7 easy ways to make a profit from your cleaning business

With a rise in dual-income families in the UK, the demand for cleaning services is on the rise; whether it’s housekeeping services, office cleaning, end-of-tenancy cleaning, carpet cleaning or so much more. The market is massive for a cleaning business, and it means there’s a lot of potential to embrace it. 

While it may take a relatively small investment to start up a cleaning service, converting it into a successful trade can be difficult and challenging. There are many obstacles that new agencies face when trying to establish their business. Some may lack resources and finances to keep things afloat, while others may struggle to obtain their first client. Whatever their challenges are, their ability to overcome them is crucial. 

But what influences the success of housekeeping agencies, especially in a saturated cleaning and hygiene market like the UK?

Here are seven pivotal factors that can help convert your cleaning business into a money-making machine...

Quality vs. Quantity

You can’t be everywhere at all times, so it’s integral to figure out which market you want to work within. Find out what your niche is and focus on that. If you want to serve commercial clients and focus only on office-cleaning, then put all your efforts and resources into specialising in those services. If you think you can tap into the domestic cleaning market, then cater to residential consumers with a wide range of housekeeping services. Rather than performing moderately at a bunch of services, excel at offering specialised cleaning services. 

By choosing quality over quantity, you are likely to increase customer satisfaction, reduce costs associated with training and resources and, most importantly, earn more profit. For example, a business owner with prior experience in hotel management should focus on hospitality housekeeping services, rather than domestic cleaning. By focusing on what you do best and who you can serve better, you can become profitable, productive and more successful. 

Keep Your Employees Happy

Your employees are critical to your cleaning businesses, so it’s equally important that you take care of them. The profitability of your businesses depends on how well your employees perform while carrying out cleaning services, so it’s essential that you invest in them. 

While most business owners use monetary benefits as leverage, they fail to understand that money should not be the only form of incentive offered to employees. Service-based businesses depend heavily on the performance of their employees, because after all, it’s the quality of their work that will determine if their customers are satisfied. Cleaning businesses should therefore invest in training to make sure their staff are well-trained and have the necessary resources to fulfill their duties. 

Look for ways you can make your employees happy — whether it’s giving them the autonomy to make decisions at the job, or including them in discussions relating to company operations to make them feel like an important part of the business. Most importantly, give them the respect they deserve and make sure they feel valued. 

Promote Dedication 

It doesn’t matter if you’re offering traditional housekeeping services, janitorial work, or an exclusive cleaning service such as end-of-tenancy cleaning. Clean like it’s your own home or office. Promote dedication throughout your agency and allow your customers to see your commitment. 

Why is this important? By doing so, you are not only going to garner higher customer satisfaction rates; you will also establish a reputation for providing quality services. This can lead towards referrals from happy clients, therefore growing the reputation of your business.

Create Systems

Set parameters for your business and create a system for everything. By doing so, you are able to offer a network that enables you to work routinely and efficiently. Also, by introducing a system, you are allowing your business to run without you. It’s essential that you create systems for every operation of your business: supervision, customer services, management, accounting and cleaning. 

Hire Right

Very often, cleaning agencies are quick to hire staff without checking the credentials and experience of the candidate thoroughly. Staff play an integral role when it comes to housekeeping services, particularly because their performance is key to garnering sales and customers. For this reason, agencies should take their time and hire right. 

Instead of hiring staff on competitive rates, do thorough reference checks and offer training. If you discover that the person you hired has dependability issues or integrity problems, cut your losses and start over. It may not be pleasant, but it’s necessary to ensure that your business is successful and profitable.

Don’t Undersell 

As a new player in the market, you might be tempted to undercut the competition by offering your services at one-third of the going rate. However, that is the fatal mistake many cleaning businesses make. By doing so, you are making three significant errors.

Firstly, you’re telling your customers you’re not worth the standard rate of investment. Instead of providing quality services for the same price as your competition, you’re giving your customers doubt by charging less, encouraging the opinion that you’re not as good as your competitors.

Secondly, you can’t cover costs if you’re low-balling. If you undersell your services, how do you expect to pay your workers? 

Lastly, you would have to gradually raise prices to meet the standard market rate. Your customers don’t expect that your service charges will double or triple the next time they call you for housekeeping services. Instead, they can just opt for a more seasoned housekeeping agency in the same price.

Invest in Marketing 

Many agency owners don’t realise the importance of marketing, especially in today’s vigorous market. Consumers have shorter memory spans and are constantly bombarded by advertisements. Because owners are so involved in the daily operations of their business, they rarely take the time to reflect on how marketing can help them grow.

However, it’s important to realise that investing in marketing means that businesses are able to build relationships with their customers and learn more about their wants and needs. One way to do so is by investing in social media and online advertising. By using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and even Pinterest, owners can reach new customers, gain online reviews and leverage from word-of-mouth to listen to what their customers have to say about their competition. 

You can also keep your customers engaged by setting up a blog on your company website and send out newsletters with cleaning tips and tricks to show that you are an expert at your trade. While there are many companies that can help with social media marketing and online advertising, there are also many self-help resources that can help you jump start on it. 

Written by Ankush Gupta, owner of cleaning agency, St. Anne’s Housekeeping