Starting a house cleaning business takes hard work and determination, good communication skills, marketing ability, time management and bookkeeping skills, and compliance with government regulations.
Be Prepared
Research the industry and know what you are getting into before you invest in starting a cleaning business. Read all the free articles at http://www.maiddocs.com -- hours upon hours of research have been completed for you. Then, if you decide to start your own service business, purchase the MaidDocs Business Owner´s Manual to prepare yourself for the adventure. You´ll learn how to estimate cleaning jobs, hire and manage employees, run the daily operations, and grow your business.
Getting Started
A professionally designed logo will help to brand your company in the public´s mind. Your logo will be printed on business cards, door knockers, letterhead, car signs, etc., so carefully consider the image you want to present, and then choose artwork which will best reflect that image.
Decide what you will charge for your services. Research the local market to determine what your competitors charge. You must remain within the local standards, and you can undercut your competition slightly; however, if you charge significantly less than the competition, you may end up with less money and more work than you care for. Your growth must be contained so that you can add employees as you need them without raising prices and thereby losing customers. Also, if you have more jobs than you can handle you may not be servicing the homes well, and this is certainly not good for business.
Advertise in the "services" section of the classified in your local newspapers. Keep it short, and ad your logo if you can afford to. Your ad might read "Quality housecleaning with integrity. Call ###-#### for a free estimate."
Place an ad in your local yellow pages. Research all of your local phone books and notice which ads catch your eye. A good bet is a "knock-out" ad with at least 2 colors. A "knock-out" removes the yellow background and leaves a crisp, attention grabbing white field among all the yellow ads. For a lesser cost you may list your company in the yellow pages free listing column with a knock-out and color. This ad should be a minimum of four 4 lines, with color. For on-line marketing choose pay-per-click advertising with YellowPages.com -- this will assure that your listing is shown before the alphabetized free listings.
If you don´t mind hand delivering a marketing piece, then the most economical advertising is hanging a door-knocker on the front door of homes you´re certain can afford your services.
Direct mail postcards are an economical advertising option that puts your information directly into the hands of qualified prospects. You can use labels or merge the postcards with a mailing list and have them copied at a local office store or printer with a high speed/high quality copier. Insist on seeing a sample from the copier before you have the job completed. You MUST deliver high quality postcards in order to make the best impression on your prospects. Flimsy paper with lopsided print, ink rubbing off and jagged edges is not the quality which will get you noticed.
Magnetic car signs can be made by a local sign maker for about $25 a set. We buy ours from our local FastSigns shop.
Be prepared for business with professional estimates, letters to follow-up on quotes not booked, new customer letters, customer
information sheets, maid service checklists, and customer surveys for the first service.
Purchase cleaning supplies at your local discount center. Lists of cleaning supplies, office equipment & supplies necessary to start your business are in the MaidDocs Business Owners Manual.
Commercial grade vacuums will last much longer than home quality. We have found that Royal brand commercial vacuums, crafted with die-cast aluminum, are the lightest and longest lasting available anywhere, and they out clean the competition. Royal Commercial Vacuums come with a lifetime warranty on the motor housing, fan casing and nozzle.
Your own website is a luxury that is worth the expense when you can afford it. Be certain to add your website address to all business documents, and to all of your advertising. The website should have an online estimate form and customer testimonials.
When you´re ready to hire employees, be prepared with your employment application, handbook, policies and guidelines, and all of the appropriate documents you´ll need to manage employees.
Government Regulations:
Get your federal tax ID; local & state business licenses; bonding insurance, and liability insurance. When you hire employees you´ll need worker´s compensation insurance. The Small Business Administration is a great source of information for start-up paperwork and links to informative websites. http://sba.gov/starting_business/startup/guide.html
The IRS website offers a wealth of information for small businesses. You´ll find start-up guides, information on tax credits and business deductions, advice on record keeping and choosing an accounting method, employee tax issues, and more. The most up-to-date tax information is available through the site, as well as forms, publications and instructions for filing taxes. http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/index.html
State tax information can be found at http://www.taxadmin.org/fta/link/forms.html, which provides links to the Department of Revenue for every state.
Here´s a few other sites you should look at:
Business Law: businesslaw.gov - Complying with business laws and regulations can be a burden. To help small businesses overcome this, the Small Business Administration (sba.gov) in cooperation with multiple Federal agencies developed BusinessLaw.gov, an online resource designed to provide legal and regulatory information. Topics covered on this site range from choosing a business structure to hiring an attorney. The site also provides links to federal, state and local agencies.
Employment Law: http://www.dol.gov/asp/programs/EmpLawGuide - This guide describes the statutes and regulations administered by the Department of Labor (DOL) that affect businesses and workers. The guide is designed mainly for those needing "hands-on" information to develop wage, benefit, safety and health, and nondiscrimination policies for businesses in general industry.
Compliance Laws: http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance - Statutes and regulations administered by the Department of Labor (DOL)that affect businesses and workers.
Cleaning Business Forms, Documents, Manuals and More: http://www.MaidDocs.com - MaidDocs provides step-by-step instructions, lists of resources, employee handbooks and cleaning procedures manual, a database template, a payroll template, and all of the documents necessary for you to run a successful maid service, without a franchise. You must provide the determination, self control and discipline necessary to bring your dream to fruition.
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