Home Cleaning Service

A home cleaning service is a type of business where an individual or a group of individuals earn income by cleaning other people’s homes.  Home cleaning is different from commercial cleaning (cleaning business establishments, factories, etc), although some business owners do both residential and commercial cleaning.

Home cleaning includes:  washing and scrubbing of floors, walls and ceilings, laundry, dusting, watering of plants, vacuuming part or all of the house, and generally putting things in order (toys, clothes, utensils, papers).  

 

It is a type of business that will never “go out of fashion” because time is what most working people lack, so domestic tasks are frequently requested. People would rather pay for home cleaning than spend the time doing it themselves, because apart from lack of time, housecleaning is a task that majority of people don’t enjoy doing.  If you will perform the housecleaning service yourself, it can be lucrative, but physically demanding.  As your business grows and as your customer base expands, you may want to consider hiring cleaning staff.

Low to Medium.  Your expenses include your vehicle (gas, insurance and maintenance), vacuuming equipment, rug cleaning equipment, detergents, rags, pails, used blankets (to protect furniture from spraying chemicals), mops.  Not including your vehicle and related expenses, assume $1,000.00 as start-up capital required.  Perhaps it could be less than that if you use the customer’s equipment and appliances.

The ideal person for this job is someone who enjoys cleaning, is physically able and is not discouraged by domestic disarray.  A person who is a fast but thorough cleaner and enjoys his work will succeed.  A courteous and professional cleaner (showing up at the agreed date and time and has “his act together”) will have plenty of customers.

Some housecleaners charge on an hourly basis ($35.00 to 55.00), some charge on the type of task to be performed (scrubbing and polishing floors for example could command a higher fee than say doing the laundry).  Housecleaning businesses also offer a regular schedule (like weekly, bi-weekly, monthly) and customers who take advantage of this schedule are offered special discounts.  Here’s a tip:  test the waters.  Have two or three different house cleaners come to your house to clean and get ideas from them without saying you’re thinking of starting your own housecleaning business.  By talking to them about their experiences and observing what cleaning methods they use, you can get a good idea of how to structure your own business, and maybe even improve on their shortcomings.  By going the extra mile, this can constitute your USP (unique selling point).

The prediction is that home and office cleaning will be one of the fastest growing industries for the next 10-15 years (the US government Bureau of Labor Statistics says that it will grow at a “faster than average” rate – for both workers and owners).

Most housecleaning businesses advertise in the local paper (no more than 2 lines are required; people just say “will clean your home, call 555-555-5555”).

Also put flyers on the windshields of cars in parking lots, supermarket bulletin boards, dry cleaners, universities.  You can also talk to mid-size and large commercial cleaners who may know of people looking to outsource residential cleaning jobs.

While not necessary, you might want to obtain bonding (this is because some people are wary about having strangers in their homes) as this can serve as a type of insurance.  You should find out as much as you can about housecleaning (tips, tricks and short cuts) and draw up your fee structure.  Also, find out where you can buy household cleaning products in bulk at wholesale prices.  Create your flyers and when you’re ready, put an ad in the paper and in your yellow pages.

Recommended resources:  http://www.thecleanteam.com/.  This web site provides tips for speed cleaning, spring cleaning and clutter control as well as sells specialty cleaning aids.

http://www.stretcher.com/stories/01/010507b.cfm.  This web site has ideas on starting a housecleaning business.

Books:  Start and Run a Home Cleaning Business by Susan Bewsey, Self-Counsel Press, 2007.  This book discusses issues such as legal requirements, attracting and cleaning clients, charges, equipment and other useful topics.  It comes with a CD ROM (ISBN-10: 1551807661; 

ISBN-13: 978-1551807669)

How to Start a Home-Based Housecleaning Service, by Laura Jorstad and Melinda Morse, Globe Pequot, 2005.  This book provides insights on housecleaning, getting customers, services to offer, fees, selecting the best housecleaning products, and franchising.  Also includes a practical workbook for service manuals, room-by-room cleaning plans, invoice samples, and start-up checklist requirements (ISBN-10: 0762738766; ISBN-13: 978-0762738762)