residential cleaning service business plan

Free Cleaning Service Business Plan (Download PDF Sample)

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A cleaning company business plan is a comprehensive document outlining your cleaning company’s objectives and explaining your marketing plan , cleaning services, and funding information. It serves as the blueprint for your cleaning business. 

• Savvy entrepreneurs create a business plan when starting a new business, and they continue to update it as their business grows. 
• A well-written business plan will guide you through your journey as a small business owner. It will help you make critical decisions as you work hard to reach your goals over the years.
• You’ll be able to glimpse the bigger picture and keep track of your progress when you’ve got it all written down.
• A business plan will significantly increase your company’s chances of success , setting a clear path to long-term growth and helping you plan efficient organizational processes. 

If you’re aiming to gain the trust of potential investors, a business plan is a must-have tool that will show them if your business is worth taking the risk.

We’ve created a downloadable cleaning services business plan PDF that you can easily edit to fit your needs. Get my sample template below:

Components of a Cleaning Services Business Plan 

Now that you understand the importance of a cleaning company business plan, the next step is to start creating your own. But there’s no need to worry! We’ve done much of the legwork to ease the process of creating a business plan for you. 

Our free downloadable cleaning services business plan PDF contains essential components to help you define your goals and make better business decisions. 

However, keep in mind that every business plan is unique. You can remove or add any section as you deem necessary to create the best business plan for your cleaning company. 

Include the following elements to get started in the right direction: 

1. Executive Summary 

The first part of a comprehensive business plan is an executive summary, which provides an overview of your company and summarizes your entire business plan.

Highlight what makes your cleaning business stand out from competitors in the cleaning industry. You can also describe the weaknesses and shortcomings of other cleaning firms and how your company aims to solve these problems. 

You can include the following information in your executive summary: 

• Owner’s experience
• Mission statement
• The leadership team and employees
• Financial and growth goals

2. Company Description 

• Why did you decide to start a cleaning services company?
• What particular problems are you trying to solve, and how do you intend to beat competitors in the cleaning industry?

Your company description is where you emphasize the strengths and competitive advantages of your cleaning business. 

3. Objectives

Set the best objectives that will help keep your cleaning business on the right track.

• Think about the key goals you want to achieve, whether to reach a certain amount of sales revenue or expand your operations to a broader service area.
• When you carefully define your main goals and objectives, you’ll be able to take the proper steps to get where you want to go. 

4. Market Analysis

Market analysis gives you an insight into your target market share, the needs and demands of your customers, and your competitors.

• Do some research about the cleaning company industry and what your competitors lack to know how your company can gain an edge over others.
• With proper market analysis, you can also analyze the need for funding from financial institutions and investors. 

5. Organizational Structure 

• Define the specific roles that need to be filled, such as cleaners, an office manager, and a project manager.
• You can also talk about hiring competent personnel as your company grows and outsourcing services for processes like digital marketing and accounting. 

6. Cleaning Services

An essential part of a cleaning company business plan is identifying the type of cleaning services you intend to provide: 

• Scope of Cleaning Services – Do you plan to focus on bidding on commercial janitorial jobs , residential cleaning, housekeeping, post-construction cleaning or all types?
• List of Specific Cleaning Services – Talk about your company’s services and prices, from interior home cleaning and damage restoration to industrial cleaning. 
• Benefits of Your Cleaning Services – How will your target market benefit from your company’s services? Think about the problems you’re trying to solve for your customers, like giving them a wide selection of cleaning services to reduce the need for hiring multiple contractors. 

7. Marketing and Sales 

To survive in a competitive industry, your cleaning business needs to employ tailored marketing strategies to help you stand out and beat competitors.

Outline your marketing and sales strategies to promote your cleaning services, gain leads, and ultimately boost sales. You should determine the number of clients you must win to achieve your cleaning company’s profit goals. 

The most effective marketing strategies for cleaning businesses include: 

• Online Marketing – Your objectives can include building an authoritative business cleaning service website design , using paid advertising like Facebook ads , leveraging social media, implementing email marketing, and maintaining an excellent reputation online. 
• Offline Advertising – Timeless strategies include direct mail, distributing pamphlets and flyers, connecting with the local community, and creating branded merchandise. 

8. Funding Requests 

• Add this section if you need additional funding for day-to-day functions and operational expenses.
• You can create a table outlining your cleaning company’s expenses, letting potential investors and lenders know precisely where their money will go. 

9. Financial Projections 

Your cleaning company business plan should have a realistic financial forecast based on your extensive market analysis and company goals.

• It should include well-researched financial projections for the future to demonstrate your targeted profits. 
• Try to include a cash flow estimate, capital expenditures, and approximate payrolls for the next few years.
• You can create an annual or quarterly target profit that your team can work to accomplish. 

Pro-Top : include a cash flow estimate, capital expenditures, and approximate payrolls for the next few years. You can create an annual or quarterly target profit that your team can work to accomplish. 

10. Appendix

Your business plan ends with an appendix where you add all relevant documents, definitions, legal notes, and other critical information.

• You can include resumes, certifications, bank statements, credit reports, charts, and other supporting documents. 
• Refer readers to this section anywhere in your business plan when necessary. For example: “See Appendix, page 5, for management team certifications.”

Example of a Cleaning Services Business Plan PDF

You can open or download our free cleaning business plan PDF below:

To get an editable version on Google Docs, enter your email below:

Why Does My Cleaning Company Need a Business Plan? 

You might think, “But making a business plan sounds like a lot of work! Do I really need it for my cleaning company?” The quick answer is: Yes, you definitely need that business plan!

As tedious as it sounds, preparing a strategic business plan is crucial to set yourself up for success and not get lost along the way. 

Take a look at the following key reasons why your business will benefit from a cleaning company business plan: 

Find Out If Your Cleaning Services Business Idea Is Viable

Creating a business plan will help you test if your business idea is feasible, saving you time, money, and energy. Many aspiring entrepreneurs believe they have outstanding ideas that could never fail.

However, around 20% of business startups fail during the first year due to a lack of planning, among other things. 

To survive the cleaning business startup phase, you must perform careful and methodical planning and create a well-developed business plan. It’s the key step between visualizing the concept for your cleaning company and turning your vision into a successful business. 

Increase Your Chances of Growth and Success 

The cleaning industry is enormous, and competitive residential and commercial cleaning businesses are everywhere. There’s always demand for cleaning services. Around 80% of households in the US are expected to use home cleaning services by 2024. 

Considering the competition you’ll be facing, it helps to create a business plan that will help you identify how your cleaning company will stand out. 

• Extensive planning will help you pinpoint your target market, determine your unique selling proposition, and develop a startup and operating expenses budget.
• This process will ultimately set your cleaning business up for long-term growth and success.

Secure Financing

Established financial institutions, lenders, and investors typically perform an extensive investigation before committing to an investment. With a solid business plan, you’ll be more likely to secure the funds you need to get your business up and running. 

Common Questions about Cleaning Company Business Plans

A business plan will help you determine if your cleaning business idea is viable, increase your chances of success, and secure financing.

An executive summary includes a mission statement, information about the leadership team, and financial goals.

Final Thoughts: Driving Your Cleaning Company’s Success With a Solid Business Plan 

Equipped with a well-researched business plan, you’ll have much higher chances of succeeding in the cleaning services industry. It’s also a valuable tool that can help you secure funding for your operational expenses as a cleaning startup. 

After downloading our free cleaning services business plan PDF, make sure to edit each section and include all essential information to create a comprehensive document.

Our free sample cleaning company business plan serves as an excellent starting point – a helpful template that you can personalize as necessary.

Written by Nelmie Jane Pardo

Nelmie Jane Pardo is a senior contributing writer who lends insight into digital marketing methods and business solutions. She regularly writes at BusinessHue to help business owners take their online marketing to the next level.

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Residential Cleaning Business Plan PDF Example

• February 28, 2024
• Business Plan

Creating a comprehensive business plan is crucial for launching and running a successful residential cleaning business. This plan serves as your roadmap, detailing your vision, operational strategies, and financial plan. It helps establish your residential cleaning business’s identity, navigate the competitive market, and secure funding for growth.

This article not only breaks down the critical components of a residential cleaning business plan, but also provides an example of a business plan to help you craft your own.

Whether you’re an experienced entrepreneur or new to the service industry, this guide, complete with a business plan example, lays the groundwork for turning your residential cleaning business concept into reality. Let’s dive in!

Our residential cleaning business plan is carefully crafted to include all essential elements needed for a detailed strategic blueprint. It outlines our service operations, marketing strategies, market environment, competitors, management structure, and financial forecasts.

• Executive Summary : Offers an overview of your Residential Cleaning business’s concept, including the range of cleaning services, market analysis , management team, and financial strategy.
• Services & Rates: Details the types of cleaning services offered, such as regular home cleaning, deep cleaning, move-in/move-out cleans, and specialized services like window washing and carpet cleaning. Also includes pricing structure.
• Key Stats: Shares industry size , growth trends, and relevant statistics for the residential cleaning market.
• Key Trends: Highlights recent trends affecting the residential cleaning sector, such as the rising consumer demand for green cleaning services and the adoption of technology for service efficiency.
• Key Competitors : Analyzes main competitors within your service area and how your business differentiates itself, focusing on aspects like service quality, customer service, and additional services like eco-friendly cleaning options.
• SWOT: Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analysis tailored to the residential cleaning business.
• Marketing Plan : Strategies for promoting your cleaning services and attracting customers, including digital marketing, local advertising, and partnerships with local businesses.
• Timeline : Key milestones and objectives from the initial setup through the first year of operation and beyond.
• Management: Information on who manages the Residential Cleaning business, detailing their roles, experience in cleaning services and business management.
• Financial Plan: Projects the business’s 5-year financial performance, including revenue from cleaning services, profit and loss statements, cash flow analysis, and balance sheet, aiming for significant growth and profitability by the target year.

Residential Cleaning Business Plan

Fully editable 30+ slides Powerpoint presentation business plan template.

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Executive Summary

The Executive Summary introduces your residential cleaning business’s plan, offering a concise overview of your company and its services. It should detail your market positioning, the range of cleaning services you offer, including standard cleaning, deep cleaning, and specialized services, its operating regions, size, and an outline of day-to-day operations.

This section should also explore how your cleaning business will integrate into the local market, including the number of direct competitors within the area, identifying who they are, along with your company’s unique selling points that differentiate it from these competitors.

Furthermore, you should include information about the management and co-founding team, detailing their roles and contributions to the company’s success. Additionally, a summary of your financial projections, including revenue and profits over the next five years, should be presented here to provide a clear picture of your cleaning business’s financial plan.

Make sure to cover here _ Business Overview _ Market Overview _ Management Team _ Financial Plan

Dive deeper into Executive Summary

Business Overview

Detail the variety of cleaning services your company provides to cater to different needs, such as standard house cleaning, deep cleaning, move-in/move-out cleaning, and specialized options like eco-friendly cleaning solutions. Emphasize the customization of services to fit each client’s unique requirements, ensuring a thorough and personalized cleaning experience.

Explain your pricing model , which could be based on the size of the property (e.g., per square foot), the type of cleaning service (standard vs. deep cleaning), or a flat rate for specific packages. Ensure the rates are competitive yet reflective of the quality and reliability of your services.

