How to open a good cleaning company: drawing up a business plan. Clean business, or how to open a cleaning company Cleaning company business plan from scratch

Cleaning companies are becoming more and more in demand in our country. That is why more and more of them are appearing. Essentially, opening a cleaning company is not difficult, but it is important to know what it takes to open one. First of all, this is, of course, professional equipment and cleaning products, qualified personnel. If you have all this or are ready to purchase it, you can start opening your own business.

Cleaning company business plan

Let's take a closer look at the question of how to open a cleaning company, a ready-made example of a business plan and information about what is needed to open it and how much it costs. This short but very informative cleaning company business plan is sure to help you.

How much money do you need to open?

As a rule, to organize a small cleaning company that will clean office premises, approximately 150 thousand rubles are enough. If you are going to deal with larger objects, then you will need much more funds. But it’s best to start a cleaning business with small facilities where your staff can practice and improve their skills.

How to enter this business?

To do this, you need to immediately find potential clients so as not to burn out and recoup at least a small part of the costs. It is best, of course, to purchase all the necessary funds after an agreement with the customer. After all, for example, cleaning a small premises will require a cleaning company to cost much less than cleaning a larger one.

It is advisable to immediately find a permanent cleaning facility, which you will visit several times a week, and thereby ensure stable income for the cleaning company you have opened. For such purposes, an office or small shopping center that needs weekly cleaning is best suited.

In addition, it will be great if you immediately determine the specialization of your cleaning company. For example, you can establish yourself as a cleaning company that removes stains from sofas. This type of service is quite in demand.

Thus, ordinary housewives who need your help will call you to their homes.

Room

The office space of a cleaning company should consist of a room in which all equipment will be stored, an office for the manager, and a room for all other managerial employees.

There is no point in buying or renting a large area for an office; clients, as a rule, rarely come to cleaning companies themselves; in general, you will travel to them. In addition, it is much more convenient to discuss all the nuances of the work at the customer’s premises.

Cleaning equipment

A standard set of cleaning equipment should include:

  • vacuum cleaner – up to $600;
  • wringer cart equipped with a net for containers with solutions and a bag for collecting garbage - $250;
  • flat mop (similar to a mop and broom) – $40-50;
  • set for washing windows and wiping office equipment – ​​$220;
  • disc machine for intensive deep cleaning of carpets - $2,600;
  • washing machine for washing cleaning materials and workwear – $600.

Thanks to this cleaning equipment, you can easily carry out general cleaning in your apartment and office.

Of course, you shouldn't stop there. As your cleaning company grows, it is necessary to purchase new, more powerful equipment and more expensive and high-quality products. This will help you expand the range of services, for example, a washing machine, the price of which is $2,000-$17,000.

The average cost of equipment for cleaning companies can be about 100-700 thousand rubles, but here again it all depends on the brand of equipment purchased; as a rule, you have to overpay for it.

Staff

At the first stage, you will have to take on many functions yourself, but as the company develops, you will be able to hire more and more people.

You need to start with the staff who will do the cleaning, because that is the essence of cleaning. The number of people depends on the size of the premises you are going to wash and how many orders there will be per day. For starters, 2-3 experienced cleaners will be enough. It is important that they know how to work with equipment and detergents, do everything carefully and take into account the wishes of clients.

In order to open a cleaning company with a full staff of employees in addition to cleaners, you need a driver who will transport them from site to site. For these purposes, you will also need a minibus; it must accommodate people and all cleaning equipment. In order not to buy a vehicle, you can immediately look for a driver with his own car, but keep in mind that in this case his salary should not be small.

You can look for personnel for a cleaning company using advertisements on the Internet or use the help of friends, perhaps they can recommend someone; good reviews will not be superfluous when hiring a person.

Various advanced training courses are often organized for employees of cleaning companies; such courses will be very useful for both cleaning personnel and managers sitting in the office. In addition, as a rule, at such courses you can make very useful contacts that will be useful for promoting your business.

Financial plan

Let's consider the financial component of our example business plan for a cleaning company. Cleaning one square meter can cost from 45 to 150 rubles per month. Let’s take not the maximum price for cleaning premises, but, for example, 45 rubles / sq. m. m per month. Let's say you entered into a contract for cleaning a premises with an area of ​​5 thousand square meters. m., you will need 8 cleaners.

The cleaning company's monthly revenue will be 225 thousand rubles.

To understand how much net income you have from this cleaning business, you need to take into account all the costs. These include one-time costs that include the purchase of equipment, office furniture, and other similar items for the cleaning company. In addition to one-time costs, there are also monthly expenses, such as renting premises, paying for utilities, staff salaries, etc. In addition, do not forget about monthly taxes, which must be paid on time so that you are not charged penalties.

One-time costs when opening a cleaning company:

  • Equipment – ​​150 thousand rubles.
  • Working clothes – 9 thousand rubles.
  • Furniture – 30 thousand rubles.
  • Office furniture and office equipment – ​​50 thousand rubles.
  • Connecting a telephone line – 4 thousand rubles.

Total, one-time costs: 243 thousand rubles.

Fixed expenses:

  • Rent of premises (20 sq. m.) – 15 thousand rubles.
  • Phone – 400 rub.
  • Accountant's salary – 15 thousand rubles.
  • Cleaners' salary - (15x8) 120 thousand rubles.
  • The salary of a minibus driver is 20 thousand rubles.
  • Chemicals – 7 thousand rubles.
  • Unforeseen expenses - 2 thousand rubles.

