The following text is handpicked from a book I specifically designed to help anyone interested in generating their own income. This can create a job for an individual... for a couple... or it can be used to start a full-fledged, multiple employee, housecleaning business. It has complete information on just about every aspect of the startup, training and operation of a cleaning business of varying sizes.
Perhaps you already run your own house-cleaning business. Are you interested in running it more efficiently and maximizing your profits? Perhaps you are in need of a thorough training manual for your employees? This book is the one for you.
If you like the sampling you read here, you can buy the complete ebook for only $19.95 . After payment, you will receive a link to download the PDF version of the ebook. If you would like any more information or have questions before your purchase, just click on the "CONTACT" link to the left or use therenegademaid@neo.rr.com.
FROM THE AUTHOR
This book is a culmination of almost 30 years of running our own residential cleaning service. It started as the training manual we used for our employees and morphed into more. It’s designed to help anyone start and operate their own cleaning service. Additionally, it can be used by anyone that simply needs a job. Cleaning is not a “pie in the sky” kind of job, but one that will earn you a good living very quickly (with minimal investment). By learning the training part of this manual, anyone can start making $20 to $25 dollars an hour immediately. The book then goes on to show you how, in time, you can make a great deal more.We are living in times when jobs are not easy to find and people need to take care of themselves. Cleaning services are needed everywhere. Why not take advantage of that need and learn to clean in a way that makes you the best money possible? Let me help you.
Judy Owens
July, 2011
ABOUT THE AUTHOR (AND THE TITLE)
Throughout her lifetime, my wife, Judy, has always been someone who loved to “experience” new things, relishing the sense of accomplishment she got from successfully completing one of her “brainstorms.” Over the years our family has watched her become an organic vegetable farmer, raise 200 chickens, build the family’s log home from a kit, start and operate a sewer-line business (which included driving the back-hoe), and become a restauranteur, just to list a few.
With this publication, we witness another accomplishment – that of becoming an author.
In the early 1980s, Judy found herself working for a house cleaning company. Each evening, as she filled me in about her day at work, she would say, “I think it would be more effective if the crew did this (or that)....” After about four months of this frustration she decided to venture out on her own. Hence the “Renegade Maid.” Some 30 successful years later, she has decided to put in writing some of what she’s learned about operating a premier house cleaning business. Her hope is that this publication will help liberate the Renegade Maid in each of you.
Gary Owens
March, 2011
CHAPTER 1: FORWARD
I am a firm believer that if you want to, you can. Can what? Can do anything you want to do. I got that from my mother. Any time I would say, “Gee, I wonder if I can do” this or that, her automatic response was “Of course you can!” Therefore, since I was very young, I just assumed that if I wanted to, I could. I never thought much more about it than that. Unfortunately, I have found that thinking about something too long is the downfall of many people. They manage to talk themselves out of things as fast as, or faster than, they talk themselves into them. The moral of the story? Don’t think yourself out of it – just assume that you can and will do it – whatever it is – if you really want to.
This manual is an example of thinking, “I can.” Have I ever written anything? Nope! That is unless you want to count a theme paper in High School a very long time ago. (Of course, that will probably become evident as we go on.) I always figure “I can,” but, of course, you never know just how successfully “you can” until you try. One thing I do know is that I have successfully started, owned, and operated, a residential and commercial cleaning service since 1984. I did not do it by spending thousands of dollars on a franchise either.
What I really want to do with this manual is help anyone who wants to start a cleaning service to do it, and do it successfully. I think that I can do that without having to take a writing course. Let’s hope so. I will pass along to you, step-by-step, how I started my business and how it worked for me.
My best wishes to those of you who choose to go beyond thinking “Gee, I wonder if I can....
OF COURSE YOU CAN !!
PAGE 1-21
A FEW HUNDRED OR A FEW THOUSAND
(*Note: All of the hypothetical financial figures and calulations shown on this site and in my book are based solely on my own personal experience in the industry. I can make no promises or guarantees that you WILL achieve the success that I have experienced. I can only give you the information that shaped my journey and wish you well on yours.)
