5 Important Secrets for Making Your Cleaning Business a Success

Almost everybody can clean, scrub, and tidy, but not everybody likes it. In fact, cleaning is one of the most hated chores out there. Which is why starting a cleaning business makes so much sense.

The good news is that you can do it without breaking the bank. Aside from being a low-cost entry point business, the cleaning industry is also quite lucrative. Generally, there are not too many big firms on the market that will keep you from growing your customer base. And you’ll be fighting for with other firms, much like your own. Which means that your business will have a fair chance of achieving success.

You should know that running a small cleaning business can be quite rewarding and not so hard as one would imagine, but making it big in this business, and especially growing your company isn’t all that easy. We all could use a little help, so here are a few secrets and tips on how to make your cleaning business a success.

Who, What, and Where

The first question you will need to ask yourself is what will you be cleaning? Then, who will you be cleaning for, and where will you do it. Are you going to take care of commercial spaces, or do you want to start up a residential cleaning business? Will you only do window washing, or are you going to also do carpet cleaning and mopping/polishing floors? Will you set up a laundry service, where you go to people’s houses and pick up their dirty laundry, clean it, and then safely return it to them? Also, what other cleaning businesses are in the city/neighborhood where you intend to set up your business? Will you be able to get a decent customer base? Make sure you ask these questions first, and set up a solid business plan, before even thinking of anything else.

Put Together the Team

The people are what make or break a business, and a small cleaning business needs to have the right people working for it, otherwise it will be doomed to fail. Hire people you trust, people you know will do a good job. Research the local market and find out about wages. Pay them well, be kind to them, because you will only get out what you put in! It may sound like a motivational cliché, but truer words have rarely been spoken.

Take note that the success of your cleaning business is directly related to the happiness of your employees. When people are happy, they do a good job, they take pride in their work, they recommend the business to others. When they’re happy, you’re happy! And always remember that they could, at any point, become the competition, so treat them with respect!

Invest in Good Marketing

Being visible in this industry is everything! Sure, you could go down the classic route of brochures, business cards, and stickers, and you definitely should. But don’t stop there! These days, if you don’t exist on the internet, if your business is not present online, it might as well not exist in real life! Set up a Facebook page and try to update it regularly. Or maybe set up an Instagram account and post funny or inspirational photos to keep people interested. You could even do Twitter!

Whatever you choose, make sure you update the account at least on a weekly basis and manage your account wisely. People will ask you questions about your company on Facebook and you need to not take longer than an hour to reply, otherwise, you’ll seem unreliable. Maybe do a monthly giveaway, to get people interested in your business. If and when your business grows, you could even hire a social media manager to help you get potential clients interested about you.

Network

Aside from good marketing, you will need to network like your life depended on it! With marketing, you need to make your business interesting. It needs to be appealing to people, to make them desire it. But with networking, your business is the one who is interested in things. Be curious, connect with people, be genuinely interested in the community you wish to start your cleaning business in, and work to become a part of it and you will surely reap the benefits later.

Keep Learning

If there’s one thing you should take away from here is that there will always be something new to learn, and something old to discover. You will never know everything there is to know about a business, so try to keep an open mind and learn from everything you do and everyone you meet. Pay attention to the feedback that is being provided to you by your clients, and your employees.

There is value in success, but there is also value and lessons to be learnt from failure. To get your set on the right path, read up as much as possible on starting up a new business, on how to be a good boss, on how to do a good job. A good starting point is Fred Kofman’s already famous Conscious Business. It may be a bit too general, but it is full of sound advice that will set you up on the right path when it comes on business in general.

 

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