Total fixed expenses: 179.4 thousand rubles.

The cleaning company's profit before taxes is 45.6 thousand rubles. This figure, of course, is conditional and implies maximum load with orders, which is rarely observed among new companies, so keep this in mind.

As a rule, with insignificant initial expenses, the payback for a cleaning company takes up to a year. Payback directly depends on how many regular customers and orders you have.

Start a cleaning business by opening a company with minimal investment, and only when there are more orders and you feel confident that profits are really increasing, you can purchase more equipment and hire new staff.

We hope that this example of a business plan for a cleaning company will help you open your own business cleaning apartments and premises.

Additionally

  • Standard contract for cleaning services. A ready-made option that we can use in your business.
  • Directions
  • Registration and paperwork
  • Room
  • Staff
  • Equipment
  • A little about advertising
  • Expenses and income

Cleaning companies have recently appeared in the CIS countries, so this type of income can be a good start for a woman who has decided to organize her own business. Moreover, its opening and development will not require large investments, so the risk is minimal. So, how to open a cleaning company from scratch, where to start and how to succeed? We offer you a step-by-step guide for successful entrepreneurship.

Directions

The first step to opening your own cleaning company is to accurately choose the direction of work. You must understand that small companies are reluctant to cooperate with cleaning organizations. They are quite satisfied with two or even one cleaner, with whom an employment contract is concluded. The same applies to individuals, since they will only need the services of your company for general cleaning after renovation or before any important celebration. However, such one-time orders will be more expensive and should not be refused. This is especially true for those women who decided to open a business in a small town and do not have much competition. It is possible that thanks to word of mouth, you will receive your first profit. The most profitable option is cooperation with large organizations, especially with shopping and entertainment centers.

Some entrepreneurs open cleaning companies that not only clean the inside of premises, but also wash the facades of buildings. Such work will be more highly paid and special training of employees will be required. Safety training will also be required.

Registration and paperwork

Of course, if you want to open a cleaning company correctly, you cannot do without legally registering your business. What documents are needed for registration and what do you need to study before starting work? To open a cleaning company, you will not need to obtain a license, but the activity must comply with GOST R 51870-2002: “Household services. Cleaning services for buildings and structures."

You will also need to decide on the legal status to open a cleaning company. To cooperate with large organizations, it is better to register and formalize an LLC with a common taxation system. If you still want to open a company that cleans private houses, then feel free to register an individual entrepreneur with UTII taxation. After registering and registering the organization with the tax authorities, it will be necessary to obtain permits for the premises from the SES and state supervision.

Room

In some cases, when you are planning to open a small cleaning company, you can even do without renting premises. The dispatcher will take orders at home and contact the cleaners to convey information about the location and specifics of cleaning. You can store the equipment in your garage. This option is acceptable at the very beginning, when the business just needs to be developed and the first clients are being sought. However, we still advise immediately, even before opening, to look for a suitable building. A small room of 20-30 sq.m., divided into the director’s office, a staff room, a room for inventory, equipment, household appliances, work clothes, etc., will be enough for you. In the future, when you can promote your company well, you should think about renting a large building for an office.

Staff

As for personnel, in order to open a good cleaning company, you will need to try and select qualified employees. You must take into account that you are not hiring a simple cleaner, but a cleaner, i.e. a person who has undergone special training, knows how to use cleaning machines, understands chemicals for removing contaminants and is able to perform large volumes of work.

The number of cleaners depends on orders, so for the first time 2-3 good employees will be enough for you. Be prepared for the fact that the work of a cleaner is not in demand, so there may be a high staff turnover. Most likely, soon after opening a company, you will have to hire a recruiting manager if you do not want to search for new employees yourself.

To open a successful cleaning business, you need to pay attention to all the details. Take care of creating your own logo and original name that will be on the workwear for cleaners. This will make a good impression on clients.

For other employees, everything is individual and depends on your desire, professional skills and how large a company you want to open. You can easily refuse any of the positions offered below and take over all its functions (or do without it altogether). To open a quality cleaning company, the following employees are usually hired:

  • advertising manager;
  • purchasing manager;
  • manager for attracting and working with clients;
  • quality control manager;
  • accountant;
  • driver;
  • administrator.

Cleaning is the activity of cleaning premises on a contractual basis. There are three main areas: one-time cleaning (for example, apartments after renovation), regular maintenance of enterprises (office centers, hypermarkets, etc.), specialization in specific services (carpet cleaning, window washing, etc.)

To make the business pay off faster and brought more profit, especially in a small town, it is worth choosing a universal option. This way you will quickly gain a client base and gain fame among customers.

The most popular items in the cleaning market today are glass washing, general cleaning, cleaning after renovation and construction, carpet and upholstered furniture cleaning.

Registration

To start clean, you need to open an LLC or individual entrepreneur. Matching codes OKVED: 74.70.1 – “Cleaning and cleaning of residential and industrial premises”, 90.00.3 – “Cleaning up the territory and performing similar activities.”

The quality of services must comply with GOST R 51870-2002 on cleaning of buildings and various structures.

