3 Mistakes That Will Hold You Back In Your Cleaning Business

If you're a cleaning business owner you are going to make mistakes. It's just how it is. But that doesn't mean you won't be successful, especially if you learn from each of your mistakes. If you're reading this blog, it probably means you want to avoid making some of the mistakes we made over the years.

Here are 3 mistakes that held us back in our first cleaning business.

1. Hiring warm bodies.
In the beginning when we started hiring, we really wanted to find great employees. But when we didn't have a steady stream of great candidates coming through the front door we started hiring less than ideal prospects. We had high hopes that we could train them to fit the mold of what we wanted. Unfortunately our gut feeling was usually right and we ended up regretting the fact that we ignored what our instincts were telling us. To turn things around we improved our employment ads to attract better prospects, and implemented a more rigorous hiring system.

2. Finding and coaching a great "second in command" person.
We spent too many years running the day to day business, wearing all the hats, and not actively seeking a person that could take over some of the supervisory duties. When you find a great candidate, don't just throw them into the job - it's a recipe for disaster and you could lose a great employee. It takes time to develop the skills needed to manage a cleaning business, so lay out a plan to coach your "second in command" on each of the different areas they'll be responsible for.

3. Waiting until you need new clients to start marketing.
Once you start getting busy, the easiest way to free up time is to put off marketing activities. You'll tell yourself, "I need to hire people so I can skip that networking meeting for a couple weeks so I can get some people hired and trained." Before you know it, you haven't done any marketing for two months and the phone calls have dried up! Always make the time to market your business so you have a steady stream of prospects. What you'll find is that when you lose a client it won't send you into a panic because you'll easily be able to fill the slot.

What mistakes have YOU made that have held you back in your cleaning business? Post your thoughts by clicking on the Comments link below.

Comments

[Cinz]

There are many mistakes that can be made, but these are surely inevitable especially if you are new. Every business is a challenge... we just have to learn from our mistakes and adapt to suit.

When it comes to hiring employees.. this is one of the most important factors to get right. Go with your gut- its almost always right.

[Lisa]

I have never had a problem with hiring and retaining employees. But the past 2 years have been a stuggle. Young or older where you would think the work ethic would be strong, it does'nt seem to matter. I have employees that are demanding, do not even want to work full time. We are constantly changing our wording to get better prospects, I use my gut, but most I feel I should'nt hire (duds). Is anyone else having this problem?? When I am paying $12-15 an hour this is getting sad.

[Jean Hanson]

Lisa,
The good news is that over the last 2 years the labor pool has grown because of the economy, which means you have more people to choose from. The bad news is that you really have to weed through the bad ones to find that diamond in the rough. Some people are simply filling their application quota so they can keep their unemployment benefits. Others are trying to get any job they can get for now until their dream job comes along, so their heart isn't in it. Be diligent about the type of people you want working for you and don't settle for less. Now would also be a good time to implement some kind of employment testing to back up what your gut tells you.

[HomeMaid Domestic Cleaning]

I can tell you that finding and hiring good staff is a single biggest problem.

The website is doing great now and our marketing works....however finding staff is a real problem.

It has nothing to do with pay (we pay more than the average for the area), nothing to do with availability; we get lots of applicants.

We do find that those on welfare want very specific hours and will only do what it takes to maintain the welfare payments.

After that, we find that getting them to take on board our training and standards mean that 9/10 are exited inside 2 weeks.

[Barbara Taylor]

Yeah, the employees are very important because when they don't do their job the company will fail. And the marketing is not less important, because when your business doesn't advertise it's dead.

[Lynette Snow]

I feel I am very fortunate to have the girls I do.. They are hard working and dedicated. Since I do a great deal of advertising for our services I continuously gain new customers. I constantly look for new employees and work the new jobs myself. By the time I am working 20 - 30/hrs, I have found the right employee I provide some training and move her/him into that position. Then I start all over again. We are all very happy!

[orion stafa]

once you get bussy enough and dont really have much time to network i belive online marketing is a good alternative

[Marie]

I'm just starting still dont have any clients or cleaners. My problem is how much I need to pay for my cleaners per hour. I also not sure if I need to start in house cleaning or office cleaning.Can somebody give me an info which is much better to start an office cleaning or house cleaning?
Thanks,

[Jean Hanson]

Marie - What it really comes down to is what you prefer doing. Some people like residential because it's daytime only and most don't work weekends. However one home averages $2000 - $3000/yr, whereas one commercial account can generate thousands of dollars a month.

I would choose one or the other. Decide which type of cleaning resonates more with you and fits with the lifestyle you want. If you want to do both you can do that eventually, but it's better to concentrate on one or another at first.