Running a home based cleaning business with your spouse can be a good way to combine business and family activities under one roof. But are you and your spouse the right match to work together as well as live together? Before you invest time and money into starting up a cleaning business with your spouse there are several key questions you should ask.
1. Will your financial situation allow both of you to quit your present jobs and go into business together? It may be necessary for one person to continue working on either a part-time or full-time basis until the business is profitable enough to provide the income you need.
2. What is your mission statement? Before taking out any loans or buying supplies and equipment, decide on a mission statement and write a business plan. This will help you get the "big picture". While writing your business plan, remember to address how the business will affect your marriage. Make sure you separate work and family conflicts by setting boundaries - such as "No business discussions during dinnertime".
3. Have you developed job descriptions? Running a cleaning business involves more than just cleaning. There is also marketing, bookkeeping, ordering supplies, and depending on the size of your business, hiring and supervising employees. Clearly state the responsibilities for each job description, and then divide the jobs fairly to make sure that one person is not doing most of the work.
4. Are you each doing what you love to do and do best? If you and your spouse have the same strengths and weaknesses, then you might have a problem. The best case scenario for working with your spouse is when you both have different strengths and weaknesses. For example, if you love working in the office and taking care of the behind-the-scenes tasks, and your spouse truly loves to clean, loves being out in the field and marketing the business, then you're in a great situation. There's less chance of getting into disagreements and butting-heads when you can each take control of your portion of the business.
5. How will you solve disputes? Between business owners there will always be a "difference of opinion" on the best way to get things done. Before you and your spouse make the financial commitment in a business, make sure you have a system in place for discussing and resolving business conflicts.
There will be business issues that come up daily - everything from scheduling to what supplies to buy to where to get your business cards printed. As a couple, you must be able to work together and make compromises when necessary. Having a management meeting once a week is a good way to review how the business is doing, discuss issues, and make plans for improvement.
6. Do you have a system in place to guide you through tough financial and legal decisions? A business can become paralyzed if you run into legal or financial difficulties and you have no experts to guide you. Before starting your cleaning business, create a support team that can help you if (and when) problems arise.
7. Have you set time aside for your private lives? Starting a business is a time-consuming endeavor. If you're not careful, the business can take over your lives. You and your spouse need time to reconnect as a couple and not as just business partners. This may be as simple as a quiet lunch or a walk where there is no "business talk".
8. If you have children, what child care do you have in place? As small business owners you will have business responsibilities pulling at you from all directions. Make sure that you have child care in place so the children are taken care of and you can devote the time you need to the business.
Before starting a home cleaning business with your spouse, it's important that you sit down and discuss these issues. If you have a good relationship with your spouse, put a good business plan in place, and know where your business is going, you can start a successful cleaning business. Putting in time before-hand to plan properly will help to ensure that your cleaning business is on the right track to success!
A cleaning business is quite a popular choice for the type of business to start and it doesn't cost a lot to get your business up and running. Many people start their business with nothing more than some ranges and cleaning solution, making it financially achievable for most people.
Here are the main five reasons that you should start a cleaning business:
1. You will be your own boss and can base your business from your own home. You may even be able to claim some expenses on your income tax for the work you do from home such as paperwork and making phone calls.
2. With your own business you can work your own hours and charge your own rates. Many cleaning services charge premium rates and so you can make quite a good income just working part time hours. If your business becomes really successful you can hire staff to do the cleaning work while you stick to the administration side of the business.
3. A cleaning business is one of the least expensive businesses to start up. You can purchase all the supplies that you need to start off for under $100 and then can gradually purchase more supplies as you need them once you are starting to earn some income.
4. Cleaning is something that is always needed regardless of economic times; people will still need their cleaning done even when there is a recession. Particularly for women who have full time careers they often don't have time for cleaning their homes and these women will always have the demand for a cleaner.
5. Many businesses will hire a cleaner on a contract basis to clean their offices every day. If you can pick up a business cleaning contract you will be guaranteed work for the long term. A couple of business contracts will really keep your business going.
If you do good work your cleaning business will grow very quickly as your clients will refer you to their friends or colleagues. As long as you continue to offer a good service you will soon have more work than you know what to do with.
You never know... you may not only have to hire some staff to take on cleaning duties but you could end up with a stream of franchises all bearing your name. Remember though that when you are first starting out it may take some time to build up your client base and this is a business that you can even start up part time while still working at another job. Then when your customer list starts to grow and you are earning a good income from your cleaning business then you can quite your other job and concentrate fully on your own business.
Both Steve Hanson & Johnny Williams are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Steve Hanson has sinced written about articles on various topics from Cleaning Business, Business Plan and Home Appliances. Steve Hanson is co-founding member of TheJanitorialStore.com, an online community for owners and managers of cleaning companies who want to build a more profitable and successful cleaning business. Sign up for Trash Talk: Tip of the Week at. Steve Hanson's top article generates over 18100 views. to your Favourites.
Johnny Williams has sinced written about articles on various topics from Cleaning Business, Home Management and Cleaning Business. Learn everything you need to know to start a successful cleaning business by visiting the author's website: . Johnny Williams's top article generates over 9900 views. to your Favourites.