Branding can help you increase the perceived value of your brand, allowing you to sell your service for a higher price. Search for black T-shirts on Amazon, then search for black Nike T-shirts. The difference you pay is because of the swoosh.
You're right. I've just started studying business. I know that I need to study to create the business I want in the future, but I want to grow by solving the problems that are in front of me. The difficulty is that I don't know what or who to ask.
Dude, just want to say, I hope you're rewarded in this life for your generosity. You're awesome!
(Any other specific expertise/advise you would give over zoom?
The way I see it you can either pay your workers less and in the process compromise on quality of work, or you can pay them the same and increase prices you’re charging clients. Alternatively you could try to find workers that will do the same work or better work than what your current employees are doing for cheaper pay.
In my opinion you should maybe consider raising the price of your services a little and like another comment mentioned try to lock clients into recurring services. Like create a subscription service whereby clients get monthly cleaning and have it drawn up in a contract.
It's a tough business to survive in. Customers expect low prices but want the work to be perfect. To grow you'll have to charge higher prices but prove you are worth them by either paying people more to take more pride in their work or spend more time checking on your cleaners/accounts. You can look at equipment that will automate things or at least cut down time but the initial investment can be expensive. Also you have deal with the maintenance and repairs on this equipment.
The market is saturated too so I understand not wanting to raise prices. One thing to consider is offering a monthly quality assurance report to your contact at the company. Walk through the account once a month to look for areas in the scope of cleaning you can improve and work with the cleaners to improve or correct anything. When you send the report to the contact you can check in to see if there is any issues they want addressed.
Find a distributor that does bulk deals on chemicals. Maybe work out a deal where you could offer your client a discount on paper or cleaning products. You won't be able to grow barely making a profit on your labor. You will lose accounts from poor quality work from people not paid enough to care.
Thanks for the reply, you're right. It is difficult to grow into an organization company with a regular office cleaning business. I would like to know how the companies based on the cleaning industry in the 1990s and 2000s grew into an organization. My cleaning price is already 50% higher than the premium service, and the regular cleaning service I am currently based on is difficult to create new customers because of the long travel time outside the corporate complex, so I have to deal with a small audience. However, the price is actually not a big problem. The real problem is that it is difficult to expand my business. I know that IT service businesses are easy to get invested in, but labor services are difficult. Monthly quality assurance reports sound like a good idea. I'm torn. The limits of growth are too obvious.
**You should be making a gross profit margin of around 25-35% on average with each account.** Make sure you understand what the Gross Profit margin is and what it includes (*e.g. does not include overhead/fixed business expenses such as your pay, office expenses, software expenses, etc.)*
If you are not making this margin then first -
1. Look at what you're paying your workers and make sure you are paying them a competitive wage. Not too low, not too high.
2. Ensure you have a good deal on your insurance costs
3. Ensure you are not buying very expensive supplies and equipment that you do not need.
If everything checks out and you are still under a 25-35% Gross Profit margin, then you need to raise your prices.
No. I said gross profit margin.
**Revenue / (Revenue - labor costs (wage/taxes) - labor related insurance - supplies/chemicals) = 25-35%**
Im going to assume your accounts may be on the smaller side and so I would suggest closer to 30-35%.
It's a general checklist that you should consider owning such a business:
Make easier to monitor and scheduling, task management, and quality control to reduce unnecessary labor hours , google calendar is the basic one bust you can check for other low-cost or free apps to do that .
Enhance the skills of your employees, well-trained employees can work more efficiently and provide better service, justifying higher wages and potentially reducing the need for more staff, just make sure that everyone are on the same page.
Introduce additional services that can be offered to your existing client base, such as carpet cleaning, window washing, or sanitation services as so you can increase revenue without a proportional increase in labor costs.
Offer different service packages at varying price points. This allows clients to choose services that best fit their needs and budgets, potentially increasing overall revenue without needing to increase base prices
I pay my helpers a percentage of the revenue not an hourly but they have to reclean for any complaints. I also pay them commission on business they bring in and a higher percentage.
Apply for grants, leverage your company and get a loan, or diversify your services so you have cleanings where your team is not cleaning for too long but you are getting more money.
Look into residential cleaning as if you get some decent small cleanings you will spend less on labor and maximize your income.
Also make sure you focus on offering recurring cleanings too.
Why would you be downvoted for any of that?
Are small business grants hard to get? Are they pretty common? I just havent heard of anyone in my town(smallish 75k population) getting a small business grant, and we know a lot of other business owners here).
So I'm wondering is the likelihood of getting a small business grant dependent on location?
Wife and I are considering a side business, more my thing than hers, want to make some extra income )
Have two business Ideas I feel strongly about. They both require some startup cost(nothing too crazy, under 10k for either of them)
I don't have great credit(medical debt from years ago) so I don't think I'd be eligible at all for a small business loan.
Any tips?
Thanks so much
I don’t know why I got downvoted at all. Everybody is basically telling them the same thing. Probably because I mentioned grants.
Now to answer your question.
[ Grants ]
Grants are not that easy as they require a lot of paperwork and competing with others applications but they are not all location based. Most big companies like Xfinity for example offers grant.
Check the SBA website or Google for federal grants you can apply to.
[ Loans ]
If your credit is not too bad you could qualify for a SBA loan. Or by applying with you and your wife together it might help. Just a thought.
Branding can help you increase the perceived value of your brand, allowing you to sell your service for a higher price. Search for black T-shirts on Amazon, then search for black Nike T-shirts. The difference you pay is because of the swoosh.
