Few people enjoy living in a dirty and disorganized home. While keeping a home clean, hygienic and tidy is challenging it needs to be done. Cleaning can at times be an overwhelming task and maintaining a home that is spotless can often seem impossible. However, if left a dirty home may become an insurmountable task which is able to discourage even the most enthusiastic among us. It takes an organized effort to transform a home from messy and dirty to clean and organized. The following is a home cleaning guide to help with the tackling of the task.
Organization is the key
Get organized before you start the task of cleaning. Clear away the debris and sort things into their proper places. Pick up the clutter, throw away rubbish and store what needs to be stored. Clear surfaces and floors in anticipation of what is to come. Tidying up alone can sap you of energy so be sure that you approach it in a relaxed manner. Put your favourite music on and dress in old and comfortable clothes. Allocate yourself time to accomplish your task without having to rush and watch the clock. If needed arrange to have a take-out food delivered or stock the fridge with a few delicacies. Keep plenty of water on hand and don’t punish yourself.
Before you begin the great tidy up you need to have nearby a few garbage bags and a few storage containers. As you tidy it will be easy to find a place to put those things you aren’t sure about. Keep your storage containers to a minimum of about three. One will be for items you need to keep, one is for items you will be donating and the last is for items you wish to relocate to other areas of your home. Complete one room at a time before moving to the next. Start with your main living areas first as this will give you the incentive to keep going.
Don’t punish yourself. Organizing your home is the first and the most important step on the ladder to a clean and comfortable home. Take the time you need and make sure that your task is accomplished effectively.
Home cleaning tips
Apart from organizing your living spaces, clearing away the clutter will help speed up your cleaning time. Having to stop every few seconds to move or pick up something will slow you down. At the end of your cleaning if your home is clean but still messy and untidy you won’t feel the benefits or sacrifices you have put into cleaning.
Before you begin cleaning, gather together all the cleaning supplies you will need. Keep them in a bin or bucket, or create an apron with pockets that will not only serve to protect your clothes, but will ensure that wherever you are cleaning you will be fully prepared. In this bin or apron you will need to keep dusters, rags, window cleaner, furniture polish, anti-bacterial sprays, detergents, garbage bags and carpet cleaner. You will also need a bucket, mop and vacuum cleaner.
Establish a strategy
Cleaning effectively relies not only on the correct cleaning supplies but also on a well planned methodology. It is recommended that you completely clean one room at a time before moving to the next.
Start from the back rooms so that you don’t tramp dirt or dust through your newly cleaned rooms. The strategy many professional cleaners employ is from top to bottom and in a circular pattern. Start with ceilings using a damp cloth or duster to clean away dust and cobwebs. Move onto the walls and then windows. After this you can concentrate on furniture or counter tops, bookshelves and desks before moving onto the floor.
This strategy will not only save you time but once a room has been completed it will give you the incentive to move onto the next.
A dirty and disorganized home has the ability to change your mood and your lifestyle. A dirty home can breed viruses and bacteria and can be a health hazard to all who live or enter it.
Once you have cleared away the clutter you can arrange a schedule that suits your lifestyle. We all want a clean home and cleaning your home is about nothing more than consistency, commitment and pride.
You scrub your kitchen, wash your floors and vacuum clean your rugs, but does that mean you have a healthy home? The answer, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, might be no. AirMD is a Boca Raton-based health and wellness service company that employs scientific analysis to educate the public and improve indoor environments.
Boca Raton, FL (PRWEB) November 13, 2008 — You scrub your kitchen, wash your floors and vacuum clean your rugs, but does that mean you have a healthy home? The answer, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, might be no. In fact, the EPA says the air quality of indoor environments may be anywhere from 5 to 100 times more polluted than the outdoors. Rather than being a refuge from harmful elements, our homes may be breeding grounds for biological pollutants such as mold, bacteria and a variety of allergens, as well as havens for non-biological pollutants including chemicals from cleaning products, furnishings and combustion particles.
AirMD is a Boca Raton-based health and wellness service company that employs scientific analysis to educate the public and improve indoor environments. Its Scientific Director, Simon Hahessy, is a Certified Indoor Environmental Consultant and an authority on health-related indoor environmental quality issues.
