regilmour
New Contributor
Hi All,
A couple years ago i stumbled upon the sub reddit r/entrepreneurridealong and after reading it for a 2 years, I decided that I was going to finally make the move to start my own cleaning business. The initial idea was to operate using the contractor model and use flat rate pricing. Long story short I made around $700 in revenue in about a month of operating before I ran the company down as I was leaving the country for a month(Christmas holidays).
The biggest problems with the business were 1. Sales/Marketing and 2. Charging a premium for a basic service. I learned a lot in the months I spent on building the business and the one month of operating it, but this was my first real "job" so I had to just figure out stuff on my own which made it very hard and stressful.
Anyway, over the next few weeks I plan on rebuilding the business using the employee model and charge hourly, getting all the necessary insurance..bonding..certification..and outsourcing ad words to a specialist. I have summed up all the points of which I need to change in the business or improve;
I want charge clients $45/hr per cleaner (usually I will just send in 1 cleaner) (minimum cleanings 2 hours)
I want to pay cleaners $20/hr
I want to profit at least $9/hr, which is 20% of $45
To Do List:
Business:
1. Obtain General Liability Insurance
2. Obtain Janitorial Bond
3. Obtain Professional Cleaning Certification
Hiring Employee:
1. Background Check
2. Complete I9 Form
3. Register with State New Hire Program
4. Workers Comp (Can somebody explain how this works please)
5. Social Security Tax
6. Unemployment Insurance Tax
7. General Liability Insurance Coverage
8. Janitorial Bond Coverage
9. Pay....weekly? or bi weekly?
Website:
1. Update Logo
2. Get "easy to book" video made on upwork or fiver
3. Remove sliders from homepage, and add video along with a "book now" CTA buttom
4. Update booking system Launch27 to reflect change from flat rate to hourly
5. All around improve website including about us section
6. Show we are insured...bonded...and certified on website
7. Add better testimonials
8. Create and update policy...ex..minimum booking of 2 hours...cancellation policy...etc
Marketing:
1. Outsource adwords to specialist, budget of around $750/month
2. Update Yelp page
3. Post Craigslist daily
4. Create promotions...ex..$45 off the first clean...
5. My own private label products...ex..air fresheners...put in clients home for free
Customer Service:
1. Look into getting a VA
2. Follow up calls to see how cleanings went
3. Hand written thank you cards...
4. Some form of email marketing
This is my first time posting here and I am just looking at starting a progress thread to get some useful advice. I am also starting Toastmasters when I get back to Boston.
A couple years ago i stumbled upon the sub reddit r/entrepreneurridealong and after reading it for a 2 years, I decided that I was going to finally make the move to start my own cleaning business. The initial idea was to operate using the contractor model and use flat rate pricing. Long story short I made around $700 in revenue in about a month of operating before I ran the company down as I was leaving the country for a month(Christmas holidays).
The biggest problems with the business were 1. Sales/Marketing and 2. Charging a premium for a basic service. I learned a lot in the months I spent on building the business and the one month of operating it, but this was my first real "job" so I had to just figure out stuff on my own which made it very hard and stressful.
Anyway, over the next few weeks I plan on rebuilding the business using the employee model and charge hourly, getting all the necessary insurance..bonding..certification..and outsourcing ad words to a specialist. I have summed up all the points of which I need to change in the business or improve;
I want charge clients $45/hr per cleaner (usually I will just send in 1 cleaner) (minimum cleanings 2 hours)
I want to pay cleaners $20/hr
I want to profit at least $9/hr, which is 20% of $45
To Do List:
Business:
1. Obtain General Liability Insurance
2. Obtain Janitorial Bond
3. Obtain Professional Cleaning Certification
Hiring Employee:
1. Background Check
2. Complete I9 Form
3. Register with State New Hire Program
4. Workers Comp (Can somebody explain how this works please)
5. Social Security Tax
6. Unemployment Insurance Tax
7. General Liability Insurance Coverage
8. Janitorial Bond Coverage
9. Pay....weekly? or bi weekly?
Website:
1. Update Logo
2. Get "easy to book" video made on upwork or fiver
3. Remove sliders from homepage, and add video along with a "book now" CTA buttom
4. Update booking system Launch27 to reflect change from flat rate to hourly
5. All around improve website including about us section
6. Show we are insured...bonded...and certified on website
7. Add better testimonials
8. Create and update policy...ex..minimum booking of 2 hours...cancellation policy...etc
Marketing:
1. Outsource adwords to specialist, budget of around $750/month
2. Update Yelp page
3. Post Craigslist daily
4. Create promotions...ex..$45 off the first clean...
5. My own private label products...ex..air fresheners...put in clients home for free
Customer Service:
1. Look into getting a VA
2. Follow up calls to see how cleanings went
3. Hand written thank you cards...
4. Some form of email marketing
This is my first time posting here and I am just looking at starting a progress thread to get some useful advice. I am also starting Toastmasters when I get back to Boston.
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