If you’re looking to launch a business that has low start-up costs, the potential to expand, and will always be sought-after, then starting a maid service business may be right for you. Families, Airbnbs, and businesses all require maid services, and demand only increases with everyone’s ever-growing busy schedules. If you enjoy cleaning and organization and are okay with getting dirty sometimes, this may be a good fit for you.
Read on to learn how to start a maid service business and what is needed to make this a successful venture. Hint: It won’t involve a French Maid Costume!
Scope of Services
Below are some of the different kinds of maid services you can offer:
- Basic House Cleaning: This is the most basic maid service you can offer with chores like sweeping, mopping, dusting, vacuuming, etc.
- Spring Cleaning: This detailed service will deep clean and is typically done anywhere from 1-4 times a year. It includes all the essential maid services, but with cleaning ceiling fan blades, maybe shampooing carpets or washing windows.
- Green Cleaning: This maid service uses environmentally friendly cleaning products and practices.
- Housekeeping for AirBnbs: This service involves cleaning space after an AirBnB stays to prepare it for the next stay. Typically you may only have a few hours to get the work done; it should mostly be essential work like cleaning surfaces, cleaning the bathroom and kitchen, and changing linens, but other things may be involved, such as restocking supplies or laundry services, which brings us to the following type of maid service.
- Laundry Services: This can involve washing, drying, folding, and sometimes, ironing or pressing.
Decide which maid services you want to offer, considering the supplies needed for each task.
Skill Set
It’s essential to take a look at what skills and experience you have when it comes to choosing what path to take.
Make a list of your strengths and weaknesses. It’s vital to acknowledge your strengths and use them to the best of your ability and to look at your weaknesses and see how you can bring them up to speed.
If you lack experience, you may volunteer some maid service to family or friends in exchange for honest feedback or register on the TaskRabbit site for freelance workers and offer your maid services.
Be Legal and Insured
If you’re going to start a maid service business, one of the crucial things you need is to get insurance and any necessary licenses. This is important for protecting your customer’s property and safeguarding yourself against liability issues. The licensing requirements will vary depending on where you live, so it’s best to start by checking with your local municipality to find out what you need to do.
Create a Business Plan
When starting a maid service business, it’s essential to have a business plan in place to ensure your business is well- thought out and have goals in mind.
Outline all the details like how many customers you want, how much you’ll charge, how you’ll market, what supplies and equipment are needed, and what earnings potential you have. In addition, this article offers a free step-by-step guide to creating your business plan.
Calculate Start Up Costs and Supplies
Now that we have a business plan, let’s figure out what will be needed for the start-up: costs, supplies, and equipment.
Make a list of supplies and equipment needed to start your mad service business. Then, price these times. When figuring out your start-up costs, it’s essential to consider not only the costs of equipment, supplies, marketing, and business materials like business cards or flyers but take into account that if you say had quick your full-time job, you will need to keep in mind your everyday living expenses like rent, car payments, etc. so you don’t cut yourself short.
Market your Maid Service
While excellent skills and the right cleaning supplies are good, a successful maid service business requires marketing skills. Therefore, you must invest time, energy, and resources into marketing.
Start by contacting people you know; family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues. Print fliers to distribute locally at houses in residential areas, AirBnB property management offices, and hotels or senior living facilities.
Let’s not forget the world of online marketing, starting with creating an accessible business listing on Google or Yelp. You can also create listings on websites people use to find maid services, like – Angi, Thumbtack, and TaskRabbit. Of course, you’ll also want a social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, and others. A website is also excellent for providing info about your business and showcasing your services and contact information.
Find the Right Software
Now let’s talk about office administration. First, you’ll need some help with the backend of things. Client information, scheduling, and other important things can easily slip through the cracks unless you have a little help behind the scenes. Starting a new business can be scary, and you may need help to afford to hire an administrative assistant. Still, now that there is hope, you can have a great software program that does the work of an office administrator without the added costs of vacation, salary, and bonuses.
Programs like ServiceWorks offer many helpful business tools like route optimization, scheduling, keeping track of client info, invoicing, payroll, and much more. This program can even help with customer satisfaction by sending satisfaction surveys to clients after a job.
Now that you’re ready to start a maid service business, we hope you will consider ServiceWorks for your administrative needs. There is a 14-day risk-free trial. Yes, you read that right, 14 days, risk-free. So please pop on over to ServiceWorks and check it out today.