“We know, according to studies by independent agencies such as the EPA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that indoor air quality often is not as healthy as it needs to be,” says Hahessy, who leads AirMD’s team of field analysts and scientific personnel who are experienced in the fields of bacteriology, mycology, aerobiology, microscopy, environmental science and toxicology.
“Invisible environmental problems in our homes and businesses are the bad news,” Hahessy adds. “The good news is that there are easy steps people can take to analyze and improve their indoor environments, where they spend most of their time.”
Finding What Lives in Your House
AirMD offers scientifically based services designed to identify air quality problems and their sources and then provide the right remedies. Its field analysts begin by conducting environmental evaluations utilizing scientific instrumentation to detect a wide range of contaminants. Clients receive a scientific report within seven business days including results on levels of mold, airborne particles, volatile organic chemicals, moisture measurements electromagnetic radian and bio-aerosol sampling.
The company also conducts allergen evaluations for dust mites, mold, pollen and dust particles as well as water and bacteria evaluation. Additional evaluations analyze water and bacteria levels in bathrooms and kitchens. AirMD also offers customized testing services, such as thermal imaging of a building’s interior.
“So many people suffer from allergic reactions and various symptoms for which they have not been able to identify a cause,” says Hahessy. “There are many irritants in home or office environments that can be the causes of eye irritation, sneezing, coughing, headaches, respiratory problems and other symptoms that compromise people’s health and well-being.”
After identifying the problems, AirMD offers solutions to improve the indoor environment and promote wellness. Depending upon the nature and level of the problem, the company utilizes different types of equipment. These procedures may include, for example, filtering harmful particles from the air, displaying moisture areas not visible under ordinary lighting conditions, or sanitizing air-conditioning and duct systems.
In November 2008, AirMD will add to its existing services an environmentally responsible selection of personal and homecare products that can be purchased on the web site, www.airmd.com.
“There are scientific, proven solutions to improve the quality of the air we breathe,” says Hahessy. “The key is finding the right team to guide you through the process.”
http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Start-A-House-Cleaning-Business-In-7-Simple-Steps&id=13869
One of the main reasons people start businesses is to make money. For some it’s a blessing to make money doing something they love. I’m not saying that you have to love house cleaning in order to have a successful house cleaning business; however it would be a good idea if you didn’t hate it.
How much money you make depends on how big you want your business to be. It could be a one person operation where you set up at home and service areas close to home, or you could set up a commercial office and hire people to work for you.
Here are 7 simple steps to get you started on your own house cleaning business.
1) Decide exactly what kind of house cleaning services you will offer.
Here you decided what cleaning you will do, like making beds, vacuuming, mopping and waxing floors, dusting and so on. Also note what you won’t do, e.g. laundry. You can also decide to specialize, e.g. by cleaning carpets only, or cleaning suspended ceilings only.
2) Pricing your housecleaning service.
To have an idea of how to charge for your housecleaning service, use your competition. Check your telephone directory and the classified ads section in your local newspapers for cleaning businesses, call them up (pretend to be a prospective client) and find out exactly what cleaning services they offer and how much they charge. With this information gathered decide the best price to charge for your cleaning service.
3) Workout startup costs.
For this you need to consider, tools, material, transport, advertising, insurance etc. Write down a list all the tools and material you need, like cleaners, sponges, mops, carpet cleaning equipment etc. Next find out the cost of each item on the list and write it down next to the item.
Transport: you will have to estimate your costs here. You see it depends on where your client is located and your means of transportation to get to your client. (Having your own vehicle would be to your advantage).
Advertising: You can use free advertising (word of mouth) and paid advertising (classifieds, telephone directory ads etc). Phone calls to your local newspaper and the telephone company who publish your telephone directory will tell you the cost of placing ads.
Once you’ve gathered all this information, calculate your total startup costs.
4) Name your business.
Choosing an appropriate name for your house cleaning business is important. Here are a few examples I got of the internet, ‘Maid Brigade’, ‘All Shine Cleaning’, ‘White Glove Cleaning Service’. Please avoid using ‘Your Name Cleaning Services’. Using your own name as part of your business name is over done by many house cleaning businesses. Brainstorm and come up with a name that helps you stand out of the crowd.
5) Learn the zoning regulations of your community.
Check the city clerk’s Office or your local library for a copy for a copy of the zoning laws governing your community. Your reason for doing this is that some zoning regulations prohibit home businesses in a community.
6) Do a few free cleaning jobs.
