Can I start a cleaning business on a part time basis?
Yes you can, but it will take you longer to achieve results. When you are out of the ‘office’ make sure you record a suitable answer-phone message or divert to your mobile if you are able to pick up calls during the day. Always call clients and cleaners back at the earliest opportunity. You can schedule cleaner interviews and client presentations for after you finish your day job, at weekends and days off. You can also conduct your marketing activities at weekends and in the evening.
Can I start my cleaning company in any postcode area I choose?
Yes you can, this opportunity is not geographically limited like a franchise. However, initially our advice is to keep your business operation as close to your home base as possible to reduce travelling time and associated costs. It’s always best to start in your local area if possible, as clients and cleaners often prefer to deal with local companies. Once you’ve built up your operation you could consider expanding into neighbouring towns
How much initial funding will I require to start my cleaning business?
How long is a piece of string? Here are some practical ideas for starting up when you have very little funding:
- Set up a room or dedicated area in your home to use as an office.
- Use your home phone or mobile for business calls.
- If you do not have a PC or laptop you could set up a paper-based record system to begin with.
- If you have a computer, but lack office software, you can get it for free by installing the excellent Open Office software suite.
- Print your business forms, stationery and marketing materials from your computer rather than spending money with external Printers.
- If you can’t afford newspaper advertising why not print off some client marketing leaflets and deliver them yourself. Better still, try to rope in some friends and family members to help – let’s face it we could all do with a little more exercise!
- Take advantage of free notice boards within your area to promote your company and advertise for cleaners.
- Tell everyone you meet that you’ve set up a new cleaning business – you’ll be surprised how powerful word of mouth can be for bringing in new clients and cleaners.
- Ask for recommendations from clients – a good recommendation is the best form of advertising.
- Ask your cleaners if they have friends who want to earn some extra money cleaning. This is the cheapest form of recruitment.
- Use free facilities to advertise your business like Google Places, Facebook and Twitter.
- Spread your yearly public liability insurance over 12 monthly payments rather than paying it all in one go.
Don’t forget that you could be earning income from this business within 2 weeks of start up and that clients pay you quarterly in advance which is great for cashflow. Our manual breaks down all the likely expenditures for you so you can prepare a proper budget. With our system you will NEVER have to pay out for cleaning equipment and cleaning products as these are provided by your clients.
How much money can I earn from this business?
This is really dependent on how much effort you are prepared to put in and how well you run your agency. Let’s look a few numbers:
The average client will want 3 hours cleaning per week. Let’s say you charge £2.50 per hour for your agency fee though this could be more. You will earn £7.50 per week which is paid quarterly in advance = £97.50. If the client stays with you for a year, which many do, they will be paying you £390.
So now we know the average earnings per client. Now imagine you sign up 2 clients per week, which is entirely possible if you work hard and follow our recommendations.
This would mean that you will have around 100 clients at the end of your first year, which equates to £39,000 in agency fees being generated if all those clients stay with you for 12 months. Now all you need to do is repeat the process in year 2 to double your earnings to £78,000. Now do you see the potential of this business!
What if I cannot afford to use an external Printer to print my forms etc?
I realise that some of my students have small start up budgets so we have developed our document customisation service to meet this need. For only £197 plus we’ll provide you with downloadable documents that you can open, edit and print on your computer. We will also add your company details to the appropriate documents:
- Company name
- Company address
- Company telephone number(s)
- Company email address
- Company logo (you supply the logo and we will add it or you can simply add the logo yourself at a later date)
How long will it take me to learn and implement your system?
Our system is designed to fast track you to success. We have distilled all our years of research and practical experience into this manual. All the ingredients are there but only you can make it happen. If you are motivated there is no reason why you couldn’t be established and earning your first income within 2 weeks of starting your cleaning business.
My advice is to take time to read through the manual and understand how things fit together. It’s not rocket science but like all new learning processes, you may need to break them into bite size chucks so you can digest them before moving on. Soon all the jig saw pieces will come together and you will be ready to ‘rock and roll’.
When does my 30 days free email support start?
Your 30 days free email support commences from your date of purchase.
Do you offer telephone support?
No, for time management reasons we only offer email support at this time.
How quickly do you respond to emails?
We aim to answer emails within 24 hours, subject to the volume of work we receive. In quieter periods we will respond on the same day.
Are there any areas where your business model will not work?
Our business model works best when there are sufficient clients and cleaners located in close proximity. For this reason it may not work well in sparsely populated areas or where there is an imbalance of clients to cleaners or vice versa. In other words finding an area which is extremely affluent and rich in clients is no use without a lower paid grouping being in close proximity. Similarly finding an area with an abundance of cleaners is no use unless there are affluent clients nearby who want those services. It’s no different to any other business – you must be able to match supply with demand.
Should I register for VAT?
Registering for VAT is not necessary unless your annual turnover is over £85,000 per annum (2020 / 2021). As soon as you reach the turnover limit you must register with HMRC and start charging VAT on your client fees. Please note that VAT is not chargeable on your cleaners’ earnings.
The disadvantage of charging VAT is that your cleaning rates will immediately increase which is unlikely to be welcome with clients. Also you will become less competitive against those competitors who do not charge VAT.
The advantages of charging VAT are that your business will be perceived as bigger and you will be able to claim VAT back on business purchases, however overall I would recommend you do not register for VAT until your revenue starts to approach VAT threshold limit.