Started Residential Cleaning Company and have my first client! Yay me!

[portal542]

Hi everyone,

I am nervously posting here stepping so far out of my comfort zone. I’ve been lurking here for the past 6 months whilst researching somewhat extensively how to start a cleaning business. Thank you to everyone whose posted here it had been of tremendous help. I have my first booking on Saturday (i will not be doing the cleaning) and i will use my son’s nanny until the business picks up. She’s super excited and so am I. My website went live yesterday and i’ve sent the final edit for the door hangers and those we hopefully get printed this weekend as well.

What brings be here is that i wanted to write down my goals for the first 6 months and whilst i want to be realistic, i also want to blow my mind and leave the rest up to God (skip over that if that bothers you).

Lastly, for someone who is or was in my position and fearfully started and it became the best decision of your life. Anything I should know right here right now?

Thank you for your time everyone! Wish me luck!

 

[mack77]

@portal542 Fantastic! Keep working on the next one. As the sales folks say.. ABC "Always be closing" or in your case "Always be Cleaning"

 

[silentwife]

@portal542 That's awesome! I also started a house cleaning business after lurking on this sub and it was a great decision to finally do it. I've been going strong for 3 years now with a few W2 employees. For my first cleans/clients I was also very nervous and had "imposter's syndrome", so what you're feeling is totally normal. It only gets better from here I promise.

One suggestion is to also be in on the cleaning, especially since it's on Saturday so I'm assuming you might be available? It's great you have someone that can help, but you don't want to rely on that person forever, especially when starting out. Maybe your nanny can train you a bit during this first clean if she has experience? Imagine this person takes off for whatever reason. What will you do? Will you be able to find a reliable replacement quickly without losing any clients? As the owner you'll need to step in sometimes. Once you start scaling you'll also need to train people, do quality checks, etc. and your employees will respect you more if you're not afraid to get your hands dirty, too.

Either way, you'll start figuring it out as you keep going and it sounds like you do your research. The hardest part is getting started and you've overcame that. I wish you the best of luck!

 

[willywonkadummy]

@silentwife Imposter syndrome is me right now . How did you learn to hire someone ? Not like how to find the right person but the actual paperwork part ? I’m just concerned about being the source for someone else’s living

 

[silentwife]

@willywonkadummy Yeah being the source of income for someone is stressful, especially in the beginning, so totally get it.

We use Gusto as our payroll and onboarding software, so the paperwork part is actually quite easy! They make it simple by calculating all the taxes based on the state and submitting all your forms - all you do is follow their checklist. I imagine other payroll softwares go about it in similar ways.

 

[willywonkadummy]

@silentwife Nice , is there somewhere on the app to track hours worked for the employee?

 

[silentwife]

@willywonkadummy Yep! We don’t use it within Gusto, but I believe there’s a way for employees to enter their time on their own or clock in/out. I’d check them out to make sure, not 100% on their time card features.

We actually use Jobber for scheduling employees, and our team clocks in and out there. When I do payroll I get a weekly hours report from Jobber and enter it into Gusto. There’s actually an integration between Jobber and Gusto now, too, I just haven’t switched it on yet.

 

[turboizak]

@portal542 How did you get your first client?

 

[portal542]

@turboizak A client from my 9-5 asked me. Thats 2 separate clients in the last 3 weeks. I wasn’t set up yet and so i did not pursue and i was fearful. This time, i’m trusting that it isn’t a coincidence. I’m as ready as i’m ever be. As someone said here before; just start. So, i’m starting and I will figure it out as i go.

 

[turboizak]

@portal542 Yes, it does give you that nervous, but exciting stress when you're first starting out. Me and my son have recently started a cleaning business too. I just received a call from a potential client, so I'm feeling it.

 

[balders]

@portal542 Congratulations, when i first purchased a franchise I was wondering, will my phone ring, how long until the next call, etc... It was also a home services business. Turned out to be great, and I was able to exit it and now work for corporate.

Sounds like you are on the right path. Let's say you have an appointment at a certain sub-division in two weeks. I would canvass that sub-division with those door hangers the previous week and offer a 10% discount if done on whatever day you will be there. If that day gets booked up, say sorry , and offer another date and honor that discount. Recanvas with the new date.

You need Liability insurance. If you have a 1099 sub-contractor actually cleaning I would tell her/him they must have liability insurance.

Keep up with accounting, suggest hiring someone a pro.

Market every way you can, make sure to keep track of where clients come from so you can pinpoint and not waste money.

Good luck!!

 

[dachinedur]

@portal542 OP, I am curious - how and when do you get the money from your client?

 

[portal542]

@dachinedur Payment came in almost immediately a few weeks ago. as part of a larger invoice. Once the service is complete tomorrow, i’ll get that money again transferred to me. I’m sorry i can’t share more details than that.

 

[portal542]

Thank you everyone.