Ask Me Help Desk - Getting Started in Janitorial Service

Okay I do not have a building to start with in the beginning but I am looking into finding one so that I can bid on it. The only thing is now is that I am not sure on where to start looking. I have given you the square footage of what I possibly can start with as far as a bank/office building. Again I have years of experience in the cleaning industry but all of this is new to me in getting started. My husband is self employed in the construction business and could help in some areas but I need an expert advice on exactly how to get things set up and who do I need to talk to about trying to get a building to bid on. I will be out of town until Sunday but I will respond when I return. Thanks!

If your husband has a construction business.. I would ask him for his contacts that he has and spread out form there...

Hello cleaningman23 it would be so nice to take a step into that direction, but at this time even he my husband is out of work and has been for quite sometime now. And the people whom he worked for at this point is in need of work. We are talking about (FRAMING). At this point the work is just not there in the construction industry with the type of work that he does.

Hi again, blessed beyond!

I do hope that you return to here! It seems like we just get going with dialogue and then it stops.

Thanks!

Hello Clough look like things are at a stand still point. I am now officially out of work from my state job after 20 years. Now I am really ready to step into janitorial /cleaning service.

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Originally Posted by blessed beyond

Hello Clough look like things are at a stand still point. I am now officially out of work from my state job after 20 years. Now i am really ready to step into janitorial /cleaning service.

Hi Blessed,

Clough and I will be very happy to help where we can, that is why we are here:). But you need to be more readily responsive to our questions please.

Let's start over, please tell me exactly what training and experience you have in the cleaning business, please be very detailed.

Okay I have at least 16 + years in the cleaning business. I do windows, floors, bathrooms, beds, vac, dust, mop, baseboards, laundry, anything pretty that a maid would do I have that type of experience. At this point I have been applying for cleaning jobs but have not been able to receive any responses so far.

Whoops excuse me I meant to say anything pretty much that a maid would do I can do it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by blessed beyond

Okay i have at least 16 + years in the cleaning business. I do windows, floors, bathrooms, beds, vac, dust, mop, baseboards, laundry, anything pretty that a maid would do i have that type of experience. At this point i have been applying for cleaning jobs but have not been able to receive any responses so far.

Ok, that is good, do you have any management experience blessed?. Actually this is most important.

No I have always worked for hotels as well as in private homes but never had the opportunity to become a manager so far. I would love to.

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Originally Posted by blessed beyond

No i have always worked for hotels as well as in private homes but never had the opportunity to become a manager so far. I would love to.

Have you taken any business courses?

No I have always worked with hotels as well as private homes until I was hired with the State in 1989.

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Originally Posted by blessed beyond

No i have always worked with hotels as well as private homes until i was hired with the State in 1989.

Ok, then I suggest that you start very small, nothing obviously that require employees for now.

Possibly you and a friend go after some residential homes and possibly a few small offices, etc.

Running a janitorial company is not as simple as a lot of people seem to think Blessed. It involves many, many different skills and experiences.

Okay thank you Stringer I will do just that. I know that it will be better for me and a whole lot less stressful. Once again thanks for your help.

Quote:

Originally Posted by blessed beyond

Okay thank you Stringer i will do just that. I know that it will be better for me and a whole lot less stressful. Once again thanks for your help.

That's it Blessed? Do you know how to price these up? Do you know that you need insurance? How are you going to go about getting this new business?

Thanks for asking. I do have insurance but not real sure as to how I will price anything up. I do have a couple of friends who I have been talking to who are already cleaning private homes who gave me insight on how I would go about setting up prices with the size of the home and what is required to be done in the home. It would be nice if you could help me out with this. Yes I do need guidance in what I need to do. Not everyone can give expert advice.

Quote:

Originally Posted by blessed beyond

Thanks for asking. I do have insurance but not real sure as to how i will price anything up. I do have a couple of friends who i have been talking to who are already cleaning private homes who gave me insight on how i would go about setting up prices with the size of the home and what is required to be done in the home. It would be nice if you could help me out with this. Yes i do need guidance in what i need to do. Not everyone can give expert advice.

Please tell me what you have learned so far and then we can start from there... ok?

Be detailed please, what have they told you already?

Okay I was told to make sure that I find out from the home owner what all are they requiring me to do in the home. Depending upon the size of the home I was to charge a particular price especially if they only wanted light house cleaning such as cleaning bathrooms and dusting and light mopping. Deep cleaning would be a different price. It has been so long since I have had to go back to cleaning not that I forgot how to do it I just don't have prices figured out as far as knowing how much to charge. Do not want to over charge but at the same time I do not want to under charge either. Can you help?

Quote:

Originally Posted by blessed beyond

Okay i was told to make sure that i find out from the home owner what all are they requiring me to do in the home. Depending upon the size of the home i was to charge a particular price especially if they only wanted light house cleaning such as cleaning bathrooms and dusting and light mopping. Deep cleaning would be a different price. It has been so long since i have had to go back to cleaning not that i forgot how to do it i just don't have prices figured out as far as knowing how much to charge. Do not want to over charge but at the same time i do not want to under charge either. Can you help?

Pricing varies all over the country Blessed and you will have to determine in the end what you want to charge.

Most residential cleaning is done by the hour, with set total hours to do the house so that each time you clean the price sill remain the same. Unless there are additional or special things that they require done on occasion.

My wife stated her own home cleaning business about 4 years ago, built it up to about 75 homes and sold it last year for a nice profit. She started with no homes and only a friend and in the end had over 15 women working for her.

She put together a contract that listed exactly what was to be completed each time they cleaned so as to not have any confusion with what she did and what the client wanted above and beyond that. That would be extra.

She was charging $15 to $16,50 per hour, even if there were two girls cleaning. It is the linear hour that is charged. Because if you use two or more girls, it gets done faster.

For example; If you decide that 4 hours are needed to properly clean the home that doesn't mean that you have to actually stay those 4 hours. When you use two people to clean you can have them there for two hours. The client is still getting the 4 hours that were needed.

Being in the commercial cleaning business for over 30 years I helped her to get started and helped guide the business along. We went every day to all the areas that we felt were the types of homes that would want a service and put flyers in every mailbox. We did this every 3 to 4 weeks to the same homes and additional homes too. She provided very good work/service and began also to get more business from 'word of mouth.' She was always on time and always did a great job. She offered her clients a small commission if they got her new business too. Which she paid right away.

Put together the information (keep it short and simple) and take it to Kinko's or somewhere like that and have them print up a thousand or so and start putting them out.

Also, if you do get to talk to a potential customer AND you don't hear back, call them, follow up and ask if there was any more information that they might need or if there is anyway that you might help them. This works... follow up always!

And take pride in the service that you provide, it will show.. always remember, you bring the professionalism to the job.

Good luck, please keep me informed and let me know how you are doing or if you have any additional questions.

Thanks,

Stringer

Thank you Stringer I will keep in touch.