Office

The office of a company that cleans apartments and other premises should be located in a residential area or closer to the outskirts of the city; a location in the center is not necessary. The client rarely comes to the office; usually the assessment of the scope of work and the conclusion of the contract take place on the customer’s premises. Own space is necessary for conducting interviews with employees and storing equipment.

A room of 20-25 square meters consisting of two rooms is sufficient. The first is the manager’s workplace, the second is for equipment and a washing machine. Monthly rent will be $300-350.

Equipment for a cleaning company

For servicing apartments and small offices, a minimum set consisting of manual equipment is sufficient. But to clean commercial premises, industrial and retail areas, you will need special cleaning machines.

Cleaning equipment

To be fully equipped, you will need:

  • Scrubber dryers (3 pieces) – $3000. Good manufacturers - Cleanfix, Karcher, Columbus, Lavor, Fiorentini;
  • Industrial vacuum cleaners (4 pcs.) – $400. Metabo, Karcher, Einhell, Bosh, Enkor;
  • Floor polishers (2 pcs.) – $370. Mint, Karcher;
  • Steam cleaners (2 pcs.) – $200. Sinbo, Rolsen, Endever;
  • Carpet drying machine – $450. Cleanfix, Numatic, Tennant, Truvox, ChaoBao;
  • Special carts on wheels (6 units) – $400. "Vermop", Cleanfix, TTS;
  • Cleaning buckets on wheels with wringer (5 units) – $280. Bol Equipment, Baiyun Cleaning, TTS;
  • Regular buckets (10 pcs.), flat mops (4 pcs.), scrapers, napkins and rags for wiping dust, brushes for washing windows, garbage bags – $250;
  • Washing machine – $250. Beko, Bosh, Ariston;
  • Detergents and household chemicals (cleaners, care products for various surfaces, carpet and upholstery cleaning, etc.) – $800. This is a supply for several months. Popular manufacturing companies: Econom, Anticid, Himitek, Tanu.

Each worker requires a set of workwear: overalls, T-shirt, hat, gloves (cloth and rubber). For six cleaners you will need about $180-200.


Furniture and appliances

That's not all there is to starting a cleaning company. The office requires shelving for storing tools and supplies, cabinets, two tables with chairs for the director and administrator, a computer, telephone, printer, chairs and a sofa for visitors. This will cost approximately $800.

How much money is needed to equip a cleaning company? Taking into account detergents and clothing for employees, we get a starting amount of $7300-7400.

Staff

At the initial stage, eight employees are enough. This is the director (who is also the owner of the company), a telephone administrator and 6 cleaners. One cleaner serves an average of 500-900 sq. m of area per working day, if we are talking about office or shopping centers. About 100-200 sq. m. – in the case of residential properties.

Important Tips: It is worth concluding an agreement with cleaners on material value (otherwise, in case of damage to property, the responsibility will fall on the office) and, when focusing on one-time orders, pay not a salary, but a percentage of the fee (25-30%).

Accounting can be done by an outsourcer. Monthly salary fund (excluding the salary of the director-owner) – $2000.

Search for customers

The best channels for finding clients: creating and promoting your website, paid advertisements, direct contact with potential clients. Of course, you can’t call the owners of private apartments, but you can offer your services to various companies and establishments. These are office and business centers, shopping and entertainment centers, warehouses, manufacturing plants, restaurants, shops, post-construction sites.

Costs and profits

How to open your own cleaning company and how much money will you need to invest? Capital expenditures:

  1. Registration – $70;
  2. Equipment – ​​$7400
  3. Office rent for three months in advance – $1000;
  4. Website creation and advertising – $200.

Total– 8700 dollars. Fixed expenses (rent, salaries, consumables, advertising) – $3,000.

Cleaning services cost $0.7-0.9 per square meter of area. On average, general cleaning of an apartment is estimated at $100-200, an office – $150-250, a production workshop – from $300. These are prices for one-time work. By concluding a contract on an ongoing basis, you receive a stable order, but get a good discount.

By regularly serving 2-3 companies and completing 15-20 one-time orders per month, you can earn about $4000-4500, net profit is around $1000-1500 per month.

Build is a promising idea for any city with an active business life, where people do not have time to put things in order on their own. This type of business is good because it is easy to scale by increasing staff and expanding the client base.


The cleaning business is a new but promising direction for our country. The popularity of the cleaning service is growing every year.

Dear readers! The article talks about typical ways to resolve legal issues, but each case is individual. If you want to know how solve exactly your problem- contact a consultant:

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The fact is that such a business is a very profitable investment and, with a skillful approach, can bring a stable profit. Today, the market for such services remains a free niche, giving young companies a chance to thrive in a new field. However, the path to success is not so easy: there is a lot of organizational work ahead, difficulties and failures are possible. However, as in any other business.

Historical reference

The idea of ​​making money from cleaning comes from the USA, where the service made its presence known at the beginning of the 20th century. Today, the Western cleaning industry is a developed structure with billions in turnover. For example, in Germany, which is small in area and population, about 300 thousand cleaning companies operate, and in Poland their number is approaching 60 thousand.

The domestic services market lags noticeably behind its advanced colleagues.

There is a logical explanation for this. In our country, people heard about cleaning only in the early 90s. The first companies had to constantly prove the necessity of their existence. They had to fight for every client, since the majority were very skeptical about the activities of such companies, believing that anyone could handle such a simple task as cleaning, and for a lower price.

