How to Run a Commercial Cleaning Business in Another State

Expanding your commercial cleaning business to more than your local state is an excellent way to grow your business and bring in additional revenue. However, once you reach this milestone for your company, it will be critical that you follow the correct steps to make sure you are meeting the legal requirements and to also ensure your business thrives in the new state. We have included the four essential steps that you need to take before launching in a new state to make sure this endeavor is successful.

In order to run your commercial cleaning business in another state, you need to regularly review and follow your new state’s guidelines, register your business as a foreign corporation in your new state (if it’s required), evaluate business taxes and insurance for your new state, and designate one staff member to handle communication with your clients. We also recommend ensuring you have clear communication with your staff in the new state.

Regularly Review and Follow Your New State’s Guidelines

The first step you need to take before you can launch in your new state is thoroughly reviewing the new state’s guidelines and ensuring that you are following all of them. If you avoid this step, you could end up getting your company in a lot of legal trouble and ultimately not be able to operate in the new state.

To find a list of the new state’s guidelines and policies, we recommend starting by visiting the local state’s official website. You can often find the business requirements on this page. If you plan on having an office or building in this new state for employees, you should also be reviewing and following the guidelines of the specific city that you will be located in.

Each state and city will generally have their own requirements, fees, and policies that you need to follow. For example: some cities may require that you have a certain amount of experience in the industry before you can operate your business within their city limits. You also need to make sure that you pay all of the business fees. Both the city and the state will likely have their own fees that they require you to pay.

Once you have launched and are operating in your new state, you will still need to return back to this step regularly in order to successfully run your business in the new state. You want to make sure that you are staying up to date on any annual fees, along with checking for any updates or new policies that you need to be aware of. If you do not regularly review the guidelines and requirements, this could put your company at risk.

Register Your Business as a Foreign Corporation in New State

In order to operate in some states, they may require you to apply and register as a foreign corporation (since you are not headquartered in their state). However, not all states require you to complete this step, so it is important to see if the new state you will be doing business in requires this.

Registering as a foreign corporation is not a complicated process, but it does take time to ensure that you are filling out all of your paperwork correctly. If you have the time available and have a lower budget, you can complete all of the paperwork on your own. However, if your schedule is packed and you have the budget for it, you can also hire a corporate attorney to complete this registration process for you.

If you will be registering your business yourself, you can easily start this process by visiting the secretary of state’s website. You will be able to find the application on this website, along with the specific instructions you need to follow (which will vary depending on the state that you are operating in).

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Evaluate Business Taxes and Insurance for Your New State

Taxes and insurance for your business are two critical factors that you should be regularly paying attention to, especially when you will be operating in a new state. To successfully run your business in the new location, you need to make sure your taxes and insurance are set up correctly before you launch and then make sure to regularly evaluate them once you are operating as well.

For your taxes, it’s likely that you’ll need to pay business taxes in your new location. You want to ensure that you are paying both the correct amount of taxes and that you are also paying them on time, depending on what the state requires. When it comes to taxes, we highly recommend investing in a professional to help ensure you are doing it correctly. If you do your taxes incorrectly, you could end up facing large fines and put your business in danger.

When it comes to business insurance, you want to make sure that you continue to have the proper amount of coverage, which will also cover the new state you will be operating in. When you are cleaning for your clients, you are around valuable and expensive items (like computers in an office building). To protect your business, it is critical to make sure you have enough coverage.

You can easily review your current insurance policy and talk about your coverage by reaching out to your insurance agent. They will be able to let you know if you need to increase your coverage, which likely depends on your current coverage amount.

We recommend setting up reminders or appointments in your calendar a few times a year to evaluate your taxes and insurance for the new state. By setting up reminders, you will not take the chance of forgetting and letting a large amount of time go by. Both of these areas of your business are not areas you want to take the chance of forgetting about.

Since you will likely still be living in your current state, the last essential step is designating a specific staff member to handle communication with your clients in the new state. To keep a positive relationship with your clients, it is important that you have regular communication to check in and make sure they are happy with your services. Some of this communication will need to be done in person, which you may not be there for.

By having a specific staff member who handles communication with clients in the new state, you can ensure that your clients continue to stay happy. When it comes to commercial cleaning, you often have a contract with each of your clients. To ensure your clients renew their cleaning contracts, you want to make sure they are satisfied with their experience.

When you are designating your staff member, we recommend going over a list of key topics you want them to cover with your commercial clients regularly. This could include asking if they are satisfied with the cleaning services, checking to see if there are areas of their building you may be missing and need to cover, along with asking if there’s anything overall that your business could do to improve their experience.

Expanding in a new state is an exciting time for any commercial cleaning business! This can create growth for your business, along with bringing in more revenue. By following the four steps we have included above, you will be on your way to not only successfully launching in a new state, but also continuing to thrive long-term down the road in this new location.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a lots of employees for my commercial cleaning business?

The amount of employees you will need for your business will ultimately depend on the size of your business and how many commercial cleaning contracts you have. If you plan on having a larger amount of cleaning contracts, you will need more employees to ensure you are completing all of your cleaning jobs on time. We recommend starting with a lower amount of employees when your business is new (especially while your budget is on the lower end) and then investing in new employees as you start landing more clients.

Should I hire an accountant for my commercial cleaning business?

Although it is not a requirement, we do highly recommend investing in an accountant for your commercial cleaning business. Your finances is not an area of your business you want to risk messing up and an accountant can help you make sure your finances are adding up correctly. Plus, they can also help you with your business taxes!

What are the requirements for starting a commercial cleaning business?

The main requirements for starting your own commercial cleaning business are having knowledge for cleaning professionally and also having business knowledge. In the beginning of your business, you will likely be doing some of the cleaning jobs yourself, which is why it is highly encouraged to have experience concerning professional cleaning.

Knowledge in business will help you ensure that your business operates successfully. When it comes to commercial cleaning, it’s likely you’ll be creating contracts with your clients. By having business knowledge, you will be better prepared to negotiate and set up new contracts.

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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.