Another cleaning business

chrissawyer21

Me and my friend are starting a cleaning business for both in the home and motor vehicles.

I am currently at university and he works full time and we want to do cleaning part time in the hope it takes off.

We are intending to knock on people's front doors asking if they wish for their car or home to be cleaned.

What I am interested to know is how people on this forum would react if a person was knocking on their home to ask if they would like it cleaned?

Would you be annoyed at the incovience? Not bothered? or would welcome your home or car to be cleaned.


I did a few years ago when I was around 13, cleaning cars. I was taken suprisingly seriously and acutally made about £60 in about a week which isnt bad for that age.

pitkin2020

chrissawyer21 wrote: »

Me and my friend are starting a cleaning business for both in the home and motor vehicles.

I am currently at university and he works full time and we want to do cleaning part time in the hope it takes off.

We are intending to knock on people's front doors asking if they wish for their car or home to be cleaned.

What I am interested to know is how people on this forum would react if a person was knocking on their home to ask if they would like it cleaned?

Would you be annoyed at the incovience? Not bothered? or would welcome your home or car to be cleaned.


I did a few years ago when I was around 13, cleaning cars. I was taken suprisingly seriously and acutally made about £60 in about a week which isnt bad for that age.

Its a tough one, whilst you were 13 you were probably charging a very low rate for the work undertaken, plus you didn't bother with things like insurance and tax. Now though you will have to bother with those things, a lot of people aren't going to pay a great deal to have their home cleaned and you can take your car and have hand washed for £6 in most places.

Sounds like your not scared to get out there and chase the work but I wouldn't look at the domestic market unless your looking at the more affluent areas. Try and get in with the letting/estate agents and target end of tenancy cleans etc. If you can offer the whole package, cleaning, garden tidying etc you are more attractive than if they have to get several people in to do the job.

Your only other problem is every man, woman and dog start a cleaning a business. I can think of atleast 7 in my area that has started this year, and we are a small town.

chrissawyer21

Thanks for response

so your suggesting work with estate agents to clean, tidy and prepare houses and gardens for sale?

Unless i have misunderstood. It seems a good concept, although wouldnt the family attempting to sell prepared the property themselves to extract the maximum value from it and keep it maintained until they move?

lincroft1710

chrissawyer21 wrote: »

We are intending to knock on people's front doors asking if they wish for their car or home to be cleaned.

What I am interested to know is how people on this forum would react if a person was knocking on their home to ask if they would like it cleaned?

Would you be annoyed at the incovience? Not bothered? or would welcome your home or car to be cleaned.

I never do business with people who cold call.

Many areas now have "No Cold Calling Zones", where the police will be informed of your activities.

Far better to get some cheap flyers produced and put through peoples' doors.

pitkin2020

chrissawyer21 wrote: »

Thanks for response

so your suggesting work with estate agents to clean, tidy and prepare houses and gardens for sale?

Unless i have misunderstood. It seems a good concept, although wouldnt the family attempting to sell prepared the property themselves to extract the maximum value from it and keep it maintained until they move?

Not houses for sale, houses for rent. When I had my cleaning business we would work with a lot of letting agents and estate agents who deal with rental properties. When the tenant leaves not everyone is that respect full, some will leave the property clean just like when they moved in, others will just leave the property as it is uncleaned, and it may not have been cleaned in months. We used to charge anywhere between £40 for a quick hoover to a couple hundred for something more.

stardust09

I would be quite dubious about anyone who knocked on my door wanting to clean my house. I'd feel that I was putting myself at risk of theft (either at the time or for them to come back later when nobody's in) or putting my personal safety at risk. I would want to hire someone from a reputable cleaning firm or who'd been recommended to me. I think the idea of working with letting agents and estate agents is much better.

You do also need to think about insurance, tax and national insurance. Say you had an accident and knocked bleach all over someone's carpet. They won't be wanting to claim for that off their house insurance as you'd be responsible. Also remember that your wage when you were 13 was in a different economic climate.

As for the car cleaning. Well, like someone else said, there's lots of cheap car washing everywhere and if I went to one of those places, I wouldn't have to supply a water source (e.g. hose pipe or having someone trailing buckets of water through my house.

