Starting a commercial cleaning business, need help! - Cleaning Talk - Professional Cleaning and Restoration Forum

whiteglovecs · 02-21-2009, 06:52 PM

Hello all!

My name is Maya and I'm on my way to getting my commercial cleaning business started, problem is that I don't know exactly where to start.

I have experience cleaning a 45,000 square foot school/church building daily for two years, as well as deep cleaning during the summer for five days a week while the kids are out of school. I learned a lot of the tricks and such, so I hope that my experience will prove my worth.

The actual problem I face is what to charge and how to get my name out there. Here are some of my questions.

+Should I start a website?
+I live in WA state, whats the going rate per hour and per sq foot?
+Should I go business to business and simply ask if potential clients are looking for a cleaning service?

So far, I've learned that I need to offer a multitude of services in order to stand out. I plan on offering general commercial cleaning, carpet cleaning, hard floor care (buffing, waxing, stripping), and window washing.

Does anyone know how much I should charge for these extra services?

Any help would be great, I know I have a lot of questions, I just want to find out as much as I can before meeting with potential clients.

Thank you so much,
Maya

Carpet Cleaning · 08-07-2009, 06:24 AM

I can help you a little in this
Q1) Website?
Yes, if you are really serious about this business then you need a website to attract new customers to tell people what you do and how you do.
Q2) Current market prices?
you can go online for this there are many which provides online quotes and also compare facility.
Q3) Customers?
For customers do every kind of marketing from Tele, Internet to newspaper each and every kind.

Racer1 · 06-10-2010, 02:37 AM

Maya i can help you a bit..

If you are looking to start a carpet cleaning business than you need to take care following things
1 what is your marketing strategy
2 you need to build a genuine website for customer
3. I you want to compete in business you would have to aware from competitors
5. If you are starting a carpet cleaning business than you will have to use latest technique like steam and dry cleaning as per requirement

thanks

A carpet cleaning franchise

solarscreenman · 06-10-2010, 10:37 PM

All business are competitive. Your prices are based on what your actual cost are plus the profit to manage your business. The main way I determine what it cost to do a job is buy first walking the job for time. I seperate each task and stand there and count how many minutes it takes to finish that task, when i finish all the tasks i add up the time.

roadies · 06-16-2010, 02:27 AM

Hi Maya yes if you want new customers than make a website and with that do word of mouth advertisement that really helps, organize few small events in your target area that makes your business famous, you can see our cleaning company website, we provide office cleaning, window cleaning and all kind of cleaning services. Link: http://www.cleanscape.ie

annaus · 06-17-2010, 07:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roadies

Hi Maya yes if you want new customers than make a website and with that do word of mouth advertisement that really helps, organize few small events in your target area that makes your business famous, you can see our cleaning company website, we provide office cleaning, window cleaning and all kind of cleaning services. Link: http://www.cleanscape.ie

Hi Roadies,

Thanks for the ideas..

same as Maya we are also new in commercial cleaning here in Australia. We are doing house exit cleaning but found this market very unstable as some months are very quite.. So we are thinking of changing our focus in office cleaning. We have a good website... we had one phone call from that.. and also tried door knocking and offering one free clean but seems that they still dont want to take it.. Would be great if you could give some tricks as I can see you are a well established company already.. Any ideas in marketing will be a great help..

Thanks sooo much.. Cheers. Ann

alphacleaning2009 · 06-17-2010, 12:01 PM

First of all, website is a must. If you think it's expensive, it's not expensive. You definitely need to get it, because it's worth it. It will bring you leads and it will put you in front of the customers as a well established company.
You can find people who can do it at www.freelancer.com . Also there's a place called Cleanoutlook, they create and maintain websites for many cleaning companies.
The next step - go to business districts, drop out your fliers, get the contact information of decision makers. That's a pretty boring task to do, but one of every 100-200 flyers will bring you some kind of a deal.
Don't expect that you will be cleaning big offices and schools from the beginning, it's not that easy. Try to find something smaller in order to build the customer base, like beauty salons or small offices, that need to be cleaned 1-3 times a week, because bigger companies don't really want those kinds of accounts. After having few smaller accounts and references from them it will be easier for you to get something bigger like office or school.
Good luck.

racer · 06-18-2010, 06:14 AM

Thanks all i also own my carper cleaning franchise ...and as i have already given my suggestion for this forums still
i'm gettingt several beneficial info from there only ...i will let them know who are thinking for starting a carpet cleaning business and want to make money very quickly .........

thanks all

cleanway · 07-02-2010, 04:00 AM

Maya,

1. Yes, do have a website up. People usually end up searching online for ratings and reviews associated with the company and it would be bad if they found out that you don't even have a website.
2. Prices can obtained by doing research online.
3. The kind of marketing you need to do depends on your budget limitations.

