How to grow my cleaning business

[seanmonty]

I’ve been cleaning houses about 2.5 years. I didn’t set out to, it just happened out of desperation and now I’m still doing it.

Turns out, I am really good at cleaning. I keep a full book of clients. Three of my regulars have been with me since I first started. I have my schedule set up to work while my kids are in school and do one house a day. I price by the job but on average I end up about $30/hr. It’s just me, I’ve never hired anyone. I only work when my kids are in school because that’s really my only option. My husband works full time and we have no help with our kids. I like being there for pick up, drop off, school activities, etc. It’s extremely important to us.

I am tired of cleaning, especially alone. I also lose money every time I have to cancel for a sick kid, school breaks, etc. Some of my houses are so big it takes me 5 hours and that’s non stop hustling the whole time I’m there. I am almost 42 and I can’t realistically keep doing this to my body forever. I have always wanted my own business, and I never thought I’d consider cleaning because it’s just so exhausting lol. But now that I’m 2.5 years into this, I’m starting to think why not try?

I am terrified and scared I won’t be able to pay myself. My book of clients would have to double almost immediately for me to hire someone, be able to pay them and make what I currently do. We don’t make enough money to live as it is, which is how I ended up here but I don’t know anything about training people, taxes, payroll, marketing, or anything like that.

Where would I start? Is this even a good idea or is this my mental burn out screaming for solutions?

 

[dreis]

@seanmonty $30 an hour will never be able to afford employees. You need to raise your prices first.

 

[seanmonty]

@dreis Yeah definitely. $30 is just for me. If I bring people on, I will have to bump to $45 maybe $50 and pay someone $15/hr to work with me. Problem is I think I’d lose existing clients because of a big price increase and I can’t go without them.

 

[dreis]

@seanmonty Keep your legacy pricing for current clients, raise your prices for new clients. You need to at least try to sell at a rate that makes sense. Don't forget to factor in overhead.

 

[seanmonty]

@dreis Ugh overhead. I didn’t think of that either. I know I’d have to have some kind of scheduling and management software to keep it all organized. I also need to think of getting cleaners their own supplies for jobs we don’t go on together. What else would I need to think of as overhead?

 

[dreis]

@seanmonty A rule of thumb is you should be earning 3x the revenue of your workers wage. 1/3 goes to the worker, 1/3 goes to company expenses, 1/3 goes to profit.

Some Overhead and cost of goods sold:
Gas
Commercial auto insurance
Auto maintenance
Liability insurance
Bonding
Scheduling software
Cleaning supplies
Payroll services
Payroll taxes
Recruiting expenses
Uniforms

But really it's up to you how lean or fat you want to run the company.

 

[seanmonty]

@dreis Interesting! Never heard the 1/3 rule but I like it! Yeah I don’t factor any of these things. This is where I get bogged down and just stop the thought train altogether because it’s overwhelming to me. I really wish I had a better business mind. I do work for myself but I also see that I treat it like I’m the employee, not the owner. I just show up, do the work, go home.

 

[pilgrimdave]

@seanmonty So pay $10, keep 20$ don't work at all?

 

[ronnie32]

@pilgrimdave That’s only $10 per hour

 

[forwhatitsworth]

@seanmonty overhead is important. I make around $75 to $115/hr.. then my expenses come.. then my payroll.. then my taxes... some days I personally make $17/hr but most of the time I am closer to $40/hr.

The best thing I have ever done was raise my prices. I lost a handful of clients but I didn't make less money. Then I replaced those clients. then I hired someone opening me up to doubling clients then I hired someone else.

 

[anma]

@seanmonty insurance

 

[openmindedskeptic]

@dreis Not necessary,
I know of a busy cleaning company they charge $18 an hour + tips an hour but the home owner needs to provide all supplies and devices.

The owner of the company makes 2$ an employee and pays each employee $15 an hour and guarantees them clients.

She has 20-30 cleaners and sends 2 cleaners to a house to get it done quicker but also charging $36 an hour for the 2.

