Report: Sales And Profits Are Up For BSCs

A new report from BSCAI shows businesses saw strong profits for 2018, and predict their profits for 2019 will be just as high.

The “2019 Report on the Building Service Contractor Market,” which was produced by BSCAI and Contracting Profits, helps cleaning professionals understand current market trends and compare themselves with other professionals. The survey included 239 participants’ responses and covered various topics, such as market share, service offerings, employee retention and overall business conditions.

The report concluded that sales and profits were key indicators of continued prosperity in the market. In 2018, 65 percent of respondents said they had slightly higher or significantly higher profits. Following a successful year in 2018, 48 percent of BSCs expect profits to be slightly higher in 2019. BSCs have similar hope for sales, with 42 percent expecting sales to increase slightly in 2019.

With an increase in growth comes an increase in services. When asked what “special services” BSCs currently provide or plan to provide within the next 12 months, a whopping 88 percent of respondents answered floor finish stripping/application, and 87 percent answered carpet cleaning. Among the lowest responses were pest control at 6 percent and composting services at 3 percent.

The report also found that certain market segments are stronger than others are. Seventy-three percent of respondents believe that the commercial market segment, which includes office buildings and property management firms, is currently the strongest. However, 36 percent of respondents said that they are targeting the health care market segment for growth. This includes hospitals, nursing homes and medical and dental offices. The transportation segment fell last, with only 7 percent of BSCs claiming it is currently a strong market.

Although BSCs expect the industry to continue growing in 2019, there are still problem areas to consider, such as competitive pay.

According to the report, industry professionals pay 42 percent of new janitors higher than the living wage, the federal minimum wage and the state minimum wage. Yet, for 46 percent of janitors, the No. 1 reason to leave a company is for more pay elsewhere. The report also dug into employee retention amongst janitors and found that 31 percent stay with a company for three to five years, while 18 percent stay for one year.

Additionally, only 9 percent of BSCs plan to acquire a cleaning company in the next 12 months — despite the promising market trends.

This report also explores:

• Turnover rates
• Certifications
• Cleaning frequencies
• And more

The full report is available on BSCAI’s website or CleanLink.com.