Market Overview

Industry size & growth.

Begin with an overview of the residential cleaning sector, emphasizing its steady growth driven by factors like busier lifestyles and a heightened focus on cleanliness for health reasons. Highlight the industry’s resilience and the consistent demand for cleaning services.

Key Market Trends

Discuss trends such as the increasing preference for eco-friendly cleaning products, the integration of technology for service booking and management, and personalized cleaning plans catering to unique household needs.

Key Competitors

Address the competitive landscape, noting the variety from local independents to national franchises. Highlight your business’s unique selling points, such as specialized services, eco-friendly options, or superior customer care, to distinguish it from competitors.

Make sure to cover here _ Industry size & growth _ Key competitors _ Key market trends

Dive deeper into Key competitors

First, conduct a SWOT analysis for the residential cleaning business, highlighting Strengths (such as professional and trustworthy cleaning staff, comprehensive service offerings), Weaknesses (including the challenges of differentiating in a competitive market, reliance on client retention), Opportunities (for example, the growing emphasis on home cleanliness and the potential for niche markets like eco-friendly cleaning), and Threats (such as economic downturns impacting discretionary spending on cleaning services).

Marketing Plan

Next, develop a marketing strategy that outlines how to attract and retain clients through targeted advertising on local and digital platforms, promotional offers for new and referral clients, an engaging and informative social media presence that highlights the quality and reliability of your services, and active community involvement to build brand recognition and trust.

Finally, create a detailed timeline that outlines critical milestones for the cleaning business’s launch, initial and ongoing marketing campaigns, achieving client base targets, and evaluating opportunities for service expansion or enhancement, ensuring the business progresses with clear goals and adaptability to market needs.

Make sure to cover here _ SWOT _ Marketing Plan _ Timeline

Dive deeper into SWOT

Dive deeper into Marketing Plan

The Management section focuses on the residential cleaning business’s management and their direct roles in daily operations and strategic direction. This part is crucial for understanding who is responsible for making key decisions and driving the residential cleaning business towards its financial and operational goals.

For your residential cleaning business plan, list the core team members, their specific responsibilities, and how their expertise supports the business.

Financial Plan

The Financial Plan section is a comprehensive analysis of your financial projections for revenue, expenses, and profitability. It lays out your residential cleaning business’s approach to securing funding, managing cash flow, and achieving breakeven.

This section typically includes detailed forecasts for the first 5 years of operation, highlighting expected revenue, operating costs and capital expenditures.

For your residential cleaning business plan, provide a snapshot of your financial statement (profit and loss, balance sheet, cash flow statement), as well as your key assumptions (e.g. number of customers and prices, expenses, etc.).

Make sure to cover here _ Profit and Loss _ Cash Flow Statement _ Balance Sheet _ Use of Funds

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Cleaning Service Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Over the past 20+ years, we have helped over 5,000 entrepreneurs create business plans to start and grow their cleaning services businesses. On this page, we will first give you some background information with regards to the importance of business planning. We will then go through a cleaning services business plan template step-by-step so you can create your plan today.

Download our Ultimate Cleaning Business Plan Template here >

What is a Cleaning Service Business Plan?

A business plan provides a snapshot of your cleaning services business as it stands today, and lays out your growth plan for the next five years. It explains your business goals and your strategy for reaching them. It also includes market research to support your plans.

Why You Need a Business Plan for a Cleaning Service

If you’re looking to start a cleaning services business or grow your existing cleaning services business you need a business plan. A business plan will help you raise funding, if needed, and plan out the growth of your cleaning services business in order to improve your chances of success. Your cleaning services business plan is a living document that should be updated annually as your company grows and changes.

Source of Funding for Cleaning Services Businesses

With regards to funding, the main sources of funding for a cleaning services business are personal savings, credit cards, bank loans and angel investors. With regards to bank loans, banks will want to review your business plan and gain confidence that you will be able to repay your loan and interest. To acquire this confidence, the loan officer will not only want to confirm that your financials are reasonable. But they will want to see a professional plan. Such a plan will give them the confidence that you can successfully and professionally operate a business.

Angel investors are wealthy individuals who will write you a check. They will either take equity in return for their funding, or, like a bank, they will give you a loan.

Finish Your Business Plan Today!

Cleaning services business plan template.

Your business plan should include 10 sections as follows:

Executive Summary

Your executive summary provides an introduction to your business plan, but it is normally the last section you write because it provides a summary of each key section of your plan.

The goal of your Executive Summary is to quickly engage the reader. Explain to them the type of cleaning services business you are operating and the status; for example, are you a startup, do you have a cleaning services business that you would like to grow, or are you operating a chain of cleaning services businesses.

Next, provide an overview of each of the subsequent sections of your plan. For example, give a brief overview of the cleaning services business industry. Discuss the type of cleaning services business you are operating. Detail your direct competitors. Give an overview of your target customers. Provide a snapshot of your marketing plan. Identify the key members of your team. And offer an overview of your financial plan.

Company Analysis

In your company analysis, you will detail the type of cleaning services business you are operating.

For example, you might operate one of the following types:

• Residential : this type of cleaning services business offers general cleaning services to households. In addition to cleaning services for inside the home, this type of business may also offer exterior cleaning services.
• Janitorial : this type of cleaning services business serves both residential and commercial clients. These businesses may specialize in a particular niche, such as medical facilities.
• Carpet Cleaning : this type of cleaning services business clean rugs, carpets and upholstery for residential and commercial clients. Companies in the industry also provide a range of other services including dyeing used rugs, damage restoration services, ventilation duct cleaning and other cleaning services.

In addition to explaining the type of cleaning services business you operate, the Company Analysis section of your business plan needs to provide background on the business.

Include answers to question such as:

• When and why did you start the business?
• What milestones have you achieved to date? Milestones could include sales goals you’ve reached, new store openings, etc.
• Your legal structure. Are you incorporated as an S-Corp? An LLC? A sole proprietorship? Explain your legal structure here.

Industry Analysis

In your industry analysis, you need to provide an overview of the cleaning services business.

While this may seem unnecessary, it serves multiple purposes.

First, researching the cleaning services business industry educates you. It helps you understand the market in which you are operating.

Secondly, market research can improve your strategy particularly if your research identifies market trends. For example, if there was a trend towards “green” cleaning services, it would be helpful to ensure your plan calls for eco-friendly product and service options.

The third reason for market research is to prove to readers that you are an expert in your industry. By conducting the research and presenting it in your plan, you achieve just that.

The following questions should be answered in the industry analysis section of your cleaning services business plan:

• How big is the cleaning services business (in dollars)?
• Is the market declining or increasing?
• Who are the key competitors in the market?
• Who are the key suppliers in the market?
• What trends are affecting the industry?
• What is the industry’s growth forecast over the next 5 – 10 years?
• What is the relevant market size? That is, how big is the potential market for your cleaning services business. You can extrapolate such a figure by assessing the size of the market in the entire country and then applying that figure to your local population.

Customer Analysis

The customer analysis section of your cleaning services business plan must detail the customers you serve and/or expect to serve.

The following are examples of customer segments: families, schools, apartment complexes, etc.

As you can imagine, the customer segment(s) you choose will have a great impact on the type of cleaning services business you operate. Clearly residential customers would want different pricing and product options, and would respond to different marketing promotions than hospitals.

Try to break out your target customers in terms of their demographic and psychographic profiles. With regards to demographics, include a discussion of the ages, genders, locations and income levels of the customers you seek to serve. Because most cleaning services businesses primarily serve customers living in their same city or town, such demographic information is easy to find on government websites.

Psychographic profiles explain the wants and needs of your target customers. The more you can understand and define these needs, the better you will do in attracting and retaining your customers.

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Competitive Analysis

Your competitive analysis should identify the indirect and direct competitors your business faces and then focus on the latter.

Direct competitors are other cleaning services businesses.

Indirect competitors are other options that customers have to purchase from that aren’t direct competitors. This includes businesses hiring internal janitorial staff, and people doing their own cleaning at home. You need to mention such competition to show you understand that not everyone who needs cleaning services will engage a cleaning business.

With regards to direct competition, you want to detail the other cleaning services businesses with which you compete. Most likely, your direct competitors will be cleaning services businesses located very close to your location.

For each such competitor, provide an overview of their businesses and document their strengths and weaknesses. Unless you once worked at your competitors’ businesses, it will be impossible to know everything about them. But you should be able to find out key things about them such as:

• What types of customers do they serve?
• What products and services do they offer?
• What is their pricing (premium, low, etc.)?
• What are they good at?
• What are their weaknesses?

With regards to the last two questions, think about your answers from the customers’ perspective. And don’t be afraid to stand outside your competitors’ locations and ask customers as they leave what they like most and least about them.

The final part of your competitive analysis section is to document your areas of competitive advantage. For example:

• Will you provide superior cleaning services?
• Will you provide cleaning services that your competitors don’t offer?
• Will you make it easier or faster for customers to book your services?
• Will you provide better customer service?
• Will you offer better pricing?

Think about ways you will outperform your competition and document them in this section of your plan.

Marketing Plan

Traditionally, a marketing plan includes the four P’s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. For a cleaning services business plan, your marketing plan should include the following:

Product : in the product section you should reiterate the type of cleaning services business that you documented in your Company Analysis. Then, detail the specific services you will be offering. For example, in addition to standard residential cleaning services, will you offer damage restoration services?

Price : Document the prices you will offer and how they compare to your competitors. Essentially in the product and price sub-sections of your marketing plan, you are presenting the services you offer and their prices.

Place : Place refers to the location of your cleaning services business. Document your location and mention how the location will impact your success. Discuss how your location might provide a steady stream of customers.

Promotions : the final part of your cleaning services business marketing plan is the promotions section. Here you will document how you will drive customers to your location(s). The following are some promotional methods you might consider:

• Advertising in local papers and magazines
• Reaching out to local bloggers and websites
• Social media advertising
• Local radio advertising
• Pay per click advertising
• Banner ads at local venues

Client Retention

Your cleaning service business plan should discuss not just how you will find customers in the first place, but how you’ll hold on to them and discourage them from switching to another firm. After all, it should be much less expensive to keep a customer than to market and sell to a new one. Some methods of retaining customers involve creating the perception of switching costs; that is, that they will lose money and time when switching to a new cleaning service. Others involve fine-tuning your customer service skills into a customer service system around retention.

Loyalty Program

Creating a loyalty program is a positive way of creating switching costs for your customers. For example, by offering a free cleaning after every 10 cleanings, or some specialty service when certain milestones are missed, your customers will worry about losing the value they have saved up that is only of use if they stay with your company.

Premium Customer Levels

Another related retention strategy is to reward the frequency of customer cleanings. For example, customers who order cleanings once a week and keep that up, can be offered entry into your “premium customer group”, marketed with a branded name to build interest. You can offer members of this group more leeway to schedule last minute cleanings, reschedule or cancel, additional perks, or priority customer service of some other kind. Clients who are almost at the point of qualifying may push themselves to reach that point in order to get these valuable perks.

Tracking Retention

Simply by tracking the numbers and percentages involved in your customer retention can yield valuable information about what you’re doing right or wrong and how successful new initiatives are over time. Statistics to track may include customer complaints, the average speed of complaint resolution, the percentage of customers in a given month who were using your services last month, 3 months ago, 6 months ago, a year ago, etc, and so on. When your staff is aware of these statistics and is given targets to work towards, the message that customer service and retention is a priority is heard loud and clear.