A side tip of info
Few months back I heard of a woman growing her cleaning company over 10 million in revenue.
And the number one thing she accredited to her success and she specifically trained her employees to do was 1. Before cleaning the house pop 3-4 cookies in the oven, and she would wrap them up with a handwritten note saying “thank you for your business, ps I detailed the baseboards, or ceiling fans or etc”

Thus when the home owners came home, they smelled the fresh cookies, and the handwritten note along with their gratitude of the business. As most other cleaning companies did not do these small extra steps and helped boost her into growing her company.

Now obviously a company can only grow so much based on word of mouth, she reinvested back into marketing and other sales techniques.

 

[matt999]

@seanmonty Hi. If you'd like to dm me and consider a call, I'd be happy to help, it's just too cumbersome to do it through text.

I owned a successful cleaning business, been there, done it. I went into it intending from the beginning to be a business owner, not a full-time cleaner (though of course in the beginning, I did a LOT of cleaning).

I totally get being "tired of cleaning", feeling scared that I won't make enough money, etc. And so if you're interested, I'd be happy to spend a little time and tell you what I did, how, and why.

Please, this is intended for the OP, not an invitation for every/anybody to hit me up for a call.

 

[seanmonty]

@matt999 Yes!!! Let me know what information you’d like me to have ready for when we talk. I’ll send a message. Thank you!

 

[matt999]

@seanmonty Just where you're at, city, suburbs, rural etc, what if any scheduling or jobber app you're using, and what if any marketing efforts, a website and, social media etc

 

[pastorpontibus]

@seanmonty Can you build something, you bet. I have posted the ladder method here a ton of times. Basically, you train someone to take over some of your jobs while you get more. Unfortunately, each time you do that, it costs you a bit of profit at each plateau. However, eventually, you'll make enough to pay yourself a regular salary and those dips are easier to recover.

There are many factors that will limit a business. Lack of funds is the most common. Demographics is another big one. Where are you? What's the population like? How have you been getting customers to date?

Time commitment is another. You might need to work more for a while. I know that can be difficult. I have a lifestyle that's flexible but it didn't happen in the first few years.

Additionally, do you have an official business with insurance and a business bank account? What about and EIN for taxes and any applicable requirements for where you live? If you have those things in place, you could hire a part-time worker. Don't worry about software or other stuff just yet. You just need to be able to handle taxes and write them a paper check.

In the beginning, 2 people per job will cut your cleaning times in half and enable you to do at least 2 per day.

Next, do more than just raise your prices. Evaluate how you price and what you do on each visit. Your 5 hour cleaning is a concern but without knowing where you are and what local pricing might be, $150 (per week?) might be correct. Spending the time at the home is NOT the goal. Completing tasks with high quality is the goal. How big is this big house?

Honestly, there is too much to ask to give any sort of specific advice. Happy to help. Fill in some detail and ask more questions.

 

[seanmonty]

@pastorpontibus Really love this response! Going to come back when the evening settles and write out my thoughts and answers.

 

[seanmonty]

@pastorpontibus I am new to this sub reddit – just found it today actually! I will have to research the ladder method. I’ve never heard of it but it seems to make sense. Getting through that profit loss while training people is my first hurdle to overcome. Going to answer your questions one at a time as they were listed in your comment.

1) Demographics: Live in a city with about 80k people. This is the town I prefer to find clients and where 80% of my current clients live. Also have two neighboring towns within a 30 minute drive of 50k and 30k. Median income varies greatly between the 3 – from 35k to 65k. Major employers here are a university, large hospital system, and a chemical company. This is the kind of place where you’ll see a house with pinterest perfect curb appeal and another one that could be considered a junk yard on the same road. We have been in a MAJOR growth spurt the last 3 years since covid.

2) Getting clients: I started out getting customers through care dot com. At the time I started in 2021, I worked at my kids’ preschool and landed two clients from parents there, one of which I still work for. Another big boost to my beginning was I asked the admins of a couple facebook groups to let me offer $100 cleanings for 4 hours of whatever they wanted done. It was easy. I sold myself out of that one and landed regulars at higher prices from there. Since then, it is mainly referrals. I do not actively seek out new clients very often unless I have a spot come open. Right now I have two spots I’d like to get filled.