Well you’re not actually doing them for free. You’re doing them in exchange for references (these add to your credibility for future paying clients and are invaluable). You can offer these free cleaning jobs to friends, non profit organizations in your communities etc.
7) Get your first paying client then get another and another and another and so on.
Tell everyone you know that you’ve started a cleaning business and place ads in the local newspapers. In the beginning you need to spend most of your time and money getting paying clients. However, the more clients you get the less time and money you spend on marketing and more time you spend on cleaning and making your clients happy.
This is just the beginning. Once you start making money take a house cleaning business course to help you better manage your business in terms of growth, accounting, taxes, insurance better marketing strategies and more.
–by ayola Peters
About The Author
Fayola Peters is the webmaster of housecleaning-tips.com. To find more information about a house business cleaning course check out her website at http://www.housecleaning-tips.com
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Another posting in Cleaning Tips blog are:
Learn how to start a profitable house cleaning business
Today’s workers and families are overworked and stressed. After a 12-hour workday, feeding and putting the children to bed, the last thing anyone wants to worry is cleaning the house. Weekends are spent running errands and spending quality time with friends and family members. Therefore, many families are looking for outside assistance with housekeeping. In the past, housekeepers were thought of as the “hired help” and were thus treated like 18th century scullery maids. This is no longer the case. Housekeepers have reached a well-deserved level of respectability for their much-appreciated services. Starting a house cleaning business is do-able for most people because there is very little start up cost involved. To help you get started, I’ve outlined a step-by-step set of instructions to send you on your way to engaging in this highly profitable business!
The first thing that you need to do before seeking out your clientele is to develop a business plan and policy. For starters, you need a name. Choose a name that denotes an air of sophistication. You don’t want a name like, Sally’s Cleaning Service or A-1 Cleaners. Those names are a dime a dozen and do not reflect any sort of professionalism. Try something like, Homestead Helpers. Such a name stands out from the many fly-by-night and unreliable services. Once you’ve chosen a name for your business, the next important step to take is to insure your business. As a house cleaner you are a sole-proprietor. This entitles you to the status of an independent contractor. This means that your profession is no different than that of a plumber, electrician, or a freelance writer.
Insurance is a must have. For one, it eases the minds of your future clientele. Think of yourself –would you want an uninsured person coming into your home, handling your personal articles, and perhaps doing so while unattended in your home? Probably not. Having insurance will put you on top of the list for jobs, as most house cleaners do not carry insurance. The insurance will also give you piece of mind. You will not have to worry about your personal assets being seized in a lawsuit because someone accused you of stealing a family heirloom. Unfortunately, as with many service professions, dishonest people have tarnished the respectability of independent contractors, so you’ll want to cover yourself. Liability insurance (for damage that you are accused of) is very inexpensive. Just about any insurance agency offers liability insurance to contractors. Depending on where you live, the cost is usually less than $300.00 a year.
Once you’ve got your insurance policy, the next thing to do is to get a copy of your background check and police record; and, hopefully you won’t have one. Depending on which state you live in, you can pick up the application at the State Trooper Barracks, City Hall or the Police Station. This is a simple form that takes less than 5 minutes to fill out. The fee is generally between $3 and $15.00. You mail it in, and within 2 weeks the form is mailed back to you with an official stamp which states “No record.” Make photocopies of this form, as you’ll need to give this to prospective clientele with your information packet. The information packet is the next step, and it is what makes your business professional.
The information packet should contain a professional printout or photocopy of your policy and procedures, insurance and background check, references and a sample work order. In terms of your policy, you will need to establish how you want to operate your business. Do you want to work Mondays-Fridays, no weekends? From 6 am to 5pm? Will you work in a house that has a dog? Will you be bringing your own trusted supplies or will the client supply his/her own cleaning products? Do you want to be paid by cash, check or money order? How much will you charge? Per hour? Per job? All of these issues become your policy and they need to be spelled out in black and white for the clients. Also, you should include a sample work order. For example, in cleaning a bedroom, what is to be done? You might write:
*Ceiling fan will be dusted
*Trinkets dusted
*Bedroom furniture dusted
*Sheets changed and bed made
*Carpet vacuumed.
