If you don’t mind getting your hands a little dirty, starting a cleaning business might be the way to go for you. Research tells us there were just over 3 million people working in the cleaning industry in 2016 in America. The average wage was 27,030 U.S. dollars.

How to Start a Cleaning Business

Here’s an outline for starting your very own cleaning business. 

Determine the Need

One of the first things you’ll need to look at is whether you want to go all in or not with your new cleaning business and that means looking at the need. Plan to start out small. If you’re in a small town, it’s more likely you’ll find some early work through word-of-mouth residential cleaning for neighbors and friends.

It’s best to start out walking before you learn to run according to the experts. In other words consider part-time work to check out your new company’s viability at first. There might be small banquet halls or independent convenience stores where you are that could use your services.

Pick a Niche

If you live in a bigger town, you can start deciding where you want to clean based on what’s there.  If you’re willing to take on a few helpers there’s commercial cleaning which can include banks and even schools.   You can even get into specialty cleaning for things like sporting goods if you get the right kind of washing machine and other equipment.

Having an established cleaning market to choose from gives you another option.

“If you want to keep your day job, think about purchasing a cleaning franchise first to learn the business before branching out on your own,” says Dave Bonnemort, Regional Director and Master Franchise Owner of a Utah-based commercial cleaning company Anago of Utah

Pick a Good Name

It doesn’t really matter whether you want to go big or small, you need to have a good name that people remember. You should include the niche you’ve chosen in the company name so people know what you do right away.

For example: Home Cleaning Services tells the whole story.

Get The Proper Licenses

Find out what you need to get started from your local municipality. Once you’ve got the local and state regulations set, you can check here to see if there are any federal guidelines. 

Advertise On the Cheap

It’s likely you won’t have a lot of money to start out with, so advertising on budget can mean mixing and matching old and new media. Creating a website and taking advantage of social media is a good idea. Flyers and ads in local newspapers for a small start-up can point to your online presence. 

“Brand your vehicle and pass out your business card to friends, family and acquaintances but keep in mind to stay on budget and try to find the balance between money spent on advertising and income. Invest smart and it will pay out,” says Arthur Harris from Carpet Cleaning Experts Melbourne. 

Stock Up On Supplies

If you’re starting out small you’ll need to buy a good vacuum cleaner with the right attachments. White cloth rags and paper towels are other staples and you can’t forget toilet bowl cleaner and a good brush. A broom, dust pan and a dry mop will get you started.

When possible, buy supplies in bulk so you’ll never run out on the job. 

Remember “green” businesses are popular and you’ll want to stock up on supplies that aren’t toxic and good for the environment.

Photo via Shutterstock

This article, “How to Start a Cleaning Business” was first published on Small Business Trends