In my area, there are so many local small businesses that offer outstanding service. When I started my business, I was so unsure if I could be successful and not lose money; I didn’t really know where to turn for reassurance or resources. I’m offering some tips and lessons learned from starting a successful small business from the ground up. 

You can start a cleaning business with only one person

Just like I did it – You can be a one-person business and then easily grow your team as you build your client base. By being a one-person company, you set your own hours – at least in the beginning before you have people calling you all hours of the day for your business. This is important as you begin to set ground rules for yourself and how much time you will spend developing your business when you’re not actually cleaning. You will need to be motivated and it will take an enormous amount of work, but you will also love the freedom you have to attend a school function on a Monday morning, a doctor’s appointment on Wednesday at lunchtime, or a breakfast with your friend on Friday. You will be able to set your own schedule day to day and month to month, and you’ll be able to manage the growth of your business as your client list grows. I’m not saying it won’t be stressful, but as long as you are responsible, accountable and motivated, you will be successful from the start. 

Do you have the right personality to start a cleaning business?

Cleaners need to be compassionate, independent, self-motivated, and comfortable going into strangers’ homes. Loving to clean and having an eye for what looks pretty, neat, and orderly will also help. Oh, and you should probably be good at cleaning too! Customer service skills are an absolute necessity. You should be a clear communicator, both in writing, in person, and over the phone. It’s not easy, but it comes with practice. For me it was even more difficult because English is not my first language. 

Human resource skills will also be in high demand as you expand your business, especially if you’re doing the hiring and management of your personnel by yourself. If you have a mentor or another person assisting you with experience in managing people, lean on them for ideas and suggestions on how to handle situations you might not be familiar with. For example, if a customer calls you upset that their home wasn’t cleaned to their standards and your employee actually called them personally without your knowledge to tell them they were going to be late – how do you handle that with the client? With the employee? They showed up late, didn’t call you but called the client, and then did a subpar job in cleaning their home. On top of that, they were disrespectful to you on the phone when you confronted them about the situation after avoiding your texts and calls all day. How do you handle that? Is it grounds for dismissal? Maintaining discipline and knowing when and how to communicate the “chain of command” to your employees and clients will go a long way to ensuring you have as few negative incidents like this as possible.

You get real satisfaction from helping others

You should get a deep feeling of satisfaction from the fact that you’re helping people – freeing  them from stress, making their lives easier by cleaning their homes, and giving them an orderly and clean place to live their lives. Everyone deserves that. I believe that regardless of what kind of business you choose to start, you will never succeed – especially in the service industry –  if you don’t care. You have to care. If you get a sense of satisfaction from helping people, your business will be meaningful and fulfilling. You’ll be happy, and your clients will love you for caring for them and their homes. It will show through in your work, I guarantee.