We have the perfect business idea for you—a cleaning business. Just right on time to address the rising demand of this sector.
What do you need?
A vacuum, a mop, your time and a solid business plan. Yes, the startup costs are low enough for you to jump right in and kick off your venture.
Join us, and let’s tackle all your cleaning business woes. How to start a cleaning business without quitting your full-time job? How to start a maid cleaning business?
Uncover the answers to these questions.
How to Start a Cleaning Business
Let’s break down your startup cleaning business checklist.
Research and Planning
Your Target Market
First things first, research your market. What sort of cleaning business do you want to launch?
To answer this question effectively, you have to understand your target market and determine your competition. Once you’ve figured that out, you’ll be able to decide where to focus your services, whether it’s residential, commercial or specialised cleaning.
- Residential cleaning is ideal when you’re operating solo, taking care of smaller spaces. In a week, you’ll probably cover more or less a dozen homes and get paid instantly after every visit.
- Commercial cleaning is provided to businesses with a much bigger team, handling more spacious environments such as office spaces and retail stores. This type of service is contracted, and you only need a couple of those to earn a good profit.
Your service area may also dictate whether you offer residential or commercial services. For example, if you’re targeting a downtown area, offering commercial cleaning will expand your pool of potential customers.
Business Plan
Create a concrete business plan, outlining your services, strategy, processes and financial projections. This will serve as your roadmap, setting your goals and guiding how you’ll manage your business.
Inside your business plan, indicate your legal structure, choosing from sole proprietorship, partnership or LLC. Choosing the right business structure matters because it will dictate your daily operations concerning taxes and liability. Your startup costs are also a crucial part of your business plan, detailing your expenditures in marketing, operation and equipment.
Finally, decide on your business name and design an attractive logo that reflects your brand identity.
Legal and Financial
So, how to legally start a cleaning business?
Business Registration
Register your cleaning business with the relevant authorities, depending on which country you’re in and your business structure.
For a sole proprietorship, you have full control, which means all the legal responsibilities rest upon your shoulders.
For partnership registration, you’ll be collaborating with two or more people.
For a corporation, which has the best liability protection, the business is separated from you. This means you’re not personally liable for the corporation’s legal debt.
If you’re running your cleaning business in Australia without using your personal name, register it through the Business Registration Service.
During the registration, you’ll also be needing an employment identification number for your taxes and necessary licences and permits based on your location.
We also recommend getting certified through AHCA to boost your reputation, so make sure that your would-be clients know about it.
Insurance
There’s no better way to protect your business and employees than securing business insurance. This is non-negotiable because the last thing you need is to not have insurance after damaging your client’s home.
Without insurance, you risk paying out of your own wallet to cover the expenses. Your policy is your financial security blanket, giving you peace of mind. Now, there are different types of cleaning insurance policies for you to avail.
- General liability
- Health insurance
- Vehicle insurance
- Workers’ compensation
Funding
So, what are the financing options available to you?
- Personal investment is perhaps your main source of funding. Since you’re spending your own cash, you don’t have to seek investments from other people or an organisation. You’ll have full control of your operations and keep all the profits from those activities.
- Loans and investors are the most common ways to secure funding for startup businesses. As a small business, you’ll have a harder time procuring financial support. You can start with a solid business plan, though, to demonstrate your seriousness about your new venture.
Operations
Sure, a cleaning business is a low-cost venture, but you still need to acquire these cleaning items ahead of your first job.
Here’s your cleaning business startup package:
- Mop
- Vacuums
- Face masks
- Rubber gloves
- Rags
- Scrubbing tools
- Trash bag
- Paper towels
- Duster
- Disinfectants
- Microfiber cloths
- Spray bottle
- Glass cleaner
- Soap
You don’t always have to purchase the expensive brand-name cleaning products. Check a janitorial store and ask them about recommendations on excellent yet affordable cleaning supplies.
Pricing
In terms of pricing strategy, consider your service type, time required and market rates before determining the price of your service.
Follow these steps and set a competitive price to maximise your profits:
- Find out how much your competitors are charging for their cleaning service.
- From that range, identify the highest and lowest amount your target market is willing to pay.
- Select a pricing structure, and match that to the total costs of the cleaning service.
- Don’t forget your profit margin and markup to make sure that you’re earning enough from your business to cover your expenses.
Systems and Processes
Create an efficient system for your cleaning business, from the scheduling and cleaning checklist to communication. As a result, you can meet the demand, streamline the workflow and maximise your output.
