How Do I Start a Cleaning Business with No Experience? 

There are two aspects to every cleaning business. The first being the cleaning, and the second being the business. Your level of experience in each of those is going to play a role in how efficiently you can bring your new company to success.    

Even if you have little to no experience with cleaning, you can still start and run a successful cleaning company. To start a cleaning business with no experience you will have to focus on building the skills that you may be lacking which may be the cleaning or business side and scaling your business at a steady pace. Starting your own business is exciting because it can lead you to a life of freedom, but it also comes with a lot of sacrifices and hard work.  

With that said, the only thing that will ever stop you from being successful with your cleaning business is your own decisions. If you are prepared to do what it takes to run a successful cleaning business, read on.

How to Build Your Experience with Cleaning?

In order to build your cleaning business, you are going to want to have some real experience with cleaning houses and perhaps commercial buildings as well. This will give you a good idea of everything that you need to know about the work that it takes to get the job done.  

Realistically, you could say that it is possible to have a cleaning business up and running if you just hire some cleaning staff to go and do the work while you manage the business aspect, but you will be much better off if you understand how long it takes to clean the buildings, what supplies are needed, what issues cleaning staff might run into, etc.

What is the best way to pick up experience cleaning houses then?

There are two main ways that you can start to gain experience doing just about anything.  

1. Get a job with a company that is already established.  
2. Offer to work for free. 

If you want to get in on the ground floor of the operations of a cleaning business, one of the best things that you can do is go and work for a cleaning business. If you go in with the attitude that you want to learn about the business, and you want to do a great job, then odds are that you will be granted the opportunity to learn and grow within that company.  

If working for someone else really sounds dreadful to you, however, you could always offer to go and clean your first few houses for free. Cleaning someone else’s house for free does not sound appealing by any measure, but it will get you some experience and also proof of concept. Both of those can go a long way in determining your success in the future.

Learn how to open a cleaning business in Tennessee.

How to Build Your Business Experience?

Building up your skills in business follows a similar process but will not be as straightforward as developing your cleaning skills. That is because developing your skills in business really gets broken down into many more skillsets that you will have to pick up along the way. Learning how to run a business will involve learning the ins and outs of marketing, accounting, finance, writing, negotiation, leadership, human resource management, and the list goes on.  

You will not need to become a master in every single one of those areas, nobody ever does, but in most cases, you are going to want to focus on one area that you find yourself to be strong in, and be able to understand all of the other aspects of your business.

How do you actually start to develop in these areas?

The quick and fast answer is to get yourself around people that know each of these areas well.

The people that you work with on your business are going to play a critical role in how efficiently you develop your skills. In turn, that will determine how effectively you grow your business. Whether you hire mentors, coaches, or even employees to help you learn this process, make sure that you are surrounding yourself with people that will help you grow as a business owner.  

On top of that, you can follow some of the guidance from above on how to develop your experience with cleaning. Going and working for a business that shows the potential for you to learn marketing, finance, and other aspects of the business that you are interested in learning work for this development as well.  

If you can afford to work for less money and show potential employers that you are hungry to learn, then odds are that you will be able to find something that provides you with a massive opportunity to grow in your own right. Lastly, the best method for developing your business skills is to actually run a business.  

This is why it is so important for you to start your business as soon as possible, as long as you know that you are serious about continuing it. Experience and failure are going to be the best teachers moving forward.

The Steps to Starting Your Cleaning Business Today

With all of that being said, here are the basic steps that you can follow today in order to start your cleaning business.

Have a Clear Financial Plan

Start off by laying out what your expenses look like to start your business, and then come up with a budget and a plan for how those expenses will be paid. This plan or strategy will look different for each business, but here are the basic costs that you should account for when starting a cleaning business.  

• Supplies 
• Insurance 
• Legal Setup and Fees 
• Promotional/Advertising Costs 
• Hiring Staff 

Before moving on to the next steps, make sure you are clear on how your business is going to be funded. The last thing that you want to do is start to gain some momentum, only to realize that you have to lay off some of your workers in order to stay sustainable.

Find Your Niche or Your Market

Not all cleaning businesses are created equal. Some of them are commercial cleaning companies while others are residential. Some of them will only be cleaning 5+ bedroom mansions, while others may be focused on cleaning 1–bedroom apartment buildings. Determine where your focus is going to go.

Check out this article for some guide in starting a cleaning business in California.

Getting Your First Client

With most businesses, the first client is always the most difficult one to find. Knowing this, you should be prepared to put a lot of time, energy, and resources into landing that first client with your cleaning business. Once you have that client, make sure that you do not disappoint them. Always provide them with a service that is above and beyond. Go so over the top that they have to tell their friends about how great your business is. That is the trick to seeing growth in the early stages of a new business: Word of mouth.

Build Off of the Momentum

After you pick up that first client, and maybe a second and third, you want to remember to keep building off of the momentum that you have. At this point, you are still going to be learning about the intricacies of running a business and you do not want to let yourself settle when you are just getting started. Use as much money as you possibly can at the beginning to reinvest back into the business and scale the company. There is a good chance that this process will continue on for months or even years. As a rule of thumb, the longer you can manage to keep putting profits back into the business, the better off the business is going to be long term.

Frequently Asked Questions

When should I transition to working in my business full-time? 

In order to get the most out of your business, you are going to want to make the transition to working on it as soon as possible. Once you can afford to cover your basic needs with the income from the business is usually the best time. Until then, keep your day job and make sure that you are taking care of yourself first.  

How much does it cost to start a new cleaning business?  

Realistically, starting your own cleaning business can cost anywhere from $500 to $5,000. This is going to depend on your business model, what supplies you need in order to get started, how much you are going to spend on advertising, where your business is located, and so on.

How long will it take for my cleaning business to become profitable?  

While it is hard to specify a timeframe to expect profitability, it should not take a cleaning business too long to become profitable. The costs to start are fairly low compared to other businesses, and you can make a good amount of income even in your first year with a cleaning business. Don’t let a slow start or some bumps in the road discourage you from continuing with the business though. Some things take time.

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.