Gradually, society began to place higher demands on the quality of the environment in which we work or relax. In this regard, the concept of “cleaning” has become firmly established in our lives, and the service has become relevant, opening a new direction for far-sighted businessmen. Today business is developing dynamically in all regions. However, Moscow remains the leader in the number of cleaning companies.

Opening a cleaning company: first steps

Those who have decided to organize such a business are concerned with the question: how to open your own cleaning company from scratch? What is needed for this?

First, it is worth determining which of two ways the company will develop:

  • Work with one client on a contractual basis and provide specific services that the client needs. At the same time, gradually expand the range of services, attracting potential clients
  • Specialize in any one area of ​​activity. For example, provide services only for wet and general cleaning of premises, post-renovation tidying of apartments or offices. You can work in narrow areas, such as washing windows, cleaning carpets and sofas, and tidying up the surrounding area.

Purchase of equipment: what and how much?

Any business requires investment. As for cleaning, you don’t need a lot of start-up capital. Costs will directly depend on the scale of the upcoming enterprise, as well as income. If you are planning to open a small cleaning company, then at first you can even do without an office. You can receive calls from clients at home and send a team to the right address. But without equipment and personnel, it will not be possible to carry out activities.

The minimum set of cleaning tools and consumables includes:

  • Modern washing vacuum cleaner (1 piece)
  • Chemical detergents (1 type for each specific purpose)
  • A set of special napkins, rags, brushes (minimum 2 sets)
  • Machines for cleaning furniture, carpets, floor coverings (1 piece each)
  • Vehicle for transporting employees (1 piece).

The above list is not final; it can be supplemented with other materials to ensure cleanliness, depending on the specialization of the company and the volume of services provided.

To open a more or less large company, you will need additional highly specialized and sometimes expensive equipment.

A rotary machine, for example, will serve for deep cleaning of stone floors. The more equipment a company has in its arsenal, the more diverse the range of services it provides, and therefore the larger its client base.

Recruitment

A small cleaning company, as well as a large one, cannot do without a staff of specialists. As practice shows, you will need several groups of workers.

Girls do the best job of cleaning, so the team is formed of 3-4 women from 25 to 45 years old and one male foreman, who, if necessary, will help move or move heavy objects and equipment.

To receive orders from clients and distribute employees to sites, an operator-dispatcher is needed, as well as a minibus driver to deliver workers to the site. If the company is large, you will have to hire a director, secretary, lawyer and accountant.

When recruiting staff, you will have to face a problem - staff turnover, since working as a cleaner is not the most presentable in our country. It will also not be easy to find honest workers for a small salary who will not encroach on the material assets of the owners for whom they are cleaning. This is very important, because a self-respecting cleaning company values ​​its reputation and is obliged to guarantee the safety of customers’ property.

You can find decent and undemanding staff in the following ways:

  • submitting advertisements to newspapers and job sites;
  • recruitment agency services – a little expensive, but guaranteed qualified workers;
  • through personal connections - there will always be relatives and friends who know someone who would like to earn extra money.

Search for clients

At first, you will have to continuously search for potential clients and actively earn a reputation, which will later work for you, and orders will “flow like a river” themselves. Therefore, you will have to call organizations, offering your services, and back them up with strong arguments about why you should contact your company. It would be a good idea to send out commercial offers.

In a big city there will be no shortage of clients. First of all, shopping centers, offices, manufacturing plants, warehouses need professional and prompt cleaning, and private cottages and apartments close the list.

It is worth focusing on small office premises, since in the first months it will be difficult for the company to find cleaning products for large enterprises.

For a beginning cleaning company, it would be better to find a potential client in advance, and only then rent an office and hire staff. It is important to attract regular customers, because one-time orders will not cover the costs of maintaining an office, taxes and salaries.

Business plan

The business plan of a cleaning company will depend on the size of the organization and the nature of the services provided. Simply put, it is a step-by-step guide of actions that an entrepreneur must follow to achieve his goal.

A business plan is drawn up based on the financial model of the cleaning company. It is an electronic scheme for the movement of funds, which helps to predict upcoming activities, expressing performance in monetary terms.

Basic expenses

Costs can be divided into two types: cost of services and operating expenses.

  1. In the first case, funds are needed to purchase equipment, work tools and cleaning supplies. You cannot do without office furniture, office equipment, a car, as well as gas and maintenance costs.
  2. The second group includes costs for renting office space, taxes, administrative needs, and paying salaries to employees.

Approximate expenses and income are presented in the table. The average prices in the country for these services are taken as a basis. The prices are approximate, because the cleaning company names the exact amount after clarifying the volume and complexity of the work.

It is impossible to calculate the exact income of the company, since the number of orders and their specifics are unknown. At approximately the first time, revenue will not exceed 100,000 rubles. Thus, the funds spent will be fully returned no earlier than in a year. In the future, profits will increase as new customers appear.

Watch a video about the success story of the owner of a cleaning company

Profitability

Starting from the first day, you should clearly regulate your pricing policy. Moreover, it is important to understand what price a potential client in your area is willing to pay.

The approximate cost of work is shown in the table:

According to statistics, the profitability of a cleaning business is 20-25%.

Full payback occurs after a year and a half of work. Although some of the most successful companies manage to achieve profitability in 40% , thereby reducing the period during which they fully return the invested funds.