Marketing
This is vital to landing your first client, which can be challenging when you don’t have a knack for marketing.
Here are some effective strategies to advertise your cleaning business and increase visibility:
- Create a strong brand and build confidence and trust with your new clients.
- Tell your personal network about your cleaning service and sign them up as your first clients.
- Send out cleaning flyers
- Have your cleaning clients spread the word about your service and entice others to try it out. You can reward their efforts with an incentive.
- Partner with local realtors or join a business networking meeting. It’s a great avenue to meet other entrepreneurs and establish a business relationship with them.
Now, here’s how to market your business online:
- Build a professional website
- Create social media accounts for your business
- Complete a Google Business Profile so that your business shows up in local search results.
- Add your business in local directories to boost your brand’s online presence to people in your area looking for a cleaning service.
- Tinker with Google Local Service Ads to help you connect with local potential clients searching on Google.
Growth and Expansion
Hiring and Training
Once the clients start coming in, work becomes too overwhelming to deal with on your own. It’s time to ask for support and start hiring additional help and training them as needed to meet the increased workload.
This way, you can maintain your superb service, even when you’re not there looking after the business.
Then again, hiring the right people takes time and extreme patience. Fortunately, you can partner with recruitment agencies like VAV—a trusted virtual assistant company—to avoid the tedious hiring process.
We provide skilled remote professionals to manage your administrative tasks, such as scheduling appointments and email management. In doing so, you can expand your operations and grow your business without worrying about the little details.
Client Management
The secret to a successful enterprise is keeping the clients happy. That’s why we encourage you to implement systems for managing client relationships and ensuring customer satisfaction.
Here are some practises that you can incorporate into your daily business operations:
- Make sure that you are reachable to your clients, allowing contacts through online booking forms. This gives them easy access to information about the job details and stay in touch.
- Send quotes to your clients on all your cleaning services. If you don’t hear from them, follow up with another customised email.
- After you get your client’s approval, set a schedule and list all the tasks for the cleaning service.
- Engage with your clients and actively seek their feedback. This will help address pending concerns and ensure consistency.
- Once the job is completed, you can send an invoice using a template for a faster and more straightforward process.
What Type of Cleaning Makes the Most Money?
To make the most out of your cleaning business, choose the most profitable cleaning service.
So, what is the best type of cleaning service to start?
- House cleaning is basically a cleaning task in the different areas of a home.
- Apartment cleaning is a profitable cleaning service, which is similar to house cleaning, covering small areas, such as a flat.
- Maid service focuses on detailed cleaning in spaces that require more attention, such as cooking areas or bathroom showers.
- Move in/out cleaning is perfect for clients who have just moved in or want to sell their houses. This cleaning is intended to leave properties sparkling clean.
- Property rental cleaning is the service tenants and landlords leverage to clean a rental property when moving in and out of a rental property.
There are also specialised cleaning services that you can offer clients, which are more flexible, such as…
- Window cleaning
- Pool cleaning
- Gutter cleaning
- Pressure washing
- Carpet cleaning
As you write down your service list, consider the service offerings of your competitors. In doing so, you can spot the service area gaps and fill them in.
By researching the competition, you get a better read of the current demand. For instance, upscale neighbourhoods are more into maid services, while low-income housing areas are only interested in intermittent intensive cleaning.
Always start small with fewer cleaning service options. Take into account your current and future needs and objectives. Whatever your final service list is, maintain a high-quality service.
Can You Start a Cleaning Business with No Funds at All?
It’s okay if you don’t have the money to bring your startup cleaning business plan to life.
You can always start with the resources that you have for your first cleaning gig. Along the way, you can better equip your business with top-grade tools and carry out promotions.
If you don’t have the experience, acquire it from another cleaning company. You’ll get your cleaning experience and then have money to bankroll your startup. It’s a win-win situation.
Let’s Get Your Cleaning Business Rolling!
A cleaning business is one of the most straightforward businesses that you can build and manage. You can run it and earn right away without applying for bank loans.
You also get to be your own boss. However, for scalability, power up the backend operations with a virtual assistant.
While your in-house team keeps spaces neat and spotless, our remote professionals can tend to your escalating workload. They can take care of your overwhelming task list—from administrative and customer support to marketing—and help you pursue other ventures.
With a VA’s support, you can certainly start your own company while working on a main job, opening up another income stream.
This is your most cost-effective partnership in 2025—so, what do you say about giving us a call and exploring our extensive VA services?