3) Time commitment: big hurdle here. I am restricted to my kids school schedule. Drop off at 8 and pickup is at 3. Husband works the 8-5 and sometimes later. He also has a second job at target working 6-10p a few nights a week and we have zero control over that schedule until he can just quit for good. I see a solution to this would be for me to pick up some offices to clean in the evenings a couple times a week. I don’t have any clients for that though.

4) Official business stuff: I am not official. I don’t have an EIN, biz bank account or insurance.

5) Schedule breakdown: One bi weekly Mondays 3.5-4 hour condo for $125. Have a bi-weekly Monday I need to fill.

Tuesdays is a weekly client. Had them over two years and they are the 5 hour house which is an outlier – I empty their dishwasher, fold some laundry and change bed sheets there. They were one of my very first people to reach out to me on care dot com. I agreed to it in the beginning but I learned quickly what a pain it is so I never offered those extras to anyone else. They are $150/wk. They really should be the first to go even though they are such wonderful people! I do too much there and I know it. I just don’t know how to backtrack. Their house is 3500 sq feet. I only do the downstairs occasionally and on those weeks, I don’t do beds or laundry.

Wednesday – weekly at $100. Easiest house of the week. 3 hours max.

Thursday – have one bi weekly at $120. 4 hours. 3500 sq feet. Back breaker for sure! Would love help on this house the most I think. I’ve had them over two years. Have another bi-weekly Thursday I need to fill.

Fridays are open – I have 2 and sometimes 3 once a month clients I fill in on those days for $150. One I’ve had over two years.

I used to pack myself completely full Mon - Fri but I realized quickly that left me no flexibility for my kids or other things that came up. So I only schedule once a month or move in/out type of cleanings on Fridays.

It doesn’t come up often but I do work weekends whenever a job calls for it. No problem with that as those jobs are usually big $$ because they are deep cleans or move in/move out cleans and take way more time. I also recently added carpet cleaning to a move in clean and it beefed up the price but geez – I about died doing that AND all the move in cleaning work by myself over the course of two days.

 

[pastorpontibus]

@seanmonty Fantastic response and I love your hustle. Sound a like y’all are really trying. I really want to try to offer some help. There is a bunch to break down here. I’ll edit my comment with more soon.

Edit:

Honestly, you have some real challenges here. In fact, during the course of making change, things could get more difficult. However, start working on a plan with a business budget and a life budget. Write it down. In the beginning you'll see that plan differently from day to day. Make notes and change it if a new idea really makes sense. Cleaning time is a good time to work through details. Give it a couple of weeks. Then start taking action.

The ladder method: There is nothing special here and nothing to research. It's a simple concept. You fill your schedule with solid regular cleanings then as you add help and give them a portion of that work while you're out getting more work or if you're lucky, pull one from a waiting list. This is the only way a to grow if you don't have any money to invest. You take a short term loss at each level instead of committing hard money.

Plain and simple the only way to make more money from a labor business is to have people working for you. Time is always the limiting factor. I'd look for someone seeking part-time work just like you are. A mom with an 8-2:30 schedule is great.

Business details:
The IRS has made it even harder to send people money in the last two years and while they paused 1099 requirements on Venmo/Cashapp/Zelle and others, for one employee, it's very easy to start off right. This applies to your customer as well. You need to have a business relationship with them so neither of you are at risk of falling under the domestic employee tax requirements.