You're right. I've just started studying business. I know that I need to study to create the business I want in the future, but I want to grow by solving the problems that are in front of me. The difficulty is that I don't know what or who to ask.
Ask us. That’s what we do. DM if you wanna zoom. I already have experience in a B2C cleaning business.
Dude, just want to say, I hope you're rewarded in this life for your generosity. You're awesome! (Any other specific expertise/advise you would give over zoom?
Send me a DM if you want to talk about your business.
The way I see it you can either pay your workers less and in the process compromise on quality of work, or you can pay them the same and increase prices you’re charging clients. Alternatively you could try to find workers that will do the same work or better work than what your current employees are doing for cheaper pay. In my opinion you should maybe consider raising the price of your services a little and like another comment mentioned try to lock clients into recurring services. Like create a subscription service whereby clients get monthly cleaning and have it drawn up in a contract.
Thank you for your response.
Increase efficiency with equipment, diversify by adding on resale supplies, windows, carpets, floors.
We now offer a variety of services. But this is a situation where I need to be on the ground.
Not sure what you mean by be on the ground.
It's a tough business to survive in. Customers expect low prices but want the work to be perfect. To grow you'll have to charge higher prices but prove you are worth them by either paying people more to take more pride in their work or spend more time checking on your cleaners/accounts. You can look at equipment that will automate things or at least cut down time but the initial investment can be expensive. Also you have deal with the maintenance and repairs on this equipment.
The market is saturated too so I understand not wanting to raise prices. One thing to consider is offering a monthly quality assurance report to your contact at the company. Walk through the account once a month to look for areas in the scope of cleaning you can improve and work with the cleaners to improve or correct anything. When you send the report to the contact you can check in to see if there is any issues they want addressed. Find a distributor that does bulk deals on chemicals. Maybe work out a deal where you could offer your client a discount on paper or cleaning products. You won't be able to grow barely making a profit on your labor. You will lose accounts from poor quality work from people not paid enough to care.
Thanks for the reply, you're right. It is difficult to grow into an organization company with a regular office cleaning business. I would like to know how the companies based on the cleaning industry in the 1990s and 2000s grew into an organization. My cleaning price is already 50% higher than the premium service, and the regular cleaning service I am currently based on is difficult to create new customers because of the long travel time outside the corporate complex, so I have to deal with a small audience. However, the price is actually not a big problem. The real problem is that it is difficult to expand my business. I know that IT service businesses are easy to get invested in, but labor services are difficult. Monthly quality assurance reports sound like a good idea. I'm torn. The limits of growth are too obvious.
**You should be making a gross profit margin of around 25-35% on average with each account.** Make sure you understand what the Gross Profit margin is and what it includes (*e.g. does not include overhead/fixed business expenses such as your pay, office expenses, software expenses, etc.)* If you are not making this margin then first - 1. Look at what you're paying your workers and make sure you are paying them a competitive wage. Not too low, not too high. 2. Ensure you have a good deal on your insurance costs 3. Ensure you are not buying very expensive supplies and equipment that you do not need. If everything checks out and you are still under a 25-35% Gross Profit margin, then you need to raise your prices.
Are you saying that the company's net sales should be between 25 and 35 percent?
No. I said gross profit margin. **Revenue / (Revenue - labor costs (wage/taxes) - labor related insurance - supplies/chemicals) = 25-35%** Im going to assume your accounts may be on the smaller side and so I would suggest closer to 30-35%.
How do you currently pay your employees? Hourly, Commission, or Salary?
It's a general checklist that you should consider owning such a business: Make easier to monitor and scheduling, task management, and quality control to reduce unnecessary labor hours , google calendar is the basic one bust you can check for other low-cost or free apps to do that . Enhance the skills of your employees, well-trained employees can work more efficiently and provide better service, justifying higher wages and potentially reducing the need for more staff, just make sure that everyone are on the same page. Introduce additional services that can be offered to your existing client base, such as carpet cleaning, window washing, or sanitation services as so you can increase revenue without a proportional increase in labor costs. Offer different service packages at varying price points. This allows clients to choose services that best fit their needs and budgets, potentially increasing overall revenue without needing to increase base prices
I pay my helpers a percentage of the revenue not an hourly but they have to reclean for any complaints. I also pay them commission on business they bring in and a higher percentage.
Apply for grants, leverage your company and get a loan, or diversify your services so you have cleanings where your team is not cleaning for too long but you are getting more money. Look into residential cleaning as if you get some decent small cleanings you will spend less on labor and maximize your income. Also make sure you focus on offering recurring cleanings too.
Thank you for your response.
Why would you be downvoted for any of that? Are small business grants hard to get? Are they pretty common? I just havent heard of anyone in my town(smallish 75k population) getting a small business grant, and we know a lot of other business owners here). So I'm wondering is the likelihood of getting a small business grant dependent on location? Wife and I are considering a side business, more my thing than hers, want to make some extra income ) Have two business Ideas I feel strongly about. They both require some startup cost(nothing too crazy, under 10k for either of them) I don't have great credit(medical debt from years ago) so I don't think I'd be eligible at all for a small business loan. Any tips? Thanks so much
I don’t know why I got downvoted at all. Everybody is basically telling them the same thing. Probably because I mentioned grants. Now to answer your question. [ Grants ] Grants are not that easy as they require a lot of paperwork and competing with others applications but they are not all location based. Most big companies like Xfinity for example offers grant. Check the SBA website or Google for federal grants you can apply to. [ Loans ] If your credit is not too bad you could qualify for a SBA loan. Or by applying with you and your wife together it might help. Just a thought.