New Cleaning Business Idea Needs Advice Please.

[christopher davies]

Hello all, I'm a new member who is seriously thinking about taking the plunge and starting my own domestic cleaning business. I need some sound advice please as I work full time however it is shift work which gives me time during the day to be able to work on the business. I would target the letting agency market, student accommodation etc with a view to include carpet cleaning later on with the right training.

As a rule on average what sort of time would an experienced cleaner spend on an end of tenancy property? bearing in mind I have 7 hrs free during the day to carry out the cleaning.

Should I just limit my resources to letting agents or is there a demand in other areas that I don't know about.

Also as I would like to be as environmentally friendly as possible are there products that are more so than others?

So many questions I have to ask but the last one for now is as a minimum what would I need in the back of my van to be able to call myself a domestic cleaner.

Any advice would be greatly received.

Thanks Chris

 

[Robert Bailey]

How longs a piece of string, we've been in some one person just the morning, and some 3 people all day.

 

[Steve Swinney]

& many that you can loss money on

 

[Joe Hatton]

No point in having an "average" Christopher. Who knows, all your jobs may be !above average! and you loose out on every one.
I used to be terrible at estimating domestic cleaning jobs that were one offs (deep cleans) or EOT, ok with the general domestic household weekly cleans of between 2 and 6 hours.
We did one EOT where we estimated 30 hours and it took that plus a couple more.
It got to the point I used to put an "hours" on the jb then add 4 or 5 more.
Just make sure you are charging a good hourly rate of at least £18 ph, and tha is per person hours, so if there is 2 of you that is £36. Plus consumables as an extra.
As to your last question - can of spray polish and a duster.
Seriously, you need bucket, microfibre mop, microfibre cloths, white vinegar is good for windows/glass & stainless steel, steel ball if doing cooker tops, thick bleach for toilets (though not very enviro friendly)...... theres a starter for 10, others will add.

 

[gareth grace]

Back of my van i have a

• Henry Hover
• Micro-fiber cloths and other cloths all different colours for certain areas red being toilets etc
• Cleaning sprays i use a wide range of cleaners most from clover dilute them in to bottles
• Antibacterial disinfectants,
  
• Mop and bucket.
• List goes on i just add things all the time testing different products.

I dont do any letting agent tbh, i went to one who was telling me what price i was doing it for so i stopped that there and then and never bothered with them since.

Our website generates more of our work and we leaflet drop every now and again but the return is minimal on leaflets.
Your best bet is aiming at domestic as the average hours are anywhere between 2- 8 hrs per clean . If your going to do it, do it and promote the business with a website and tell every one with Facebook, Twitter , Friends and family any one that will listen and see what return calls you get. You need to get noticed..

Eco cleaning there are quite a few ecover and even clover chemicals do a range of eco cleaning products.

We dont use bleach as its so easy to spill and cause problems when your moving product from room to room we dont run that risk. I think its banned by most cleaning company's for similar reasons.

Good luck mate hope it goes well for you if you need any help drop me an email i will do the best i can

 

[Andrew Evans]

Hi Christopher good luck and welcome to cleantalk, I think all the answers are good above but it is a very hard and imo undervalued area of cleaning.

I would in your shoes and considering you have a regular job and income, set yourself up as a carpet cleaner and gradually do the right training etc and start off how you mean to carry on Joe who has a lot more experiance makes a good point charge around £18 per hour but lots out there are charging £10 per hour.

Estate agents are incredibly tight and fussy and will expect a lot for there money infact they will want £30 worth of work for £10!!

Get into carpet/uph cleaning then venture into leather cleaning restoration, concentrate on the domestic market and be prepared to invest heavily in marketing equipment and time and at least 5 years to build your business. It is very hard and you will want to give up at least 3 times a week (I did anyway). But if you make it, it really is a great way to make a living and build a sustainable income, don't under estimate the cost and the importance of marketing.

You could offer your services to a eot cleaner who struggles with carpets, They normally just have a george or slug doctor and heavy detergents!!

You have already made a good start coming here!!

Hope this helps and bet of luck

Andrew

 

[gareth grace]

It is very hard and you will want to give up at least 3 times a week (I did anyway).

Andrew

I agree with that. That is because running or starting a business is so hard work to get off the ground and i often thought i could just get a normal job its less hassle. Its no good and you have to stop thinking like that and push on

 

[Robert Bailey]

It's good that you already have your main job as backup, as said by others get into cleaning by starting on one sector,
Have a look locally on how many companies in your area do the different sides of cleaning.
You may find that you may not like carpet cleaning for instance but may like leather cleaning.
Find your own niche and market heavily until you feel that you can earn enough regularly to be able cast off those chains of being employed.
Best of luck ( your gonna need it )

 

[Andrew Evans]

That is soooo true Robert I was chatting to someone the other day and we were discussing which part we liked disliked or preferred!!

He loved the carpet cleaning, I don't dislike it but would rather clean a rug or leather or upholstery before carpets either way best of luck Christopher hope it works ourt for you. Marketing is the main thing though

 

[christopher davies]

Thanks guys really appreciate all the comments, I have a lot of thinking to do but I'm determined to get this off the ground. I love the idea of the carpet cleaning side of the business but will need to do some more investigating as to costs etc for machines / chemicals. Marketing is a key element also by the sounds of it. Thanks again for taking the time to answer my questions.

 

[Darran Pryce]

I have been on property two days with three guys and other days two guys deep cleaning property. Some properties have three or four bathrooms and 10 bedrooms (student property) which can take two guys two days to deep clean it. Domestic property usually 1 full long day with 1 man deep cleaning including carpets. Charging wise I charge £250/300 which includes up to 3 carpets. Student property is priced different as It depends if it through a landlord/letting agent, or direct to the tenant.