If a client wants something done that is not on the work order, then you can custom create a work order especially for that client. Each time you clean that client’s home you can leave a copy of the work order with the items checked off, so both you and the client will have a copy of what was done. This is will alleviate any confusion over “I said” and, “She said” as well as the bad habit of having notes left for you that read, “By the way, why you are at it, could you scrub the kitty litter pan?” Do only what has formerly been agreed to, thus, what appears on the work order. Also, in your packet of information you should include at least 2 references. References can be tough to come by when you are just starting out. A good way to combat this is to volunteer to clean a friend or a neighbor’s home for free in exchange for a reference. Quite often community organizations or churches will welcome a free cleaning, and would be more than happy to provide a reference for a job well done.
The best way to advertise a cleaning service is not by posting flyers. Posting flyers may appeal to clients who are looking for high school people to help with summer yard work, but certainly not to a person wanting to hire a professional house cleaner. You can choose to have business cards professionally printed, or you can purchase a business card program at an office supply store and print your own cards from your home computer. On your business cards have the name of the business printed (be sure that the name denotes that it is a cleaning service), your name with the title of Proprietor, and your telephone number. Don’t put anything gimmicky on the cards, such as FREE ESTIMATES or CHEAP. You want to present yourself as a person offering a professional service, not someone selling a car wash. Business cards can be placed on bulletin boards in supermarkets, libraries, or community centers. Also, you can run a display ad in your local newspaper using your business card. This saves you money on graphics and design. A business card display ad catches the eye far quicker than a worded classified ad.
Given the independent contractor status, and depending on the tax laws of your state, you are eligible for various tax deductions. For example if you own your own home, you can set up a small office space and take deductions for the square footage of the space, utilities, a computer, office supplies, phone calls, and cleaning supplies that you might purchase. Also, advertising and insurance costs are tax deductible. Many of the same deductions can be used for people who rent their home or apartment. Check with your local state’s laws of taxation to see which deductions you can use. House cleaning is highly profitable, with some house cleaners making $15-17 an hour, so be sure to report all of your income to the IRS. As an independent contractor, you can open an IRA account and start saving toward your retirement!
Source: http://www.essortment.com/all/howtostartho_pub.htm
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Another posting in Cleaning Tips blog are:
Cleaning house is one of those things that needs doing again… and again… and again! How can you make it less of a burden?
When I taught time management classes, one of the things I loved to teach was the 80-20 rule. It’’s best explained by examples. Eighty percent of the time, you wear twenty percent of your wardrobe. Eighty percent of the phone calls you get come from twenty percent of your friends. Eighty percent of the dirt is on twenty percent of the floor. Twenty percent of salespeople make eighty percent of sales. Okay, sometimes it’’s 90-10 and sometimes it’’s 70-30 but you get the idea.
Eighty percent of the dirt is on twenty percent of the floor? Hmm, what does that suggest about cleaning your house? Often a quick pass through the parts of your house that really need it will make cleaning house much easier. If you are in a hurry, let the dust behind the sofa and under the table alone and just clean a swath through the heavy traffic areas. Sooner or later, you”ll get to them as well — or hire someone else to do a thorough cleaning occasionally.
You can probably make up lots of examples of the 80-20 rule that apply to your own ways of cleaning house and of keeping things picked up. Perhaps eighty percent of the dirty dishes left lying around come from one person. Perhaps eighty percent of your frustration with how your house looks could be solved by doing twenty percent of what you think you should.
Rosana Hart tries to put eighty percent of her work time into the twenty percent of activities that will be most effective. She tells you about the opportunities for cleaning houses and offices for a living at her website, http://infoandhelp.com. There are also more tips there for cleaning houses (your own or anyone’’s).’, 160, ‘Cleaning House and the 80-20 Rule, Home-Improvement, Home-Improvement articles, Home-Improvement information, about Home-Improvement, what is Home-Improvement, Home Improvement Information’, ‘Cleaning House and the 80-20 Rule plus articles and information on Home-Improvement.
Source: http://houserenovating.blogspot.com/2008/09/cleaning-house-and-80-20-rule_25.html
House cleaning is in big demand at the moment and it will continue to be in demand over the coming years. The reason being is that peoples’ lifestyles have changed and more and more people are turning to house cleaning services to help free up some of their time.
Why not get in on the act now, take advantage of this demand, and start profiting from your own home-based house cleaning business.
Below are the main points you need to know to start-up as an Independent Cleaner.
