The home cleaning market generated $943 million in revenue in 2021. More people are hiring professional cleaning services for their homes than ever before. Want to learn how to start your own cleaning business from? You must follow steps like forming your business legally, applying for an employer identification number, researching your customer base, and buying home cleaning business insurance. Keep reading for a thorough discussion of these steps.
When researching how to start a house cleaning business, you will want to determine how much you can expect to make. The average annual salary for a house cleaner is $27,992. As a house cleaner, your typical hourly rate will range between $10 and $17. The median hourly rate for house cleaners is $13.46 per hour. Below is a comparison of how much does a house cleaning business make in each state.
| State | Average Annual Salary | Average Hourly Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $22,658 | $10.89 |
| Alaska | $25,783 | $12.40 |
| Arizona | $29.831 | $14.34 |
| Arkansas | $22,729 | $10.93 |
| California | $36,114 | $17.36 |
| Colorado | $29,060 | $13.97 |
| Connecticut | $31,399 | $15.10 |
| Delaware | $26,896 | $12.93 |
| Florida | $23,594 | $11.34 |
| Georgia | $22,639 | $10.88 |
| Hawaii | $37,262 | $17.91 |
| Idaho | $28,131 | $13.52 |
| Illinois | $29,248 | $14.06 |
| Indiana | $25,211 | $12.12 |
| Iowa | $23,238 | $11.17 |
| Kansas | $23,376 | $11.24 |
| Kentucky | $23,297 | $11.20 |
| Louisiana | $20,070 | $9.65 |
| Maine | $31,092 | $14.95 |
| Maryland | $29,770 | $14.31 |
| Massachusetts | $34,483 | $16.58 |
| Michigan | $27,980 | $13.41 |
| Minnesota | $31,550 | $15.17 |
| Mississippi | $21,729 | $10.45 |
| Missouri | $23,001 | $11.06 |
| Montana | $27,174 | $13.06 |
| Nebraska | $27,161 | $13.06 |
| Nevada | $29,539 | $14.20 |
| New Hampshire | $31,455 | $15.12 |
| New Jersey | $32,166 | $15.46 |
| New Mexico | $24,144 | $11.61 |
| New York | $36,302 | $17.45 |
| North Carolina | $23,043 | $11.08 |
| North Dakota | $26,481 | $12.73 |
| Ohio | $24,874 | $11.96 |
| Oklahoma | $22,103 | $10.63 |
| Oregon | $33,526 | $16.12 |
| Pennsylvania | $28,342 | $13.63 |
| Rhode Island | $34,260 | $16.47 |
| South Carolina | $21,570 | $10.37 |
| South Dakota | $25,223 | $12.13 |
| Tennessee | $22,619 | $10.87 |
| Texas | $23,250 | $11.18 |
| Utah | $27,206 | $13.08 |
| Vermont | $30,340 | $14.59 |
| Virginia | $24,992 | $12.02 |
| Washington | $33,181 | $15.95 |
| West Virginia | $23,153 | $11.13 |
| Wisconsin | $27,920 | $13.42 |
| Wyoming | $25,578 | $12.30 |
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You must follow several steps when learning how to start a cleaning business from home. Follow these and you'll find it easier to pick pace without facing blunders.
The first step in learning how to start cleaning houses for money is deciding the name of your business. The advantage of offering services under a business name is that you can cultivate and build a brand. You can also apply for business loans with your business name. Some tips for choosing your business name include:
Use your name to illustrate your benefits: The name of your business should communicate the benefit that a customer has for choosing you. For example, if you want customers to think you provide quick service, you should choose a name like “Instant Homecleaners.”
Make it unique: Your business name should stand out from the crowd. Your name should be unique enough to be memorable. Be careful not to make it too crazy; otherwise, people won’t know what kind of business you are.
Have a searchable name: Choose a name that people can easily look up online. Customers will often research a business through the internet before committing to purchasing your services.
Another step you need to do when learning how to run a cleaning business from home is investing in equipment. Certain types of equipment will be required for different cleaning jobs.
| Equipment | Used for | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Vacuum | Sweeping up messes on floors, carpets, and hard-to-reach places | $50-$600 |
| Mop | Apply water and soap to tiles and floors to clean up stains and sticky messes | $20-$200 |
| Window cleaning kits | Include window wipers, squeegees, and microfiber wipes that allow you to clean glass surfaces | $10-$300 |
| Floor buffer | Used to scrub hard floors to polish, clean, and remove scuff marks | $500-$4,000 |
| Scrub brush | Helpful for cleaning tough stains | $20-$40 for a pack |
| Spray bottles | Apply soap, water, or other substances to make cleaning easier | $10-$40 |
| Duster | Removes dust, lint, cobwebs, and more from furniture and other surfaces. | $10-$60 |
When learning how to start a small cleaning business from home, you will want to research what type of business structure you should register as. When you start providing services under your business name, you must register your business in your state. Some business structures to choose from include:
Sole proprietorship: With a sole proprietorship, you remain the business owner. You take all the profits of the business but must also shoulder all the risks.