Operations Plan

While the earlier sections of your business plan explained your goals, your operations plan describes how you will meet them. Your operations plan should have two distinct sections as follows.

Everyday short-term processes include all of the tasks involved in running your cleaning services business such as serving customers, procuring supplies, etc.

Long-term goals are the milestones you hope to achieve. These could include the dates when you expect to serve your 100th customer, or when you hope to reach $X in sales. It could also be when you expect to hire your Xth employee or launch in a new city.

Management Team

To demonstrate your cleaning services business’s ability to succeed as a business, a strong management team is essential. Highlight your key players’ backgrounds, emphasizing those skills and experiences that prove their ability to grow a company.

Ideally you and/or your team members have direct experience in the cleaning services business. If so, highlight this experience and expertise. But also highlight any experience that you think will help your business succeed.

If your team is lacking, consider assembling an advisory board. An advisory board would include 2 to 8 individuals who would act like mentors to your business. They would help answer questions and provide strategic guidance. If needed, look for advisory board members with experience in cleaning services businesses and/or successfully running small businesses.

Financial Plan

Your financial plan should include your 5-year financial statement broken out both monthly or quarterly for the first year and then annually. Your financial statements include your income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statements.

Income Statement : an income statement is more commonly called a Profit and Loss statement or P&L. It shows your revenues and then subtracts your costs to show whether you turned a profit or not.

In developing your income statement, you need to devise assumptions. For example, will you serve 20 customers per week or 50? And will sales grow by 2% or 10% per year? As you can imagine, your choice of assumptions will greatly impact the financial forecasts for your business. As much as possible, conduct research to try to root your assumptions in reality.

Example 5 Year Annual Income Statement

Balance Sheets : While balance sheets include much information, to simplify them to the key items you need to know about, balance sheets show your assets and liabilities. For instance, if you spend $50,000 on building out your cleaning services business, that will not give you immediate profits. Rather it is an asset that will hopefully help you generate profits for years to come. Likewise, if a bank writes you a check for $50.000, you don’t need to pay it back immediately. Rather, that is a liability you will pay back over time.

Example 5 Year Annual Balance Sheet

Cash Flow Statement : Your cash flow statement will help determine how much money you need to start or grow your business, and make sure you never run out of money. What most entrepreneurs and business owners don’t realize is that you can turn a profit but run out of money and go bankrupt. For example, let’s say a company approached you with a massive $100,000 damage restoration contract, that would cost you $50,000 to fulfill. Well, in most cases, you would have to pay that $50,000 now for supplies, equipment rentals, employee salaries, etc. But let’s say the company didn’t pay you for 180 days. During that 180 day period, you could run out of money.

In developing your Income Statement and Balance Sheets be sure to include several of the key costs needed in starting or growing a cleaning services business:

• Cost of equipment like vacuum cleaners, power washers, carts, vans, etc.
• Cost of maintaining an adequate amount of supplies
• Payroll or salaries paid to staff
• Business insurance
• Taxes and permits
• Legal expenses

Example 5 Year Annual Cash Flow Statement

Attach your full financial projections in the appendix of your plan along with any supporting documents that make your plan more compelling. For example, you might include any insurance company affiliations or remediation licenses.

Cleaning Services Business Plan Summary

Putting together a business plan for your cleaning services business is a worthwhile endeavor. If you follow the template above, by the time you are done, you will truly be an expert. You will really understand the cleaning services business, your competition and your customers. You will have developed a marketing plan and will really understand what it takes to launch and grow a successful cleaning services business.

Download Our Free Cleaning Services Business Plan PDF

You can download our cleaning services business plan PDF here. This is a cleaning company business plan template you can use in PDF format to help you get started on your own business plan.

Don’t you wish there was a faster, easier way to finish your Cleaning business plan?

OR, Let Us Develop Your Plan For You

Since 1999, Growthink has developed business plans for thousands of companies who have gone on to achieve tremendous success. Click here to see how our business plan consulting for small businesses can create your business plan for you.

Other Helpful Business Plan Articles & Templates

Cleaning Service Business Plan [Sample Template]

By: Author Tony Martins Ajaero

Home » Business ideas » Home Improvement » Cleaning Service

Are you about starting a cleaning business ? If YES, here is a complete sample cleaning service business plan template & feasibility report you can use for FREE .

Okay, so we have considered all the requirements for starting a cleaning business. We also took it further by analyzing and drafting a sample cleaning service marketing plan template backed up by actionable guerrilla marketing ideas for cleaning businesses.

So let’s proceed to the business planning section. As the business owner of a new cleaning business, you must spend your valuable time and resources in creating a business plan that will give you a head start in the industry and put you ahead of the competition curve from the onset.

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A Sample Cleaning Service Business Plan Template

1. industry overview.

The cleaning industry is almost always moving up the ramp of growth. The expansion of the industry has been specifically rapid in the past several years and experts believe that this exponential increase in the growth is not likely to be stunted anytime soon, at least not in the near future.

As a result, now is a better time than ever for start-up cleaning companies to embark on a journey towards reaching the lands of success in the cleaning industry.

In other words, it is an opportune time for entrepreneurs to start thinking about how they can initiate a highly profitable and successful start-up cleaning company that will cater to the demands of hundreds and thousands of customers in the city and the country.

Our goal is to address the needs of the customers who are looking for top notch cleaning services at reasonable prices for their homes or their workplaces. This need of the customers will be addressed by providing them with the very best cleaning services that will be conducted by highly skilled cleaning professionals working in the united states of America in the state of Illinois.

The characteristics that will set our business apart from the rest will be the top quality of our services, the efficiency of our workers and the first class hospitality treatment that our clients can expect from our professionals every single time.

2. Executive Summary

• Current Situation

We are a start-up cleaning company that was established in the year 2011 in the state of Illinois. The principal owner of our company is Stephanie Ryder who currently serves as the President of the Executive Committee of our company.

Mrs. Ryder has brought several years of experience in the cleaning service industry into our cleaning company, and it is this experience of hers that has helped the company overcome odds during the initial stages of its operations. The key figure in our company who must be mentioned in the same breath as Mrs Ryder is her sister, Clementine Orton.

She contributes greatly to our customer service department, the bookkeeping sector as well as other areas of our business that requires the expertise and experience of someone as knowledgeable, proactive and dynamic as Ms. Orton.

At this current period of our time, the company is looking for some much needed additional equity capital that will be a perfect addition to our own equity investment. Therefore the company is now looking to sign a deal with a bank for funding our inventory and our receivables.

We have assured several clients, both corporate and residential clients, in cities across the state of Illinois, especially in the city of Chicago, to provide a host of different cleaning services in their commercial complexes and residential buildings so that they can live in a clean, safe and secure environment without the fear of having their homes and offices turned into a dirty and inhabitable environment.

Once the financial arrangements for our inventory and receivables funding are finalized by the bank, we hope to resume our cleaning services and expand our services to cities across the state where we are yet to explore and leave a mark on.

• Key Success Factors

When talking about the key success factors, it all comes down to the vision and the goals of our principal owner Stephanie Ryder. It is her energy, exuberance and efficacy to take a start-up company from the realms of oblivion to the echelons of the cleaning service industry that we count on most as the key success factor of our company.

In addition to that, we believe that we have an impressive social network that will allow the business to smoothly float from one client to the other without having redundant periods of unemployment between contracts.

Since the cleaning business is based heavily on service, our priority is to hire the best cleaning staff members available around the country, and therefore our recruitment managers have been well equipped to select the crème of the crop when it comes to assembling a team of money making staff.

We refuse to provide cleaning services that are incomplete and those that fail to meet the expectations of our endeared clients.

This will allow us to give the very best service and cleaning product selection to various clients across the state without being distracted by the very different product and service demands of general market outlets in the cleaning industry. All of this and more will allow your business to draw success towards itself and compete with the very best in the industry for bragging rights and dominant market positions.

• Financial Situation/Needs

A total sum of $300,000 is the minimum that we require to effectively initiate our business and open our doors to our valued clients that who are waiting to subscribe to our top notch services.

The majority portions of the funds we receive will be used to finance and streamline the business operations until we start generating sufficient amounts of revenue and making enough profit to finance our own operations and expand these operations beyond our expectations.

Till then, we must be reliant on external finances whether it be in the form of the funds that we received from the bank or the funds that have been granted to us by the principal owner Stephanie Ryder, the immediate members of the family, her relative, friends, co-workers and previous employers and business partners.

According to our estimations, within the next 2 years (give or take 3 months) the company will have enough clients and will be carrying out the required number of deals to generate healthy revenue and become profitable. Our calculations and research work also tells us that within 4 years of breaking even, the investors in our business will be able to retrieve the entirety of their funds and will be able to cash out with ease.

The founding partners of our company will have the option of purchasing the investment stake or substituting the replacement stake with extra bank funding after the completion of the first 4 years of full-fledged operations provided that the company breaks even and earns considerable profit.

3. Our Mission and Vision Statement

The vision of our company is rather quite simple. We hope to become the first name in the shopping list of homes and offices when they are looking for cleaning services that can lend them a helping hand in creating a beautiful living or working environment.

We will reward our clients for making us their first choice by providing them with cleaning services that are equal, if not better, than the best cleaning service available to them, and one that is certainly most affordable if the client decides to sign a long term contract with us. We do not want to simply become a provider of cleaning services or a supplier of cleaning products.

Rather, we want to be known as a team of cleaning experts who the entire state can rely on to keep their homes and offices sparkling clean and refreshed.

We want to help build a state where people no longer have to compromise with their living and working conditions courtesy of our cleaning services. A cleaner and greener world is certainly our primary objective for starting this start-up business.

• Securing verbal commitments from our first batch of commercial clients who are willing to sign a 6 months contract is complete.
• Securing verbal commitments from the batch of commercial clients who are interested to subscribe to our services for a trial period of 1 month is complete.
• Securing verbal commitments from the first batch of commercial clients who are willing to sign up for our services for a shortened term of 3 months is currently underway.
• A warehouse lease for 6 months has been signed.
• First written orders from suppliers for the next 6 months have been received.
• Purchase of vehicles necessary to transport cleaning products and equipments is currently underway.
• Full catalogue of services and products (used for conducting services) has been completed and revised.
• Presentation to potential investors who are looking to add their money in the investment pool is currently underway.
• Presentation to banks who will be interested to finance our operations and inventory is currently underway.
• Employee recruitment for 3 different cleaning teams is now complete.
• Employee training for 3 different cleaning teams is currently underway under the supervision of professional mentors and experts hired temporarily.
• Securing the insurance for the entire cleaning business is now complete.
• Devising the employee policy is currently underway and is being conducted by Stephanie Ryder and Clementine Orton.

4. SWOT Analysis

• Opportunities in the Cleaning Industry

The room for success in the cleaning industry is quite vast. As the number of commercial buildings and residential homes increase, the demand for cleaning services is likely to enhance along with it.

Furthermore, the healthcare industry and organizations in charge of advocating eco-friendly business practices makes it quite a necessity for businesses around the country to improve sanitation and hygiene standards in their workplaces which compels them to seek the services of cleaning companies.