Choose a Business Name
For advertising purposes you really should give your cleaning service a name. It could just be your own name, i.e. ‘Joan Walter’s House Cleaning’ or you could give it a more generic name i.e. ‘Your Sparkly House’. Well, you get the idea anyway!
Having a business name forms an identity for your business. If you are serious about making a profit and an income from this, then you need to take your little business seriously and it all starts with a name.
Choose Your Territory & Customers
You need to know who your customers are going to be and where they live. You might not have your own transport, so this will have to be taken into consideration. If you have a car then you will be able to travel further a field and be able to do more cleans per day.
No transport? Don’t worry. Target people who live near you. But you will also need to identify if the people in your area have the money to pay for a cleaner.
It’s very important to find out who can afford a cleaning service. You also need to know if there are enough of these premium customers within a certain proximity of each other? Ideally you would want as many customers as close to each other as possible. This way you can do more cleans per day and not lose too much time traveling from one customer to another.
Set-Up Costs
As an Independent Cleaner, there is very little you need to buy when starting a home business. Most Independent Cleaners tend to use the cleaning products and equipment of their customers. So you won’t need to buy any cleaning products. This is the main reason why you will make a healthy profit!
The following are what you will probably have to spend some money on:
o A tabard/apron
o Advertising
o Travelling costs
Pricing
You need to set yourself a price structure. The best way to do this is to ring around the local cleaners in your Yellow Pages and find out what they are charging. You can also get this information from your local job center.
You can then set your hourly rate in proportion with your competitors. Whether you choose to undercut them, charge the same, or set your prices slightly higher is totally up to you.
Advertising
If you don’t carry out advertising activities, then know one will know about your cleaning service. The best and cheapest way to do this is to create small flyers and to put them directly into your potential customers’ mailbox.
Simply type up your flyer in a word processing document, or get somebody to do this for you. Try and put at least two flyers on one page. Take these your local library or wherever has a photocopier. Get them copied as many times as you can afford.
Put your flyers out by the hundreds if you can. You will be surprised at how quickly this actually takes. You could even have your first phone call by the time you get back home.
In addition to flyers, depending on your budget, advertise your cleaning service in the Yellow Pages. If you cannot afford this from the onset, once you start making some money you can then think about placing an advert then.
Expanding
Once you are well on your way of having a full, jam-packed diary you might want to think about expanding your cleaning business. By now you will be beaming with confidence of what you have accomplished all by yourself. So thinking about hiring a cleaner to help you expand should not be too daunting.
Put an ad in your local newspaper advertising for a cleaner. Once you have chosen a satisfactory candidate take him/her with you on your cleaning rounds for him/her to get used to your cleaning methods and techniques.
Once you are happy and confident that he/she can go and clean on their own, you can then either have some free time to yourself or double your customer base.
Once you are totally confident with managing cleaning staff there is no reason why you can’t hire more cleaners.
Source: http://www.stayathomejobsforu.com/blog/working-from-home/47-starting-a-house-cleaning-business-for-top-profits
Another posting in Cleaning Tips blog are:
Until about 10 years ago, business advice guru’s used to say that the best business to be in was the one you knew most about!
That statement is disputable. And, even if it were true then, it certainly is not true today! Here’s why:
No matter what skills you have or what trade or profession you are in, the amount of money you can earn is severely limited by the number of hours in the day you can work. Aha!
So now we can say:
A better business is one in which you can recruit and train others to do what you can do. This leaves you free to manage and grow the business,
Even so, we still can’t say that it is best business to be in. We can’t say it because some trades and professions have much higher billable hourly rates than others.
Copywriting, and especially direct-response copywriting, is undoubtedly one of the highest paid professions in the world!
Copywriters tend to be pretty smart. A copywriter and an attorney are discussing fees:
Lawyer: “My fees start at $150 an hour.”
Copywriter: “I charge from $1 a word.”
Lawyer: “Wow! I can’t think of any word worth a $1.Gimme an example?”
Copywriter: “Gimme a $1.”
Lawyer: “Okay. Here’s your $1.”
Copywriter: “THANKS!”
So, is copywriting the world’s best business to be in?
I say NO!
I say Info-Marketing on the Internet is undoubtedly the world’s best business to be in!
It doesn’t necessarily have to be an e-book that reveals copywriting
secrets and a list of words that sell. Although that would sell well to a
business-2-business market. But it does have to be an info-product that’s designed to satisfy the needs and wants of a specific niche market.
