Start Your Cleaning Business

How to Start Your Own Cleaning Business: The Online Commercial Cleaning Course

Every entrepreneur has heard about the statistics, the number of businesses that fail during their first years of operation. At the same time, there are the huge success stories, those who made it past the barriers and built successful businesses. The key difference between these two groups is in how prepared they were for the journey, and this is the single biggest strength of this online course. The course is carefully designed to plug that gap, to equip participants with the right tools to be able to navigate the tricky waters of running their own cleaning business.  

Module 1: Introduction 

 A lot of hard work goes into starting a business and having it run successfully, especially in the cleaning industry. It is an industry that is notoriously difficult to understand; beginners need the guidance of someone who has been in the industry for a long time. This course will not only provide you with the various steps in starting your business and tips on how to make it successful, it goes above and beyond with personal carefully crafted insights from Natalia Nicholson with over 20 years business experience and founder of one of the most successful commercial cleaning companies in the UK.

Module 2: Profit Vs Focus

Ultimately, the goal of the business is to make profits, but getting there requires a lot of work. Key to achieving success in any business is the right focus and mindset, as well as an understanding of why the business was started and where it is going. This module walks the participant through this, teaching the importance of conversions, handling customers, business inquiries and keeping the customer value chain going to achieve the overall goals of the company.

Module 3: Overview of Commercial Cleaning

There are different approaches one can take in commercial cleaning, and this module explores them all, outlining their pros and cons, the profit margins and how to price various services across the sectors. This module will cover

• Kitchen cleaning
• Contract cleaning
• Construction/after build cleaning
• One-off cleaning

This module will only be an overview, but one should be able to have an overall understanding of what it takes to enter any one of these sub-sectors after the module.

Module 4: Contract Cleaning

This will be an in-depth dive into contract cleaning, what it entails, the day-to-day concerns and how to achieve success in the field.

Module 5: One-off Cleaning

This is perhaps one of the more common types of cleaning. This module explores the various approaches one should take in the one-off cleaning sector, what success means and the secrets to a job well done.

Module 6: After Build/ Construction Cleaning

Success in construction cleaning requires some element of specialised knowledge; learn from the best in the industry what it takes to get to the top, from the importance of health and safety to the mindset that this unique sub sector requires of its cleaners.

Module 7: Kitchen Cleaning

This module walks you through the fundamentals of kitchen cleaning, what you are likely to encounter and how to overcome the various challenges involved in this line of work.

Module 8: Supplies and Equipment 

Your business success in the cleaning industry will ultimately be down to the nature of your supplies and equipment, and how you get the best out of them. This module will cover the following subtopics;

• Equipment requirements in every category of cleaning
• Equipment sourcing: where to buy, price and value comparisons
• Deciding whether to lease or buy
• Storage options
• Waste and dilution rates during use

Module 9: Branding

The power of branding makes the best businesses in any sector recognisable and unique. After this module, you will learn to do this for your company. This module teaches how to create and maintain a successful brand for your business.

Module 10: Digital Marketing

Digital marketing is no longer the clever technique businesses use to get customers, it has grown into a must-have strategy for every business. This module will show you the unique ways to conduct a digital marketing campaign in the cleaning industry, attract, convert and retain customers through digital channels.

Module 11: Operations Logistics

A big part of the operations of the cleaning business will be the tedious day to day operations, all the repetitive processes, and activities. This module will teach the course participants how to design their daily routine and run a tight ship. This section will also cover the all-important rules and regulations, as well as licensing requirements like COSHH, PPE, CHAS and the requirements of the Insurance and Data Protection Act

Module 12: Administration

Administration in the cleaning industry is an area overlooked by many, often to their detriment.  This module does the dirty work though, outlining the different administration models, the preparation and handling of quotes, contracts, time sheets, and job confirmation sheets. They say everyone has a unique administration model suited to their business and personality. After this module, it will be easy to determine what is best for you and your business.

Module 13: Finance and Accounting 

Business boils down to the profits at the end of the day, and this means financial and accounting management is the backbone of every business. This section walks you through the basics of finance and accounting elements like competitive pricing and planning pricing around the time spent doing a job. It also covers such key issues in finance and accounting as

• Payment types
• Cash flow
• Government funding
• Bookkeeping
• VAT
• CIS (Construction Industry Schemes)
• Timekeeping

Module 14: HR and Recruitment 

As the business grows, you are going to have to rely more on employees to not only run the business on a day to day basis but to represent the company, its interests, and focus, to customers and potential customers. Hiring practices, and the management of those employees after hiring plays an important part in this. With this in mind, this module will handle the following subsections;

• Employee search and recruitment techniques
• Interviewing
• Vetting and training employees
• Employment laws
• Obtaining and maintaining the trust of employees
• Cleaner specifications for the different types of cleaning sub sectors
• Preparing an operative handbook
• Employee assessment and appraisal

Module 15: Procurement and Subcontracting 

Contracts from the government can be very lucrative, but getting them requires one to play by different rules. Learn from experts that have been in the game for a long time how government contracts work and where to find information on them in this module. You will also learn how to approach the tendering process and put together a tender.

Module 16: Q & A

We understand that everyone will have unique concerns and needs at the end of the course. This module offers everyone a chance to not only seek clarification and ask those pressing questions that might not have been covered in the course but to also learn from each other.