Therefore, this market offers us terrific growth potential, which we are planning to capitalize on with all our expertise and ambition.

This market may not be the largest in the country, but it is certainly one where a newcomer like us will receive abundant opportunities to register progress in leaps and bounds as long as we have the correct business philosophy and are implementing the right business strategies.

• Threats and Risks

As a small cleaning firm that will be taking baby steps towards growth and development for at least the foreseeable future; we do not anticipate any major reactions from our future competitors upon the entry of our business in the industry.

We are expecting that our introduction into the industry will remain a low profile one and is likely to go unnoticed by some of the more major corporations which rule the cleaning service industry. We also do not think that some of the lesser known cleaning service companies that have been in the industry far longer than us will be have any distinct reactions to the initiation of our business.

However, in the case that they formulate plans to drive us further away from competition, we have come up with contingency plans of our own that will help us survive the threat of expulsion from the industry and assist us to overcome the risks that are associated with engaging in fierce competition with the experienced business owners of established commercial sector cleaning companies.

Competitive Strategies

• Key Competitive Capabilities

Most of the start-up cleaning companies have their sights set on the residential sector, mainly because of their lack of confidence and belief to compete with the major players in the commercial sector. This will not be the case with our company.

We will become one of the very few start-up companies in the state of Illinois which will focus all of its finances, resources and marketing strategies in climbing up the ladder in the cleaning industry and rapidly acquiring larger portions of the market share.

We will not have to compete with a big number of start-ups in the commercial sector, therefore our progress or advancement into the big leagues of the industry will not be hindered by too many competitive obstacles or hurdles in the way.

Our major advantage however lies in the incredible amount of expertise and experience that our principal owner Stephanie Ryder will be bringing into the equation.

As an entrepreneur who has had her fair share of successes and failures in the last decade, Stephanie will have a clear understand of the strategies and tactics that are required to get us across the finishing line ahead of others and avoid major disasters that our competitors may push us into.

The fact that we will be assembling a cleaning team of experienced professionals blended enthusiastic and energetic college students will allow us to achieve a working dynamic that will push our efficiency higher than that of other companies.

Basically, our company will form a cleaning staff that will strive to outwork and outsmart employees of other cleaning companies.

In an industry which is heavily reliant on service, the key is to employ workers who are willing to put in the best performance within the shortest period of time available. Our extensive and rigorous training programs will allow our workers to develop themselves, sharpen their skills at all times and stay updated with the latest developments in the world of cleaning products and equipment.

Our training facility for the workers will turn out to be a game changer and a breeding ground for the best workers in the cleaning industry in the country.

• Key Competitive Weakness

Our key competitive weaknesses stem from our lack of experience being a start-up company. We may have the best cleaning staff in the country assembled, but that will not allow us to strike deals with numerous clients at the same time.

Therefore, our availability is something that may compromise our revenue and income generation. We have a limited number of workers who will not be overworked severely according to the company policy.

Therefore, it will not be possible for us to bring in a massive number of clients every month. We hope to tackle this problem by finding ways to maximize our income and profit generation. That will allow us to employee more workers, even individual contractors with a part time schedule, and we can plan on increasing our portfolio of monthly or annual clients.

Since our current business plan ( which is based on the current financing and funding that is available to us ) only allows us to operate within the boundaries of the state of Illinois, our company will have limited reach unlike the other major corporations in the industry which are willing to provide their services all across the country.

Therefore, we will be missing out on a major chunk of the industry market which is outside the state of Illinois and that will result in a series of missed opportunities that could quite possibly hurt our finances considerably in the long run.

If we are to compete with the major names in the industry, we must generate enough income to expand our business beyond the borders of Illinois and give clients around the country an opportunity to be impressed by our top notch services.

5. MARKET ANALYSIS

• The Overall Market

Before you proceed, it is important to note that this is just an extract of our in-depth marketing plan. Here is the full sample cleaning business marketing plan template.

The overall size of the cleaning industry according to most estimates is somewhere around $750 million in the United States of America.

The state of Illinois is a major location in the industry mainly because of the highly industrialized and commercialized city of Chicago where cleaning services have become a necessity in nearly every neighbourhood that is flocked with commercial complexes and residential buildings.

The analysis of the cleaning industry be easily divided into two categories due to the distinct nature of the two kinds of services that cleaning companies in this industry concentrate on. The first is the commercial cleaning service and the second is the residential cleaning service.

The market analysis for both of them must be done separately because the nature and intensity of the demand in both of them are highly different.

Commercial clients usually demands cleaning companies that can provide them with state of the art janitorial services and garbage removal and disposal services. Residential clients on the other hand look for cleaning companies that can provide comparatively less heavy duty services such as carpet cleaning, upholstery, 6 hour maid services, vacuuming etc.

Changes in the Cleaning Industry Marketplace

During the time of the depression, the office rent rates went up and that comprised the ability of several corporations and large businesses to afford cleaning services. Since the depression faded way into oblivion, the office rent rates have somewhat become flatter and companies and corporations have regained the need and ability to subscribe to cleaning services.

With that being said, certain cities in the state of Illinois are experiencing a rise in rent of residential spaces. If the rates continue to rise in a similar fashion, then cleaning companies who cater to residential clients will be forced to make their prices more competitive and increase the efficiency of their projects.

This may sound like an intimidating scenario for most start-up cleaning businesses, but our company sees this as an opportunity to adapt, evolve and let the market changes mould our path to success.

One of the major changes that led to a boom in the cleaning industry in the recent years is the development and increased authority of the healthcare industry. Residing and working in unclean and filthy places posed several health hazards to residents and workers around the country.

This forces the home owners and corporate heads to resort to cleaning services, since their personal cleaning professionals unable to meet the standards that were set by the esteemed organizations in the healthcare industry.

As a result, cleaning companies were suddenly exposed to far more contracts than before, and most of the clients preferred to have long term arrangements with the cleaning companies instead of having a one off affair with the cleaning services.

One lesser known factor that influenced the growth of the cleaning industry is the ever increasing demand for aestheticism and visual appeal in homes and offices around the United States of America. People want their homes and offices to look good from both the inside and the outside. As a result, they cannot afford to have dirt and filth lying around in their office or residential space.

This prompted them to seek the professional help of cleaning services. Cleaning companies around the company are making sure that homes and offices retain and maintain the visual appeal with which they were built so that they do not become labelled outdated or unsuitable for future tenants.

Market Segments in the Cleaning Industry

Most cleaning companies do not provide an all encompassing service. The cleaning service itself can be divided into various segments, and the demand for these segmented services in the commercial or residential market is quite different from one another.

Some of the most common segmented services include janitorial services, maid services, window cleaning services, carpet cleaning services, dry cleaning, vacuuming, furniture polishing, washroom cleaning, waste removal and disposal etc.

We understand the diversity in the demand for these services across various platforms. For example, it would be erroneous for us to assume that the market demand for window cleaning in commercial complexes is the same as the market demand for window cleaning in residential homes in the suburbs of Illinois.

6. Our Target Market

One of the more impressive aspects of the cleaning industry is the endless possibilities it provides when it comes to the target market and customers.

Sure, each cleaning company that establishes itself in the cleaning industry has its own niche and therefore its own target market and clients. However, for a start-up company like ours, we had the luxury of choosing from a wide selection of target customers.

In the commercial sector, businesses ranging from small companies to large corporations are all in need of cleaning services of one kind or the other. Schools, colleges, libraries and other variants of educational institutions too require the assistance of cleaning companies to provide a cleaner, safer and health hazard free studying environment for the bright minds of tomorrow.

In the residential sector, there are those living modern day busy urban lives who hardly have time to make their bed and keep their shoes aligned. For them, maid services are perfect to restore some order in their homes and their lives. Then again, there are clients within the residential sector who are looking to provide their newborn children with a cleaner and safer abode.

This is when they call upon the cleaning service companies to help make their homes a better place for their children to live in. As far as our operations are concerned, we are looking to cater to the commercial clients simply because we believe that the post depression era in the United States will turn these clients into profitable prospects and accounts for us.

Since we are equipped with the right size of cleaning staff and the appropriate cleaning equipments, we believe that we can cover massive office spaces as long as the clients appoint us a reasonable deadline. Window cleaning services, janitorial services and waste removal services in collaboration with the city authorities will be the major concentration areas of our business going forward.

With that being said, we will be keeping a watchful eye on the residential sector and always be open to the idea of expanding our business if lucrative opportunities present themselves.

• Customer Buying Decisions

Whether or not a client will express their interest to subscribe to a cleaning service company will depend on two things. The first is the expertise and experience of the cleaning service company which is known to people in the neighbourhood, city or the state.

Secondly, the effectiveness and the efficacy of the marketing and advertising strategies that are created by the cleaning company. There can also be a third factor in the mix, and that is the company’s ability to impress their clients during trial periods of service, if there are any on offer.

Our company, being a start-up cleaning business, will lack the experience and renown that is required to draw in new clients.

However, what we lack in experience, we will make up with the high quality of services during the trial cleaning sessions that we will offer to our clients and also through the dynamism and strong appeal of our outbound and inbound marketing campaigns. We hope to build a brand that can consistently influence the buying decision of the customers in the industry.

7. SALES AND MARKETING STRATEGY

• Marketing Strategy

Socialization will be at the centre of our marketing strategy. We believe that in order for our business to thrive, we must reach out to people and give them genuine reasons to subscribe to our services. Our brand of marketing will be an aggressive and effervescent one, where we will strive to convert every potential prospect into a client within a period of 30 days.

This is the reason why we will be channelling our resources towards inbound marketing, as it allows us to connect with potential clientele and stay in touch with them at all times.

Not only will be having our own website, blog and newsletter programs, but we will also be taking our business to the social media platform, where the goal would be to change people’s general perception towards cleaning service businesses and keep them informed about the advantages and benefits of hiring a cleaning service company, using both a direct and indirect (more subtle) approach.

Advertising Strategy

Our advertising strategy will be no less exuberant than our marketing strategy. We believe that it is all about forming a brand and enticing people to associate themselves with the brand in ways that appeal to them the most. Unlike other cleaning companies, we do not simply want to sell services that people can make use of. Instead, our goal is to sell experiences that people can thoroughly enjoy.

For example, our janitorial service advertisements will be specifically addressing the needs of those business owners who want to provide a wonderful working environment for their employees and thus curb down the number of complaints about their company’s working conditions.

• Sales Tactics

Once a client shows interest in our cleaning service, our sales team will be implementing a number of different tactics to retain the interest of the client and make sure that a contractual agreement is reached.

In order to do this, we will be offering our first time customers with various unknown complimentary services and discounts that will turn out to be a surprise package for them and will thus intensify their desire to contractually obligate us to clean their offices. The idea is to make the clients feel that they are getting more than what they are paying for.

Our approach to generating publicity for our business will be divided into three steps. The first step is to convince trade magazine to publish a feature on our start-up company and the potential of our services to change offices across the neighbourhood.

The second step is to send our representatives to the local radio stations to promote our business and educate listeners on what we have in store for them. The third and final step is to partner up with manufacturers of cleaning products and provide discounts on our services to people who purchase their cleaning products.

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BUSINESS STRATEGIES

How to start a cleaning business in 7 steps

• Nirit Braun

Obsessed with cleanliness and the joy that comes from creating tidy spaces? Perhaps starting a cleaning business is the right idea.

