Marketing your House Cleaning Business

How do you Market your House Cleaning Business?

Now that you have your business set up, it is time to get clients. In this installment we will discuss your many options and what options have been proven most valuable.

Some of your marketing options include:

• Flyers
• Phone Book
• Website
• Online Advertising
• Newspaper
• Magazine
• Car Magnets
• Business Card Distribution
• Valupak
• Word of Mouth

Flyers: Flyers are a great, cheap way of advertising your business. I don't recommend printing up mass quantities and distributing them door to door. This has been proven to be very ineffective and time-consuming. It is also illegal to put them in mailboxes, so you are going to have to walk door to door. People also do not like to have people walking on their property placing advertisements so that may be a turnoff for your potential clients.

You can print up a mass quantity and put them on cars in a parking lot, but you have to get a permit for that. Make sure you conduct your business legally to show you are a professional.
The best thing to do with those flyers is to print up a bunch of them and leave them in your car. Anytime you go to a store and notice a bulletin board, place your flyer there. Some of the best places are post offices, sandwhich shops, diners and coffee shops.

Phone Books: Phone books are becoming a thing of the past and are being replaced with the internet. However, phone book advertising still remains very expensive. If you have the expendable income, I would recommend trying it out for a year and see what kind of response you get. If not, I would pass it up. There are so many other ways you can advertise for much cheaper.

Websites: A website will be your BEST advertising tool next to word of mouth. Most of your clients will search for what they need on the internet while they are at work. I definitely recommend a website above anything else. Your website does not have to be fancy, just professional looking and informative. You don't have to spend a fortune on it, you can even make one for free.

I recommend Home Business Forms for a professional web designer who specializes in cleaning businesses. If you want to design one for yourself, I recommend using the services of Homestead or GoDaddy. Both of those have very user-friendly applications to help you complete a very nice website easily.

Before you start your website, you need to purchase a domain name. This is your www address. Try to pick one with your business name. For example, if you are Florida's Best Cleaning Service, see if www.floridasbestcleaningservice.com or .net is available. If it isn't, find something close to it. To purchase a domain name, I recommend using Go Daddy. They are cheap and easy to use.

Online Advertising: Once you have your website ready, you can advertise it online for free at many places. Even if you don't have a website, there are many places online to advertise. Some of those places are Craigslist, MerchantCircle, Backpage, Superpages, Google Maps, Yahoo Local and more.

Newspapers and Magazines: Newspapers are a good option to try out. Some areas do well with newspaper advertising and some do not. The only way you will know is to give it a try. You can advertising in your county paper or you can advertising in the community papers (pennysavers). Magazines are more expensive and do not focus on a certain area in which your service area lies. Magazines may not be a good option to advertise this sort of business.

Car Magnets: Car magnets are a great advertising option. They are a cheap, one time cost, so it doesn't hurt to try it out. You can get a car magnet at VistaPrint.

Business Card Distribution: Handing out business cards to everyone you see is not very cost effective. I don't recommend this form of advertising. However, always have your cards available should you see an opportunity to hand one out or display it. You can get your business cards at VistaPrint. They have some nice cleaning related ones and have some great deals such as 250 free cards.

Valupak: Valupak is, in my opinion, not a good option for this sort of business. For one thing, it is distributed to a large area most of which you may not be covering. Second, it is very expensive. If you have the money to try this form of advertising out, give it a try.

Word of Mouth: This will be your best form of advertising once your business gets going. If you have happy customers, they will tell all their friends and family about you. Always be sure to conduct your business and yourself professionally in order to get those referrals. Leave your clients will plenty of business cards so they can hand them out to their friends and family. It is also a great idea to offer a referral bonus such as one free clean for every paid referral or $30 off a cleaning. This is a nice incentive to get them to hand out those referrals.

These are the most common types of advertising methods people use for their house cleaning business. I recommend trying out what you can to see what works and what does not. In the beginning, you will spend a lot more money until you are busy enough to stop advertising . Once you hit a slow spot and think you need to advertise again, hopefully, by then you will know what worked and will only need to spend money on that form of advertising.

House Cleaning Bond

What is a bond and do I need it?

This is one question which confuses most business owners. Most of the general public is confused about what a bond is and when it is useful, so they think most business owners should have one.

A bond protects your house cleaning company against employee theft. If you have no employees, you do not need a bond.

