How to Start a Cleaning Business

leaning businesses are flourishing in the United States. According to a recent report by Precedence Research, the contract cleaning market in the U.S. reached nearly $92 billion in 2023 and is expected to continue climbing over the next decade. Entrepreneurs seeking to break into this lucrative industry can expect to find plenty of opportunities offering cleaning services to residential, commercial, or industrial clients.

Just like with any business, creating a cleaning company from scratch will take time, research, and careful planning to achieve success. Starting a cleaning business is fairly straightforward and doesn’t require much expertise. Read on to learn more about the basics of getting a cleaning business off the ground, including tips for planning how your business will operate and the steps required to open your doors to customers.

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Types of Cleaning Businesses

If you’re looking to start a cleaning business, you’ll need to take some time to carefully consider your options. While some cleaning companies prefer to focus on providing a handful of niche services to certain types of clients, others offer a wider range of cleaning solutions to virtually anyone. Here are the main types of cleaning businesses that entrepreneurs tend to create. If none of these seem appealing, you may want to check out our guide on how to start a laundromat.

Commercial Cleaning

Companies that specialize in commercial cleaning provide services to office buildings, retail businesses, government facilities, warehouses, construction sites, and schools. Common tasks include carpet cleaning, vacuuming, mopping, window cleaning, and pressure washing. Since commercial cleaning encompasses larger-scale, more periodic work, commercial cleaning companies will often take on multiple clients across several locations at once.

Housekeeping Services

Cleaning businesses may also choose to provide housekeeping services to private residential clients, Airbnb renters, hotels, or vacant real estate properties. Typical cleaning duties include dusting, vacuuming, polishing wood surfaces, upholstery cleaning, and mopping.

Industrial Cleaning

With an industrial cleaning company, your clients may include manufacturing facilities, warehouses, chemical processing plants, construction sites, and more. Unlike commercial cleaning or conventional housekeeping services, industrial cleaning often involves more complex cleaning tasks such as stripping and sealing floors, high-pressure washing, or even HVAC duct cleaning. Industrial cleaning also includes various sanitation and remediation services, such as mold removal, decontamination following the spillage of potentially harmful chemicals, or removing asbestos from construction sites.

Janitorial Cleaning

While similar to commercial cleaning, janitorial cleaning covers more of the day-to-day cleaning tasks various buildings require to operate effectively. Janitorial tasks may include removing trash, sanitizing work surfaces, mopping, sweeping, dusting, and restocking soap or toilet paper in bathrooms.

Green Cleaning

Another growing segment of the cleaning industry involves using only natural, completely safe products when mopping and wiping down surfaces. It’s called green cleaning, primarily concerned with only using organic, non-toxic products when performing cleaning duties. As support for environmentally friendly initiatives continues to gain steam in the U.S. and abroad, an increasing number of businesses and institutions have become more conscientious about the use of harsh chemicals or aerosols in work environments. Aside from using benign substances like vinegar or baking soda, green cleaning may also utilize products that are green seal certified, meaning the ingredients meet stringent health and safety standards.

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Things to Consider When Starting a Cleaning Business

To ensure your cleaning business is built upon a firm foundation, consider things like startup costs, overhead expenses, the scope of what your cleaning business will do, and the location of your company’s main office. Here are some key concerns you’ll want to work out long before you start taking on clients.

Location

You’ll need to find a suitable location to start a cleaning business. The commercial space you choose should be centralized in the area where your intended clients live or work. You’ll also want to seek out an easily visible location, ideally along a highly trafficked roadway or intersection. Consider your company’s proximity to competitors. For example, creating a brand new cleaning company down the street from a reputable local cleaning business with years of experience can put your business at a disadvantage from the onset. Instead, look for a location near the outskirts of your competitor’s coverage area where you can capitalize on the demand for services.

Renovation Costs

Sometimes, the location for your cleaning business may not be ready for occupancy and could require some renovations before you’re ready to set up shop. You’ll want to account for the costs of creating new signage, installing new carpet or flooring, or plumbing repairs. Depending on your budget, it may be worth it to spend a little more on a commercial space that requires little restoration work.

Rent and Utilities

Be aware the cost of utilities and rent will fluctuate depending on whether your office is downtown or in a suburban area. The desirability of your location will also have an impact on the cost of rent, electricity, and water bills. Striking a balance between affordability and visibility is essential to finding a suitable location at a reasonable price point.