In this guide, we'll walk you through the steps to start a cleaning business, from developing a business model, to choosing a cleaning business idea to creating a business website and marketing your venture effectively.

What is a cleaning business?

A cleaning business is a type of business that offers various cleaning services—including, but not limited to, dusting, vacuuming, mopping, sanitizing and organizing spaces. Cleaning businesses can cater to residential clients, offering services for homes, apartments or condos. They can also serve commercial clients, including offices, retail stores, medical facilities and educational institutions. Cleaning is a steady and reliable type of venture, that might even be considered a boring business —but in this context, boring is a good thing.

The cleaning industry is in high demand, with the residential cleaning industry showing 20% year-over-year growth , and 80% of two-income households  expected to use house cleaning services by 2024.

How to start a cleaning business

Now that you understand the benefits and challenges of starting a business , let's explore the essential steps to help you get started:

Research and plan

Define your services and pricing structure

Obtain necessary licenses and insurance

Purchase equipment and supplies

Develop effective systems and processes

Build a strong team

Market your cleaning business

01. Research and plan

Do your due diligence and conduct thorough research on the local cleaning market, potential competition and target customers. Identify your niche, such as residential cleaning, commercial cleaning or specialized cleaning services. Develop a comprehensive business plan and concept statement that outlines your goals, strategies and financial projections (including how you plan on raising money for your business ). Learn how to create a cleaning business plan to get your business off the ground the right way.

02. Define your services and pricing structure

Decide on the types of cleaning services you'll offer. Consider whether you'll focus on general cleaning, deep cleaning, specific areas (such as windows or carpets or starting a pressure washing business ) or specialized cleaning for industries like healthcare or hospitality. Determine your pricing structure, taking into account factors such as the size of the space, the level of cleaning required and any additional services you offer. Remember to take all expenses into account to calculate your net profit .

03. Obtain necessary licenses and insurance

Register your business and ensure it operates legally and responsibly by researching and obtaining all the necessary licenses and permits required in your area. Before that, take the important step of selecting a unique and memorable name for your business . For inspiration, consider using a business name generator to find the perfect fit. Once you've finalized your business name, proceed with obtaining the required licenses and permits, such as business registration, liability insurance and workers' compensation insurance. By complying with local regulations, you'll establish a solid foundation for smooth and reputable business operations , paving the way for your cleaning business's success and growth.

If you're looking to start a cleaning business in a specific state, here are some helpful resources:

How to start a business in Massachusetts

How to start a business in Florida

How to start a business in California

How to start a business in Arizona

How to start a business in Texas

How to start a business in Washington

How to start a business in Georgia

04. Purchase equipment and supplies

Invest in high-quality cleaning equipment and supplies to ensure efficient and effective cleaning. This may include vacuum cleaners, mops, brooms, microfiber cloths, cleaning solutions and protective gear. Consider environmentally friendly options if there is a demand for eco-conscious cleaning in your market.

If you're planning to start a home cleaning business you'll need some or all of the following supplies:

Microfiber cloths, rags, or paper towels.

Mop and bucket, preferably with washable mop pads.

Broom and dustpan

A high-quality vacuum with attachments for various surfaces.

Extendable dusters for hard-to-reach places.

Scrub brushes, sponges and scouring pads, squeegee

Cleaning solutions: All-purpose cleaner, glass cleaner, bathroom cleaner, floor cleaner, disinfectant

Plastic scrapers

Nitrile or latex gloves for protection.

Toilet brushes

Spray bottles

Organizational caddy or cart

For a commercial cleaning business you'll need many of the same supplies as above, as well as:

Heavy-duty vacuum cleaner

Commercial mob and bucket with wringer

Floor scrubbing machine

Carpet cleaning machine

Steam cleaner

Pressure washer

Window washing supplies and equipment

Handheld extractor

Eye protection

05. Develop effective systems and processes

Establish clear systems and processes for managing client inquiries, scheduling appointments and conducting cleaning services. Implement a reliable scheduling and communication system to ensure efficient coordination with your clients and cleaners. Develop cleaning checklists and protocols to maintain consistency and quality across all cleaning jobs.

Here's an example of a home cleaning checklist for you all or your team to implement as part of your processes:

Dust surfaces (tables, shelves, decor items)

Wipe down furniture

Clean and disinfect light switches and door handles

Vacuum carpets and rugs

Sweep and mop hard floors

Empty trash bins and replace liners

Clean countertops and sink

Wipe down cabinet fronts

Clean and disinfect kitchen appliances (microwave, toaster)

Clean the stove and range hood

Wipe down the refrigerator exterior

Clean inside of microwave

Sweep and mop the kitchen floor

Living room

Dust and wipe down electronics

Clean TV screen and remote controls

Dust and clean coffee tables and side tables

Vacuum upholstered furniture, including under cushions

Clean and organize shelves

Change bed linens (if provided)

Dust and wipe down nightstands

Clean mirrors and windows

Vacuum under the bed

Organize and tidy up any clutter

Clean and disinfect sink, countertops, and faucets

Clean and disinfect toilet, including behind and around the base

Clean and disinfect shower and bathtub

Wipe down shower doors and/or curtain

Clean mirrors and glass panels

Empty trash bin

Sweep and mop floor

Dining room

Dust and polish dining table and chairs

Clean and buff glass surfaces

Vacuum or wipe down chair seats

Dust any decor or lighting fixtures

06. Build a strong team

Recruit and hire reliable and trustworthy cleaners who align with your business values. You may have to do a lot of networking to find the best people. Thoroughly screen potential employees, including background checks and reference checks. Provide comprehensive training to ensure that all cleaners understand your cleaning processes, safety protocols and customer service expectations. This is important for businesses of all sizes, but especially true if you're a microbusiness - because every employee can truly make or break your reputation.

07. Market your cleaning business

Effective cleaning marketing is crucial for attracting clients to your cleaning business. Here are some strategies to consider:

Create a website: Establish an online presence by making a website that showcases your services, highlights your expertise and provides contact information. Consider using a website builder like Wix to create a professional and user-friendly website without requiring extensive technical knowledge.

Local SEO: Optimize your website and online listings for local search engine optimization (SEO). This includes using relevant keywords, creating location-specific content and ensuring accurate business information on platforms like Google My Business.

Online directories and review platforms: List your cleaning business on popular online directories and review platforms such as Yelp, Angie's List and HomeAdvisor. Encourage satisfied customers to leave positive reviews to enhance your online reputation.

Social media marketing: Utilize social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn to promote your cleaning business. Share before-and-after photos, cleaning tips, client testimonials and special promotions to engage with your audience.

Networking and referrals: Network with local businesses, real estate agents, property managers and community organizations to build connections and generate referrals. Offer referral incentives to encourage satisfied clients to recommend your services to others.

Print collateral: Design and distribute professional business cards, brochures and flyers to local businesses and residential areas. Highlight your unique selling points, competitive pricing and customer testimonials.

Targeted advertising: Consider targeted online advertising campaigns through platforms like Google Ads or social media ads. Set specific targeting parameters based on location, demographics and interests to reach potential clients in your target market.

Maintaining a consistent brand image is vital for your cleaning business, regardless of the platforms you use for promotion. Take advantage of Wix's logo maker to design a professional and unique logo that can be prominently featured across all your digital assets. If you need inspiration, you can explore these cleaning logo ideas and cleaning slogans to spark your creativity and ensure your cleaning business's branding stands out and leaves a lasting impression on your target audience. You can also learn more about how to make a cleaning logo for your business.

Thinking of starting another type of business? Check out some of these creative service business ideas  to help get you started.

Inspiration from other successful cleaning businesses

Promoting your cleaning venture involves various aspects, from effective marketing and networking to establishing a captivating online presence. Just like these thriving cleaning businesses, you can create an engaging website and connect with your customers online to boost your brand.

Lira's Cleaning

Lira's Cleaning presents itself as a reliable and trustworthy cleaning company that serves both residential and commercial customers. Their website might focus on building a strong rapport with visitors by sharing the story of their founder, Lira, and her passion for cleanliness and exceptional service. This personal touch can help potential clients connect with the company on a more emotional level.

Clean Freaks Cheyenne

Clean Freaks Cheyenne services customers in Cheyenne, Wyoming, offering recurring residential cleanings, move-out cleanings and commercial cleaning. Their site is as clean and easy to navigate as a cleaned living space.

Soprano's Cleaning

Soaprano's Cleaning stands out with its unique and catchy name, which hints at their expertise in cleaning services. Their website features a modern and artistic design, reflecting their creativity and attention to detail in their cleaning approach. To attract customers, Soaprano's Cleaning showcases their specialization in particular cleaning niches, such as move-in/move-out cleaning, deep cleaning or post-construction cleaning.

For more inspiration, you can check out these service business examples to help you get your creative juices flowing.

How to start a cleaning business FAQ

What's the best business structure for a cleaning business.

The most suitable business structure for a cleaning business depends on factors like liability, taxation and management preferences. Common options for a small business include:

Sole Proprietorship: Simple and low-cost, but the owner has unlimited personal liability.

Limited Liability Company (LLC): Offers liability protection for owners (members) while maintaining simplicity and flexibility. Learn how to start an LLC .

How to scale a cleaning business?

How profitable is a cleaning business, what are the challenges of running a cleaning business, why start a cleaning business, what is the best type of cleaning business to start, how do i get my first cleaning client, read more articles like this.

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How to Create a Cleaning Business Plan

Alyssa sanders, published on february 11, 2021.

Many cleaning business owners feel like they don’t need a cleaning business plan, which is why they’re unable to build a scalable cleaning business.

Trying to grow a successful cleaning business without a business plan is like going on a road trip without a map… You know where you want to go but have zero vision or plans of how to get there.

A great cleaning business plan will help you to create, visualize, and conquer your goals. Also, it’ll help you to capture potential market opportunities you can use to grow your business.

In this article, we’ll talk about what makes a great business plan as well as how you can create the best business plan for your cleaning business.

By the end of this article, you’ll have all the tools and information you need to start creating the best cleaning business plan TODAY!

How to Use Your Cleaning Business Plan to Set You Up for Success

Since a business plan helps you to organize your goals and discover growth opportunities, just by creating a cleaning business plan, you’re setting your business up for success!

In addition, a business plan helps you to:

• Stay organized
• Prepare for the unexpected
• Keep your focus on clear goals

As a result, your business plan is one of the most important foundations you can give your business.

Pro tip! A business plan is not a “one-and-done” task. As your business grows and evolves, it’s important to consistently re-evaluate and update your business plan. A good rule of thumb is to conduct your full revisions annually and your financial revisions monthly.

1. Cover Page

Cover pages serve as a great quick-reference point for your new employees. It gives them a quick overview of your management and contact structure.

Plus, as your cleaning business grows, it’ll offer you a great way to streamline your training process and offer new employees a brief business overview.

Also, your cover page provides quick contact information for every viewer. This is especially useful if you apply for any grants or loans.

Think of your cover page as a cover letter for your cleaning business. Since it’s the first thing viewers will see, it’s essentially a brief business overview.

As a result, it’s important that your cleaning business plan emanates the ultimate professionalism. It should resemble a professional booklet and be as pristine and current as possible.