Simple, huh?
Well, not exactly. If it were that simple, everybody with a how-to info-book and a direct-response website would be rich.
As I see it, only about 5% of Internet sites make millions. The remaining bunch of hopefuls is still struggling.
Jeff Walker, Product Launch a leading Internet marketing expert, says:
“Everyone has heard the story of the Internet being paved with gold… but only a precious few are bringing home that gold. There are thousands of websites that won’t even break even. Most of those sites are moribund… sitting there with products that don’t sell. They will wither away, and then get blown off the Internet like some dried-up piece of tumbleweed.”
Internet marketing expert, Cody Maya, Private Label Books, says,
“The average cost of a copywriting project is $5,000–and that’s just for one sales letter. You need three things to succeed on the Internet:
#1. You need a great product.
#2. You need to be able to get traffic to your site.
#3. You need to be able to convert those prospects into customers.”
Internet marketing is great. It is not cheap. It is not easy and the learning curve for the average Joe Schmoe is mind-boggling.
It takes a high degree of sophistication, and a lot of money to buy the kind of tools that will enable you to put your business on Auto-Pilot, “while you lie on the beach in Hawaii with your laptop and make a ton of money even while you sleep.”
Yanik Silver, one of the top guns in Internet Marketing told me he spent nearly $50,000 (a ton of money) on new products and doing research last year!
So, I need to qualify what I said earlier about selling an info-product on the Internet. Here’s my revised statement:
“Selling an info-product on the Internet to a well-defined niche market is the world’s best business to be in–for those who know what they are doing and have the money to do it.”
So, you can’t just fly into flying.
You think big but you start small!
You have to learn to walk before you can learn to run!
Some 30 years ago, self-made multi-millionaire Joe Karbo stated a very simple truth:
“Most people are too busy working to make
a living to ever make more than just a living.”
In his book, “How to Be Rich,” the late billionaire J. Paul Getty said that the only way to get rich is to start your own business and work at making yourself rich, rather than your employer!
For over 20 years I have been searching to find an “idiot proof” business that could be launched by the average Jack or Jill–and with no previous business experience and little or no capital to invest.
I managed to identify seven businesses that fit that bill.
Here’s my list–not necessarily in order of merit or profitability:
1. Home and Office Cleaning
2. Handy Person Service
3. Window Washing Service
4. Publishing a Local Ad Magazine
5. Computer Instruction and Repairs
6. Painting and Decorating
7. Leaflet Distribution
8. Mobile Haircutting and Beauty Service
9. Lawn Cutting and Yard Maintenance
10. Taking Care of Snowbird Vacation Homes
I have written a how-to business instruction plan for each of the above.
Here’s what I have to say about the Home and Office Cleaning Biz:
You could be your own boss–starting today!
“10 Powerful Reasons Why Home and Office Cleaning
is One of the World’s Best Businesses to Be In”
1. Low start-up cost.
2. You can work part-time or full time.
Keep your day job if you have one. Work evenings and weekends. Don’t quit your day job until you are sure you can make more working for yourself than your employer.
3. No Hard Selling Involved
The service virtually sells itself because 98% of housewives hate housework so much they jump at the chance of having a “maid” come in to the do all the dirty work.
4. Unlimited Demand For the Service
Today, as more and more women go out to work, they have less and less time to do housework and look after a husband and a family. If they can afford it, they jump at the chance of hiring a trustworthy and reliable home cleaner.
5. High Hourly Rates
The standard minimum age is a miserly $5.15 an hour. The average hourly rate for cleaners is $25 an hour. That’s more than four times the minimum wage. Average means that some cleaners charge a low of $20 an hour and others charge a high of $30 an hour.
6. No Special Skills or Training Required
Either you know what to do or the house owner tells you what she wants done.
7. The Target Market is Local and Very Easy to Contact
8. Hot Prospects are Easy to Identify
People who can afford to hire a cleaning maid live busy lives. They own large homes with two or more garages. They reside in up-market suburban areas.
9. Very Simple and Inexpensive Marketing Plan
The three best ways to get new customers as regulars are:
One: Referrals from existing customers.
Two: Leaflet Distribution.
Three: Using a tested and proven telephone script designed not to sell the service, but to make an appointment to call and give a free estimate. Done right, the level of acceptance is a high 86%.
