting commercial and hazardous waste for huge industrial companies. On the other hand, residential cleaners specialize in cleaning homes. It’s also more detail-oriented and thorough. It involves cleaning the floors, bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, dining, curtains, couches, carpets, ironing clothes, mopping floors, and so forth.
Having a target clientele group in mind will make it easy for you to choose a business structure, create a budget, and acquire the appropriate business requirements, including licenses, registration, and insurance. It will also make it easier for you to identify the kinds of cleaning equipment you need, and this brings us to the next important point.
Cleaning Equipment
Cleaning services require various kinds of tools, equipment, and supplies such as detergents as well as water. When it comes to the equipment part, below are a few items you need to start shopping for.
1. Vacuum Cleaners
This is a piece of equipment that uses suction to remove dust, dirt, and debris from floors, upholstery, draperies, and other surfaces. Wet and dry vacuum cleaners are extremely useful in hotel or housekeeping operations. They pick liquid spills and excess wash water when on wet mode. When on dry mode, they remove dust and debris. The dirt is collected by either a dust bag or a cyclone for later disposal.
Some versions are also designed to remove special kinds of dirt and debris like pet hair from carpeting and upholstery. To ensure your cleaning business runs efficiently, you’ll need a few high powered vacuums for such tasks in homes and commercial establishments where pets are allowed. It’s also important to have several of these so you can serve more than one client at the same time once your business starts to grow.
2. Mops, Buckets, and Wringers
A mop is one item highly recommended in cleaning services. Often ideal for floors and tight spaces, mops are accompanied with buckets and wringers. These can be good starters in settings that require frequent mopping, especially tile flooring and concrete surfaces.
3. Dustpans and Brushes
These will come in handy for cleaning various areas such as the tops of shelving units, underneath tables, window ledges, and behind bookcases. These places might be hard to reach with a vacuum cleaner even with a handheld vacuum. With a handled dustpan and a brush, it’s easier to reach those out-of-way places. They’re also less susceptible to damage, even when used to collect broken glass.
4. Rubber Gloves
Who wants to touch messy dirt with their hands? Gloves are very important not only for personal hygiene, but they also protect the hands from injury. The best rubber gloves for cleaning will also offer protection when collecting broken glasses or cleaning sharp edges.
5. “Wet Floor” Signs
They are used to notify people that the floor is wet and slips or falls may possibly occur. If the wet floor is near a blind corner, always place the sign on the other side of the turn to warn people of the hazard ahead.
If you’re hiring a few employees, for instance, it’s good to do a thorough background check on each of your candidates to ensure they can be trusted since they’ll be accessing people’s houses and high-privacy settings. Also, don’t forget to get licensed, insured, and registered with the appropriate institutions if need be. From there, you’ll want to start marketing your business verbally, online, and on social media.
