How to Run a Successful Cleaning Business (Advice from Experts)

1. Review your services and pricing regularly

Your list of services and pricing structure form the backbone of your cleaning business, and as a result—they matter a great deal. The combination of in-demand services and competitive pricing is how you’ll generate a flow of predictable sales.

In order to stay profitable, your pricing should account for the following variables:

• Cost of labor
• Cost of materials and products
• Overhead and equipment maintenance
• Your ideal profit margin

These factors change over time (based on the broader economy and seasonal trends), so re-evaluating regularly is important. If you’d like to price each cleaning job individually, use this simple formula:

Labor costs + Material costs + (overhead + equipment costs) + profit margin

FREE TOOL: Jobber’s free house cleaning cost calculator helps you quickly price a job based on your tasks and services. Just select the service you’re providing, choose add-on services, and calculate in seconds.

2. Develop a simple quoting process

Generating quotes and estimates for future customers can give you an edge on the competition and help your business win more work. But as a busy entrepreneur, it’s tricky to write detailed estimates after every client conversation.

Here’s how to speed up your quoting process:

• Use a cleaning estimate template that’s personalized with your company name and brand. 
• When you’re ready to generate a new quote, simply enter your client’s contact information, services, pricing, and estimate terms and conditions.
• Email your quote to the potential customer and send a quote follow-up email if you haven’t heard back in a couple of days.

3. Create a marketing strategy

Marketing allows you to reach potential customers, introduce your brand, and make valuable connections with your target market. There’s no limit to the amount of marketing strategies you can try over time to attract new business, but choosing a few to start allows you to see which are most effective for your ideal clients.

Try a few of these action items to start drawing attention to your cleaning business:

• Build a strong brand will help you generate more trust with new clients.. This means spending time on a professional business logo, signage, branded uniforms, and your online presence.
• Then, spread the word to your personal network, asking friends and family if they’d like to try your services or if they’d be willing to recommend them to others.
• If you’re using a company vehicle, use decals or a car wrap to advertise your business as you travel to job sites.
• When it comes to digital marketing, create a professional cleaning website that introduces your brand and services, and helps your target audience quickly book a call, estimate, or new job.
• Create pages for your business on popular social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Use these platforms to share content that appeals to your ideal clients. Before-and-after photos or client testimonials are great way to show your value to your new audience.
• Create your Google Business Profile to make sure that your cleaning service shows up in local search results.

4. Get paid quickly and on-time

Believe it or not—actually getting paid by your clients is a system that requires a little bit of planning and preparation. 

Speed up your payment process with these strategies:

• Shorten payment terms on invoices to 14 days to avoid late or unpaid invoices
• Use a professional invoice template that clearly lists the amount owed, your company’s payment terms, and accepted payment methods 
• Let customers pay online with convenient credit card processing
• Be transparent if you include any additional fees (like processing charges), taxes, or other amounts that would slow down your payments

Whatever payment option you choose, remember—the easier it is for customers to pay, the faster you’ll reap the benefits of a job well done. Speedy payments also ensure that you can pay any other staff members, including cleaners, for their efforts without delay.

5. Stay organized with client and job details

The best way to show up to a new cleaning job site is by being prepared and having all the details ahead of time. To stay as organized as possible, be sure to have a system for managing important details like:

• Client contact information
• Job-specific notes
• Previous quotes and estimates
• Past or outstanding invoices

Storing this information in one place allows you to find this information easily. Not only does that reduce stress for you (and your team, if you have one), but it also presents a highly professional experience to your clients.

6. Request reviews and referrals from clients

Having positive customer reviews on your Google Business Profile not only pulls your cleaning business to the top of search results—it may also encourage more future clients to connect with you.

To run a successful and growing business, attract more customers using online reviews. You can start by:

• Asking current clients to write a review. Depending on their preference, they can submit in an email, via text message after the job is complete, or directly on Google.
• Share positive reviews on your cleaning business website. You can also use testimonials to create social media posts or make new printed assets, like flyers.

You can also set up automatic review collection directly in Jobber. Once you’ve served a client or completed a cleaning job, Jobber will automatically generate a text requesting that the customer submits a review.

7. Learn from other successful cleaning business owners

When you first start out, learning from other’s experiences can make a tangible difference. Established business owners can share their own wins and mistakes, which helps new entrepreneurs find success faster.  Take a look at the following cleaning success stories for inspiration.

• Karen Conchie started The Cleaning Ladies as a career change. The company now offers careers to even more professional cleaners. Part of The Cleaning Ladies’ success comes from using the Jobber mobile app to manage job details on the go.
  
• Cleaning Ninjas cleans more than 500 homes and offices every month in more than 25 communities throughout Nebraska. They’ve found success through their unique cleaning company name, by paying close attention to details, and giving clients amazing service.
  
• Marianna’s Cleaning Co. has been a successful residential cleaning business in the Los Angeles area for decades. The company nearly doubled leads by offering online booking through Google’s Local Services Ads.
  
• My Cleaning Angel used a cleaning website, online advertising, and great client communication to grow the business. They’ve been able to hire 50 cleaners in several areas throughout Florida.
  
• Grace Reynolds started Handmaid Cleaning as a single mom of two. Using house cleaning ads on Facebook, she was able to grow the business with her now-husband Kevin. They also run the American House Cleaners Association.
  
• Hope Cleaning is making their community better by hiring employees from low-income areas or difficult life situations. They build trust with clients through word-of-mouth referrals and through their focus on social responsibility and green cleaning.
  
• Irene Zibin of eSunshine Cleaning employs a team of cleaners to provide green residential cleaning services. Running a business is demanding, but Irene took back her time when she started using Jobber to solve her scheduling and invoicing problems.