Since many homeowners do not know this, you will have to explain this over and over. This is why many elect to purchase it as a marketing tool and a way to just make it easier to say "yes, I have a bond" rather than explain why you do not.

You can purchase a bond through most insurance companies.

House Cleaning Insurance

Should I Choose to Buy Insurance for my house cleaning business or Risk it?

Personally, I believe it is not very professional to have a business and not want to cover not only yourself, but your client's property. Insurance is not very expensive and it may make a huge difference in your pocket.

These days, many people are weary of allowing people in their homes, especially when they are not there, if they do not have adequate coverage or do not run their business in a professional manner. One of the most important things to have in your client's eye besides experience is insurance. They want to make sure that their property is covered should anything happen.

Let's give an example: You are dusting off the shelves and get sidetracked and accidentally knock off a Lladro. These things are expensive. A small one could run $1000. Of course your client will want to be reimbursed. Now, you either have to pay out of pocket or you can file an insurance claim. Another, more expensive example: You are cleaning the wood floors and the chemical you use has a bad reaction to the wood in turn ruining it beyond repair. The client now needs new floors. This could be $5000 or more. In this case, insurance will be quite handy.

It is a good idea to tell your customers to remove all valuables on the day of their cleaning.

Here are some insurance companies you can use for your house cleaning business:

• Most Choice
• NetQuote
• Insurance Desk

You can also do a search for "your state" cleaning liability insurance. There are a lot of companies out there that offer insurance for small business owners.

Be sure when you get your quotes that you do not give out your social security number. Just be honest about your past claims. The more you give out your social, the lower your credit score. When you are ready to sign up with a company give out your number.

House Cleaning Business Forms

Protect Your House Cleaning Business with a Signed Contract


You have done all the basic necessities to start your house cleaning business, now it is time to get ready for clients. The first step is to get your paperwork in order. This is essential to your organization.

The essential house cleaning business forms you will need are:

• House Cleaning Service Contract
• House Cleaning Checklist
• House Cleaning Invoice
• Satisfaction Survey

These are what I would consider the bare necessities, but there are many more that will contribute to making your business much easier and much more organized.

Let's talk about what should be in your service contract first. Firstly, I don't like to call the contract a "contract". I like to call it a service agreement. It is essentially the same thing just with different terminology. Contracts have been given a bad name and therefore scare people off. A service agreement sounds nicer and less binding although it is just as binding.

The house cleaning contract should include the name and address of the home you will be working in as well as your name to show it is an agreement between yourself and the homeowner. This allows you to be in the home. It should then lay out what you will be doing there, how often and for how much.

You should have all your business policies spelt out and a place for your client to agree to them. Some of your business policies should include liability issues such as damage, alarms, cleaning procedures, etc. You should also list your cancellation policy, payment policy, etc. There is a lot of thought that should go into a service contract and it should not be taken lightly. The contract is there to protect your business and your pocket.

The next item is your house cleaning checklist. You would take this with you on each visit and document what you did while you were there. You would then leave it behind with an invoice or receipt if they paid.

Your invoice should state what you did on what date for how much money and tax with a total.

The last essential form is the satisfaction survey. It is recommended to leave this behind after the very first visit and then follow up every 6 months or so to get essential feedback on how you or your employees are doing.

There are many other forms which will aid you in simplifying your house cleaning business such as the release of liability form, which will release you from liability if your client wants you to use a certain cleaning agent in which you are not familiar with. There is also the telephone reservation form which will help in those phone inquiries as well as many more forms.

All of these house cleaning forms and more are offered in the house cleaning package located on the Home Business Forms website. This package includes all the forms you will need and will arrive to you personalized with all of your business information already on there for you for a low price of $44.99!

To purchase pre-made house cleaning business forms for your business, go to Home Business Forms. This company specializes in forms for small business owners and one of their specialties is house cleaning.

Once you have done all the above steps, it is time to start getting some clients. We will discuss marketing next.

Business Structure

There are 5 different business structures in which you can set your house cleaning business as.

These are:

• Sole Proprietor (most common)
• Partnership
• Corporation (Inc. or Ltd.)
• S Corporation
• Limited Liability Company (LLC)

Let's talk about the Sole Proprietor first: The sole proprietorship is the most common structure to form amongst house cleaners. It is inexpensive to form. It is usually owned by a single person or a married couple. The owner is personally liable for all business debts and may file on their personal income tax.