Let's consider an approximate diagram of the development of events. Let's say it works for you 10 cleaning man. This is approximately 2 brigades. Considering that the working day is 8 hours, and cleaning one object requires 1.5 hours plus travel time. In total, each team will be able to work on 5 objects.

Total 2*5= 10 completed orders. If the cost for one order is 2000 rubles, then per day it turns out to be 20,000 rubles.

For a month 30*20000=300000 rubles of income.

Monthly salary expenses will be about 150,000 rubles, plus taxes, utilities, rent and purchase of cleaning supplies 50,000.

It turns out that the net profit, at best, will remain about 100,000 rubles per month.

Provided that you have invested in the business from 500,000 to 1,000,000 rubles, it will take you a year to cover all costs and start working at a profit.

When opening a cleaning company, it is important to pay attention to the fact that the demand for the services provided is not constant - it is seasonal. Therefore, you immediately need to think about possible related types of business. These include the sale of household chemicals, recruitment of personnel to work at home (nanny, nurse, visiting cleaner), garden care, garbage removal, snow removal.

Finding your uniqueness in pure business

If you plan and organize the work correctly, cleaning can turn out to be a very profitable enterprise. Let us note that from the first steps you need to focus on concluding long-term contracts and earning your credibility with the quality of the services provided. But maintaining a top-level reputation is sometimes even more difficult than earning it. It is necessary to constantly develop the service and improve in everything, to find your own zest.

Cleaning premises with special means and equipment

For effective and efficient cleaning of premises, special equipment is needed. Of course, the choice of equipment depends on the types of services provided. A self-respecting company should acquire not only professional household chemicals, but also specialized equipment.

Such as:

  • Vacuum cleaners (for dry cleaning, washing, brush, dry cleaning, carpet washing)
  • Dryer for carpets, furniture, floors
  • Steam generator
  • Floor cleaning machine, rotary machine, disc machine or floor polisher
  • Furniture cleaning device using foam
  • Sweeper

When working, you need to use modern cleaning products that can cope with any contamination. Otherwise, what is the point of a client paying for a service?

Innovative methods of dealing with dirt are professional, high-quality household chemicals.

It can be alkaline, neutral or acid-based. When working with the latter, take care of protective gloves for workers. Cleaning products are designed to specifically remove dirt from specific surfaces.

So, specialized household chemicals are:

  • For bathroom,
  • for kitchen,
  • for floors,
  • for furniture and carpets,
  • for dishes,
  • for windows,
  • universal for all surfaces.

Cleaning company specialists must leave behind not only a perfectly clean room. It is important to take care to eliminate unpleasant odors and destroy all pathogens. Special deodorizing products will help with this. It is better to purchase products from well-known brands in order to protect yourself from counterfeiting and not risk the company’s reputation.

Important! When working, you should use the most safe drugs and products for health.

By focusing on the eco-friendliness of your cleaning, you can win more customers, especially among individuals.

Additional services

In addition to a number of standard services for putting things in order in offices and private homes, which include: daily wet and general cleaning, dry cleaning of upholstered furniture and textiles, washing windows and facades, post-repair cleaning and work on a personal plot, additional services can be provided.

Today, successfully developing companies offer clients services in:

  • waste disposal,
  • disinfection of premises.
  • cleaning interior items, dishes,
  • getting rid of plaque and mold,
  • washing clothes, curtains, bedspreads, removing stains,
  • washing the stove, refrigerator and others.

Cleaning ventilation shafts is not exactly the specialty of a cleaning company, but if you can do it, then why not.

If your company’s specialists can clean huge windows on the 45th floor of a skyscraper, this will only add more clients to you. But keep in mind that the costs for this service will not be small.

Nuances of work

Cleaning, like any other type of business, involves the presence of pitfalls, which, when faced with, the owner of the company must be fully armed.

To succeed in business means not only to perform your work responsibly and efficiently every day, but also to win the respect of clients thanks to a high level of professionalism, punctuality and flexible prices.

In a small town

If you are planning to open a cleaning company in a small provincial town, then be prepared for the fact that you will have to fight for survival. And in the literal sense, because in small towns many people still don’t even know the word “cleaning”.

The positive thing is that there are no competitors; the main thing is that there is a need for your services.

If you are one hundred percent sure that you will definitely find clients, then you can safely start a business. It would be useful to first find a potential customer for long-term cooperation.

Even in small towns there are shopping and entertainment centers, administrative buildings, offices, factories. They will become the clients of the cleaning company. The main thing is to be able to competently attract them. To do this, you need to constantly advertise your services in every possible way: in print media, on television, and also maintain a competent pricing policy.

Alternatively, payment for services to regular customers can be deferred by providing a loan. To promote your business, it’s a good idea to organize a presentation of your services and, as a bonus, the first free cleaning.

In a highly competitive environment

The largest number of cleaning companies is observed in large cities. It is not surprising, since the metropolis is a vast field for conducting such a business. Even in conditions of fierce competition, not a single company (provided that quality services are provided) will be left without work.

In Russia, cleaning is a young business, so making a profit is not difficult. The most developed cities in this regard are Moscow and St. Petersburg. But even there it’s only 15% of the total number of enterprises are serviced by cleaning companies. So the prospects for starting your own business are very bright.

To be fair, it is worth noting that it is very difficult for a small novice cleaning company to survive in such conditions. You must either initially have connections that will ensure at least initial orders, or immediately declare yourself as a cleaning monster with all the attendant costs for purchasing equipment and funds.