These are some things your cover page should include:

• Business name
• Contact information
• Business address (if any)
• Your role in the cleaning business

After you’ve created your cover page, it’s time to start on the executive summary.

2. Executive Summary

Think of your executive summary as a brief, one-page summary of your entire cleaning business plan.

This is where you’ll explain your business’ main concepts in order to establish solid growth goals to help scale your cleaning business’ growth.

Your executive summary should include things like:

• Company history
• Mission statement
• Business goals and objectives
• Competitive advantages (your keys to success)

Once your executive summary is complete, you’re ready to create your business overview.

3. Business Overview

Your business overview is important because it explains your business’ basic function, everyday operations, and operational structure.

Upon a mere glance, your business overview allows anyone who enters into your business to quickly understand how you operate. This is especially helpful when someone like an employee or third-party accountant needs a brief business overview.

Company Summary

Your company summary is a brief outline of the vision of your cleaning business.

These are a few things you’ll want to include in your company summary:

• What types of cleaning services will you offer?
• How frequently do you plan on services for your jobs?
• Are you offering services for residential, commercial, or both?
• How do you think the weather (i.e. the rain) will affect how frequently you’ll service the properties?

After answering these questions, you should have a complete company summary for your cleaning business plan.

However, since every cleaning business is different, you might have to add additional information to your company summary.

Your company summary is one of the best ways you can provide an outline of your everyday operational structure to new employees or third party viewers.

A company summary is a great way to help give you a sense of direction. Additionally, this helps to give you a better idea of who your ideal cleaning client is.

Company Ownership

Remember when you first started your cleaning business and you had to decide which business entity in which you wanted to register your business as?

Whether you’re registered as a partnership, corporation, sole proprietorship, or something else, it’s important to include this information in your business plan because of its tax implications.

Since your business entity protects you from being personally liable for your business’ financial implications, it’s an important part of your business.

As a result, it’s important to include your company’s ownership in your company summary.

And if you haven’t registered your cleaning business yet, then click here to read our full guide on starting a cleaning business .

Start-Up Summary

In short, your start-up summary details your startup costs and uses your assets to calculate your cleaning business’ value.

Your assets and startup costs have the potential to be key predictors of your business’ success.

Also, if you ever apply for loans or grants, this is typically the most important section they’ll look at to determine your eligibility.

If you’re just starting out, then this section will be a start-up summary. However, if you’re updating an existing cleaning business plan, then this section will include your business expenses and assets .

Start-Up Costs

In order to calculate your true overhead costs, you’ll need to have an estimate of your start-up costs.

Once you’ve established your cleaning prices , your startup costs can be included in your overhead costs.

In addition, your start-up costs section is important because it can cause you to lose money and undercut yourself on pricing if you skip it or do improperly do it.

As you begin your start-up summary, you’ll start by including all of your start-up costs. This will tell you how much it’ll cost you to buy all of your necessary equipment and chemicals to start or maintain your business.

It’s important to also note that any equipment or assets that you already own should NOT be included in this section. This section is only intended to cover the things that you need to buy.

Typically, your start-up costs will include things like:

• Office supplies
• Business software
• Cleaning equipment or chemicals
• Capital to pay your cleaners (if any)
• Marketing expenses (i.e. you website , ads , etc… )

Include how much all of these things will cost you in your start-up summary.

Regardless of whether or not you’re looking for outside financial assistance, your startup costs help you to create a better financial plan for your cleaning business.

Long-Term Assets

Any assets that you already have that will contribute to your business in the long-term, you should include in your start-up summary.

Since they don’t have to be regularly replaced, an example of a long-term asset in your cleaning business are your company vehicles.

Your business’ assets are a huge predictor of your success because of how much value they bring to the table. As a result, they’re a huge reflection of how much your cleaning business is worth.

Also, your long-term assets are important because they indicate to third party financial advisors how much your business is worth if you need to apply for grants and such.

As you document your long-term assets, don’t forget to be as detailed as possible and note things like the make, year, model, cost, and etc… 

Short-Term Assets

Alternatively to your long-term assets, your short-term assets are the assets you already own that contribute to your business in the short-term.

Just to mention a few, these are a few short-term assets that you might already have:

The more assets you have, the less overhead you have, which means you’ll have more revenue going towards your profit.

As a result, all of your assets are important to document so that you’ll have a better idea of how much your business is worth.

Even though it’s likely tedious work to record all of your short-term assets, it’s a VITAL process for your cleaning business. This will help you later on when you start tracking assets .

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4. Cleaning Services

Depending on how much your calculated costs are from the previous step, you can determine which cleaning services you’ll be able to provide.

You should base your decision on which cleaning services to provide based on these two things:

• Your cleaning equipment: The cleaning services you’re able to offer are limited based on the equipment you’re able to afford.
• Your area: If there’s a demand for a cleaning service that no one offers in your area, then you have the perfect opportunity to quickly soar past your competition.

Now, write a three to five-sentence paragraph explaining the services you’ll offer.

If there’s any seasonality or frequency, be sure to note those factors of your services. This will help you to build a foundation for your everyday business operations.

5. Market Analysis Summary

In essence, your market analysis summary explains how your cleaning business is going to compliment the needs of your target market.

Here, you’ll pinpoint any industry trends and define your ideal client.

Your market analysis summary helps to grow your cleaning business because it helps you to get a picture of your local market and choose your ideal client .

Now, include the answers to these questions in your market analysis summary:

• Age, income, and socioeconomic status
• Identify their wants and desires (what they care most about)
• Find the local target market size (how many locals fall under this category)
• Cleaning services
• Business sizes (team sizes, company size, etc… )
• List services (with prices) that are similar to yours
• Why might your ideal client choose your competitors over you?
• How can you make it to where your ideal clients will hire YOU over your competitors?

Pro tip! If you haven’t already, you can download our FREE cleaning client persona template to help you to define and identify your ideal client. Plus, it’s a great idea to include it in your cleaning business plan to look even more professional!

One of the best parts about your market analysis summary is that you can really customize it and make it as detailed as you need.

6. Business Strategy

All of the previous sections of your cleaning business plan have had a hand in helping you develop your business strategy.

Now, we just need to tie all of the previous information together into this section.

Plus, when you have an excellent cleaning business strategy, it helps you to establish the best cleaning pricing strategy possible.

This section is predominantly focused on building the best business strategy possible, which will help you to better scale your business.

Cleaning Pricing

If you want to build a wildly successful cleaning business, then you’ll have to master the art of pricing your cleaning services for maximum profit.

As you calculate the perfect price for your cleaning business, you should consider things like:

• Profit goals
• Software cost
• Taxes and fees
• Overhead and equipment cost
• Hourly rate (including employee pay)

These are a few among the many factors you should consider before establishing the best possible cleaning price for your services.

Click here to download our FREE pricing calculator build just for cleaning business owners like you! This calculator is quick, easy to use, and it’ll tell you exactly how to price your services.

Fix Your Pricing in Under 10 Minutes

7. implementation strategy.

In essence, your implementation strategy outlines the marketing and sales strategies you use to upsell your cleaning services .

Depending on your overhead costs and services prices, you can determine how many clients you’ll need to win in order to reach your profit goals.

Then, you have to find out how you’re going to win those clients.

Take a look at a few basic marketing strategies to get you started:

• Facebook Ads
• 9-arounds with flyers

Click here to explore more marketing strategies you can use to win more cleaning clients .

In your implementation strategy, you can get as specific as you’d like and include things such as:

• Sales forecast
• Sales strategies
• Milestones (if any)
• Competitive advantages

Your implementation strategy is whatever you need it to be. Use it to explore various ways to determine how you’re going to win more clients and reach your overall goals.

When you properly create an effective implementation strategy, you can establish a clear plan of what your marketing campaigns need to look like in order to surpass your goals .

8 Steps to Effectively Advertise on Facebook (with video instruction)

8. management summary.

Fun fact: Labor costs can make up as much as 30% of your annual revenue costs.

As a result, your management summary makes up an important aspect of your cleaning business plan.

Unlike many of your other costs, you can better control your labor costs than anything else.

Streamlining your everyday operations, increasing your route density, and improving your time management are just a few ways you can control your labor costs.

By the way, did you know that Service Autopilot can automate ALL of these tasks AND MORE using our cleaning software? One of the keys to keeping your labor costs down is knowing when to hire more cleaners.

Click here to check out our free, quick guide to knowing when and how to hire the best of the best cleaning employees!

Your prices + operational costs + your profits will help you find out when you should hire your next cleaners.

Your management summary should include things like:

• Your salary
• Labor costs and employee pay
• Number of employees needed to reach your goals
• How many jobs you can realistically complete in a day (if you’re flying solo)
• Minimum service charge to service a property (and still reach your profit goals)

At first, you might not have enough clients to hire a new cleaner and that’s okay.

Many new cleaning business owners clean houses on their own for a year or two until they win enough clients to hire their first employee.

When you start feeling tired and overworked, then you know it’s time to hire a new employee .

However, if you’re feeling overworked and still can’t afford to hire a new cleaner, then it’s probably time to consider raising your cleaning prices .

Click here to see how much you should be paying your cleaners (there’s also a FREE employee wage calculator inside).

Fix Your Wages in Under 10 Minutes

9. financial plan.

A financial plan gives you a sense of how successful and profitable your cleaning business is.

When you don’t have a financial plan, you’re blindly growing your business without any clue to the state of your finances.

The types of cleaning businesses that skip this step are the types of cleaning businesses that end up leaking profits and going bankrupt.

It’s a good idea to consult with your bookkeeper or accountant as you build out this section of your business plan.

A financial advisor is great because they can evaluate your finances early on and discover profit holes and financial concerns BEFORE they become a problem.

Even though it does cost a bit to speak with a financial advisor, it can determine the success or failure of your cleaning business.

I strongly suggest you speak with a reputable financial advisor ASAP before completing this business plan.

After all, your finances are important and can either make or break your business.

As a result, the margin for error is small and it’s important to get it done right the first time . Make sure you consistently consult with financial advisors.

Take a look at a few things your financial plan includes:

• Balance sheet
• Business ratios
• Start-up funding
• Personnel planning
• Expense budget
• Break-even analysis
• Projected cash flow
• Projected profit and loss

The items above in bold are the ones the bare bones items that you MUST include in your financial plan. The rest of the items are bonuses that you can use to take your business plan to the next level.

Even though not everything listed above will apply to you, it’s a great start in creating your first cleaning business plan.

Use Your Cleaning Business Plan to Build a Successful Cleaning Business

At last, you’re ready to get out there and begin building out your first cleaning business plan!

Even though a business plan can be time-consuming, this complete, step-by-step guide shows you a simplified process of how YOU can create the best business plan for you starting TODAY.

Now, you have all the tools and knowledge you need to use these steps to successfully grow your cleaning business and surpass your goals!

Related: How to Get Your Cleaning Clients to Pay You

Originally published Feb 11, 2021 5:41 PM

Tags: Business Operation , Featured Post

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Ultimate checklist for starting a cleaning business

Creating your own cleaning business can be a rewarding experience, but it’s important to make sure you’re prepared for everything that comes with it. This includes starting a cleaning business checklist.

Below is a comprehensive list that you can use as your cleaning business “starter kit”. It includes everything you need to do before launch, so read on to learn more!

