Home Business - Cleaning Homes and Apartments

You can use this home business for either a part-time or a full-time way to make money. If you already have most of the necessary equipment, you can use this business idea as soon as you satisfy any governmental or insurance requirements. After establishing a successful venture, you could expand it by hiring workers or using subcontractors.

Qualifications

You need to be in good physical condition and skilled at cleaning homes. You must be able to communicate with people and reach an agreement.

Startup requirements

Here is a list of typical requirements for this business idea:

Own a vehicle for transporting your cleaning equipment and supplies.
Own or purchase typical cleaning equipment (broom, mop, rags, vacuum cleaner, etc.).
Have a home telephone that is available for your use most of the time.
Determine and satisfy any governmental and insurance requirements for this home business.
Set up a home office with basic office equipment and supplies.
Set up a simple bookkeeping system for recording income and expenses.

Getting customers

Place classified advertisements for this home business in your local newspaper or on the craigslist.org website. Briefly describe your services and include a telephone number or email address to contact you.

You also may want to place advertisements in the local property owner's newsletter. Then you can try to secure an agreement to clean all the properties for a particular owner.

If you do a good job for customers, they will probably give you word of mouth advertising for free. You could even ask them for referrals to likely prospects.

When talking to prospective customers, you need to agree on the specific services desired, when and where to perform the services, and the fee you will receive. (You may want to prepare a list of typical services to use in this discussion.)

If this is a large or difficult job, you may want to inspect the premises before quoting a fee. You could write down the job requirements and fee on a standard bid form. Then you and the customer can sign it.

Performing your services

Upon arriving at the premises, look over your list of desired services or completed bid form and plan your job. Normally, you want to start at the top (ceilings and light fixtures), work down (walls, doors, cupboards, counter tops, appliances, and bath fixtures), until arriving at the floor (carpets, vinyl, and wood floors).

Finish all the dusting, sweeping, and vacuuming chores before washing the windows or doing any touch-up painting of cupboards or cabinets.

Whether or not agreed to, you probably want to replace any burned out or missing light bulbs. However, be very careful in taking down and reattaching any ornate light shades.

Collecting your fee

After you have completed a job collect the agreed upon fee from the customer. If the customer has any complaints, resolve them immediately. You need to have satisfied customers to help promote your business.

Final thoughts

I hope you have enjoyed reading about this business idea for cleaning homes. It can be a satisfying way to make money while providing a worthwhile service to property owners and tenants.

About this Author

More information -- For additional details on this subject go to the Cleaning Homes and Apartments page on my website.

Want a better life? -- You can explore many ways to have more money and/or increase your personal power on my http://www.moneymagic1-2-3.com/ website.

Charles Moorehead was a certified public accountant for 40 years. After receiving a series of breakthrough revelations, he is now devoting his free time to helping people overcome the barriers to a better life.

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