Open your own cleaning company and win

However, surviving the competition and taking a place in the sun is a troublesome task that requires some effort. It is not so easy to attract new clients; you need to convince management to seek services from your company.

Business development methods

To successfully promote business, simply offering your services by phone and email is not enough. It is necessary to carry out a whole range of measures to attract customers, focus them on concluding long-term contracts, as well as constantly improve the quality of service, train staff and use modern equipment.

To promote your company in the services market, you must:

  1. Actively use advertising. You can distribute leaflets, booklets, and stick a poster on a company car.
  2. Analyze your activities, determine the future direction of work, keep up with the times.
  3. To meet the client’s wishes as much as possible, to do everything and even more for him.
  4. Always be in touch and open to communication.
  5. Organize free consultations and your employee’s visit to the site for assessment.
  6. Don't skimp on worker uniforms. This will have a positive impact on the company's image.
  7. Conduct regular training and instruction among staff. A person working for you must be able to talk to a client (and this is not only for administrators and dispatchers), and be able to provide minimal information about the progress of work and possible nuances.
  8. Treat your regular customers with care and send them greeting cards. This will not hit your budget, but will leave the most pleasant impressions about your company. This way you will receive a positive recommendation from the client, which is rightfully considered the best advertising.
  9. Carry out promotions and give discounts to regular customers.
Defeat the dirt and earn money.

Cleaning is a service in demand. Over the past 10 years, the number of companies wishing to develop this niche has only grown. Clients can include owners of apartments and houses who do not have the time or desire to do housework, or legal entities who want to outsource the work of cleaning offices, retail, and industrial areas to third parties and organizations. The threshold for entering this business can be zero, or it can start from 500,000 rubles - this will depend on your specialization and the form of doing business.

Working on the principle of a “single artisan” has its pros and cons. The first includes minimal costs and the ability to keep all aspects under personal control. The disadvantages are the inability to cover “everything at once”, a small flow of orders that you are able to service.

Organizing a cleaning company carries the threat of problems with personnel, financial investments, risks, while at the same time providing the opportunity to expand, increasing the number of facilities and clients.

Starting with a zero budget means working in small areas with one or two employees, interacting mainly with individuals. Since competition is quite high in this type of business, in most cases it is possible to win serious customers by resorting to price dumping.

When opening a cleaning company, orders are sought by distributing leaflets and posting advertisements in multi-storey residential buildings and cottage communities, posting advertisements on the Internet and social networks, among friends, through direct calls.

Infographic: 6 steps to start a cleaning business from scratch:

In the infographic, we will consider the opening of a cleaning company with a sufficient number of employees capable of serving large facilities (cafes, restaurants, offices, several cottages, production bases, etc.).

After you have officially registered, start looking for clients: advertising, direct sales over the phone, participating in thematic events, etc. and at the same time, recruiting staff. The best option is to select workers for a specific object. If you find the cleaners early, you will either have to pay them to wait, or they will run away.

How to open a cleaning company with minimal investment

A limited budget for starting a business or its actual absence should not become an obstacle to the realization of your goal.

What format of work should I choose if there is no money to promote my business?

In this case, feel free to choose the “single” format - act as the main employee and manager. When you find a client who requires services that you are not able to provide yourself, look for an additional employee.

The most important thing to start a business is determination and action. There will never be anything perfect in this world. The main thing is to take actions every day that, according to your calculations, will bring financial results.

Steps to start a cleaning company with a zero start-up budget:

  1. Registration of individual entrepreneurs. The main OKVED code is 74.70 - Cleaning and cleaning of industrial and residential premises, equipment and vehicles.
  2. Searching for orders: placing ads on Avito, other resources, groups on social networks, calling companies to make an appointment.
  3. Conclusion of an agreement (a standard agreement for the provision of cleaning services can be downloaded here).
  4. Prepaid expense.
  5. Execution of work.
  6. Final payment under the contract.

Try to always take either the full amount or an advance.

But in fact, in real business conditions this is quite difficult, since most cleaning companies offer payment for services upon completion of work. And clients are afraid that you will “dump them” or do the cleaning poorly.

At the same time, remember that paying after the fact will be risky - you may simply not get paid. Which solution to choose is a matter of your internal willingness to take risks and the market situation.

Working aspects: registration, personnel, equipment, uniforms and facilities

Once you decide to start, register your business. You can choose the LLC or Individual Entrepreneur form (the latter option is preferable for beginner businessmen). Your OKVED codes are 74.70 (cleaning and cleaning of industrial and residential premises, equipment and vehicles) and additional ones.

You can register an individual entrepreneur without leaving your home, through the government services portal.

The purchase of work uniforms and professional chemicals will require small expenses - in general, about 10,000 - 20,000 rubles.

The list of equipment you will need for the job will depend on your specific needs. So, if you plan to start with cleaning houses and apartments, then the following household devices are suitable for you:

  • rotor;
  • water/mud/vacuum cleaner;
  • extractor;
  • polishing machine;
  • stepladder, buckets, sponges, couplers, professional chemicals.

