Starting a
Cleaning Business from Home

INCOME POTENTIAL

Let's look at why starting a cleaning business has real income potential:

• Set up costs are low and you can make a reasonable profit margin.
• Once you find a customer, they are likely to buy from you on a regular repeat basis - weekly or monthly. This provides a much more stable income stream than businesses where you have to keep on finding a new set of customers each month.
• There is some opportunity to earn extra money from your customer base, for example from sale of cleaning products or one-off special cleans.

In addition, you have a good opportunity to generate referral business from happy customers because they keep getting reminded of the quality of your work each week or month.

But how do you establish your inital customer base?

FINDING CUSTOMERS

• One possibility is to deliver flyers or sales letters to potential customers. However, the response rate to leaflet drops is often very low.
• Your first customers will probably come from people you have already met face to face. So, it makes sense to meet more people and one way to do this is to attend local small business networking events.
• You can also approach businesses such as lettings agents who may be looking for cleaning firms to service properties where new tenants are needed.

As with any local business, a web site is also very useful. Some customers may search on the Internet for a local cleaning firm. Also a web site helps to establish a credible image as an up to date business.

MARKET RESEARCH

Bear in mind, as with any business start up, that it's very important to carry out some market research before you start. If your home town already has several excellent cleaning companies, is there a sufficient gap in the market for you to set up another one?

That's why it's useful to have a few different small business ideas on your shortlist. You can then assess each potential small business idea against the others. Perhaps another idea on your list is completely open, with no local competitors.

Also, beware that it will probably take several months, perhaps a year, to establish a good income stream. Building a successful home based business requires persistence and resilince as well as a sound business idea.

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