Month: February 2021

Is a Cleaning Business Profitable?

If you’re one of the thousands of people thinking of opening your own cleaning business, you may have had the same thought as everybody else, “Is a cleaning business even profitable?” Understandably, people have a lot of questions when it comes to cleaning businesses. Unlike other companies, you really don’t see the transactions nor the everyday hustle and bustle of an office building. Thus the following includes further detail about the probability of a cleaning business.

The Demand is There
No matter if you live in a mid-sized city or a sprawling metropolis, the demand for cleaning services is there. Parents who are both working constantly may need someone to come in once or twice a week to clean up the home. Entrepreneurs and large companies are also seeking people who can clean a few floors without really having to hire them as full-time employees. In addition to having the demand, because your services are so widely needed, you may be able to increase your prices, thus improving your profit margins at the end of the month.

Opportunity to Continue Growing
Those who have taken the leap and open up their own cleaning services can tell you that they did so not only because of the possible profits but also because of their growth potential. Because the number of possible clients is not limited to one industry within your community, you can expand if you are willing to bring more people onto your crew. This, of course, does mean investing in training, supplies, and employees, but growth does not come without a cost.

You May Offer Various Types of Cleaning Services
Unlike a shoe or clothing store that can only sell one particular type of item, cleaning services have a whole plethora of services they can offer to clients. This means that you always have the chance of upselling clients with a more detailed and more expensive plan. For example, if you’re cleaning residential homes, you may want to promote the fact that you now offer office building cleaning services. If you have a carpet cleaning company, you can offer upholstery cleaning and other types of floor cleaning with your existing equipment. If you are doing your job correctly, many of your existing clients may recommend you to their jobs or friends and family.

Overhead Cost
One of the biggest reasons why so many are hesitant to go into business for themselves is due to overhead costs. A restaurant will need furniture, supplies, and large, expensive kitchen equipment before they can offer their services to the public. However, all a cleaning service business needs is a stockpile of cleaning supplies, uniforms, and enough capital to pay their employees. This makes making a profit within your first year that much more realistic.

As you can see from the information above, there are a number of reasons why a cleaning services business would be profitable. Of course, it is always recommended to conduct your own due diligence before investing your funds into one.

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The Economy is Us

People are worried. Why throw money to soak up bad debts banks have, when people are facing potential debt or mortgage payments problems of their own, especially if jobs drop and interest rates rise – as seems sure to happen no matter what Congress does.  Even if banks are kept solvent, who is to assure that they will still help out the small businessperson?

I have a little experience and a general philosophy here.  I started my business with family help in 1988, buying a store. The recession of 89-92 hit right after I moved the store to a new shopping center and quadrupled my rent and overhead. It was tough.  But there were good things about it. Businesses had to be smart to survive. You had to take better care of your customers. You had to forge relationships with them. It could not be a semi-anonymous thing just centered around goods and money.  People got a little more serious about life in the hard times. It was not all bad.

Here is a little thinking on banking. My experience in business was with a small business and a locally-owned bank. When I went to get my business loan to buy my business I spoke with the banker for a long time. He explained that he was the last locally-owned bank in Knoxville, Tennessee. He explained the difference between a locally-owned bank and a larger chain bank. Local banks take local money and primarily invest it in the local economy, in giving loans to businesses like mine. There is accountability there. There is a relationship. We are business partners. I would often go over to the bank and just talk, get help, advice, and wisdom; not just deal with money. There is a lot more to running a business (and life itself) than just money.

Larger banks tended, he said, to take the local money and invest it in broader, often removed, markets. They would invest Knoxvillians’ money more in the various funds and national or international banking schemes out there. They might make a great profit, but it was not as much by supporting the people where we lived and whom we knew personally and providing them capital to follow their dreams.

I was tremendously struck with the fundamental difference. I had never before realized that every dollar I invested in a bank, even in my own savings or checking account, could either be earmarked to support a vague fund with who-knows-what control over it in who-knows-which place; or it could be put in the hands of my local banker who could be freer to lend it to my neighbor who ran a hair salon in my own shopping center. Or, for that matter, my business. When you boil it down that way, it is very simple.

I became a huge fan of investing locally and investing in a relationship that provided wisdom, commitment to me and my neighbors as well as liquidity.

Perhaps it is time for the entire nation – or even the world – to get the grandiose banking schemes out of their heads and return to investing in -and being accountable to – people they can sit down and talk with. Then we can all learn more – about money – and about life.

A new slogan: It’s about the fact that the economy is us – ’stupid

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