Here's an article I believe will help you to some extent, on knowing what customers want from cleaning services.

Carpet Repair Guy · 07-14-2010, 04:13 PM

would spend with your startup and go to school to learn a decent trade. Avoid the cleaning business.

But, that's just my opinion.... get back to us in 15 years and let us know how you did.

Apple Roof Cleaning · 07-26-2010, 10:18 AM

Join your local chamber of commerce if starting a cleaning business.

roadies · 08-25-2010, 02:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by annaus

Hi Roadies,

Thanks for the ideas..

same as Maya we are also new in commercial cleaning here in Australia. We are doing house exit cleaning but found this market very unstable as some months are very quite.. So we are thinking of changing our focus in office cleaning. We have a good website... we had one phone call from that.. and also tried door knocking and offering one free clean but seems that they still dont want to take it.. Would be great if you could give some tricks as I can see you are a well established company already.. Any ideas in marketing will be a great help..

Thanks sooo much.. Cheers. Ann

Hi Ann,

Replying you after a long time, was not online for few days..
Ann the best way to promote the business is exploring the target area where you want your business to grow, the one thing I suggest you is contact the cleaning company that is already providing services and have huge amount of clients, work for them as in partnership at the starting and with that work for your own also, and try to call busness and ask about the services they are currently using and tell about your services and advantages over competitors or company they currently using, best is provide services at low cost that would work.
All The best!!!!

________________
Cleanscape
Cleaning Company Dublin

greencleaning · 08-30-2010, 09:06 PM

yes probably you need a website it will help you promote your business and use some SEO in your site.

Try the green cleaning for your business because its the trend.

Floor_Guy · 09-08-2010, 07:21 PM

As far as pricing you will also want to research your local market by calling around and asking other janitorial services what they'd do for a sample job. Get at least three quotes. This will give you a price range for your area. If you're just starting, charge a little less. If you have a great reputation, charge a little more.The more detailed information you can gather in advance, the better your chances for success.

PhrozenCrew · 10-14-2010, 09:59 AM

I also thank you for the tips!

roadies · 10-20-2010, 05:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greencleaning

Try the green cleaning for your business because its the trend.

Yes you are right. Green cleaning is the new trend and now-a-days there are many new green cleaning products available in market. But still people are not aware of these fully. So you can opt for this and try green cleaning. Its good for health and for everyone.

HBF · 10-20-2010, 10:39 AM

Commercial cleaning is a hard niche to get into but once you are in, and your good, things will be much easier.

So, you have to be patient when it comes to advertising.

You definitely need a website. That is one of the best advertising tools out there.

Go to the buildings and ask to speak with the person who does the hiring for maintenance workers. Ask if you can give them a free bid even if they are not hiring. They may keep you in mind for when they are or even realize they could save a lot of money using you instead. You never know.

But with commercial, you really have to folllow up and go face to face. Just passing out flyer or brochures may not get you in that door.

good luck!

Floor_Guy · 10-20-2010, 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HBF

Commercial cleaning is a hard niche to get into but once you are in, and your good, things will be much easier.

So, you have to be patient when it comes to advertising.

You definitely need a website. That is one of the best advertising tools out there.

Go to the buildings and ask to speak with the person who does the hiring for maintenance workers. Ask if you can give them a free bid even if they are not hiring. They may keep you in mind for when they are or even realize they could save a lot of money using you instead. You never know.

But with commercial, you really have to folllow up and go face to face. Just passing out flyer or brochures may not get you in that door.

good luck!

I agree that the best way to do target marketing for commercial cleaning is by face to face or direct contact. Personal contact is the best and most cost effective way to get clients for this type of business. You could always start off by stopping by local businesses and delivering a flyer or brochure covering the services you provide. If possible, try to speak directly with the owner or manager to discuss the options available to them. If the owner is not available, or busy at the time you stop in, try to set up a time to get back with them after they have had a chance to look over your information.

Mighti · 11-12-2010, 03:43 AM

Commercial cleaning is such a tough market. There are so many competitors and the the profit margin is cut throat.

If you want to make profit go into something more specialised - carpet cleaning, floor maintenance, concrete cleaning, pest control etc.

The profit margin is higher in these.

If you are operating alone then you want maximum return for your time.

evil0ne · 11-13-2010, 05:54 AM

starting a cleaning service is not easy, so many aspects must have to be considered, feasibility study must be implemented so that you will have an idea whether your business will have great success. i live in Manhattan, most manhattan residential cleaning services in here always do those strategies so that they can have assurance that their business will not fail.