[Richmond]

Hi all - im a newbie so be gentle with me! I want to start my own cleaning business, have any of you guys done this and been successful, has anyone got any advice?

[carl Jones]

Hi,

I have not been doing it myself for very long, but if you are willing to work long hours getting work within a year you will be laughing, I cannot believe the amount of money people pay ( so long as you do a good job ) jones window cleaners.co.uk

[Katy Radcliffe]

What sort of cleaning business are you looking to start? General house cleaning?

You can make some really good money doing it.

First tip: don't sell yourself short. You will see people advertising cleaning for £7-£10 an hour. You can get more than that. Molly Maids charges £25 an hour!

(BTW, always talk in terms of "man hours." Two people working together for one hour is two hours of cleaning.)

Working on your own, or with a partner, you can make £12-£15 an hour (before expenses.) If you do a good job, you will be at full capacity pretty quickly.

If you want to hire employees, then you need to plan your business much more carefully and charge a lot more money. You'll need more extensive insurance and legal advice IRT being an employer.

Many (most?) people start out cleaning, themselves, for cash and then grow the business by taking on employees.

[Scotbrite]

Hi,
Don't know where you are Katy & I understand you are talking about domestic but £25ph, I wish. I got £10ph for domestic a couple of years ago when I did them, don't think I would get any more now with the way things are. I think in general the cleaning industry is way undervalued in comparison to other "trades", ie plumber £40ph, mechanic £40ph but I don't see the perception of what we do in Britain changing anytime soon. . Cheers . . Ron

[Katy Radcliffe]

Hi,
Don't know where you are Katy & I understand you are talking about domestic but £25ph, I wish. I got £10ph for domestic a couple of years ago when I did them, don't think I would get any more now with the way things are. I think in general the cleaning industry is way undervalued in comparison to other "trades", ie plumber £40ph, mechanic £40ph but I don't see the perception of what we do in Britain changing anytime soon. . Cheers . . Ron

I'm in Oldham, which is not considered a prosperous part of the country.

There are so many stories of people being disappointed by unprofessional cleaners. Many of them would gladly pay more if they could just count on someone to be dependable and do a good job. The "going" rate around here for insured professional cleaners (ie, not people working for cash-in-hand) is about £12 - £12.50. I charge £15 and I get it.

I also charge for the job, rather than by the hour. The other day I got a client whose previous cleaner was £9 an hour. I'm only £3 more expensive because she took three hours for a two-hour job. I like quoting for the job because then it doesn't matter how long I take. If I am having a lazy day and I want to take three hours, I can. It's my time and my perogative. However, if I am feeling keen that day, I can be done in 90 minutes.

It's just very important to do a really good job and always be professional.

[Drewheald]

I well agree that cleaners are undervalued, but this is due to us not sticking together and controlling our rates in mass numbers.

work like a professional, dont allow your rates to be lowered, take responsibility for your actions and that of your team and you will do OK

In cleaning it depends on which business model you are running, ie working the accounts yourself and happy doing that, or building a business ie staffing. The two are very different.

If you need any help just drop me a line no worries

[Katy Radcliffe]

It would be illegal to group together and control our rates, but I agree that cleaners who know they are good should  be encouraged to charge more than what they "think" the ought to.

[Scotbrite]

The difficulty with "knowing you are better" is often subjective. I am sure that a lot of people would look at getting the best for what they can afford & then accept what they have got. To a lot of people the only thing they will see is the hourly rate & when you get Polish people charging sometimes only £7ph & working bloody hard for it it makes it hard for anyone else to justify a higher rate. . Just my opinion tho . .Ron

[Drewheald]

but who's right, the polish for working for £7 or us who wont take on a job for that?

[Joanna Z]

Polish workers want £7 ph than do nothing.

[Rob_Mac]

Wow

Some pretty sweeping statements on this thread.

How about, as I think Katy has eluded to, set yourself apart, build some gravitas, show the client your value by proper marketing and you don't have your value determined by someone else!!

'Just a lad from a mining village in South Yorkshire'

Rob

[Drewheald]

totally agree with that rob

[Rob_Mac]

I used to be worried about people thinking I was expensive - it took me 4.5 years of window cleaning at crap rates before I had a change of heart.

Get full of work that pays the bills, then say stuff it my time is more valuable than this and put your prices up gradually until you get where you want.

Alternatively listen to people that have done all of that and just charge well from the start - you may not grow as quickly but if you can back it up with end product, keep a smile on your face and continually improve the finer detail you have to get recommendations, it's just the law of averages!

All the best

Rob