Starting a cleaning business: The ultimate checklist

These are the seven steps you have to take before you can start your cleaning business:

1. Determine the types of cleaning services you want to provide

When planning your business, the first thing to do is decide what type of services you’d like to provide. This will narrow down the supplies and equipment you need and determine what you should look for in future employees.

A residential cleaning business will likely only need inexpensive and basic cleaning supplies. In contrast, a company that offers specialized services for commercial establishments (say, high-rise window cleaning) requires more expensive equipment and specialized training for workers.

Below is a breakdown of the two categories cleaning services are divided into.

Residential cleaning

Residential cleaning service involves cleaning houses, apartments, condo units, and other domestic dwellings. The most common types of residential cleaning solutions are:

• General home cleaning.
• Deep cleaning and spring cleaning.
• Upholstery and carpet cleaning.
• Basic window cleaning.
• Chimney sweeping.
• Pressure washing.
• Pool cleaning.

Commercial cleaning services

Image credit: Priscilla Du Preez via Unsplash

You may be surprised by how different commercial cleaning is from residential cleaning. For one, the working hours are very different.

Home cleaners often work during the day or standard business hours. Commercial cleaners, on the other hand,  usually work after business hours to not disrupt office staff.

Customer expectations are also very different for these types of cleaning services.

Residential clients may be more detail-oriented, especially if they are particular about their space. But when it comes to office cleaning, you don’t have to worry so much about the small details.

As mentioned above, the kinds of cleaning supplies and equipment you need also vary. For example, if you work for a hospital, you need medical-grade disinfectants. On the other hand, large offices that need weekly cleaning require industrial-grade vacuum cleaners and floor buffers.

Finally, you’ll notice a stark difference in cash flow.

With a residential customer base, you can charge an hourly rate and expect to be paid at the end of each cleaning session. And if you provide consistent service for a commercial client, you’re likely to be paid monthly.

Here are some commercial cleaning services you can offer:

• Office cleaning.
• Janitorial cleaning.
• Window washing.
• Medical cleaning.
• Sports cleaning.
• Sanitization and disinfection.
• Post-construction cleanup.

2. Write your business plan

Starting a cleaning business checklist would be amiss without a business plan. Think of this as a blueprint of what you want your business to look like.

Writing a business plan helps cleaning business owners define goals and the scope of work. It ensures you understand the cleaning industry and find market opportunities to scale your business.

Without going into too much detail, here’s a summary of what your business plan should include.

Executive summary

This short section (usually one or two pages long) includes your business’ vision and mission, a description of your services, a summary of the market and your competition, and your competitive advantages. Essentially, this part serves as an outline for your entire business plan.

Company description

This is where you’ll describe your business in more detail. Your company description should include:

• A registered cleaning business name (bonus points if it’s catchy).
• Your business address.
• The names of the key people and roles involved in the business.
• Your company history.
• The nature of your business.

Management structure

Part of starting a cleaning business checklist is nailing down the structure of your soon-to-be business.

Will you be operating your business as a sole proprietorship, a partnership, or a corporation? Who are the key members of your business? And what are the percent ownership and level of involvement of each owner?

Think this through and then include these details in your business plan.

Market analysis

Before starting a cleaning business checklist, it’s critical to do competitive research. Get to know what:

• The cleaning industry is like.
• The market is like in your prospective service area.
• The themes and trends are.
• You can do better than your competitors.

This will give you an edge and help you carve out a place in the market.

List of services

This is where you talk about the services your cleaning business will offer. This is the part where you figure out your pricing model and reflect on what makes your business different from (or even better) than your competition.

Consider these questions:

• Will you charge clients an hourly rate or a fixed fee?
• Will you bill based on the number of cleaning staff or per square footage?
• Will you sell bundled services at a discounted rate?

Pro-tip: If the subject of pricing cleaning services confuses you, this guide on how much a commercial cleaning business makes will help you.

Sales and marketing plan

Starting a cleaning business checklist is never complete without thinking of how to make money.

Once you know where your strengths lie, figure out how to market your business to your potential customers. Here are some of the things you can include in this section:

• Your company logo.
• Your branding guidelines (What colors, fonts, and imagery to use on your business cards, flyers, posters, website, etc.).

Your marketing plan should use the vast social media and digital marketing tools at your disposal. Most customers expect businesses to have a well-designed website, a Facebook and Instagram page, and to be registered in at least one of the following directories:

• Google My Business.
• Yelp For Business.

QuickBooks gets you started, Method helps you grow.

Financial analysis and projections.

Image credit: Avel Chuklanov via Unsplash

Starting a cleaning business checklist includes asking yourself the following questions:

• How much funding will you need in the next five years?
• How will you use your capital?
• Where will you get funding?

Be sure to detail how your funds will be used and make a list of the cleaning supplies, equipment, cleaning solutions, office rental costs, company vehicles, employees’ salaries, and bills your operation will have.

Finally, you have to include your projections for your financial outlook for the next five years. Some experts suggest using monthly and quarterly forecasts for your first year.

3. Register and insure your cleaning business

Before running your business, you need to get permits, a license, and insurance. Here’s a list of some of the things you absolutely must have before you can operate legally:

• Employee Identification Number: Also known as an EIN, businesses need a Federal Tax Identification Number for tax filing.
• Doing business as (DBA) license: This license allows you to conduct business with a different name than your legal name. This is renewed every five years.
• General liability insurance: This protects your cleaning business if a client tries to sue you for any injuries or damages that happen while you conduct business with them.
• Workers’ compensation insurance: This type of insurance covers any medical bills your staff has to pay if  they encounter an accident or injury in the workplace.

At this point, it’s also good to get a lawyer and an accountant to help you sort all these requirements.

4. Find the right cleaning equipment and supplies

The right supplies can make or break your cleaning business. Cheap equipment can cost you hundreds of dollars in repairs while using an effective cleaning agent could impress clients enough to get you customer referrals!

Here’s a short breakdown of some of the essential cleaning supplies and equipment you’ll need to get started:

Ideal cleaning supplies checklist

• Mop, bucket, and washable mop pads.
• Duster, broom, and dustpan.
• Cleaning brushes and scrubbers.
• Microfiber cloth and rubber gloves.
• Garbage bags.
• Toilet brushes.

Cleaning products checklist

Image credit: Anna Shvets via Pexels 

At the minimum, you will need a multi-purpose cleaner, bathroom disinfectant cleaner, kitchen disinfectant cleaner, dishwashing liquid, and glass cleaner. Other things you need when starting a cleaning business checklist are:

• Carpet shampoo.
• A descaling agent.
• Floor cleaner.
• Laundry detergent.
• Wood cleaning solution.

Cleaning equipment checklist

• Vacuum cleaner.
• Handheld vacuum.
• Carpet cleaner.
• Floor waxing machine.

Other important tools

• Cleaning caddy.
• Respirators.
• Company vehicle.

5. Hire additional employees

You may not hire employees in the early days of your business, but it’s still good to know when and how to hire people.

One clear indicator that you need more staff is when your customer service falters. When you miss appointments, are unable to answer customer inquiries, or disappoint customers with your service quality — it’s time to grow your team.

Some of the roles you’ll likely need to fill as your business expands are:

• Office manager.
• Office assistant.
• Cleaning staff.
• Marketing and sales representatives.
• Customer service representatives.
• An accountant.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg! Check out this article for how to hire workers and grow your cleaning business.

6. Advertise your cleaning business

Starting a cleaning business checklist means thinking about getting more customers. The first step here is to advertise your business.

After all, you can’t expect to make appointments if people don’t know about you in the first place. Here are some of the first steps you can take towards successfully advertising your business.

Build your brand

Branding is all about having a cohesive story about your business. You want to convey who you are and what services you provide through your brand name, logo, website, etc.

Don’t know where to start with branding? A good first step is to hire a professional to design a uniquely yours logo. From there, you can build your brand around the themes and feel of your logo.

Create a website

In 2022, you can’t have a successful business without a website.

Your website is your online home base — a place where potential customers can learn about you, communicate with you, and even book an appointment.

With a strong SEO strategy, your website is a great digital marketing tool to rank your website high on search engines to create brand awareness and drive sales.

Sign up for social media

Like a website, an active social media page is also vital to making it big. With 2.89 billion active users and the ability to create targeted ads, Facebook is your best bet.

You can also advertise the traditional way, with flyers, billboards, and TV spots. But bear in mind that these can cost you a small fortune.

For small businesses starting, digital marketing is a much more budget-friendly approach.

7. Invest in tools and resources that improve your business

Starting a cleaning business checklist is an excellent first step but if you want to grow quickly, cleaning service software is the way to go. This business solution is designed to help cleaning professionals:

• Automate key workflows to maximize productivity.
• Instantly schedule, route, and dispatch jobs.
• Handle day-to-day operations with ease.
• Track employee hours for accounting and payroll.

CRMs or customer relationship managers serve as a centralized hub for customers’ data, transaction history, contact information, messages, and other essential details. These help your business provide fast and consistent customer service.

There are also field service software solutions made for businesses that send workers out on fieldwork. Field service software can help you book and schedule appointments, track cleaning crews’ locations and hours while out in the field, monitor inventory, and create invoices from one central hub.

How to start a commercial cleaning business

Starting a commercial cleaning business requires strategic planning and execution. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you kickstart your commercial cleaning business up and running:

1. Market Research: Identify your target market, understand client needs, and analyze competition. This research guides your business strategy and helps you stand out in the commercial cleaning industry.

2. Business Plan: Develop a comprehensive plan outlining your goals, services, pricing strategy, and financial projections. A well-thought-out plan serves as a roadmap for your business and enhances your chances of success.

3. Legal Compliance: Register your business, obtain necessary licenses, and secure insurance. Ensuring legal compliance builds trust with clients and protects your business and reputation.

4. Equipment and Supplies: Invest in quality cleaning equipment and supplies necessary for efficient service delivery. Reliable tools are essential for providing top-notch commercial cleaning services.

5. Marketing and Branding: Create a strong brand identity, develop effective marketing strategies, and establish an online presence. These efforts are crucial for attracting clients and growing your commercial cleaning business.

Cleaning services FAQs

How much money do i need to start a cleaning business, how much does a cleaning service owner make, how do you charge for house cleaning.

You have to invest $2,000 to $10,000 to get a cleaning business off the ground. This should cover business permits, licenses, insurance, supplies and equipment, initial labor, and advertising costs.

According to ZipRecruiter, the average salary of a cleaning business owner in the United States is $55,949 a year or $27 an hour.

Cleaning professionals can choose from several methods, including:

• Per square footage.
• A flat rate.

Then, you can look up how much your competition charges with your chosen method to give yourself a baseline.

Closing thoughts on starting a cleaning business checklist

Congratulations, you’re now ready to start your own cleaning business! It’s not an easy task, but it can be enriching. We hope the information in this blog post has been helpful and that you are feeling ready to take on the challenge. Good luck!

Start automating your daily workflows with  Method:Field Services !

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Sarah Iranca

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Cleaning Service Business Plan

There are a lot of reasons why you need a solid business plan for your cleaning service business . One of the most important reasons is that it acts as an official document which helps you with framing your objectives, goals and the ways to achieve them. Preparing a business plan may require little upfront investment and research from your side. However, if you are not getting enough time to reap a quality plan, you can try downloading free business plan documents and modify it according to your business requirements .

