How to start a cleaning business

How much do cleaners get paid?

UK Indeed reports that the average cleaner makes £10.31 per hour or roughly £19,000 per year. However, many of those cleaners could be employed to work in other people’s businesses. Check A Trade estimated that a cleaner who is a sole trader would earn closet to £35,000 a year.

Of course, your earning potential can also be affected by other factors such as your cleaning niche (residential, commercial, or other specialisation) and your level of qualifications or experience, so this should only be taken as a general benchmark.

Step-By-Step Guide: How to start a cleaning business?

As stated earlier, many competitors have been using a step-by-step format with their ‘how to start a cleaning business’ guide. This helps provide users with an easy-to-read format.

1. Identify your market and choose your type of cleaning business

   Doing your research is always the most important step when starting a business. Find out what other cleaning companies are in your area and see if there’s a type that’s missing. This will help you narrow down a market and choose your type of cleaning business. For example, if there’s a lot of residential cleaners in your area, but there’s no commercial ones and you have a business district near you, then there’s a gap in the market that you can fill.

2. Check your qualifications (Dependent on type of cleaning)

   Think carefully about the work that you’re going to do. Particularly if you’re engaging in the types of specialist cleaning mentioned earlier, you may need additional equipment or cleaning supplies which could require training or a license. If, for example, window cleaning is part of your product offering, then you’ll need to secure one – especially if you work in Scotland.

   Most Scottish councils require window cleaners to have a licence. If you’re based in England or Wales, you’ll need to register as a waste carrier, broker or dealer. Working without a licence comes with the risk of a £2500 fine.

   

   For more information about the types of business licences your cleaning company may need, visit AXA’s guide: Which business licenses do I need?

   Read the guide
3. Choose a name and setup a business license for your cleaning business

   What’s in a name? When you’re setting out in business, you’ll need to come up with a catchy moniker. But it’s important to check that you’re not using a business name that’s already been taken.

   How do you find out if your chosen business name has already been nabbed? If you’re thinking of establishing a limited company, there’s a handy search tool on Companies House where you can check if the name your company is using has already been taken. To get started, click here.

   If you’re a sole trader, it can be a little bit trickier to guarantee that your name is unique. There’s no official register of sole trader names in the UK, and when you register as a sole trader with the HMRC you do so with your own name. However, you could choose a ‘trading name’, so John Smith could become ‘John Smith trading as Sunshine Cleaning Company’, although you’ll still need to register this name as a trademark to stop others trading under the same name as you.

4. Buy necessary cleaning equipment for your business

   According to Check a trade, a self-employer cleaner will spend close to £5,000 a year on business expenses including their vehicle and fuel expenses, insurance, cleaning tools, marketing, and supplies.

   In your first year you might find that you need more money to get basic tools or to test out different cleaning products, so leave yourself a healthy budget.

   The supplies you need can vary depending on what type of cleaning business you’ve started, but some basics you might want include: disinfectant, bleach, multipurpose cleaner, floor cleaner, bleach, sponges, buckets, mops, protective gloves, mildew cleaner and more.

5. Decide how much to charge for your cleaning services

   You’ll need to work out how to price yourself and pitch your cleaning business. And if you want to make an impact, it’s important to stand out from the pack.

   Take a good look at your competition and think about the gaps in your local market. What can you do that other companies can’t? Could you provide a service or offering that others don’t? What do your future customers need or want from a cleaning company that currently isn’t being provided? Do they want more green products, flexible working hours or tailored services?

   What are your local competitors charging for their services? Price yourself accordingly, so you can stay competitive in the market and consider how you’ll accept payments too. Will you take advance payments, deposits or something a bit more flexible? Consult with your potential customers and clients to find out what works best for them to ensure you’re putting them at the heart of your plans from the outset.

   Incentives or discounts could also help you generate a bit of interest in your business and attract new customers, for example offering the first cleaning session for free, or a small discount if a client recommends your services to a friend.

6. Write a business plan/marketing plan

   To get ahead in life and business, you’ll need to plan. In the case of starting a cleaning company, that’s your business strategy and your marketing plan.

   But if you’re confused about where to begin, don’t worry. AXA’s guides to writing a business plan or marketing plan could help you kick off on the right foot.

7. Look for cleaning contracts & clients

   Once you’ve got all the business and marketing aspects sorted out, it’s time to start taking on clients. Where possible, try to get business agreed to in writing as that can help protect both you and your client. Be prepared to show proof of insurance as well, since some clients may require you to have that before they’ll enter into a business agreement with you.

   Remember to be realistic in how many clients you can take on in a given week and that you need to ensure you can get between client premises in a reasonable amount of time. Coordinating so that you don’t have long travel distances between clients will probably be one of your most challenging logistics to manage, so keep this in mind when taking on contracts.

8. Hire & train cleaners to grow your business

   If you get to a point where you have more clients than you can manage on your own, then it may be time to take on staff! Remember that you can always ease into having employees – taking on an apprentice or someone in a part-time role can be great ways to get an extra set of hands helping with the business. Just remember that if you employ anyone, it is legally required that you have employers’ liability insurance.

How much does it cost to start a cleaning business?

When you’re just starting out in business you might not have the biggest budget. So think intelligently about the amount of equipment you might need on day one, week one, and month one.

Your startup costs can vary significantly depending on the type of cleaning business that you start. A domestic cleaning service may only require small investment in a few essential items such as mops and cleaning cloths. In some cases, a client may even provide you with some cleaning tools in their home.

There’s the essentials like vacuums, mops, cloths and cleaning products that you’ll need – but have you considered specific signage that you’re legally required to have? Will your staff have full uniforms, or will an apron do?

Think about the minimum required to do a good job. Start small and build your business as you go. If you begin with the basics, you can always enhance your offer once you start to make a profit.

If you’re planning to become a commercial or a specialist cleaner, there may be higher costs associated with this as you’d likely need an equipment trolley, professional vacuum cleaner, other big equipment and a van to move it all about. And if you’re using a car or van to get around, you’ll probably need to consider van insurance too.