Whatever your reasons for start your own cleaning business – be it because you’re burnt out from your 9 to 5 job, you want to be your own boss or you just enjoy the service, your business needs to earn profit or it will soon die out. There is really much competition in the cleaning industry, and it’s very likely that your profit for a particular job would be about 10 to 20 percent only. Soon as there are price increases in your cleaning supplies or just when gas prices hike up, your business profits and the success of your business might really be in danger.

So how can you assure profit back ups? Here are some ways of increasing your business profits.

1. Advertise regular services aside from your day-to-day cleaning services. When getting a new contract, include regular carpet spotting and cleaning, hard floor care and window washing services. Persuade your customers to have such cleaning services on a regular interval, 3 to 6 months is ideal. This will keep their buildings or homes clean and will also help bring in profits for your business. However, you have to educate yourself to be able to provide this kind of specialty services properly.

2. Don’t just offer cleaning services. You may also sell cleaning items that your clients may be interested to try. Buildings need trash can liners, hand towels, soaps and toilet papers. Depending on the building, they may also require urinal mats, air fresheners and facial tissues. You can offer to manage their supplies and bill the customers with the costs of the products. Doing this add up about 15 percent of profit to your business.

3. Try bundling your services in packages. Here, you won’t even have to offer discounts on your services – once your customer knows that a single company can do everything – carpet cleaning, floor stripping and window cleaning, they will save time, effort and money by not having to go somewhere else.

4. Don’t contend with prices. Ensure quality and dependable service to your customers more than offering low prices with low job quality.

5. Develop alliances with non-competing businesses who are also selling products or services to your target market. Partner up with carpet cleaning companies, duct cleaners, ultrasonic blind cleaning companies and fire restoration companies.

6. Trade links with other non-competing business on your website. You can develop sales program on your site if you’re selling products online. This will provide commissions for affiliate sites who referred paying customers on your site.

7. Think of hiring a salesperson to market your services. Pay commissions on the services and products that they are able to sell. This may take a little of your profit on each sale, but the growth in will be more than enough to cover it up.

8. Encourage cycle business and add-on services with your current clients. Attach a flyer of the extra services you offer on your clients’ invoices.

9. Create more cleaning services. You can gain more profits with cleaning furniture and appliances such as microwave and refrigerators. You can even make a regular schedule for this like the first Monday of every month.

10. If you have equipment and vehicles that you no longer need, sell then out or consider renting then out instead of letting them sit around unused.

For more: How to start a cleaning business