Check the below 10+ cleaning services business plan examples and choose the one that fits your business goals .

12+ Best Cleaning Service Business Plan Examples

Cleaning service business plan template.

• Google Docs

Size: US, A4

Cleaning or Janitorial Marketing Plan Template

Commercial Cleaning Service Business Plan Template

• Apple Pages

Size: 38 KB

Simple Cleaning Services Business Plan

Size: 714KB

Every business plan must be simple and easy to interpret the ideas while implementing it. Similarly, while creating a cleaning service business plan, there must be concise information about the management of your business, the mission statement for your company, location where you are going to offer your services, start-up cost, foreseen profits and losses, local competition, pricing and a lot more. So while creating a business plan make sure you have added all basic information which makes the plan simple yet effective. Check out the sample that highlights five elements essential to winning the competitors.

Sample Cleaning Business Plan

Size: 570KB

There are many parts you need to keep your eyes on while creating a business plan for cleaning business , budget is one of them. It will take you to the edge of the needle if you overspend your budget. If you are not taking the budget part very seriously while creating a business plan , you may end up with troubles smudging you. You can use the existed equipment for cleaning services instead of buying a new one. Having said that, you need to set the budgetary review on a monthly basis, so that you can review the ins and outs and modify the plan according to it. You can also consult with any cleaning business owner who has been in the field for more than years to learn the ideologies they followed in their journey.

Cleaning Operational Plan

Size: 120KB

Well, everyone can start a cleaning business, but not everyone can turn it into a thriving business. It needs a perfect plan to find a road map to success. A perfect cleaning business plan needs market research and business idea validation in order to differentiate your service offerings. A well-researched business plan asks you research on the present market standards. Once you are done with researching you will know certain strategies to break the ways of competitors to overcome your future plans.

Start-Up Cleaning Service Business Plan

A start-up agency must compose a perfect cleaning business plan in order to succeed in the race. It is very important to prepare a well-researched business plan to avoid pitfalls that may happen in future. One of the important things to be aware of is pricing. As a start-up, it is important to identify the ideal target audience before finalizing the charges. Pricing depends on various factors like the size of your house, how often and when you clean and equipment you use to clean the area. Depending on the above-mentioned things, a cleaner can charge the client, however as a newbie in this business you should not overprice for your services. This must be included in the pricing part of the business plan .

‘How to Start’ Cleaning Business Plan

If it is a start-up company you need to start with finding answers for why you need a business plan for your service. Even though your target is to boost your audience, you need to make sure you earn potential clients. Audience in common may not be a potential client for your service.

Commercial Cleaning Services Plan

Size: 140KB

The term itself denotes that the commercial cleaning company must earn good response over its commercial aspect. For this, having a perfect business plan is mandatory. Among various business tools for promoting your service and boosting your audience, you need to find the ideal one for you. You can start googling for business plan making software so that you find many ready-made templates available in the market.

Commercial and Residential Cleaning Business Plan

It is always essential to have thorough research on the present market status before creating a market plan . You need to analyse over the existing competitors, demographics and size of the market as an initial point. However, the information will not be concise to remember by heart, but you will certainly get an idea of how your business plan should be.

Maid-to-Clean Business Plan Example

Size: 119KB

If it is a cleaning company, the business owner will have to employ four to five maids to offer their services, but as an individual maid, it is out of the pattern. If it is maid to create cleaning business plan for their limited services, then it will be of comprising content includes objective, market analysis, company description and the services they provide. Check out the sample maid-to-clean business plan attached here.

Janitorial Business Plan Sample

Size: 196KB

janitorial business includes almost all kind of cleaning services such as housekeeping, building maintenance, commercial cleaning services, etc. So while preparing a business plan for janitorial services you need to be keen on including all the relevant services. A perfect cleaning service business plan must be ended up with proper validating of your idea and the facts. In this, you need to make sure all the information is true to the present market standards in order to avoid future hassles.

Standard Residential Cleaning Service

A successful business plan includes sections like an executive summary, a company description, extensive market analysis , business operations , financial projections and a lot more. This sample residential cleaning business plan comes in a way smarter than contemporary plans. This sample document contains details like vision, mission, management of the company, manpower solutions with overall services they provide. Check out the sample now.

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Palouse Cleaning Solutions LLC

Specializing in Commercial, Residential, Move In/Out, Kitchens, Bathrooms, Basements, windows, rain gutters, carpets, pressure washing and much more. No job too big or small. Call us for your free quote today and ask us about our ten percent Guarantee !

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Advise the pickups and where it to buy (for moscow cleaning comp)

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Greetings professionals! We plan to clean snow from the big parkings and highways in Moscow. Now in Russia pickups for such work aren't used and consequently we have no experience in it. And in Russia not probably to buy cars (Ford F series, Dodge Ram, Chevrolet Silverado and other pickups) from the official dealer. We have decided to find cars with run and to bring them to Moscow. For this reason I have decided to address to professionals of this business with questions: 1. What pickups (2005-2010 of release) to buy for these works better and more cheaply? 2. Advise the seller of pickups with run (an ideal variant would be to buy some trucks with run in cleaning company, that cars have been equipped). With best regards from Moscow Anton  

Now we do it so But, at this tractor very big fuel consumption and it often breaks  

There was a guy on here last year who was trying to set up a Meyer snow plow company near you. Just can't find the information on it. Can you import John Deere tractors?  

John Deere tractors are presented in Russia. They can be bought easily. We want to use pickups because they are mobile and do work quickly. This best parity of expenses to profit One more plus We don't have competitors who clean snow on pickups The big pickups at us are considered as a premium cars  

Greetings. Do you work with a upfitter in this country? If so it would be best to have them pre equipped with plows before shipping. If you need a contact let me know I work with a broker that exports specialty vehicles  

basher;1364931 said: Greetings. Do you work with a upfitter in this country? If so it would be best to have them pre equipped with plows before shipping. If you need a contact let me know I work with a broker that exports specialty vehicles Click to expand...

you need to go to a electric company auction. one from a snowy state,buy a fleet and you can quit the removal and be an importer/upfitter  

IPLOWSNO;1364989 said: you need to go to a electric company auction. Click to expand...

IPLOWSNO;1364989 said: one from a snowy state,buy a fleet and you can quit the removal and be an importer/upfitter Click to expand...

an upfitter is the installer of the equipment, sounds like you would do good,i don't know how to do links but try looking for national grid equipment auctions,  

An upfitter is someone, or a company, who installs plows and other equipment on trucks. They also usually sell new plows.  

Antonios;1364983 said: Yes, I would like to contact people who can sell to me pickups with run and make sending to Russia (For example: Ford F 150 (2007-2010), Dodge RAM (2005-2010), Toyota Tundra (2007-2010), Chevrolet Silverado and over) What price the good new snow plow? What price the good and not new snow plow? Click to expand...

White Gardens;1365031 said: But, the problem with used plows is they generally need work, and sometimes after you've made the repairs, you would have spent the same amount of money on new plows. Personally, in your situation, I would go with new snow plows. .... Click to expand...

Antonios;1364905 said: 1. What pickups (2005-2010 of release) to buy for these works better and more cheaply? With best regards from Moscow Anton Click to expand...

skimastr105;1365028 said: An upfitter is someone, or a company, who installs plows and other equipment on trucks. They also usually sell new plows. Click to expand...

A good friend of mine is from Russia and has bought and shipped a good number of vehicles home for family members. If you're looking for new/used trucks that are already setup and ready to go, we can probably help you out.  

Welcome to Plowsite!, You posted a video showing a tractor plowing, but it also has a sweeper on the back. Is it customary to use a sweeper when you plow? is it a requirement? if so, it may be more challenging to configure a pick up truck with a plow and sweeper.  

Ever thought of buying plows from the USA and fabricating brackets to mount them on surplus military vehicles from Russia and some of the other former soviet union? I think importing plows would be easier and cheaper then importing pickup trucks, but if you did import trucks, then I would stick with late models (less then 5 years old) already fitted with the plow, or talk to the major plow companies about becoming a dealer for that company in Russia, then import the trucks and install the plows yourself. As for the trucks, I would stick with 3/4 ton to 1 ton 4x4 only. and I would stick with the "Big 3" Ford, Chevy and Dodge and in that order (my opinion).. the plows I would also stick with the big name brands, Meyer, Western, and I would think Boss, but I am not familiar with any other then Meyer and Western.  

affekonig;1365128 said: A good friend of mine is from Russia and has bought and shipped a good number of vehicles home for family members. If you're looking for new/used trucks that are already setup and ready to go, we can probably help you out. Click to expand...

snow patrol;1365131 said: Welcome to Plowsite!, You posted a video showing a tractor plowing, but it also has a sweeper on the back. Is it customary to use a sweeper when you plow? is it a requirement? if so, it may be more challenging to configure a pick up truck with a plow and sweeper. Click to expand...

Dr Who;1365231 said: Ever thought of buying plows from the USA and fabricating brackets to mount them on surplus military vehicles from Russia and some of the other former soviet union? Click to expand...

Dr Who;1365231 said: I think importing plows would be easier and cheaper then importing pickup trucks, but if you did import trucks, then I would stick with late models (less then 5 years old) already fitted with the plow, or talk to the major plow companies about becoming a dealer for that company in Russia, then import the trucks and install the plows yourself. Click to expand...

Dr Who;1365231 said: As for the trucks, I would stick with 3/4 ton to 1 ton 4x4 only. and I would stick with the "Big 3" Ford, Chevy and Dodge and in that order (my opinion).. the plows I would also stick with the big name brands, Meyer, Western, and I would think Boss, but I am not familiar with any other then Meyer and Western. Click to expand...

Where I can create a theme becoming the dealer? I want to learn cooperation conditions  

Antonios;1365371 said: Has tried to understand correctly your messages and correctly to answer. All this techniques is already obsolete. To the person it is not comfortable in it to work and eat complexities in management and operation. Some military trucks of old times consume about 40-50 liters of fuel on 100 kilometers. 1 liter of fuel costs at us nearby 1$. If such car pushes snow that consumption of fuel will grow! It isn't favourable! thanks Click to expand...

Antonios;1365373 said: Where I can create a theme becoming the dealer? I want to learn cooperation conditions Click to expand...

I have seen video of some of the roads there in Russia, the ones that are not paved and how they become in the winter/wet seasons that i had forgotten about. I am not sure that trucks less then 5 years old wouldn't stand up to that abuse, most trucks now are not really built for work, but for comfort. Now granted Ford,Chevy and Dodge do make work trucks, they are by no means built for hard off road work like they were 20-30 years ago. They are more for driving in snow covered roads on the way to a work site, not for beating around in 1 meter of mucky frozen roads. To bad that you can not import some old USA military trucks, I think they would be your best and cheapest option if you were working out in areas were the roads are just all mud and snow. For in the city or not to bad of country roads, the pickups would do fine, but if the roads are in bad shape then I think that the brushes might be the best bet, as you say they contour to the road. Were as a plow would only ride on the highest part of the road, or be "tripping" all the time, or worse you get hung up on something and break the plow/truck. I am sure there are ways to put a brush on a truck, its all ran from hydraulics but it may take some fabrication and a remote electric over hydraulic pump to run them.  

What price at you on pickups with run (2006-2007) ?  

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