Corporation: A corporation is owned by shareholders. As a shareholder, you are protected from liabilities like debts if your business doesn’t work out. Corporations can raise funds through stocks but are more expensive to form and are taxed twice.
Limited liability company: An LLC allows you to avoid corporate taxes, but unlike a sole proprietorship, you are protected from business liabilities and debts.
Another step you should follow when learning how to start a small cleaning business from home is applying for a taxpayer number like an EIN. EIN stands for employer identification number. You will likely need this number when applying for a business bank account or hiring employees. The steps for getting your EIN include:
Gather information needed for the application, like your business registration documents and social security number
Apply online, by fax, or by mail
Fill out the form and answer questions about business activities.
Submit the application and receive your EIN.
Consider maintaining an online presence when learning how to start a cleaning business from home. Many potential customers exist online, just waiting to connect with your business. Some channels to invest time into include:
Social media: You can create a social media account for your business on platforms like Tiktok, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to speak to your customers. You will want to maintain an active presence so your brand is not left out of online conversation.
Personal website: By creating your own website, you can draw potential customers to your services who search for them on Google or Bing.
Advertising is an essential skill to master when learning how to start a home based cleaning business. A good advertising strategy can exponentially increase your number of clients. Some advertising methods to consider include:
Influencer advertising: By partnering with a social media influencer, you can build trust with their audience. An influencer's followers place high trust in the influencer, which can lead to a high return on investment.
Pay-per-click advertising: With pay-per-click advertising, you drive traffic to your website by paying for space on web pages. The hope is that people interested in your home cleaning services will click on the ad and be converted into customers.
SEO: Search engine optimization helps your website rank higher on search engines. You will naturally attract organic web traffic by publishing content that contains relevant keywords.
Getting investors is essential when learning how to start your own cleaning business from home. An investor can help you pay for your starting costs and equipment purchases. An investor will be looking to give you a loan or invest in the equity of your business for a hopeful return on their investment. Certain investors, known as angel investors, are willing to help struggling or new businesses betting on their eventual success.
Venture capitalists are concerned with companies that have a high growth potential and will usually want an equity stake in your company. You can also reach out to friends and family who would be willing to invest based on the strength of your business idea.
As your home cleaning business gets more clients, you may need to expand. This can include hiring employees to help you take on more cleaning jobs. Employees to consider hiring are listed below.:
Cleaners: You can hire and train employees to serve as cleaners who know how to operate equipment and clean standard rooms like kitchens, bathrooms, and bedrooms. Cleaners allow you to take on more clients at once.
Web designer: Hiring a web designer can elevate your website and make you gain credibility from potential customers who find you.
Business assistants: A business assistant can help cover tasks unrelated to providing services like answering the phone, negotiating with clients, and ordering supplies.
Insurance coverage is crucial for avoiding potentially devastating costs. You never know when an unsatisfied customer may decide to sue you or you will need to replace cleaning equipment after a fire. Below are the insurance policies you should consider purchasing when thinking of how to start a home based housecleaning business.
Your general liability policy covers the court costs and other expenses you must pay due to certain third-party liability claims. Your policy covers your business from bodily injury and customer property damage claims. You also typically get covered for advertising injuries like libel and slander. For general liability insurance, you should choose Thimble. You can quickly get covered with their expedited policy process. They offer short-term general liability insurance that gives you full control of the policy period. The Better Business Bureau gave Thimle an A+ score.
Professional liability insurance is the policy you need for business mistakes. This policy covers legal costs in case of a business oversight like negligence or failure to perform services. Hiscox is our pick for professional liability insurance. They have a 14-day refund policy, so you are not committed to a policy once it is purchased. Hiscox offers personalized and tailored insurance policies perfect for small businesses. The needs of your business are considered when crafting your unique policy. Hiscox has an A rating from AM Best.
Commercial property insurance helps you pay for damage resulting from theft, water damage, vandalism, fire damage, and more. It protects tools, equipment, and materials that are kept on the premises of your business building. CoverWallet is our recommendation for commercial property insurance. You can select policies from over 10 top insurance carriers like Hiscox, Progressive, and Markel. CoverWallet has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau.
