How to start a cleaning business
by Startacus Admin
Planning and Development
If your market research has proved useful and encouraging then now is the time to spruce up your business idea and start solidifying some of the 
specifics. Start considering:
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Have you written a comprehensive business plan? Are you really sure what a business plan is? If not are there any resources that could help you with it or do you know anyone who would be willing to lend a hand?
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Where will your cleaning service be based? At home? In an office? Weigh up the advantages and disadvantages of each. You might find our post on working from home useful.
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Will you be focussing on the commercial or consumer market, or perhaps a mixture of the two?
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Are you planning to work on the business full time from the beginning or will you work part-time until it gets off the ground?
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Will you be carrying out the cleaning services yourself or will you be taking on staff while you run the logistical side of the business?
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Will your businesses take the form of an agency where you will have a bank of casual cleaning staff who you can call upon as and when needed? (If so, you might find some of the information in our ‘Recruiting for your startup’ series useful)
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Do you have a catchy and memorable name for your business?
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What equipment will you need for your cleaning business? Think of all the things that will be necessary to carry out the service itself, but also what you will need to actually run the business e.g. new computers etc Remember that if you are unable to afford to pay all of the initial costs of setting up the business you can look into a number of financing options.
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Vehicles will most likely be a very important part of your cleaning business. Remember that they are a travelling advert for your services and therefore should be well chosen, and immaculately maintained (no one wants to hire a cleaning company with a filthy van)
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Remember that there is strength in numbers, therefore is there anyone who would be interested in becoming a partner in your business? This can be particularly helpful if they have skills which complement your own.
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How do you plan to market and promote your cleaning services? Are there any local papers, journals or websites which may be looking for people to write about their experience of setting up a small business? Startacus would love to hear from you!
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Do you have any existing contacts within your area that may be able to assist you?
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If working within the commercial sector you will most likely want to implement a sales strategy, what form will this take and who will carry it out?
Marketing
Ok, so we know that a cleaning business may not be the most exciting of things but all this means is that you have an opportunity to get really creative with your marketing and make sure that your business stands out from the rest. A few things you should be thinking about are:
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Have you put together a marketing strategy? If not, is there anyone who can help you with it, or someone you know with experience in setting up a business who would be able to give you a few pointers?
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How will you announce the arrival of your new business? Press releases, a launch event, a local paper? Is the story of you setting up the cleaning service particularly inspiring or unique? This will make the press more likely to do a feature on your story!
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How do your competitors market themselves and is there anything that you can learn from this?
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Remember to market your services in a way that will be appealing to your target audience.
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Can you think of any unique or quirky ways of marketing your cleaning services? It is not exactly the most thrilling of businesses but there are plenty of ways that you could add some much needed colour to your business. The internet can be a great source of inspiration. See if you can find any features on other similar businesses which have implemented an original marketing strategy, like this one, for example - Your Hero Delivery, The Superhero Laundry Service.
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In what ways can you use social media to help promote the business? Will you have active Facebook and Twitter accounts and who will maintain them for you? Check out our article on ‘how to use social media to promote your startup’
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Will you be implementing any type of introductory special offers or deals such as ‘try for free’ or special loyalty reductions to encourage repeat business?
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Do you plan to have any promotional material for your cleaning services for example pens, business cards, flyers? You might find something useful on the Startacus ‘members deals’ page.
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Have you thought about how your clients will pay you? Will you accept cheques, cash, online transactions?
Continued on Page 3
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- SureIn Secures €4M to Close the SMB Insurance Gap 15th Aug 2023 Innovative InsurTech startup SureIn announces a €4M Seed round to further its mission of making insurance easy, transparent and hassle-free for SMBs.
- SuperFi raises $1M pre-seed funding round 28th Jul 2023 SuperFi, the debt prevention platform, has announced a $1m pre-seed funding round to support people during the cost of living crisis.
- Startups rely on AI & sustainability for new partnerships 27th Jul 2023 41 startups from 13 countries, including the UK, have been selected for the 8th Kickstart Innovation program, one of Europe’s leading innovation platforms.
- Another Round closes £300k Seed round to revolutionise personal training 21st Jul 2023 Personal training platform Another Round has secured £300k in its latest fundraise, including investment from angels and its community.
