I have been contacted by several individuals who either want to start a cleaning service or have one or two small accounts and want to grow. In the next few articles I will address some of the key points to consider as you begin a challenging yet satisfying career. 

 

Although some individuals today were born into the business, most of us in the cleaning business migrated to this field of work due to a job change or desire to be our own boss. Few of us realized the sacrifice required as well as what we needed to know to succeed in this endeavor. Following are a few of the points to consider:

 

1. Expect to wear a lot of different hats when you first start off. Those hats may include lead janitor, floor tech, quality control, sales person, bookkeeper, equipment repair, purchasing agent and other duties as required.

2. If you already have an account or two, start tracking your costs now so that you have an idea of the type of profit you are actually making.

3. Your labor should have at least the dollar value of someone you would hire to perform the same tasks. 

4. Work from your BLR (burdened labor rate) which is the actual wages, taxes, benefits, etc.

5. At one time, hopefully in the near future you will hire or delegate someone to take on that job so you can spend more time on growing the business.

6. Unless you have reserves or a great line of credit, plan on doing a lot of the work yourself or using close family/friends who you can trust.

7. Beware of family and friends who are there for the money and you cannot manage due to the relationship.

 

Welcome to an exciting and challenging new world. More to come in future articles. Your comments and questions are important. I hope to hear from you soon. Until then, keep it clean…

 

Mickey Crowe has been involved in the industry for over 35 years. He is a trainer, speaker and consultant. You can reach Mickey at 678-314-2171 or CTCG50@comcast.net.


posted on 9/25/2014