Size

You’ll also need to determine the size and scope of your cleaning company. In many cases, you will want to start with a modest number of clients and slowly scale up as more business comes in. Ideally, you want to manage your growth so you expand at a pace that lets you keep up with cash flow, workloads, and service quality.

Equipment

The type of cleaning business you run will determine the equipment you’ll need to operate. If you’re starting a commercial or industrial cleaning company, you will likely need to spend more money on equipment like floor strippers or buffers, mop kits, janitorial carts, and pressure washers. On the other hand, residential cleaners or housekeepers are often on the go from residence to residence and typically require less expensive equipment to get the job done.

Insurance

Your cleaning business will need several different forms of insurance to protect your company from a variety of liabilities. First, all businesses must have general liability and workers’ compensation insurance. While general liability insurance protects third parties from accidents caused by your employees, worker’s compensation insurance will ensure that workers who get sick or injured while cleaning will have their medical bills covered. If you intend to provide vehicles for your employees, you will also want to purchase a commercial auto insurance policy. Additional insurance policies may be requested by clients as well, such as a fidelity bond that reimburses clients if your employees damage or steal property while on the job.

Staffing

Determine the number of full-time or part-time employees you will need to get your cleaning business off the ground. In addition, you will need to hire human resources personnel to handle communicating with customers, hiring new workers, and processing invoices. If you don’t intend to supervise your employees directly, consider hiring one or two experienced cleaners to work as team leaders and trainers for your staff.

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Steps to Opening a Cleaning Business

Once you’ve determined what your company will look like and how it will operate, you’re ready to move from planning to execution. Here are the main steps to making your cleaning business a reality.

Create a Business Plan

First, put together a comprehensive business plan that outlines key fundamentals about how your cleaning business will operate. This business plan should include an executive summary of your business, a section devoted to competitor analysis, and a financial plan that puts all your expected expenses into perspective. Having a solid business plan will not only help you keep your company on the right track early on but will also make it easier to attract investors if you’re short on startup funding.

At Novo, we offer small business financing solutions to help startups like yours acquire the capital needed to get things off the ground. We provide  up to $75,000 with fast approval and low monthly rates, ideal for newer companies. Visit our funding page to get started.

Register your Business

Next, you’ll need to register your business and pay for any licenses you may need. Business registration licensing and registration vary widely by state, so spend some time researching the laws in your area. Once your business is registered, you can move on to applying for an Employer Identification Number (EIN), which you will use to make income tax payments.

Hire Staff

The size of your workforce will depend largely on your budget and the type of cleaning services you plan to provide. To help streamline the recruiting process, create a list of minimum requirements for key positions to verify your hires are qualified and experienced enough for the work your cleaning company does.

Seek Out Customers

Now, you’re ready to begin finding clients. Start with contacting potential customers directly to discuss their cleaning needs and set up meetings to explore possible cleaning contracts. Leveraging social media like Facebook and Instagram can also help spread brand recognition, potentially landing you more clients in the long term. You may also want to consider partnering with an already established local business in a joint marketing campaign to help build your company’s reputation.

How Long Before my Business is Profitable?              

The amount of time it takes to start earning a profit from a new business varies. It will usually take up to 3 years for most new businesses to see consistent profits. To get a better idea of exactly how long it will take to turn a profit, evaluate at least a year of income and expenses to forecast when your business will begin to break even. With that information, it’s much easier to predict the trajectory of your company’s finances.

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Takeaways

Breaking into the lucrative cleaning industry takes research and careful planning. By planning out every aspect of your business well ahead of time, you can avoid many costly startup mistakes that cause many new companies to fail within the first few years. Following the tips and steps outlined in this article will help you start a cleaning business that grows into a thriving company.

Novo has a variety of financial solutions that can make running your new business much easier. From no-cost business checking to user-friendly business invoicing software, we provide the tools your business needs to stay efficient and organized. Get in touch with us today to set up a business checking account and learn more about how Novo can help take your business to the next level.

Novo Platform Inc. strives to provide accurate information but cannot guarantee that this content is correct, complete, or up-to-date. This page is for informational purposes only and is not financial or legal advice nor an endorsement of any third-party products or services. All products and services are presented without warranty. Novo Platform Inc. does not provide any financial or legal advice, and you should consult your own financial, legal, or tax advisors.

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