Home cleaning services are gaining in popularity. This is a business service that is growing in demand as a result of more and more women who are working outside the home. As women work outside the home and try to take care of their family, time is essential and most do not have time for cleaning. It's an ideal business for any truly ambitious person wanting a business of his or her own, especially for those who must begin with limited funds. Actually, you can start this business right in your own neighborhood, using your own equipment and cleaning supplies, and begin making a profit from the first day. Many enterprising homemakers are already doing this kind of work on a small scale as an extra income producing endeavor.
There's a growing need for this service. Organizing your efforts in to a business producing $50,000 to $100,000 a year is quite possible, and you can get started for $100 or so, always using your profits to expand and increase your business.
Absolutely no experience is required. Everyone knows how to dust the furniture, vacuum the carpets, make the beds and carry out the trash. But your must ask yourself if making a house clean and bright is important and uplifting work. If you look on it as degrading or as drudgery don't involve yourself in this business. Decide ahead what you "want" to clean. You may only want to clean homes that are not too dirty to begin with.
Starting from scratch, you'll need a telephone and an appointment book. You also need an advertising flyer, such as the following:HOME CLEANING SERVICE We do the work---You relax and take it easy. You get the best job in town, at rates you can afford. Weekly, monthly, or spring and fall cleaning available. No job is too big or small! Your satisfaction is always guaranteed! Call Sue: 123-4567---ABC Cleaning Services to set up an appointment today!On your flyer also include the services you will provide. Such as what is included in basic weekly cleaning, i.e. vacuuming, dusting, mopping floors, wiping down kitchen appliances, items cleaned in bathroom, and that sort of thing. Other items you could include for an additional fee could be to clean blinds, windows, and baseboards. Put all these items on the flyers.
Once you have this advertising flyer completed, take it to a nearby quick print shop and have about 200 copies printed. You should be able to get two copies on a standard 81/2x11 sheet, and running 100 sheets of paper through the press is going to cost well over $10. For just a few cents more, have the printer cut them in half with the machine cutter, so you will have 200 copies of your advertising flyer. Using colored paper is a must so that your flyer will stand out.Now take these flyers, along with a box of thumbtacks, and put them up on all free bulletin boards you can find--grocery stores, laundromats, beauty salons, office building lounges, cafeterias, post offices, and where ever else such announcements are allowed. You can also check with your local city office to see if it is allowed to put on door knobs or on mailboxes.
When a prospective customer calls, have your appointment book and pencil handy. Be friendly and enthusiastic. Explain what you do--everything from changing the beds to vacuuming, dusting and polishing the furniture and cleaning the bathroom to dishes and the laundry. Or, everything except the dishes and laundry--whatever you have decided on as your policy. When they ask how much you charge tell them you'll need to see the home to make a detailed estimate for them. Then without much of a pause, ask if 4:30 this afternoon would be convenient for them, or if 5:30 would be better. You must pointedly ask if you can come to make your cost proposal at a certain time, or the decision may be put off, and you may come up with a "no sale." The average cost to have a house cleaned is anywhere from 10.00 to 20.00 per hour. Check around and see what other people are paying. When you go to see your prospect in person, always be on time. A couple of minutes won't hurt you, but a few minutes late will definitely be detrimental to your closing the sale. always be well groomed. Dress as a successful business owner. Be confident and sure of yourself; be knowledgeable about what you can do as well as understanding of the prospect's needs and wants. Do not smoke, even if invited by the prospect, and never accept a drink--even coffee--until after you have signed contract in your briefcase.
Actually, once you've made the sale, the best thing is to shake hands with your new customer, thank him, and leave. A little small talk after the sale is appropriate, but becoming friendly is not. You create an impression, and preserve it, by maintaining a business-like relationship.*When you go to make your cost estimate, take along a ruled tablet such as those used by elementary school students, carbon paper, a calculator and your appointment book. Some people find it easier to work with a clipboard and ordinary blank paper with carbon. Later on, you may want to have general checklists printed up for each room in the house, with blank lines and spaces for special instructions.
