Starting a drycleaning company

The drycleaning industry has two primary market groups: consumer and commercial. The consumer arena consists primarily of residential maid services, along with carpet cleaners, window cleaners and a variety of other cleaning services required on a less-frequent basis. The commercial arena is dominated by janitorial services, which typically provide a wider range of services than maid services, along with other cleaning companies, such as carpet and window cleaners that target businesses rather than individual consumers. While it's recommended that you decide on a niche and concentrate on building a business that will serve your chosen market, it's entirely realistic to expect to be able to serve multiple markets successfully.
Here are eight simple steps to get your cleaning venture on the path to success.

1. Determine what type of cleaning business you’re going to specialise in

There are three main types of cleaning company:

• Domestic – domestic cleaning will involve cleaning people’s homes (normally while they’re at work) and can be undertaken by you as soon as you secure some clients. You may eventually take on staff as your client-base builds.
• Commercial – in order to clean commercial properties you’ll need a team of people (the properties will be tend to be large office buildings) and it may be that your role is more managerial than on the ground cleaning.
• Specialised – there are lots of niches to explore, from window cleaning to schools to vehicle cleaning.

Bear in mind your skills set (are you prepared to clean every day or are you more suited to the administrative side of a cleaning business) and where there’s the best market opportunity in your desired area.

2. Research, research, research

As mentioned above – researching the potential market and local demographic will be key in determining the type of cleaning business you should start. If you’re planning on running a domestic cleaning venture you’ll need to ensure that people in the local area are financially able to pay for someone else to do their domestic chores, likewise for a commercial business are there enough viable contracts to win? Market research will also be key in determining your prices (try posing as a prospective client and ringing around the local competition to ensure your pricing point is competitive).

3. Decide on your business model (could franchising be an option?)

From the outset it’s important to think about your long-term plans for your cleaning business. If you’re looking for a business that you can grow slowly and organically and that you can keep control of in the long-run then going it alone is probably sensible. However, to hit the ground running (and if you’re nervous about some of the elements of setting up a business) you could consider franchising. There’s lots of franchises in the cleaning industry with average upfront costs of around £12,000.

4. Budget appropriately for your equipment

Cleaning equipment costs can vary considerably. For domestic cleaners, more often than not the equipment is provided by the households, but if you’re thinking of launching a commercial cleaning company there’s some basic equipment you’ll need to invest in:

• Equipment trolleys: £250-£400 each
• Professional vacuum cleaner – £100 upwards
• Sweeping machine – £200-£2,000
• Van – £3,000 upwards

It’s important that you ensure any outlays you have to spend on equipment will be counteracted in profits.

5. Create a marketing plan

As well as some initial spend on equipment – it may be necessary to allocate some budget for marketing. One of the hardest elements of starting a cleaning company (and in fact any service business) is building up a client list. Depending on the nature of your business some traditional advertising such as classified listings and flyers could be the best place to start – although it’s worth considering investing in some online advertising as well, such as pay per click, particularly if you are offering a niche service (and can therefore go for a specific search term such as ‘Brentwood carpet cleaner’).  And don’t be afraid to go out and knock on some doors – cleaning can be a personal business and prospective clients may be more likely to sign up if they meet you face-to-face!

6. Develop a strong brand and build a reputation

Once your business gets underway and starts to gain momentum it’s important to build a brand that you can be proud of – as apart from any marketing spend – you’ll mainly be reliant on gaining customers via word of mouth and personal recommendations. To build a brand identity it’s a good idea to have a logo designed and to have a uniform for any staff with clear branding on it. Subscribing to trade organisations which have a compulsory standard for membership can also help create a professional reputation, as well as getting satisfied clients to provide testimonials. Try to create a USP that isn’t just about price – something that clearly defines your brand as a cleaning business that won’t be forgotten.

7. Managing cashflow and getting paid

As with any new business, cashflow can be sporadic initially – but particularly for domestic cleaners as clients can be somewhat unreliable in terms of how regularly they’ll want you, bearing in mind holidays, sicknesses etc. In addition you’ll need to work out a payment system with clients that works for you. Typically people expect to pay their cleaner cash-in-hand per job but for your cashflow you may want to insist on an advance payment system.

8. Training and regulations

You do not need a license to run a cleaning business but obtaining a criminal records check from the CRB can only improve your image (and that of your staff) as trusted professionals. Training is also not a prerequisite but some basic training such as an NVQ or Cleaning

Written by Lucy Wayment