Personnel should be recruited for a specific facility. Those. You and your client have agreed to clean a cottage with an area of ​​400 sq.m. with furniture dry cleaning - immediately look for specialists who can help you. They look for similar workers on Avito, regional portals where similar resumes are posted, in the VKontakte and Odnoklassniki groups, and by posting job advertisements on neighborhood bulletin boards. Recently, unfortunately, access to applicant data on Avito has become paid.

If migrant workers contact you, pay attention to the presence of a work permit, otherwise you may face fines.

List of cleaning company services for cleaning apartments, cottages and non-residential premises

Differentiated services are understandable to customers and satisfy their needs, and allow cleaning businessmen to make a good profit.

Standard gradation of residential cleaning services and their cost:

  • express cleaning on an area up to 70 sq.m. (1.5 -2 thousand rubles);
  • general cleaning in a residential area up to 70 sq.m (3-5 thousand rubles, includes dry and wet cleaning, furniture polishing, kitchen degreasing);
  • cleaning after renovation (from 5 thousand rubles);
  • cleaning after a fire (from 10,000 rubles);
  • additional services at different rates (garbage removal, dry cleaning, etc.)

Providing cleaning services for legal entities may include the following services:

  • industrial mountaineering (washing display cases, windows, glass facades);
  • cleaning the area in front of the building;
  • cleaning toilets,
  • cleaning of industrial and kitchen premises for cafes, restaurants, canteens;
  • cleaning pools, baths.

Apartment cleaning and work equipment

When working with professional chemicals, you should have a good understanding of the peculiarities of the action of a highly alkaline substance on a particular material in order to avoid damage to property and related problems. For example, laminate flooring is not polished. Instead, protective coatings such as SMART-PROFI, Clean & Buff “Premiere Clean&Buff” are applied. To work with floor coverings, it is recommended to use a rotary polishing machine, a polishing machine (you can use a household one from Karcher).

Minimum for cleaning apartments and cottages you will need the following equipment:

  • rotor for washing floors and dry cleaning carpets;
  • water/mud/vacuum cleaner;
  • extractor;
  • stepladder for working with chandeliers, ceilings, high furniture;
  • buckets, ties, fur coats, professional chemicals.

Cleaning of premises after renovation

After construction work, we need effective acidic agents that can quickly remove traces of cement, plaster, lime, mixtures, rusty and salt stains.

Contamination can be removed manually or using foam generators or high-pressure apparatus.

Prices for work start from 140 rubles/sq.m. (in rooms up to 50 sq.m.). In an apartment or cottage with an area of ​​up to 200 sq.m. (this is the most frequently ordered option) the price starts from 120 rubles/sq.m.

Cleaning products after renovation

Highly concentrated Shine No. 5.

Designed for work on internal and external surfaces with stains of building mixtures, cement, etc. Cost for 5 liters - from 300 rubles.

Used for manual and mechanized cleaning. The solution is applied to the surface with a brush, sponge, brush or spray method, after 5-10 minutes the surface is washed with water.

Consumption for light pollution is 10 ml per 1 liter of water, for heavy pollution it is 1:1.

Alkaline cleaner for oil and oil stains Power No. 8.

Suitable for metal surfaces, tiles, marble, artificial stone, self-leveling floors. Using this product you can remove carbon deposits, soot, oil stains, fuels and lubricants. Cost for 5 liters – from 300 rubles.

Try to purchase professional cleaning products for residential and non-residential premises from wholesale suppliers - this will allow you to save a lot, since the consumption of chemicals for daily orders will be significant.

Dry cleaning of upholstered furniture, carpets, chairs

Dry cleaning is the second most popular cleaning service. It is often ordered for residential and office premises in order to remove grease, stains from blood, food, ink, markers, paints from mattresses, sofas, carpets, chairs.

Approximate prices:

Chair – from 200 rubles/piece.

Chair – from 400 rubles/piece.

Sofa 2-seater – from 1300 rubles/piece.

Corner sofa – from 2400 rubles/piece.


Photos "BEFORE" and "AFTER". Expand your portfolio - be sure to take photos!

Window cleaning, industrial mountaineering

This service is also very often ordered from cleaning companies. The price for cleaning a window with two sashes and plastic starts from 500 rubles on average. A professional will spend about 15-20 minutes on this type of work. These services are seasonal: most often they are ordered in spring and autumn.

Cleaning windows, facades, balconies, and shop windows from the outside at height is considered dangerous work and requires licensing. Employees performing this work must be provided with the necessary equipment and undergo specialized training. Otherwise, you will not be able to provide such a service.

Important! To perform high-altitude work (industrial mountaineering), a license is required. This means that your organization must join the SRO at its location and pay the entrance fee (300,000 -700,000 rubles). Workers must have permits and certificates as a high-altitude fitter; work permits must be issued with instructions.

Industrial mountaineering is an expensive service (standard cleaning of windows from the inside and in one-story houses is not taken into account - the prices here are low). The salary of an installer in the regions is on average 50,000 - 60,000 rubles; in Moscow it is usually 2 times higher.

Such workers are expensive.

Cleaning up after a fire

It is very difficult to remove the burning smell due to the release of resins and phenols at high temperatures and their ability to penetrate deeply into materials, so owners of residential premises where smoke has occurred often turn to specialized cleaning companies. Therefore, this service should definitely be on your list of options, especially since the price for it starts from 200 rubles per square meter.