Whatever you use, it's important to appear methodical, thorough and professional, while leading the prospect through the specifics he or she wants you to take care of: "Now, you want the carpet vacuumed and all the furniture dusted and those two end tables, the coffee table and piano polished as well, I assume?"Simply identify the specific room at the top of the sheet of paper, the lead your prospect through the cleaning steps of each room, covering everything in it. Your implications of putting everything in "ready for company" shape will cause the customer to forget about the cost, and hire you to do a complete job. Always have a carbon under each piece of paper you're writing on, and always look around each room one more time before leaving it; then ask the prospect if he or she can think of any special instructions you should note for that room.
Finally, when you've gone through each room in the house with the prospect, come back to the kitchen and sit down at the table. Take out your calculator and add up the time you estimate each job in each room will take to complete. Total the time for each room. Be liberal, thinking that if you can do the carpet job in 15 minutes, it will usually take the ordinary person 30 minutes. Convert the total minutes for each room into hours and tenths of a hours per room. Add the totals for each room to arrive at your total hours to clean the entire house.
Talk with the customer briefly, wondering how she can ever find the time to get everything done at home, especially when holding down a fulltime job. A little bit of small talk, a quick mental evaluation of the customer's ability to pay, plus your knowledge that you can get everything done in four hours, instead of six it would take most people, and you summarize by saying:"Well, Mrs. Johnson, you've certainly got enough routine cleaning work to keep you busy all day and every day of the week! I certainly don't know how you do it, but anyway, we'll take this whole problem off your shoulders, save you time, and actually give you time to relax. We can do it on a regular basis, every other week for $120 per month or the one single time for $75."I can imagine how tired you are when you get home form work. If you're at all like me, there are times when, faced with all this housework, you want to run away someplace and hide. Now, we'll take care of everything for you--keep the house spic and span, ready for company, allow you to forget about housecleaning chores, and for a lot less than it's costing you now in time, work, and worry. And we guarantee that our work will more than satisfy you. So, would you like to try our cleaning service one time for $75 or do you want to save $15 a call and let us take over these chores for you on a regular basis?"Here you begin finding a place in your appointment book, and tell her: "Actually I have an opening at 8:30 on Tuesday morning. We could come in every other Tuesday at 8:30, clean the whole house and have it done before you get home from work."The customer agrees that 8:30 Tuesdays will be fine. Then you ask her if she prefers to be billed with the completion of each house cleaning session or on a regular monthly basis. Point out to her that by engaging you on a monthly basis, she picks up a free house cleaning every three months.
Now that you have your first customer, you want to fill every day of the week, each week of every month with regular jobs. Once you have one week of each month filled with regular jobs, it will be time for you to expand.
Expansion means growth, involving people working for you, more jobs to sell, and greater profits. Don't let it frighten you, for you have gained experience by starting gradually. After all--your aim in starting a business of your own was to make money, wasn't it? And expanding means more helpers so you don't have to work yourself to death!
You can operate this business quite successfully from the comfort of your home, permanently, if you choose to. All you'll need is a telephone, a desk, and a file cabinet.Your equipment needs will be minimal: Cleaning and polishing rags, mops, a couple of plastic buckets, and furniture polishes. Most people will have the necessary cleaning materials, including vacuum cleaner, soaps and cleaners. But it wouldn't hurt to have these items available just in case you get a job in a home or an apartment without these tools. As your business grows, you'll be able to purchase all your needs at huge discounts, and these are the sources of supply to cultivate as you grow.
One of the most important aspects of this business is asking for, and allowing your customers to refer other prospects to you. All this happens, of course, as a result of your giving fast, dependable service. You might even set up a promotional notice on the back of your business card (to be left as each job is completed) offering five dollars off their next cleaning bill when they refer you to a new prospect.
This is definitely a high profit business, requiring only an investment of time and organization on your part to get started. With a low investment, little or no overhead requirement, and no experience needed, this is an ideal business opportunity with a grown curve that accelerates at an unprecedented rate. Think of it. If it appeals to you, set up your own plan of operations and go for it! The profit potential for an owner of this type of business is outstanding!
