Can You Make Money Cleaning Houses? 

You know how to clean a house. You want to make more money. So, you start to wonder, can you make money cleaning houses? Let’s be honest, many people don’t like to clean their houses. It stands to reason those people might pay good money to have someone else do it for them.  

So, can you make money cleaning houses? You can if you take these steps to get started. Research existing house cleaners in your area, assess the expenses you’ll have, plan your business model, practice cleaning, educate yourself on products for specific surfaces, and implement a marketing strategy.

You can make money cleaning houses. In this article, we’re going to look at how you make that happen. This kind of endeavor can certainly fail, but this post is all about what you can do to succeed at making money while cleaning houses. Whether you are starting your own full-blown cleaning business or just cleaning houses on the side for some extra cash, you can make money doing this. 

Research Sets You Up for Making Money 

The first thing you want to do before leaping into this business is to do some research. It’s one thing to know how to clean a house and tell people you’re available to do that. It’s another to set yourself apart from others who are already doing it in the area.  

Look into the neighborhoods where you intend to offer your cleaning services and see who is already there. Find out what they offer. Check out what they’re charging their customers. See if there’s a service that’s not being offered that could be a big moneymaker for you. You’re not only looking for whether there’s room for you in a market, but also how you can set yourself apart from the competition. You can make money cleaning houses but only if you’re smart about how you go about it. 

Looking for cleaning business franchise? Check out this article to get some ideas.

Understand Your Expenses So You Can Make Money 

Hopefully, you already know that you’re going to have to spend some money before you can start making any. However, do you know how much you’ll have to spend? If you don’t, find out.  

One mistake many people make when they’re trying to start a business or a side hustle is underestimating their expenses. Depending on what type of cleaning business you’re starting up, there may be a variance in the expenses you’ll have upfront to get your services up and running. For instance, in some cases, you’ll need to get licensed or get some specific permits. There are also other costs you may overlook like transportation to and from jobs, business cards, and taxes. 

You know you’ll need cleaning supplies, though. Here’s a list of some of the items you may need to purchase before you start cleaning houses: 

1.  Broom 
2. Mop 
3. Cleaning towels 
4. Various cleaners 
5. Trash bags 
6. Spray bottles 
7. Dusters 
8. Vacuums 
9. Sponges 
10. Squeegees 
11. Gloves 
12. Protective eyewear 
13. Anti-bacterial wipes and spray 
14. Leather cleaner 

Obviously, this isn’t an exhaustive list, as some of what you’ll need will depend on what services you’re providing, but it gives you a good place to start. 

Make a Plan to Make Money 

Even if you’re only planning on cleaning a few houses as a side gig to bring in extra money, you don’t want to go into it without a plan. You should still work through a business model. That means you need to have an outline for how you’re going to attain customers, what services you’re going to offer, what you’re going to charge, and how broad of a region you’re going to conduct your services within. You don’t want to set your boundaries too broad because you need to think about travel time and transportation expenses. Those things will have an effect on how much money you’ll make per job.      

Practice Makes Perfect—And More Money 

You’re only going to make money cleaning houses if you do a good job. You may think you’re the greatest house cleaner in the world because your house is spotless all the time. Don’t get too comfortable, though. You live in your house. You know your house. You don’t have that working for you when you clean someone else’s home. Also, many of the things that people will hire you to do include cleaning things that don’t get cleaned on a normal basis. They’ll want you to help them with cleaning things like their ovens, baseboards, blinds, walls, windows, vents, and ceiling fans. You’ll want to practice cleaning these things in your own home, but also in other people’s homes.  

One thing you can do is reach out to friends and offer to clean those things for them so you can get experience doing it in different kinds of houses and get feedback from people you trust. You can decide if you want to charge them or not, or if you just want to do it for a favor. You just want to make sure you find a way to get some practice that won’t risk tarnishing your reputation in the community within which you intend to work. 

Educate Yourself to Make More Money 

You need to understand there are things about cleaning that you won’t already know, even though you’ve been cleaning your home regularly. Everyone’s home is going to be different. They’ll have different rooms, different materials, different furniture, and different floor surfaces. You can’t use the same kind of products to clean everything. If you don’t know what products are ok to use on what surfaces and materials, you could cause irreversible damage to your customer’s house. That’s not going to help you make money. 

You want to create a satisfied customer out of every person you do business with. If you don’t know what you’re doing, it will almost certainly lead to dissatisfaction. Take the time and put in the effort to learn everything you need to know about what products can be used on what materials so you can continue to make money by impressing your customers.

Got a foreclosure cleaning business? Learn how to open a business like this by checking out this article first.

Marketing Strategies Help Make Money 

You have to come up with a plan for how you’re going to let potential customers know what you’re doing. There are so many ways you can do this, but not all of them will be right for your business model. You don’t want to spend a ton of money on marketing if you’re only planning to take on a few clients. Here are some things you should consider with regards to your marketing strategy: 

• Who will you be marketing to? 
• What is your marketing budget? 
• What is the scope of your marketing strategy? 
• Will you offer an incentive program? 

• What is your cost to attain a customer and how much will you make off that customer? 

One thing you’ll want to make sure you do is to utilize social media to your benefit. You can market your business through many of these platforms for, virtually, nothing more than your time. It’s ok to spend money on marketing your cleaning services, but always weigh the cost against what you’ll realistically bring in.

Summary 

There are a lot of ideas that arise for ways to make money for ourselves. The reality is, though, not all ideas will work out for bringing in the money you were hoping for. Cleaning houses is absolutely something you can do that will make money. You just need to go about it the right way. Do your research, understand that you will have expenses to get started and to continue, work through a business model with a plan for doing business, get some practice and make an effort at learning more about cleaning, and you want to find a good way to market your services. If you go into it this way, you can definitely make money cleaning houses. 

Frequently Asked Questions

How much can a house cleaning business make?  

If you’re going to start a full-blown cleaning business, you could make up around $100,000 per year. It would take a while to get there, but it’s most certainly possible. There are privately-owned cleaning businesses that can bring in upwards of $3,000 per week. Cleaning houses on the side won’t bring in that much, but can still give you a pretty good boost to your monthly income. You can easily make up to $1,000 in extra cash each month. 

Is it worth starting a cleaning business?  

It is worth starting one. Generally, it won’t cost you much to start it. Not when you consider it against other types of businesses. Also, there will always be a need for cleaning services. You can evolve as you get more comfortable and even start taking on commercial spaces that might give you more steady work and more money. You can get feedback from your customers to see if there are more services they’d like for you to offer and use that to bring in even more clients. And, while you want to keep up with trends in the industry, you don’t need formal training to start this type of business. 

To learn more on how to start your own cleaning business, check out my startup documents here.

Please note that the contents of this blog are for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. Any action taken based on the information provided in this blog is solely at your own risk. Additionally, all images used in this blog are generated under the CC0 license of Creative Commons, which means they are free to use for any purpose without attribution.