How to start a janitorial, maid, facility maintenance, window cleaning company.

Make Sure You Love Cleaning

Starting a cleaning service business can be very frustrating because of the strenuous work the industry requires. It can take a lot of hard work and you can run into numerous setbacks, so make sure it is something you are really interested in before you jump into it. But the low start up cost of the industry allows you to start your company with out a lot of risk. A good suggestion is to test the water per say. You can work for a janitorial company, hire a cleaning service and observe, contact an employee from a cleaning company and ask them about the industry.

As before mentioned the best part about starting a cleaning company is the low start up cost. There are very few things that you need to pay for when starting a cleaning company.

Some things that you may consider purchasing are:
1. Cleaning supplies & equipments. This is a necessity. It is impossible to run a viable cleaning company, if you don't have the necessary cleaning equipments. Take the time to think and plan about what you need to provide a good cleaning. Practice by cleaning a location for free or cheap (your house, a friends house).

2. Cleaning classes. This section can vary for each individual depending on experience. But there are online cleaning courses that you can take or books that you can read that can be very beneficial.

3. Business management classes. This can be done at local colleges, online courses, or by reading books (try to find books that are more closely related to the cleaning industry).

4. Business registration. It is important to get your business licensed, insured, and bonded. Not only do most customers require this it is smart to get this step done.

5. Business headquarter or office. Depending on how large of a company you plan to operate this might be a required criteria or it may not. It is not reuired to have a central office if you are starting without any employees, you can use your home address as the business address.

When you are determined to enter the cleaning service industry there are several ways that you can get potential clients.
1. There are some companies that sub contract cleaning services. These are generally larger companies that you can find in your local printed yellow pages. Call up several companies with the larger adds and inquire about the possibility of sub contracting.

2. You can let everyone you know about the company that you have started and ask them if they are interested in giving your company a shot or if they know of potential clients. You may be surprised, but this method could be very successful.

3. Advertise at your local newspapers or magazines. This method can also be very useful and can be worth the money spent to get your company known.

4. Online advertisement. There are various ways that you can go about this, but it mostly depends on whether you have a website or not. There are numerous popular online sites that you can advertise at with out having a website. This can be different for different locations. But you can start by advertising with Yahoo Local, Google Local, or MSN Local.

5. Telemarketing or print marketing. Telemarketing is the traditional method used by janitorial services and can be very successful if used correctly. Print marketing is the mailing or delivering of a print material that introduces your company to people in your area. This method can also be of use, but is more effective for established companies.

As beneficial as the above mentioned marketing methods can be to the success of your company, the most important marketing tool for any business is to provide excellent service and quality work. If your service is better than your competition your company will benefit from the word of mouth referrals that you receive. Word of mouth referrals can be your best friend or your worst enemy. If you provide quality service word of mouth can lead to unfathomable success, without paying a dime for marketing. But if you provide bad service the word about your company will be negative and spread faster than the flu.