Nowadays people are so busy that they barely have time for themselves not tot alk of doing house chores. Busy from work, business and to other activities. House chores such as cleaning the house, washing of cloths, washing dishes becomes a serious task. Most of the time after having a hell of a day at work they are exhausted and barely can do anything for themselves, this condition has increased the number of people looking to outsource their chores to people who have time to do them. So this problem creates an opportunity for the entrepreneur who has what it takes to exploit the opportunities. This situation has also brought usual growth in the cleaning industry
Households, organizations, schools, prisons, hotels, restaurants, bars, clubs, banks and other corporate institutions are constantly outsourcing their cleaning services, and as such, professional cleaning services, also known as janitorial services, is becoming more lucrative for people and businesses who have the time and technical know-how to help others clean their environments.
If you are ready to take on the opportunities that the professional cleaning services industry poses, then starting a cleaning business would be ideal for you.
This is one of the few businesses that is easy to start in Nigeria but is highly competitive, as a large part of the industry is dominated by thousands of small organizations.
Steps To Take In Growing Business.
For your business to flourish, there are vital steps that must be taken to ensure your start-up grows. All of that and more, are what you’re about to learn from this article on how to start a Cleaning business in Nigeria, Africa, or anywhere around the world.
Step by Step Guide To Start A Cleaning Business
Only a fool tests the depth of a pool with both feet, and this has held true for the cleaning business in Nigeria or anywhere else around the world. If you try to delve into the professional cleaning services business without adequate planning, chances are your business may not turn out as you had hoped.
Below are 8 crucial steps to take to start your own cleaning business in Nigeria, Africa, or anywhere else around the world:
1. Register The Business Name
One big advantage of registration with state and local government is safeguarding your business name. No one else can register a business with that same name. This will also make it easier to obtain business insurance, or attract investors, since they will know you are not personally responsible for the company’s well-being. Another benefit of registration is receiving some legal protection.
2. Carry Out A Market Research
For every business, this is a very important factor to help you understand what type of opportunities and challenges you will face in the future. It will also give you an idea of who your strongest competitors are, what their services cost, and whether they’re delivering real value for money or not.
3. Determine Your Business Type:
The cleaning business in Nigeria or anywhere else is vast, and so, you must determine the major niche you want to be known for. As earlier stated, they are:
House Cleaning Services
Commercial Cleaning Services
Specialized Cleaning Services
4. Choose A Business Model:
Here you could choose to either start up a whole new business, or to launch out as a franchise. Starting a new business involves building a reputable brand name which would invariably take a whole lot of time and money on the part of the entrepreneur. But if you choose to go with a franchise instead, you’d leverage on the success of an existing brand and can start getting a lot of paying clients fast. Based on your business goals, choosing the right model for your cleaning business will determine how far or not, you can go.
5. Raise capital:
Depending on the type of cleaning business you’re venturing into, the funds required to execute your project would vary. House cleaning services would always be very affordable to start up, but commercial cleaning services and specialized cleaning services will constantly require special equipment which can run into thousands of dollars to acquire. As such, you’re required to raise adequate start-up capital for whichever cleaning business you choose to venture into.
6. Promote Your Cleaning Business:
How well you do this will determine how many first-time customers you can get. No matter how excellent the service you provide is, or how cheap your prices are, clients won’t come knocking unless they know about your business.
To promote your cleaning business in Nigeria, Africa, or anywhere else around the world, you can use some of the following methods:
Advertising in local newspapers: The best way to let people know about your business.
Lettering on Vehicles: You can try it on your cars as it will roam through the city.
Door hangers: It is the most significant form of advertising as you can place it literally on all the gates of your locality.
Referral program: it’s the best way to attract customers from existing clients, as they will get rewards while they get you more business.
Social media: You can advertise your services on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and others to grow your business.
Business cards: You can share your business card to friends and family and also at local businesses gain more clients.
Websites: If you get a professional website you can attract more customers through it as people spend most of their time online.
SEO: Ranking high on Google and other search engines will help you get a whole lot more customers.
7. Pricing
Ask around about the prices of other professional cleaning services in your area to help you in designing your charges. Without this, you may find it difficult to say what to charge. Your charges should be highly affordable in order to give you a fair chance to compete well with your competitors.
8. Create A Valuable Brand
From the get-go, it’s completely important that you strive to turn your business into a valuable brand.
You can get your business a professional logo and professional great-looking uniforms for your team members. You should also put up testimonials of satisfied clients on your websites, and should try to be known amongst clients for your values and professionalism, not just for your competitive pricing.
As you build a large number of satisfied customers, as they’d recommend your business to as many people as they can that need your services.
9. Hire Experienced Workers
When hiring, ensure the candidates who get selected are well experienced in the cleaning business or have at least gone through some form of training.
10. Market potential
These are you potential customers; they are the sets or groups of people that you refined your services to meet their demands. Some are listed below:
– Household/Residential
– Commercial premises
– Industrial (Manufacturing) facilities
– Medical facilities
– Educational apparatus/facilities
Facilities/ Equipment Needed
– Vacuum cleaner
– Cleaning Chemicals
– Mops of different kinds
– Trash can liners
– Micro-fibre clothes that come in varying colors
– Soaps (Detergent and Laundry soap)
– Buckets
– Green cleaning products for tougher stains
– Deodorants
– Hand towels
Challenges to the cleaning business
Here are some challenges you stand to face in the cleaning business in Nigeria, Africa, or anywhere else around the world:
1). A Sudden Increase In Responsibility:
While this may sound less serious, it is one of the biggest problems people face when they start their own business. You suddenly become responsible for finding new clients, managing funds, hiring, and many other duties.
2). Competition:
The professional cleaning services industry is a highly competitive one, and as such, your business must have something special sets it apart from the competition.
3). Non-Paying Clients:
There will always be clients you won’t pay up their balances. This is why it is always recommended that you collect a 70% upfront payment in this industry.
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