Earlier, I said that you could make a few hundred dollars a week or a few thousand. You have probably figured out how by now. But if you haven’t, let’s do it now.
To keep the math simple, let’s use the round number of $20 per hour/ per person. A team of two will make $40 per hour, and a team of three will average $60 per hour. (Remember, that these figures, while making the math easy, are rather low.)
Cleaning by Yourself:
Now, if you spend just 6 hours per day cleaning house by yourself, you should make about $120 (6 hours x $20/hour = $120).
That’s not too bad. If you work 4 days a week, you will average $480/week, or about $25,000 per year. I think that makes a nice part-time job.
Cleaning with One Employee:
Now, let’s put you with one employee. Let’s say you pay that employee $10 per hour. The expenses on that employee may be as much as an additional 30%, for a total of $13 per hour. (This is where your accountant comes in handy.)
You will be charging your customer $20 per hour for your employee and $20 per hour for yourself. A total of $40 per hour.
You are now earning $40 per hour minus the expenses for your employee ($13/hour), or a net of $27 per hour ($40 - $13 = $27). If you continue to work 6 hours per day for 4 days, you will now be making almost $650 per week, or $33,800 per year. You are still only working part-time and this can be done with an average of 12 to 15 regular customers.
Cleaning with a Crew of Two Employees:
Let’s take this one step further. You are now to the point where you need one more employee. You are cleaning for 20 customers per week. Three trained people, working well together, can easily clean 4 to 5 homes each day. Everyone has been trained well (of course) because you have learned the rest of this manual thoroughly. Right?
Let’s do the math. You are now charging for 3 people per hour. That’s $60/hour. You have 2 employees that you are paying $10 per hour each for a total of $20, plus the expenses at 30%, or another $3.00 per hour each for a total of $6 per hour. That is a total of $26.00 per hour in wage expense. You are now making $34 per hour ($60 - $13 - $13 = $34).
Working the same 6 hours per day, you are now making a total of $204 per day (6 x $34 = 204), or $816 per week, or $42,000 per year. How’s that for a part time job?
Obviously you will have expenses for cleaning supplies and gas for your car, but at this point it is still minimal and remember, it’s also tax deductible.
Honestly, looking back, that was one of my favorite places to be in business. There was not a whole lot of stress. I was responsible for scheduling the customers and having the supplies ready, but that was about it. Not too tough, and I was still working part-time and making decent money.
Now let’s say you are ready to go into the management end of this business, and you will no longer be part of the crew. You will now have payroll expenses for three people.
$13 per person ($10 plus payroll expenses of $3)
x 3 people
$39 in payroll per hour per crew of three.
You are charging $60 per hour:
$60 from the customer
minus $39 in payroll expense
Total $21 profit
$21 per hour times 6 hours is $126 per day that you are earning without being on a crew. That’s $500 per week for your business.
There are still non-payroll expenses like supplies (remember the chemical company), equipment, and repairs to keep some of the equipment working, and gas to purchase for the designated driver. For the sake of argument, let’s put the additional expenses at 20%, or $100, which is actually pretty high for this size business. That still leaves you with $400 per week per crew.
Believe me, at this point, if you are managing and training well, you will be earning your money, but your business will also be building.
Imagine it’s a few years in and you are running 5 crews per day. Again, very possible. Your profit margin, above the payroll and direct expenses (things like supplies, equipment, and gas), should be about $2,000 per week (5 crews at $400) or $8,600 per month.
We have already accounted for payroll expenses, equipment, and supplies. Now you may have also moved from your home into an office. Maybe you are leasing cars for your crews. If you can keep those expenses between 30 to 35%, or $2,000 to $2,500 per month, you will still net $6,000 per month. That’s $70,000 – not a bad annual income for a part time job.
At this point (or in my mind at just about any point along the way), when people ask what you do for a living, you can do what my husband does. He just smiles and says “Oh, I clean houses.”
HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT TO EARN?
Remember, these numbers I've disussed here are only examples. You may choose to charge more. Or you may decide to work full time as opposed to part time, as I have. You can do the math and discover how the possibilities change when this formula is applied to full time work. The reality is, this is an industry that you truly do get out what you put in. That is up to you to decide.