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Have you ever rushed into something that you thought would be a huge success , only to be disappointed? Unfortunately, that's what usually happens when people startup a cleaning business without doing the proper research and planning.

Although you may know how to clean, do you know how to:

 Run a business
 Prepare a budget
 Rate your jobs
 Prepare a marketing plan
 Design and submit advertising
 Customer service techniques
 Manage workers

Many people think they can start a cleaning business because it takes no special skills. With limited funds and access to the cleaning products you use in your home, imagine starting a cleaning business in 24 hours! What could be easier and bring you fast money?

Anyone who has actually built a successful cleaning business knows it's not that easy. Start a cleaning service like this and you will quickly learn what you don't want in your cleaning business, because this is what you will get:

  Customers who always want to pay you less than you deserve
  Customers telling you how to clean because it's never good enough
  Customers wanting you to use their products "because they work better"
  Exposure to chemicals that will harm your health
  Customers putting you in dangerous situations doing jobs they wouldn't do themselves
  Whining and compalining
  You end up working for less than you expected

Would you quit your job just to end up working for someone else for less money? This is why most of the new cleaners trying to startup a cleaning business finally just give up. If they only knew how successful their new venture could be if they just took the time to do a little planning!

Here's the good news - you can start your own cleaning business and guarantee your success. Does this sound surprising to you? Have you ever heard anyone say that? Well, it's true - and it's the big secret of successful business owners. They have the formula to start a business; work the business until it's making a healthy profit; rinse and repeat. That's right, they take the same business formula and apply it to their next business venture.

It's commonly referred to as a business plan which is just a fancy name to the document you produce from doing your research of the industry in your city and assembling a plan to ensure your success.

Never-Ending Supply of Customers

Things will always need to be cleaned, making the cleaning industry a no-brainer to get into. There's always another customer needing your service.

Many people get started as just another way to bring in some much needed cash, part-time. You can always do this starting to clean for family, friends, neighbors, your church, etc. And many times this works out just fine. Later, you either stop cleaning because it's hard work and you get a better job or you decide to make a business out of it.

Start Your Own Cleaning Business

Many of the reasons to start your own cleaning business are outlined, above. There are also legal reasons to protect you, your customers and your workers. When working without the legal protection of a corporation and insurance, your customers and workers can sue you for any damage or harm done to their property.

One very real danger in a house cleaning business is not protecting you and your workers from people in the home while you are providing service. The simple task of vacuuming could easily do harm to others in the home, such as when someone trips over the vacuum cord. This may not be a big issue for younger people in the home, but what about the elderly? This is just one of the reasons to protect yourself before you decide to do business with the public.

How to Setup a Cleaning Business

For those of you that have already started small, there are several ways to take the cleaning business you now have and generate even more income. You can use add-on services like windows cleaning, allowing you to charge extra for the windows in the whole house.

And there are also people that have done this and now want to take their cleaning business to the enterprise level. If you're one of those interested in saying good-bye to your corporate job and hello to your own cleaning business, there are specific steps you need to accomplish in getting your cleaning business built.

Starting and growing a cleaning business requires some investigating on your part. You may currently have a full-time job in a different or related field, you may be a professional cleaner working for someone else or you may have a one or two-person house cleaning business and want to expand.

There are many different kinds of cleaning companies that provide general cleaning, to very specialized services, such as:

1. Residential House Cleaning
2. Janitorial Services
3. Window Cleaning Services
4. Construction Cleanup
5. Organizational Services
6. Carpet Cleaning
7. Computer Cleaning
8. Dryer Clean-Outs
9. Foreclosure Clean-Up

You need to investigate and really do the research into which type of service you want to start or expand into. Consider the type of work that is done and who your customers are.

Make this a fun exercise and really do some daydreaming about how you see yourself enjoying this type of work. Too many people rush in and realize later on that they're not working too hard and just don't enjoy the work. That's right - you should enjoy what you do; not just work to take a check. If you don't enjoy making your customers happy, your work will reflect this and you'll have a hard time keeping customers and getting referrals.

Each type of cleaning service is relatively easy to get into with little or no cost (exceptions being carpet cleaning and janitorial). Examine your funds and determine how much you're willing to invest in yourself and your new cleaning business.

This should be an enjoyable project for you and one that is very important to your future success. Be very creative and fantasize about how great or small you want your cleaning business to be. Record what thoughts come to mind as you go through this process. Any concerns or negative thoughts? If you only get positive responses to your visualizations then take it to the next level and see what comes up.

Visualize Before You Start a Cleaning Business

To start any successful business, you need to be able to see yourself in the job and visualize exactly the kind of life you will build with it. Once you dream and visualize it, you're ready to get started.

Imagine the steps you will need to go through to be in the kind of cleaning business you vision. How will you get through each step? Can you start part-time and increase the amount of time you spend in your business as you grow your customer base? How long do you think this will take?

If you're comfortable with your visualized business, you'll need to start making plans and setting goals for yourself to make it a reality.

The more you visualize and the more you document, the better chance you have of your dream becoming a success.

Anne-Marie Moore
September 2005

Anne-Marie Moore is The House Cleaning Pro

Startup a cleaning business for success is part of the research and planning you do before you actually get started.

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