Next is the Partnership: Partnerships are also inexpensive to form. They usually require an agreement between two or more individuals to jointly own and operate the business. The partners share all aspects of the business (good and bad) in accordance to the agreement. It could be a 50/50 partnership or anything else agreed to in writing. Partnerships do not pay taxes, but must file an informational return. Individual partners would then report their share of profits and losses on their personal return.

Next is a Limited Liability Corporation or LLC: This is the second most common set up amongst house cleaners. It is advantageous for small businesses because it reduces the risk of losing all your personal assets should you be faced with a law suit. It separates your business and personal assets. You can also elect to be taxed like a corporation which saves you at tax time.

Next is a C Corporation: This is a complex business structure with more start up costs than many other forms. This is not a very common structure amongst house cleaners since there are shares of stocks involved. Profits are taxed both at the corporate level and again when distributed to shareholders. Lawyers are usually involved at this level.

And Finally is a S Corporation: This is more common than the C Corporation since it avoids double taxation . It is taxed like a Partnership. A business must be approved to be classified as such, so it is not a very common entity amongst house cleaners.

There are also other structures which are specific to certain states. Some of these include Limited Partnership and Limited Liability Partnership. It is a good idea to get advice from your accountant as to which would be more advantageous to your business.

Next we will talk about what sort of paperwork you need for your house cleaning business.

Business License

Do I Need a Business License for my House Cleaning Business?

Most people are very confused about this. House Cleaning does not usually require a trade business license, but most states/countries will require you to register your business with your local government.

For the US: To find out what your state licensing agency requires, click here. Just enter your state, zip code or city and choose general licensing. This will take you right to the link to register your business. If you are still unsure, search for your state's business agency online and find a phone number to call. Someone there will be able to help you. You may also be required to collect sales tax. To find out if your state requires you to collect sales tax, go to http://www.business.gov/guides/taxes/state.html.

In Canada: You will need to contact your local municipality to determine what sort of business license you need. Most municipalities will require you to register your business with the providence before you can apply for a business license. You will also be required to collect GST.

In the UK: Go to http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ to register your business and pay your taxes. This site also has a lot of useful information on forming your business. You can set your business as a sole trader (self-employed), partnership, or limited company. You may be required to collect VAT if you provided taxable services of £67,000 or more in the past 12 months.

In Australia: If you choose to operate your business as a sole trader, a partnership or a trust, then you are required to register your business in the state or territory in which you will operate. But you don’t need to register a business if you plan to name your business under you or your partner’s first name and surname or initials and surname. You will be required to register for GST if you have a GST turnover of $75,000 or more.

In the US, when you register for your house cleaning business license, they will ask you what sort of business entity you will want to register under. There are a few options: Sole Proprietor, Partnership, Limited Liability Company and C or S Corporation.

In the next installment, we will talk about what each of these mean and which is the best for you.

What to Charge

What Should I Set my Rate Structure at?

This is the most common question amongst house cleaners. I will tell you how to approach this question with your clients.

Let's look at an example: A client calls and wants to know what you would charge for a 4 bedroom 2 1/2 bathroom home. They want a quote over the phone. This is a big no-no. Never give a quote over the phone. You can tell them around what to expect but that you can not give an accurate quote without looking at the home.

There will be many variables that will go into your quote.

Let's look at those variables:

• Size of home
• Number of bathrooms
• Condition of home
• Pets
• Whether they are going to provide cleaning supplies or you are
• Frequency of cleaning
• Number of people living in home
• Addition of services not included in basic cleaning

Once you know exactly what your client wants done, you would then give them a per job rate...NOT per hour.

Generally, you will need to do an initial clean. This clean is done to get the home to your standards to be ready for maintenance cleaning. Then the client will schedule their cleanings at weekly, bi-weekly or monthly intervals. You may also get some party clean clients and spring clean clients. The more you clean, the less you charge.

Inititial cleans are generally on the high end ranging from $115-$200 depending on the size and condition of the home. One-time cleaning clients are generally around this range as well depending on what they want done.

Once you have quoted the initial clean, you let them know how much their regular cleaning rate would be. On average, cleanings will range from $20-$35 per hour depending on your area. I would recommend calling cleaning companies close to you (not competing with you) and see what they charge or looking up cleaning businesses in your area on the internet to see their rates. This way you can see if your rate will stand in your area. You don't want to be too high that people can't afford you. You also don't want to seem cheap. Remember, you get what you pay for.