Getting Started with Your Cleaning Business Opportunity
A Home Business Article Contributed by Elizabeth Fox-Wise
Opportunity Abounds for a Cleaning Business
As more and more families are becoming two income households, the opportunity for those who wish to start a cleaning business are countless. After working 10 hour days, driving the kids to all of their activities and getting a meal on the table, it just seems like no one has the time or desire to do house cleaning anymore. Therefore, millions of families are turning to independent cleaning businesses to take care of their domestic chores.
A cleaning business is a home business opportunity that pretty much anyone can start. It requires very little capital to get your business off the ground, fits easily into a home base situation, and typically, does not require specialized skills. What it does require is a lot of hard work and (hopefully) a love for cleaning!
Things to do before Starting Your Cleaning Business Opportunity
The first thing you will need to do is choose a name for you cleaning business. Your name is your opportunity to stand out among the competition, so try to be creative and choose a name that gives your business an air of professionalism. A business name such as Jill's cleaning would probably not make you stand out. But what is the one cleaning company that most of us think of when we try to come up with a name? Merry Maids probably came to your mind.
That is a catchy name that will stand out and be memorable. Another business which is seeing great success with domestic work at coined the name "Rent-A-Spouse" - which basically says it all!
Another thing you will want to do before picking up contracts for you cleaning business opportunity is seek insurance. You may be tempted to skip the expense of a good insurance policy, but if you are serious about your business opportunity, you will not skip this necessity. First of all, carrying insurance will give you an edge over the competition because many small cleaning businesses do not carry insurance.
Secondly it will give your prospective clients an immediate sense of confidence in you. And perhaps most importantly, it will give you piece of mind. You may be in people's homes cleaning when they are not home, you do not want to have to worry about a big lawsuit when a client accuses you of breaking or stealing their possessions.
Related to this, go to your local police barracks or city hall and run a background check on yourself. There is typically a small fee for this service, buy you should (hopefully) receive a report stating you do not have a criminal record. This report should be included in your business portfolio.
Now You are Ready to Find Clients for Your Cleaning Business Opportunity
Generally, it is not recommended that you hang flyers advertising your service. That may work for the high school student looking to pick up some weekend work, but is not where people will look when they want to hire a professional cleaning service. Print up business cards and pass them out. Run business card ads in local papers. And if at all possible, get yourself into the yellow pages of the telephone book.
Typically, a successful cleaning business will find that most of their clients come through personal referrals after they gather their first few happy customers.
