You had to drop out of college although you didn’t want to. There weren’t enough funds for you to continue. So for the past six months, you’ve been doing odd jobs, working at construction sites doing roofing services, home foundation repairs, and gardening. You’ve been requested to detail cars and clean houses as well. You’ve saved some money as you plan to go back to college again and finish your degree.
But now, you want to put some structure in your freelance work. While you’re on-call for most of the jobs and there is some regularity with what you do, you don’t feel stable. You’re thinking of opening your business. You’ve read materials on auto detailer or laundry business. But it’s the home cleaning service that you’re more interested in. How do you go about setting up this business? Would it require a huge investment? Here are a few things that you need to know:
Industry Outlook
Franchises for residential cleaning services are raking in nearly a billion dollars in 2019. There is steady growth at an annual rate of 2.8%, but the number of businesses is still minimal, with fewer than 1,300 all over the country.
Independent operators are the ones augmenting the market requirements. So this might be an excellent opportunity for you to pursue.
Getting It Done
Cleaning needs to be done all the time. Whether they are stay-at-home moms or a business owner, it’s become ideal to hire a cleaning service. Here are some things to consider as you start this business venture:
- Cost. Some suggest that you can start from zero money to very little. But “cost” doesn’t mean just money. It could also meantime. One expert in the business suggests that you use the time to prepare for things that you will need once your business is up and running. For example, you can already draft your FAQs while you wait for the launch of your business. Potential customers will ask about your rate. Do you charge differently on weekends compared to weekdays? By doing this early, you are freeing up “time in the future,” which you can use to allocate actual bookings. But remember that you need to buy cleaning materials and pay for permits and licenses. Some could start with just $1,000.
- Plan your services. Make your customers know the specific services you are offering. Remember the FAQs? The answers should be there. Start small and build up from there. Cleaning could mean, cleaning all rooms with some dusting or vacuuming cleaning, but excludes heavy lifting. Planning for your service allows you to program your daily bookings properly. If you’re doing multiple houses in a day or at least two homes, you need to be able to predict the amount of time you’ll spend in each house.
- Marketing. Knocking on your neighbors’ door might help, and they could probably give some referrals. But that approach alone won’t be able to expand your customer base. How you plan for your services impacts what you will do for marketing. This is where you create your value proposition. What makes you stand out? Is it your method? Or the materials you used? Make this clear on your website and your social media presence. And you can still rely on giving away flyers!
You, of course, need to do the groundwork for registering your business and choosing your organizational structure. These things have a significant bearing on your taxes and how you manage the financials of your business. Make sure that you consult with legal experts as well as financial (accountant) experts.
