What is it?
A cleaning business is a popular choice for sole traders. In theory all you need is a sponge, a bottle of Flash and some good old elbow grease. The reality is often far more complicated.
Cleaning businesses cover everything from one cleaner with a couple of domestic properties to maintain each week, to a large commercial business with hundreds of staff on the books. There are domestic cleaners, office cleaners, hospital and school cleaners and then let’s not forget the other niches in this industry such as carpet, window and vehicle cleaners.
According to the Cleaning Industry National Training Organisation (CINTO) the UK cleaning industry is worth somewhere in the region of £10bn and employs approximately 820,000 people.
The industry is traditionally dominated by small organisations with 72% of all UK cleaning staff working within companies with no more than nine employees, with a third of all companies being sole trader operated.
According to CINTO, the industry is generally immune to economic downturns due to the high demand and necessity of the service. However, there is far more competition in the commercial cleaning sector than domestic and profit margins can be low. Despite the intense competition it is a booming industry with the contract cleaning market growing from £4bn in 1996 to around £6bn in 2004.
Who is it suited to?
It’s an industry for perfectionists. Cleaning is all about making places look presentable and tidy so if you’re not motivated enough to make things spotless it is likely to filter down through to your staff and company ethics.
You’ll also need to instil confidence in your clients so good customer relations skills are essential. It doesn’t matter if the majority of the work is done when clients aren’t at home or out of the office – the point is they have to trust you implicitly if they’re going to hand over the keys to their property, so first impressions count.
Running a cleaning business of any real size will require impeccable administrative skills. If you want to make any real profit you will need to be juggling hundreds or even thousands of clients so meticulous appointment records must be kept.
If you’re a little nervous about your own business skills then a franchise might be well suited to you. The cleaning industry is a popular one for franchisors and there are a lot of opportunities out there to buy a ready made and branded model in this area.
However, if you’re business really takes off you may find a franchise too restricting for your liking. You’ll have to weigh up all the pros and cons before deciding to go it alone completely or opt for a franchise.
Sarah Jackson owns a Time For You domestic cleaning franchise in Milton Keynes, which cost around £12,000. She says she never would have had the knowledge or confidence to start the business from scratch on her own. “I’d definitely recommend this system because the back up is there if you need it,” says Jackson. “The formula is exact, and if you follow it the business flies.”
Jackson currently has around 120 cleaners on her books servicing more than 500 clients. She took on £90,000 worth of business in her first year and is on track to reach a turnover of £400,000 within a couple of years.
