set up a little cleaning buisness

nosierosie

carkeyz wrote: »

I am starting up my own cleaning business as well at the moment, nice that we can all bat ideas around without treading on each others toes!

Good luck with yours. Hope you do well, and yes its good to get ideas of other people

Debicj

I had my own small cleaning business a few years ago and will shortly be starting up again.

I got into it without any planning really. I started off cleaning for an old lady as a favour for her daughter. Then a couple of her neighbours wanted me too. Most of my business came from word of mouth but I also advertised in local phone directories that didn't charge. I used to charge per job at a rate of between £8 and £10 per hour depending on how dirty the work was. I provided the cleaning materials (Not very expensive and an allowable expense for tax). Also, remember to keep a detailed log of mileage if you use your car for work as this is allowable against tax too. Insurance is vital. If you break anything the customer will probably want you to replace it or pay for it. You should also insure your car for business use.

I found that I could earn around £120 for 2 days work that fitted in to school hours and didn't have to pay any tax because I didn't earn enough. The down side is that when you have time off for holidays, sickness etc. there is no income.

I did branch out and do some offices during the evening for a while. However, I found that this was too much for me alone and I had to employ a couple of girls. This didn't suit me as their work wasn't up to my standard and I felt that I had to be behind them all the time to make sure the work got done. Also, it was a pain when they didn't turn up. Personally, I rather work alone now as I don't want the hassle of employees.

I hope this helps.