Whatever your reasons for starting a cleaning service, be it because you want to be your own boss, you want out of that 9-5 office hours or simply because you enjoy cleaning and doing a great job for your clients, your business still would not last unless you’re making great profits. With the cleaning industry being highly competitive, your profits at a particular job may only be a margin of not more than 10 to 20 percent. Soon as the prices of supplies rises or even with the hike in gas prices, your profits and the success of your business will be placed in danger.

So what can you do to back up your profits? Here are some of the ways to increase the money coming into your cleaning business.

1. Offer other services aside from the usual. When trying to acquire a new job, try to put in routine carpet spotting, carpet cleaning, window washing etc. Persuade your customers to take other services done on regular intervals like 3 or 6 months. This will help keep their places, homes or buildings stay cleaner as well as bring in more profits for your business. But remember that to be able to offer those services, you have to educate yourself appropriately.

2. Sell cleaning items to your customers. Aside from providing cleaning services, you might as well sell items to your clients. Each building need trash liners, hand towels, soaps and others. You may also offer to manage their cleaning supplies and just bill back the cost of the products. Doing this can add up 15 % of profit for your company.

3. Bundle services in a package. This way you wont even need to offer discounts on services – if your customer realize that they can have all services needed from a single company (window washing, floor stripping, carpet cleaning), they will also be saving money and time by not having to go elsewhere.

4. Stop competing with prices. Make sure that your customers are aware of the quality and dependable service that you provide so that they will trust you with their cleaning jobs even when your prices are not the cheapest in town.

5. Build strategic alliances with non-competing businesses that also serve or sells to your target market. Pair up with ultrasonic blind cleaners, carpet cleaners, duct cleaners and fire restoration companies.

6. If you are running a website, trade links with other non-competing businesses. If you are selling products on your site, you can create an affiliate sales program wherein other business may receive commission for every paying customer they refer to your site.

7. You may also hire an independent salesperson to market your services. Just pay a commission to the products and services that they are able to sell. Though there may be a slight reduction of profit in each sale, you realize that overall your profits will grow.

8. Persuade repeat business and add-on services with your present customers. Attach flyers on the extra services that you offer with each invoice that you send out.

9. Add other cleaning services. Make a little more profit by cleaning microwaves and refrigerators. You may even put this on regular schedules.

10. And if you have some equipments or vehicles that you no longer use, sell them out or consider renting then out instead of having them sit around.

For more information: How to start a cleaning business