Starting A Commercial Cleaning Business

This company is necessary since not all firms can afford (or desire) to have in-house cleaning personnel. These businesses fill in the gaps required to keep a business running without needing the company to commit to the full expenditures and overhead of an employee.

Follow these ten steps to start a commercial cleaning business:

Plan your Commercial Cleaning Company

Create a legal entity for your commercial cleaning business.

Taxes must be registered for your commercial cleaning business.

Create a Business Bank Account and a Credit Card

Create Accounting for Your Commercial Cleaning Company

Get the Permits and Licenses You Need for Your Commercial Cleaning Business

Obtain Commercial Cleaning Company Insurance

Create a brand for your commercial cleaning company.

Make a website for your commercial cleaning company.

Configure your Business Phone System

Starting a company entails more than just registering it with the state. This straightforward guide to beginning your commercial cleaning company has been put together by us. These stages will guarantee that your new company is well-planned, correctly registered, and legally compliant.

STEP 1: Make a business plan.

A well-thought-out strategy is vital for entrepreneur success. It will assist you in mapping out the intricacies of your organisation and uncovering some unknowns. Consider the following crucial topics:

What are the initial and continuing expenses?

Who is your intended audience?

How much money may you charge your customers?

Fortunately, we have done a lot of the legwork for you.

What are the expenses associated with starting a commercial cleaning business?

Starting a cleaning company is inexpensive. It is possible to begin on a shoestring budget of less than $500. A bigger firm might spend up to $100,000 on professional cleaning equipment such as floor waxing machines, floor cleaners, industrial mops and cleaning buckets, and cleaning and service trucks.

What are the recurring costs of a commercial cleaning company?

Cleaning materials, utilities, insurance, and transportation vehicle upkeep are all ongoing expenditures for a cleaning firm. These fees may vary from a few hundred dollars for tiny businesses to many thousands (or millions) of dollars for bigger corporations.

Who is the intended audience?

Large commercial customers are preferred client kinds. The majority of cleaning companies operate with large chain restaurants. Unwanted customers are businesses that do not need continuing cleaning services.

How does a commercial cleaning company earn money?

These companies generate money by charging customers for cleaning services.

How much money may you charge your customers?

Clients may be charged an hourly cost ranging from $50 to $150 per hour, with a small staff of two cleaners commonly charging $50 per hour. Smaller teams, on the other hand, take longer to accomplish work, therefore the overall cost to the customer may be greater. Cleaners may sometimes charge a fixed fee for their services. When you know you can finish a work on time or under an equal hourly billing time, this makes sense.

Assume you know that a work generally takes 10 hours to complete. If you charge the client $50 per hour, your chargeable cleaning hours will total $500. You may, however, charge a fixed cost of $600 to $750 for services. The increased charge ensures that you will complete the job on time and protects the client from unanticipated costs owing to longer-than-expected cleaning needs.

The risk to the firm is that a task may take longer to complete than anticipated, resulting in a partial or entire loss of profit on the contract.

How much money can a commercial cleaning company make?

A cleaning company’s profit margins might be razor thin. Some businesses barely make 1% to 5% profit. However, if you’re a tiny firm with a small cleaning team, it’s completely viable to offer your services at a profit of 20% to 40%. Unless you provide value-added services that cannot be readily compared to the competitors, local markets will decide your price.

How can you increase the profitability of your company?

Making your firm more successful generally entails focusing on one sector or providing value-added services. You may, for example, specialise in cleaning hospital kitchens, which would include specialist understanding of hospital cleaning procedures and processes (including sanitation requirements).

You might also provide value-added services such as free blind cleaning and laundry service to customers. You might also add value to your services by providing cleaning services for specialised equipment such as ice cream makers.

STEP 2: Establish a legal entity

Sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company (LLC), and corporation are the most frequent business structure forms.

Establishing a formal business organisation, such as an LLC or corporation, shields you from personal liability if your commercial cleaning company is sued.

STEP 3: File your taxes

Before you can begin for business, you must register for a number of state and federal taxes.

To register for taxes, you will need to get an EIN. It’s really simple and completely free!

Taxes on Small Businesses

Depending on the business form you choose, you may have multiple choices for how your company is taxed. Some LLCs, for example, may benefit from being taxed as a S company (S corp).

These guides will teach you more about small company taxes:

Taxes on LLCs

LLC vs. sole proprietorship

Corporation vs. LLC

S Corp vs. LLC

How to Form a S Corporation

S Corporation vs. C Corporation

There may be state taxes that apply to your company. In our state sales tax guides, you may learn more about state sales taxes and franchise taxes.

STEP 4: Establish a company bank account and credit card

Personal asset protection requires the use of distinct business banking and credit accounts.

When you combine your personal and business accounts, your personal assets (your house, vehicle, and other possessions) are at danger if your company is sued. This is known as penetrating your company veil in business law.

Furthermore, understanding how to develop corporate credit may help you get credit cards and other financing in your company’s name (rather than your own), lower interest rates, larger lines of credit, and other benefits.

