In recent times, cleaning has grown rapidly to become a big business and an honourable one too. This was not the case many years ago. There are cleaning service businesses in different parts of the country, from small to large scale.
With several residences, organizations, and schools outsourcing their cleaning services these days, a cleaning business can be quite lucrative. It is indeed a legit way of making money. But one of the major reasons many cleaning businesses fail before they even start, is because the entrepreneurs behind them start without knowing so much about what they are venturing into.
DOWN TO THE BUSINESS OF CLEANING
Now that we have established that there is money to be made in a cleaning service business and that a lot of people who are interested do not know how, let’s look at how you can successfully start a cleaning service business in Nigeria.
These are the steps required to start:
#1. CARRY OUT MARKET RESEARCH
The essence of a market research, typically, is to enable you to understand the terrain of an industry, the opportunities to explore, gaps to fill and challenges to prepare for. You’ll also discover who your strongest competitors are, as well as what they do to stay on top of their game.
#2. CHOOSE TYPE OF CLEANING BUSINESS
A cleaning service could be residential, commercial or industrial and you must decide on the type of cleaning service that you want to specialize in. Residential services involves the cleaning of homes, which could include the exterior and interior of the building. The commercial category entails the cleaning of organizations, offices, corporations, etc while industrial cleaning is the act of cleaning hazardous areas in facilities such as factories, warehouses, power plants and equipment.
#3. GET TRAINED
It may be difficult to succeed in an unfamiliar business environment without the required skills. Therefore, to start and excel in a cleaning business in Nigeria you will need training. Cleaning may sound very simple, but it could get really technical. The training you seek could be gotten online, and it should cover the necessary equipment to use, how to clean a particular type of space, etc.
#4. RAISE CAPITAL
A cleaning business does not require a large capital to get started, you could bootstrap in the beginning, using your personal savings to get a couple of cleaning items. You could also seek help from friends and family members.
Generally, starting a residential or house cleaning business is cheaper than a commercial or industrial cleaning service because the industrial service requires special equipment and materials that could be huge and expensive.
#5. COME UP WITH A BUSINESS NAME
The next step is to choose a suitable business name which you should go ahead to register with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
RELATED: Smartpreneur Tips: Choosing The Right Business Name
#6. DECIDE ON YOUR RATES
When setting your rate or price for your services, you should consider who your targets are, and the skills required to render the service. Your rates must be competitive and your services unique for you to be outstanding. Many businesses started before you and so you must differentiate yourself.
RELATED: How to Nail your Pricing for your Service-based Business
#7. MARKET YOUR BUSINESS
Place your business and its offerings on social media, promote by word of mouth and ask clients to recommend your services.