Commercial auto insurance provides liability protection if your vehicle gets into an accident. It will cover property damage and bodily injury for which your vehicles may be liable. It can also help cover medical payments for your drivers and passengers. The policy can help you pay for damaged or totaled vehicles if you select comprehensive or collision coverage. Tivly is an excellent place to shop for commercial auto insurance. You can shop policies from their platform of over 200 providers. They offer coverage options like gap insurance, uninsured motorist coverage, medical payments coverage, and more.
Workers' compensation insurance helps pay the medical costs for injured employees. If a worker gets injured on the job or develops an occupational illness, this policy is what you need. Workers comp is required in most states for businesses that hire employees. It can also include employer’s liability insurance. This policy covers you if an employee sues you due to their injuries. The Hartford is our pick for workers’ compensation insurance. Their “nurse back to health” program ensures that your employees are cared for at every stage of their recovery. You can meet with local agents to help resolve policy claims. Their workers' comp coverage gives your employees access to over 65,000 policies.
A business owner’s policy is a comprehensive option to consider when purchasing insurance. You can typically save money with a business owner’s policy since it combines general liability coverage and commercial property insurance. NEXT is our top pick for a business owner’s policy. Their policy covers costs like court fees, property damage, business income interruption, and advertising mistakes. NEXT’s policies are affordable and can be tailored to your needs. With NEXT, you can get quotes for your specific business entirely online. NEXT has an A- with AM Best and a B+ from the Better Business Bureau. In 2021, their direct premium revenue reached over $650 million.
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1 / 5
Use anyone except Employers. Period. They are non-transparent and shameful. After I complained long enough to warrant a call from a supervisor, the supervisor called back from a PRIVATE NUMBER (no caller ID), left a message that they are not reversing their decision (without any communication with me), and failed to leave a phone number for me to call back. She was hiding! They also fact find via email and phone calls, which is terrific for speed and communication. However, after setting a precedence of email or phone calls, they send time sensitive information via email, without any heads up... they are hoping you miss it and forfeit via expiration. Evil policies. Go elsewhere.
1 / 5
This place is an absolute joke of a company and should be ashamed of the way they conduct business. I was hurt on the job at the end of July and it took them just shy of 7 weeks to issue out a paycheck to me. Yes the amount was back dated but still. Not many have the luxury of not receiving a paycheck for almost 2 months. To top it all off, the original adjuster marked me down for the wrong state which caused a problem from the get go, I've had 3 different adjusters now since each one can't seem to figure out the simplicity of my claim. All my paperwork which includes, my job, house, and drs visits all are from the same state and city but yet some how I have been filed under a completely different state 1500 miles away. They do not answer your phone calls or emails no matter how many you leave. I've had to escalate my frustrations to the supervisors of each of these individuals in order to even get some kind of response. I've had more communication and information given to me about my claim from the customer service representatives then the actual adjusters.......... please tell me how that works?! A serious overhaul needs to happen here in order to serve your clients the way they deserve to be taken care of. 10/10 do not recommend this company to a single soul on earth
1 / 5
I have never had the displeasure of working with a more incompetent and disrespectful person in my life. I’m an injured worker and the adjuster that was assigned to my case was named Carrie Furgeson. In the past 6 weeks that I’ve been injured and out of work I have only been able to get ahold of her twice, not for lack of trying. I have left countless voicemails, countless emails, and she ignores them all. When I am finally able to get ahold of her I’m greeted with terrible customer service. She is rude, she talks over me and I’m hardly able to get a word in edgewise. She spelled my name wrong on my documents even after I spelled it for her properly countless times, this caused a whole new issue with my bank. I have bill collectors from the hospital calling me demanding payment and Carrie Furgeson won’t do a single thing to help, or to get them paid. All of my documentation is in Colorado, my job is in Colorado, my address is in Colorado, all my Dr offices and appointments have been in Colorado and Carrie still managed to hold my claim because she wasn’t sure what state she needed to file it under. It’s been 6 weeks since my Injury and my company still hasn’t received the wage paperwork to fill out so they can get me my correct wages. When she’s not ignoring me she’s answering my questions with “I don’t know” well I don’t know how she got this job, because apparently she doesn’t know anything about it. She is a disgusting morose individual inside and out and I genuinely wish her the worst in all of her future endeavors. I highly recommend you don’t use this company. Please if you are a business owner and your looking into this company please don’t use them. I’m sure they have the cheapest payment and that’s why companies use them in the first place, but you will be doing your employees a grave disservice by forcing them to venture into this absolute dumpster fire of a company. I would rate 0/5 if possible but 1 was the lowest I was allowed.
5 / 5
Their general liability insurance purchase process is simply the best online experience I've ever had in my life!
5 / 5
As long as they cover your line of business, you're literally covered! best rates, best coverage, best online experience, best professionals, can't be happier that I chose them!
Not all those who wander are lost.
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