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The Home Cleaning Business Startup Manual – Part I

Starting a business often takes a lot of money to get started. However, service-related startups can often be started for less money than most people would expect. A house cleaning business is one of those businesses. With just a few hundred dollars, you can be on your way to business success.

Supplies

In order to clean houses, you will need some supplies. Wal-Mart, Costco, and Sam’s Club (or any other club membership store) are great places to buy your supplies for less. A good business rule of thumb is that most customers expect you to bring your own tools and supplies. They don’t want to go to the store and stock up on cleaning supplies before you come. What are you going to need? A small stool or ladder (2- or 4-rung ladder), industrial grade bathroom cleaner and toilet bowl cleaner, multi-purpose cleaner, high-quality window cleaner, mild scrub cleaner, carpet cleaner, furniture wax, floor cleaner hardwood floors, a set of buckets, a cleaning carrier and a bag of cleaning cloths and ready to go. The initial set of supplies will probably cost you between $ 100.00 and $ 200.00. Try buying sizes in bulk as it will save you money in the long run. Avoid being the cheapest because you often get what you pay for – cheap stuff. You want quality to be able to do a quality cleaning job. Quality work will impress your clients and keep them coming back.

Some customers prefer certain brands to be used in their home. This can be for a number of reasons. Talk to each customer if you have any concerns or preferences. Some people have health problems and prefer to use only brand X as an example. Ask them to have enough supplies on hand if they want me to use them. Important Marketing Tip: A special sales pitch could be to advertise that your service options include green cleaning products.

In most cases, you will be able to use a customer’s vacuum cleaner. Find out in your screening process if that will work for each individual customer or if they expect you to bring a vacuum cleaner. To keep the initial cost low, you can make it a requirement that customers have to supply a vacuum cleaner.

Important: Do not use the same cleaning tools on different surfaces. For example, it is highly recommended to use one mop for tile floors and another for hardwood floors. Different cleaners used on the same mop can have severe effects on surfaces for which they were not developed.

Rates and prices

The prices and fees that you can charge have various dependencies. The most critical dependency is your geographic location. An area with high income among a large part of the population will allow you to ask for higher prices. You will also find more clients in areas such as low-income households that are not really your preferred target group.

Important: Cleaning jobs must be priced per project / job and not per hour. There is a bit of psychology when you look at it from the customer’s point of view. The client knows they have to pay $ 75.00 to clean the house, they don’t really care if it takes 3 hours or 5 hours. If the same job was priced by the hour, the customer could see in more detail how long it takes to clean the house and finally ask why it took him an hour for just the 2 bathrooms in his house. Both your client and you will know in advance what the price of cleaning the house is. Customers will like the fact that they don’t have to expect surprises if it takes you 2 more hours to get the job done.

Pricing Strategies: Cleaning a house is not always the same. You must differentiate between the initial cleaning of a place and the maintenance cleaning. Imagine a house in ruins – it will take you much longer to clean a really messy place compared to one that is cleaned on a regular basis. If clients want to hire you on a recurring basis, the job should start with an “initial cleanup.” The initial cleaning should be priced approximately 50% above the normal rate for the same job. If you charge $ 75.00 for 1,500 SQFT. house with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms the initial cleaning should cost the client between $ 100.00 and $ 125.00. The initial cleaning protects both sides from disappointment and also ensures that you are in a position to do a quality job.

To find out what the current fee is for house cleaning in your area, you should consult your competition. Get pricing information from established companies like “Molly Maid”, as well as the sole proprietor who works alone or only with a small team. You should also put a reasonable value on your own time and take it into account. Set up your own price list for houses of different sizes. Base your starting price on a standard 3 bedroom 2 bath approx. 1,500 SQUARE FEET. from space. A 4 bed / 3 bath house with approx. 2,200 SQUARE FEET. you should increase your price from $ 15.00 to $ 25.00. As a general rule of thumb, you can add $ 10.00 or $ 20.00 per 1,000 SQFT. of space in the house to cover your time and expenses (instead of working with the number of bedrooms / bathrooms).

Exclusions: Window cleaning, oven cleaning, and refrigerator cleaning are not included in standard house cleaning jobs. You should charge between $ 15.00 and $ 25.00 for ovens and refrigerators and about $ 5.00 for interior window (normal size / easy access).

Important: do not work in the market with prices that are too low. It will be difficult to raise prices later when it is more established. Getting customers is not just a question of prices. Consider how much it would cost you to hire someone to do the same job and still earn some money for you after having to pay your employee’s salary. Put a fair value on your own work. House cleaning is hard work.

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