Starting a cleaning business without cleaning 2024

Starting a cleaning business can sometimes feel intimidating or near impossible. This is the same feeling I had about 9 months ago (as I’m writing this article).

Well, allow me to ease that feeling and show you how quickly you can launch your own house cleaning business on the weekend.

I saw a need in my community for a smaller more flexible house cleaning company so I started one. In this guide, I will go over the research, pricing, advertising, hiring, and fulfillment.

How to research cleaning business competitors

Before starting your housekeeping business you will need to research your competition for you to understand the competitive landscape.

Give yourself a time frame for research so you don’t end up wasting too much time researching instead of doing it.

Visit local listing directories for house cleaning companies.

The best place to start your competitor research is by going to local directories like google my business (GMB), yelp, Thumbtack, Nextdoor, Bark, Porch, Facebook pages, etc and start reading competitor reviews.

You need to collect a number of reviews, read through the reviews, and identify common complaints and praises. The information you collect will determine what type of copy will be on your website and the number of reviews you will need initially (2 or 3 reviews are enough at the start).

Call competitors

The next step is to call competitors to get some intel on pricing, how they handle bookings (will come to this later), how quickly they answer/return calls (this will be one of your competitive advantages), also note how courteous they are on the phone.

Record everything on your research sheet and start thinking about how you can improve on all of their negative aspects.

Book a cleaning

This step is completely optional but if you can book at least one cleaning it would be great to have a first-hand experience of the quality of the service but also the punctuality of the company.

Now that you have all the information you need it is time to decide what type of company you will start. Will it be more of a luxuries high-end cleaning company or more of a regular cleaning company?

I personally decided to be on a high-end of the competition so we don’t have to clean a lot of homes but still get to our revenue goals.

What you need for cleaning business

Website

You will need a simple but fast website to start advertising and taking bookings from your clients. There are many options like Wix, Squarespace, and WordPress.

I personally went with WordPress for simplicity and flexibility but also the hosting fees are cheaper with hosting companies like Bluehost.

At the time I am writing this article they have monthly plans as low as $2.95/month. Once you sign-up all you need is to install WordPress, select a template, and customize it to match your brand. Some people are able to build their website in as little time as 4 hours. I did it.

Make sure you have a phone number on your business. There are many paid providers available but if you are on a budget a free google voice number will suffice.

You will also need a professional email address which Zoho has a free business email plan that is enough.

Cleaning business management software

I strongly recommend you get a cleaning business management software so your clients can quickly book without even calling you. I am using a software called BookingKoala and love it. There are other options in the market but I have not tried them so I can speak for them

With BookingKoala you can automatically provide instant quotes, and accept payments (connects to PayPal, Stripe, and Square.

Also, BookingKoala has a hiring pipeline module, website builder, email marketing module, text & SMS notification module, and more. It will send booking notification reminders to both your cleaners and clients.

Starting a house cleaning business without cleaning

Unless you are going to clean the houses yourself you will need to hire good and experienced cleaners. In my case, I leverage Indeed hiring platform to hire cleaners.

Other platforms where I have had success hiring talent include Craigslist and Facebook. You can also call smaller cleaning providers and ask them if they would like to pick up more jobs. Most will say yes.

@togopat Quickly start your own business #businessowner #dropservicing #cleaningbusiness #smallbusinessowner ♬ TO THE MOON – Jnr Choi & Sam Tompkins

The most effective method has been recommendations from my current cleaners, this has been working well.

Background checks and onboarding your cleaners

After interviews, you will need a way to onboard your cleaners. The best and easiest way has been using Gusto to handle all of HR and Payroll needs. They make it easy for you to follow all the legalities of the state.

Gusto can do reporting, process payroll, handle state taxes, report payroll payments that were done outside Gusto, and more. All you need to do is send an onboarding link to your candidate to self-onboard.

As far as background checks I use a company called ClearChecks which is relatively cheap and fast. I haven’t had any issues with them so far. Depending on your order, the results can come back in a couple of hours.

How to advertise cleaning business

Get listed on local directories

To advertise your cleaning business I suggest you do the following: List your business in all local directories like Google my business, Yelp, Nextdoor, Waza, Bing Places, Apple Maps, Thumbtack, Bark, Yellow Pages, Home Advisor, BBB, and more.

Make sure everything matches on the directories and is filled out completely. You can learn more about local directories here

Paid marketing

Depending on your budget you can utilize paid marketing by running campaigns like Facebook Ads, Google Local Service Ads, Sponsored Ads on Nextdoor, Bing Ads, and more. I, personally found more success with Google Local Service Ads and you only pay when custom calls you.

Referral program

You can implement a referral program within your company, essentially offering an incentive for any client referred to you by your current clientele.

Networking

Think about joining your local business networking groups like the chamber of commerce, meetups, BNI, etc, and start pitching your business.

How to promote your commercial cleaning business

Cold calling and cold emailing have been two of the best methods that have allowed me to land big commercial contracts. You can use software like Gmass, Uptics, or Mailshake to send customized emails, voicemails, and text messages.

The trick here is to do thorough research on your prospect before calling or emailing. First, it shows you have done your homework and can actually help them with their pain point, cleaning. Remember, this is all about quality than quantity, show professionalism.

How to grow the cleaning business

Now that you have your initial customers you need to continue with growth and retaining activities. This is the best time to start your SEO (search engine optimization) of your website and google maps listing.

Think about doing local sponsorships, like sponsoring your local T-ball team, or soccer team, and have your company name on the t-shirts, tickets, banners, etc.

What do cleaning businesses do?

Cleaning businesses do the following: deep cleaning, standard cleaning, move out/in cleaning, post-construction, commercial cleaning, and rental cleaning. Some companies do extreme cleaning for situations like hoarding and extreme decluttering.

You will need to create a separate list for each of these services so your customers know what to expect. If you have any add-ons services like cleaning inside ovens and fridges you will need to clearly spell out that they are extras.

You can also add services like carpet cleaning, laundry, closet arrangement, etc.

Conclusion: How to start a cleaning business without cleaning

Even if you’re a self-proclaimed procrastinator who spends weeks thinking and rethinking one business idea, you can create a profitable house cleaning business without consuming days of your time.

I’m proof it doesn’t require any form of wizardry or extraordinary talent to create a profitable cleaning company. What it takes is commitment and trust in the systems proven to generate results.

Do you have any ideas that I didn’t mention in this article?