Establish a business bank account.

Opening a business bank account is not only required when asking for business financing, but it also:

Separates your personal assets from the assets of your firm, which is required for personal asset protection.

It simplifies bookkeeping and tax reporting.

Create a net 30 account.

Net 30 accounts are used to develop and grow company credit while also increasing cash flow. Businesses use a net 30 account to purchase items and refund the whole debt within a 30-day period.

Many net 30 credit suppliers submit information to the main business credit agencies (Dun & Bradstreet, Experian Business, and Equifax Business Credit). This is how firms establish business credit in order to get approved for credit cards and other lines of credit.

Apply for a business credit card.

Obtaining a business credit card benefits you in the following ways:

Put all of your company’s costs in one location to separate personal and business spending.

Build your company’s credit history, which will be important for raising funds in the future.

STEP 5: Establish business accounting

Recording your numerous costs and sources of revenue is crucial to assessing your company’s financial status. Keeping precise and thorough accounting also makes yearly tax filing much easier.

STEP 6: Obtain all required permissions and licences

Failure to get appropriate permissions and licences may result in significant penalties or possibly the closure of your firm.

Requirements for State and Local Business Licensing

To run a commercial kitchen cleaning service, several state permissions and licences may be required. Visit the SBA’s reference to state licences and permits to learn more about licencing requirements in your state.

For additional information on local licences and permissions, please visit:

Check with the clerk’s office in your town, city, or county.

Contact one of the local organisations mentioned in the US Small Business Associations database of local business resources for help.

Service Contract

Before beginning a new project, commercial kitchen cleaning companies might consider asking customers to sign a service agreement. By defining payment terms and conditions, service level expectations, and intellectual property ownership, this agreement should clarify client expectations and reduce the likelihood of legal problems. Here’s an example of a service contract.

When you join up for Rocket Lawyer’s premium membership, you can easily write a professional service agreement for your commercial kitchen cleaning firm. Members have access to hundreds of legal agreements and on-call lawyers for free legal assistance for $39.95 each month.

Regulations of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

Owners of commercial kitchen cleaning businesses may come into contact with hazardous chemicals, thus it is essential to follow OSHA’s (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) laws and basic chemical standards:

When dealing with chemicals, personnel must be appropriately advised of any possible dangers, according to Standard 1910.1200.

Standard 1910.132 requires that employees working with chemicals be equipped with the proper personal protective equipment, such as safety glasses, a face mask, and appropriate gloves.

STEP 7: Obtain commercial insurance.

Insurance, like licences and permits, is required for your company to operate safely and legally. In the case of a covered loss, business insurance protects your company’s financial well-being.

There are several sorts of insurance plans designed for various types of companies with varying risks. If you are unaware about the hazards that your company may encounter, start with General Liability Insurance. This is the most popular coverage required by small companies, so it’s a good place to start for yours.

Workers’ Compensation Insurance is another important insurance product that many companies need. If your company will have workers, your state may require you to purchase Workers’ Compensation insurance.

STEP 8: Establish your brand

Your company’s brand is what it stands for, as well as how the public perceives it. A strong brand will help your company stand out from the crowd.

How to Market and Promote a Commercial Cleaning Company

Commercial cleaning services are often launched from scratch.

Going door-to-door to identify clients who need your services is a simple approach to start a cleaning company. Contact local business owners you know and inquire about cleaning their kitchens at a reduced cost. Expand by obtaining recommendations from those company owners. You may also engage a mailing list broker to send to all of the restaurants, hospitals, and other companies in your region that have kitchens.

Make a phone call and offer your services. Try email marketing if you have a company email address.

How to Keep Customers Returning

Differentiate yourself by specialising. Some organisations, for example, specialise in schools and may provide value-added services particular to that sort of institution, such as decorating and removal before and after holidays or during special events.

Offering discounts on cleaning services or special packages for first-time clients is another strategy to attract consumers. Run promotions and competitions so that clients may win free or reduced cleaning services. Provide a referral or loyalty programme to your current consumers.

Long-term clients will get permanent discounts in return for referral business.

Finally, think about providing discounts for services that surpass a certain monetary level or for long-term cleaning contracts.

STEP 9: Create your company’s website.

After you’ve defined your brand and designed your logo, the next step is to build a website for your company.

While developing a website is an important step, some may be concerned that it is out of their grasp due to a lack of website-building skills. While this was a fair concern in 2015, online technology has made significant advances in recent years, making the lives of small company owners considerably easier.

The following are the primary reasons why you should not put off developing your website:

Every genuine company has a website, period. When it comes to bringing your company online, it doesn’t matter what size or sector it is.

Social media accounts, such as Facebook pages or LinkedIn company profiles, are not a substitute for your own business website.

STEP 10: Install your company phone system.

Getting a phone for your company is one of the finest methods to keep your personal and professional lives distinct and private. That isn’t the only advantage; it also helps you automate your company, provides it legitimacy, and makes it simpler for prospective clients to identify and contact you.