1. Pick a business name. Don't spend a ton of time on this. "Your name" cleaning, "city name" cleaning, "cute word" cleaning. Maybe this is your website?
2. Go to your county website and research their process for registering a DBA. This will enable you to use that name you just came up with as a business. Hopefully the fee, if anything is minimal.
3. Go to the IRS website and register (it's free, never pay for this) an EIN. This is your Tax ID for the business you you're establishing.
4. Take these items and some cash for a starting balance to a local bank and setup a business bank account. Online banks could be an option but in a small town it might be easier to talk with someone, you have a physical place to make deposits and could enable your workers to cash their checks.
5. Now, you need to operate from this account. Don't mingle your personal and business accounts. Develop a process to pay yourself regularly from your business account. In the beginning, keep this simple and make sure you have records. You'll be able to budget and plan.
6. Once you've found the part-time worker, collect a copy of their ID, have them fill out the I9 and W4 forms. There are several free paycheck calculators you can use to create paper checks for your employee.
7. Make sure you comply with any state and local small business requirements like operating licensing, sale tax, employment/unemployment requirements.
8. So far, everything you're doing has been free and just requires a little effort to get done. However, you really need to pay for small business liability insurance. Especially if you add a worker. You should be able to find something for $50 per month to start. Remember though, this is a last resort, something bad happened and it will ruin you option. If you or you worker damages or breaks something, offer to fix it from your pocket.

 

[pastorpontibus]

Part two:

Marketing and Customer acquisition: Your population is not great for long term growth through digital marketing. You just won't have the search volume to grow this way. You have a website, that's great for establishing trust. Make sure you have a Google Business Profile. After that I would hand pick neighborhoods where you KNOW FOR SURE many of the people are higher income and/or dual income working families. You're one big weekly customer is your example. They might be a whale and an outlier but seek them out. Ask for referrals (10% off), pass out flyers or cards in that neighborhood when you clean (not every week but consistently). Make it personal "We clean in your neighborhood" "Your neighbor loves their clean house". I normally hate flyers, they are always low return. However, if you have a specific area of a few hundred homes and people know each other, it can make a difference. In a small town, you can build more personal connections.

Get a magnetic sign for your car. People pay attention to who's working on their neighbors house.

Cleaning:

The most obvious thing I see with your schedule is that you probably don't have a system to clean and manage time. You're taking too long on these jobs, even by yourself. I know, you're working you're ass off. Switch your mindset. Again, you're not there to complete "hours". you're there to complete "tasks". If you can complete those tasks in less time, the customer got their value and you make more money. As you look to add new customers or edit your current customer list I would limit the cleaning types to weekly and bi-weekly. Maybe take a move-in cleaning if you think the customer might want regular service. However, until you can get a solid base of regulars I would steer clear of one time jobs. If you must take one, make sure you're making it worth your time and is at the highest rate your area will allow.

The way to profit is regular recurring income. You go to the same place and perform the same tasks each time. You goal is complete the job faster on each visit (within reason). Weekly visits offer the best opportunity to build higher profit margins over time. You should also require a first time deep clean for all new customers. The goal is to establish a base line of clean. Then each week the maintenance should be easier. Have a clear set of tasks that you complete will help you manage your time and keep expectations set with the customer. A good trick is to rotate areas of focus each week. With the time you spend, it seems like you're trying to high touch everything, every time. That's just not sustainable.

Look at the tools and processes you use as well. Professional microfiber mops make cleaning floors significantly faster. Use pre-measured spray bottles and limit the products you use. Multi-surface cleaners are best for most things. Disposable toilet wans heads cost a bit more but they are fast. Color code your cleaning cloths for the different surfaces and rooms.

Little extras are sometimes fine. It might be something you could benefit from with a "small town" feel. But as you're experiencing, they cost you money.

Bed linens for example are pretty common. We require that the customer make sure they are on display otherwise we won't go looking for them. There is generally too much risk with dishes and for the right customer we'll outsource their laundry. Look for things that the customer will notice and make them feel like they're getting value. Folded TP and hand towels. Well placed and shaped pillows. A little note or a completed task list left in the kitchen are little details that can leave an impression.

Investment:

As final thought, you might benefit from looking for small business grants. Sometimes even cities have small grants available for all kids of reasons.

Small business loans are hard to get with this kind of business. Bankers want assets they can hold. I wouldn't spend much time looking that this.

I think you can ladder up. You just need to find one good person to start working with you. This will help you get out of the weeds.



edit: I forgot something. Resist the urge to discount. Really, just don't do it. Offering discounts up front devalues your business in the long run. Have a price and stick to it.

Good luck....reach out any time.