It’s not easy for an entrepreneur to sit on their hands waiting for their opportunity to shine. Most of the time “that big moment” doesn’t come along because of a lack of financing. Well, here are a few ideas that require very little capital and in some cases you may even have the equipment needed already!
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1. Housecleaning Service
You may be surprised to find out; most residential cleaners are making anywhere from $25-$50 an hour for a typical home cleaning. And depending on the type of service being offered the range can be much higher.
Deep cleaning on a home that is getting ready to be put on the market will start in the $50 an hour range and climb as high as $100 an hour depending on the turnover time and detail required
Starting a housecleaning service, just like starting any business, good customer service is essential. The market for cleaning service is huge, but the challenge comes when making you and your business stand out among the competition and as a high-quality, trustworthy cleaner. Cleaning service business seems easy and requires low capital to start but there is more about it than just finding someone willing to pay you to clean up their homes.
Img source: menagetotal.com
Cleaning Supplies
To have a successful cleaning service business is not just getting a mop and a bucket; it is not about cleaning business but rather customer-service business. You need to put the customer first and ensure you keep them happy and satisfied.
You have to decide whether you are using your cleaning supplies or clients’. In some cases, you may find customers who are skeptical about certain cleaning products and therefore ask you to use the items they have purchased. Of course, this will mean you save on supplies, but if you use your supplies, you should figure out the best economical way of restocking them.
Just like any type of business, you will need to keep meticulous purchase records and product prices to help you maintain the overhead budget.
Hiring
When starting, the work will not be overwhelming and therefore you can handle most of it by yourself. But as your business grows, you will need to add more staff. A good hire is a person who is committed to performing their work excellently.
The quality of staff is what will determine how successful your business is going to be. Your staff will be representing your brand out there, so hire someone who takes a great deal of pride in their work.
Payments
Another factor to consider before starting cleaning service is the mode of payment to accept. You will be accepting payments from clients’ home and therefore, getting credit card processors as Square should be in your considerations.
Customer service
Being in a cleaning business means being in the customer service business. Customer satisfaction is always the top priority. Going extra mile for your customers will help you build a relationship of trust with them. And this is very important in a customer service business.
Put a lot of energy and time into taking care of your customers, after all, they trust you with their homes so they need to feel comfortable with your company
2. Window Cleaning
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Before we go any further, check out these statistics; an average window cleaner makes between $50 and $70 per hour. This means that by just working four Saturdays a month, you will be racking home an extra $1,400 to $2,000 next month. And the beauty of it is that you can make this extra cash without quitting your day job.
Window cleaning has high earnings potentials combined with low startup capital and it doesn’t require any special skills. All there is to know can be learned in just a few hours.
If you are still hesitating, consider this:
- You will be your own boss
- You can start with as little as $600
- The business is recession-proof. Windows will always get dirty whether the economy is good or bad
- Flexible schedule
- Work from home
- Easy startup
Before starting this business, you should know that this is a service business and therefore commitment and salesmanship is instinct you should possess.
Target Market
Anyone managing real estate houses within your area of operation is a potential client. Also businesses with one and two-story building offices, taller buildings probably have already commercial cleaning contracts with larger cleaning companies.
Here are steps you can follow to start a window cleaning business
- Create a catchy name for your new business and register it with your local county administration office. Obtain a DBA also from your city hall office and vendor’s license.
- Find a supplier for window cleaning products including window-washing soap, scrubber, and squeegee.
- Set up a home office
- Do market research to obtain the going rate of window cleaning services
- You can create a website for your window cleaning business if you want. This could be a good idea especially as you do not have a physical office for your business.
- Run some small classified ad in your local daily. Also, you can list your business with your local online yellow pages so that clients can see your business.
Things you need to start a window cleaning business
- Computer
- Business cards
- Fliers
- Window soap
- Scrapers
- Long and short squeegees
- Scrubbers
- Ladder
- Van or truck
3.Car Detailing Business
Img source: smallbiztrends.com
To start a car detailing business, you will need a prominent location with a lot of cars to wash. For a car detailing business to succeed, you will have to specialize in micro-cleaning high value, sport, and luxury vehicles. This includes cleaning the vehicle well inside and outside, as well as waxing, polishing, and other extras. This way, you can charge the owner a lot more because it is such a special car.
The first thing you will need to do before starting a car detailing business is to learn how to detail a car effectively. Car detailing is very different from the general car wash. There are a lot of helpful materials online to help you learn more about car detailing.
The best way to start is a mobile auto detailing business. Drive to car owners’ home with your car detailing supplies including a tarp to shade the vehicle from the sun.
Get enough experience
This is very crucial. Before you start detailing vehicles for wealthy individuals with expensive cars, it is important to have lots of experience.
Get customers
You will probably start detailing family and friends cars before getting other regular clients. Have them advertise your services by the word of mouth. Tell everyone you detailed their cars to spread the word.
Charging for your services
You will have to cope with charging less for your services in the beginning in order to get customers. But as you grow, you can raise the rates. The best way to go is by setting up rates for different cars and services.
Expansion
Businesses like this are always started to complement our income, but if it becomes successful, there is no harm in turning it into a full-time business. Expanding your car detailing business can include:
- Hiring and training new employees
- Renting or purchasing a shop to detail vehicles in
- Expanding your services
These cleaning related ideas are just a few within arms reach of anyone with a few cleaning supplies and a little hustle. The most important step is to just get going and let inertia carry you from one phase to the next.
