You may wonder why we have included a section on residential cleaning on a website that has been dedicated solely to the office cleaning business. We included this chapter because the office cleaning and residential cleaning businesses complement each other very well.

Most of your office cleaning accounts will require you to be at the job locations in the early morning and evening hours. This leaves your day hours available for additional income opportunities. The residential cleaning business can fit into your schedule without compromising the time required for your office cleaning business.

Over the past decade the demand for residential cleaning has grown at an incredible rate. As more families become two income households and the availability of disposable cash for personal services increases, there is no reason to believe this trend will not continue.

A residential cleaning job may encompass just an individual service such as window cleaning, floor care, or carpet cleaning. Or it can include a regular weekly or monthly general cleaning. Because of the tremendous income that can be generated in the residential cleaning field, many cleaning companies specialize in only one area, while others offer a variety of services.

Many homeowners are willing to pay a very high rate for your services. This is because they want someone with professional credentials, equipment and experience to perform a particular service that they are unable, unwilling or do not have the time to complete themselves.

Many office cleaning companies, realizing the vast untapped market in residential cleaning, have actually separated their office and residential cleaning by forming two entirely different business entities. If you decide at some point in time to start a separate company devoted entirely to residential cleaning, simply follow the preceding instructions we suggested for starting an office cleaning company.

One factor you will want to keep in mind when estimating a residential cleaning job versus an office cleaning job is that it will generally take longer to clean a residential property. While most office furniture, equipment and work areas tend to be spread out over any given space, in a residential environment, these same components will be closer together and harder to move or reach.

Some one and two person cleaning companies only concentrate on what is usually considered light residential cleaning. This includes dusting, vacuuming and cleaning all kitchen and bathroom areas. These jobs very often require from two to three hours to complete and are very lucrative.

Other cleaning companies offer a full menu of cleaning services and will contract for just one type of cleaning service. Or they will clean a whole house on a weekly or monthly basis.

Although it is not required we suggest that if you clean a whole house on a regular basis, have your client sign a contract. For one-time cleanings such as windows or carpets this is not necessary. Simply write your charge for the specific service on the back of your business card.

The same can be said for billing. If you have a signed contract with a residential client, it is very professional to invoice them. For one-time jobs, payment must be demanded upon completion of the job. Never extend credit to a one-time client. Chances are that you will either be paid months down the road or not at all. Many homeowners realize you will not go through the regular collection channels for such a small amount of money.

When you branch out into the residential cleaning business, it is essential that you are insured and bonded.

When it comes to marketing your residential cleaning service you will be surprised how many customers you will acquire by putting flyers up in the local supermarkets and by placing inexpensive advertisements in the classified sections of your local newspaper under “House Cleaning.”

When you first start up a residential cleaning business, you will be amazed at how many referrals you will receive if you perform quality work. A perfect example of this is window cleaning. Nobody likes to clean windows and you will find that lining up a large group of window cleaning jobs will be quite easy as long as you are professional in every respect.

One last suggestion about one-time residential cleaning jobs. Like everything else, windows, carpets and floors do not stay clean forever. Keep accurate records of each one-time job you perform. Then send these customers a postcard every six months reminding them that their windows, carpets, etc. will need to be cleaned again. In this way you will generate additional income through repeat business.