10. Unlimited Growth Potential
While you can make $1,000 a week doing two, four-hour jobs a day for
five days a week, the way to make really big money is not to do any of
the work yourself!
The trick is to hire others to do all the cleaning work.
This leaves you free to concentrate on managing and growing the business.
As the Holly Noble, owner of a San Diego based cleaning business, says,
“You can’t be soliciting new customers when you are cleaning a toilet.”
John‘s “Home Cleaning Business Plan” is a fact-packed, step-by-step,
do-it-by-the-numbers guide that tells you all you need to know about starting up and succeeding in a home-based business of your own.
While it includes a lot of his own advice on how to promote and manage
the business, the real value of the Plan is that it contains in-depth interviews with nine successful cleaning business owners who revealed their most closely guarded trade secrets.
About the author:
John O’Callaghan is CEO of Entrepreneur’s Network, Inc. John specailizes in business plans for home-based businesses that can be launched with little or no money. Get 20 Start-up Tips Free. johnoc29@aol.com
by John O’Callaghan
Source: http://www.hansis.net/international/2008/09/26/home-cleaning-business-plan/
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Another posting in Cleaning Tips blog are:
There are some areas in your home or business premise that just cannot be cleaned with a simple household sponge or brush. Rooftops and back walls stained with fungi, slime and discolored with hardened dirt are some examples. Okay, sure, you CAN apply lots of elbow grease, get yourself a steel brush and attack those areas, but chances are you are going to cause permanent damage to the surfaces of your roof tiles, walls and any other place you’re attacking. It’s times like these when you need the wonder of water – high pressured water that is.
Power Cleaning is achieved by using a pressure spray, that forces a jet of water through a nozzle. This is one of the most effective ways of cleaning stubborn dirt and stain from outdoor surfaces without subjecting them to rough scratching. While you could buy a pressure water spray from your local DIY store, it might set you back a tidy sum and budget pressure sprays may not give you the required pressure to do the job effectively. Of course the type of pressure spray you get will depend on the type of jobs you intend to take on. Your best bet would be to visit an equipment dealer to take a look at the various types of pressure sprayers which may range from cold water sprayers to heated sprayers and pressures ranging anywhere from 1000 psi to 5000 psi. If you’re on a shoestring budget, you might want to buy a small DIY pressure cleaner first and lease a heavy-duty sprayer as and when you have bigger jobs. Power Cleaning doesn’t just involve pointing and shooting a pressure sprayer. There will be jobs where you will need to know the types of surfaces you are dealing with, what cleaning chemical (if any) that you can and CANNOT use, and what type of dirt you are dealing with. Some dirt are caked on by extreme heat or years of neglect and will require an application of solvents to soften them. There are simple ways to learn all these things – visit your local library, ask your local hardware store staff and the best method of all trial and error (of course practising on your own property). Then there is the matter of learning to handle a job with as little fuss and mess as possible. The last thing you want is a customer unhappy that you’ve gotten slime, moss and dirt flying all over her home because you (or your staff) were careless.
To promote your Power Cleaning service, you might want to consider placing an ad in your local Yellow Pages, because that’s where your clients are going to look first when they have a cleaning job. Then you could always leave your business card or flyers in your local grocers, hardware or DIY stores. Periodic ads in Home Improvement and Property magazines are also a good way to get leads, but like any other service oriented business, they best way is to get referrals from satisfied customers. This isn’t really a full-time business unless you plan to make the necessary investment in proper equipment so you can handle big jobs like tall buildings. If not, then Power Cleaning can be an add-on service to your already existing home-cleaning of office cleaning service or Home Improvement store. The Power Pressure Sprayer doesn’t need much room for storage so you can park it in the garage for weekend jobs, although you might need to consider how to transport it to your customers’ homes or offices.
How you charge will depend on the type of job. You could have a fee-scale for small to medium sized homes, double storey homes, offices or you could charge by the square foot. Either way, the best way to find the optimum price is to ask around if anyone is doing this business and ask them how they charge (don’t tell them you’re going to be their competitor for goodness sake! ). This is a great weekend money making idea for retired gentlemen and even college students on their summer break.
Source: http://www.positivemoneyideas.com/idea.php?ideaID=488&moneymakingidea=Power-Cleaning
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