I think you've got ambition but you need a better business plan. Look at your local area - what's being offered and what's missing or what could be done better? Who can you talk to who would have inside knowledge of these things? How are you going to establish yourself as a business and look professional? Two of you are going to be trying to clean homes and vehicles - that seems a bit too diverse and there's only two of you. I'd stick with a solid, related package that you'll offer then branch out later if you want to.

Just some thoughts. Good luck, whatever you decide.

pitkin2020

You have to remember most kids around 12-15 would knock on the neighbours door and do odd jobs for a couple quid here and there but a lot of people are going to be dubious of an adult offering a similar service door to door. You would be much better leafleting if that really is your chosen market. You could also approach carpet cleaners as a lot will already be in within letting agents already but may not offer end of tenancy cleans so they could help get your foot in the door, in return you pass carpet cleaning jobs on them.

paulwf

I don't think you should be put off by competition but the key to being a good cleaner - like in any business - is being punctual and reliable and never letting the client down. Good, honest and hard working cleaners are hard to find, my mum used to do cleaning part time and once you get one client recommend you to friends and family she had to turn lots of business because everyone wanted her.

I have friends who have paid a lot of money for cleaners and had them not turn up, do a poor job or break things and then run off. They don't want a constant stream of poor quality cleaners, they want one good solid recommendation. So...stick at it, you might have to keep chipping away for months but once you get your foot in a few doors it will snowball. But remember to never ever let the client down, always put in 100% effort and if things go wrong be honest about it.

Good luck!

Savvy_Sue

chrissawyer21 wrote: »

What I am interested to know is how people on this forum would react if a person was knocking on their home to ask if they would like it cleaned?

"No thank you." And yes, the first time I would be that polite. I can't promise that I would remain that polite if you did it more than once.

chrissawyer21 wrote: »

Would you be annoyed at the incovience? Not bothered? or would welcome your home or car to be cleaned.

I'd be annoyed at the interruption: once I'm home, that's it, I don't welcome cold callers.

chrissawyer21 wrote: »

I did a few years ago when I was around 13, cleaning cars. I was taken suprisingly seriously and acutally made about £60 in about a week which isnt bad for that age.

You have to remember that when you were 13, most of your neighbours would have recognised you, and you wouldn't have been seen as such a security threat, IYKWIM.

chrissawyer21 wrote: »

so your suggesting work with estate agents to clean, tidy and prepare houses and gardens for sale?

Unless i have misunderstood. It seems a good concept, although wouldnt the family attempting to sell prepared the property themselves to extract the maximum value from it and keep it maintained until they move?

There's more money in end of tenancy cleaning, as stated. However it could be a bit seasonal, especially throughout the summer if you're in a Uni town. That might suit you!

A thought: ask your Uni accommodation office if they would employ you? As well as the Uni accommodation (for which they probably have all year round cleaners) they may have seasonal jobs for the accommodation they manage!

Mr_futuristic

pitkin2020 wrote: »

Not houses for sale, houses for rent. When I had my cleaning business we would work with a lot of letting agents and estate agents who deal with rental properties. When the tenant leaves not everyone is that respect full, some will leave the property clean just like when they moved in, others will just leave the property as it is uncleaned, and it may not have been cleaned in months. We used to charge anywhere between £40 for a quick hoover to a couple hundred for something more.

Hi, I've just started an office cleaning business after graduating from university but I'm now faced with a dilemma. I've got the domestic side of the business covered as I am doing cold calling and leaflet drops, but I have no clue about where to start with offices.

The idea to work with estate agents is fantastic, but the problem with most is, they already have a list of contractors in place, and although I can be added to the list for future reference, I am looking for something I can do now to market the business and get it heard about/ known.

You might sense the urgency in my post (planning on marriage next year so need to get this started ASAP)

Horace

Sabka, I have already responded on your post and left a lengthy reply.

OP. I hate cold callers too - I even had a student leave a note on my door asking for cleaning work needless to say she didnt get any because I didn't know who she was.

I know someone who cleans carpets and he makes a point of ringing his clients to say that he is on his way, if he gets stuck somewhere then he rings and gives an estimated time he will be there or if he can't make it. He told me once that he had a clean booked at an old lady's house and he turned up at the allotted time and she wouldn't answer the door, he was all for phoning the police when he saw the upstairs curtains twitch, eventually she came down and let him in saying how surprised she was that he turned up on time and that as she had been let down before had decided to have a lie in. You should offer a great customer experience and that way you will get repeat business.