Equipment and tools necessary for working with a room with traces of soot, soot, burning:

  • high pressure apparatus;
  • foam generator;
  • detergents (concentrate);
  • dust extractor;
  • nozzles

Diluted concentrates from the Karcher series and Kiehl HODRUPA A soot remover are often used as detergents. The latter is used undiluted for manual cleaning of fire-damaged objects and in certain proportions if high-pressure apparatuses are used.

The sequence of actions when cleaning premises in which there is a fire or smoke:

  1. Application of foam.
  2. Interaction of chemistry with surface.
  3. Flushing the chemical with an AED.
  4. Removing water with a vacuum cleaner.
  5. The final stage can be aromatization of the room with professional air fresheners: the unpleasant smell in the room is eliminated with the help of disinfectants and neutralizing agents.

Pool cleaning

To clean swimming pools you will need separate specialized equipment, chemicals and trained personnel. The standard set of cleaning services includes:

  1. Draining water and collecting garbage.
  2. Cleaning the floor and walls of the pool, including algae removal, and disinfection.
  3. Wiping and disinfection of sun loungers, handles, rugs.
  4. Cleaning plaque and polishing tiles and other surfaces.
  5. Cleaning and disinfection of showers and locker rooms.

Your clients can be private owners of cottages, as well as baths, saunas, sports and fitness centers, and swimming pools. Average price per 1 sq.m. - from 200 rubles. The cost may be higher if the pool is deep and heavily soiled.

Cleaning of cafes, restaurants, industrial facilities

Industrial premises require constant monitoring of cleanliness. While daily cleaning is carried out by permanent staff, specialists from cleaning companies can be invited for general cleaning.

If this is a public catering facility, then you should use special products against traces of fat, oil, and burning.

Subtleties of cleaning work: do not offer sex!

Apartment cleaning is usually done by women aged 25 to 45 years. They come to someone else's house, completely unaware of who will meet them. Cleaning staff periodically receive offers of an intimate nature, so working alone may be unsafe.

Most private traders are forced to immediately warn: do not offer sex!

Your safety or how to defend yourself against theft charges

Accusations of employees of cleaning companies of theft and damage to property are a nuisance that those who open a business cleaning cottages and apartments very often face. This is also a common fear of new business owners.

How can such accusations be prevented and avoided?

There are several options here.

If you work independently or with trusted persons, then the risk of theft is minimal. If the company employs several people and their number is growing, then sooner or later you will encounter such a problem.

A way out of this situation may be to insure civil liability of employees. Any damage caused by cleaners to the customer (theft, damage, etc.) is covered by the insurance company. Purchasing such an insurance policy will not only minimize unpleasant situations, but also increase customer loyalty, and this is a definite plus.

Problem customers and accounts receivable

One of the most common problems that cleaning companies face is late payments and non-repayment of debts.

Be prepared for the fact that 1 in 10 of your clients will delay paying their bills. In difficult cases, you will have to “knock out” debts in court. To do this, you must have a lawyer on your staff (or outsource) who will deal with claims and litigation on accounts receivable.

In practice, the “risk zone” is legal entities that have recently been operating on the market (so-called fly-by-night companies), clients who are already acting as defendants in court in similar cases. Having ordered services, dishonest companies begin to delay payment, citing financial problems, and it can be difficult to achieve payments even through the courts, since they do not keep funds in bank accounts.

In order to insure against non-payment, you must always conclude an agreement and sign a work acceptance certificate. Even if you know the client well and have worked with him many times, always try to protect yourself from such problems by preparing the documents correctly.

What to do if the client refuses to pay or starts feeding him “breakfast”?

In this case, a claim letter is first drawn up and sent to the client by registered mail. If the money is still not transferred to your account, go to court and seek a court decision in an administrative case. If the amount of debt is more than 350 thousand rubles, you can try to initiate a bankruptcy case for the debtor legal entity.

Search for orders and promotion of services

Tenders

Competitions for the provision of cleaning services are held quite often. They are organized by large retailers (Magnit, Auchan, Pyaterochka, etc.), management companies of business centers, regional and municipal authorities, and industrial enterprises.

Such tenders require significant budgets (from 500,000 rubles to several tens of millions of rubles), however, the requirements here are strict: the number of employees, price category, availability of equipment and tools, work experience, financial security, etc.

If your clients are individuals, do not refuse to constantly post information about your services on specialized Internet resources (“Avito”, “From Hand to Hand”, etc.) Additional orders can come from publications in groups on social networks, forums, stock exchanges freelancing, resources for finding orders and performers (“Professionals ru”, “Repairman ru”, etc.)

Post advertisements in city neighborhoods, drop advertising leaflets in mailboxes - this can give, albeit a small, but positive effect.

Create a website that will represent your company in the Internet space. Develop it and look for clients using contextual advertising and SEO.


This is what your competitors website looks like. Do better.

Direct access to clients through telephone conversations

If your business employs several dozen people, you cannot do without direct sales. You or your sales manager should call a certain number of potential customers every day in search of a real order.

Your advantages over competitors can be:

  • lower price;
  • employees with Russian citizenship or a work permit if the backbone of your staff consists of labor migrants;
  • customer focus;

Thematic events, competitions, etc.

From time to time, exhibitions, master classes and other events are held in the cleaning industry where you can offer your services. It is not necessary to wait for “cleaning” events. At exhibitions dedicated to design and cottages, your target audience may also be present - use every opportunity to introduce yourself and your business.