Starting a cleaning business

[dawp]

Thanks to @IceCreamKid I started a cleaning business.
I have created a website (i am a webdev so it was easy, just took a lot of time). Then i learned some adwords stuff (read few-hours-udemy-course). And it was up and running.

I have improved my website several times (copy, images, features, pricing), to improve conversion rate. Getting my first customer was hard (Took around $200 on adowrds because i sucked at it back then), but i did it. And every next customer was easier to get (and cheaper). The competition here in Stockholm is really big, but I can outwork them and deliver the service much better.

So, how does it work?
A visitor lands on my website. Book a cleaning in the form. I get an email about it. Then i send it to local cleaners i have contact with. They do the job. Then i send the invoice. Simple, right?

So here is how it looks now in digits:
CPC: ~ $4
CPA: ~$40 (so every ~10th visitor becomes customer)
I charge: ~$34 per hour of cleaning
Cost of cleaner: ~$24/hour (including taxes, obligatory health care and retirement stuff)
Profit/hour of cleaning: ~$10 ($34 - $24)

So every customer need to take at least 4 hours of cleaning so he/she pays itself of (adwords).
Around 40% of customers becomes regular customer (cleaning 1-2 times per month).

It takes also time to learn business and money stuff (taxes, managing customers, stuff), but i am moving forward. It's definitely not a fastlane, but only my small steps towrds entrepreneurship.

I am going to write some updates here every now and then (~once per month, it's a slow process)

If you have any questions I will be glad to answer them!
Have a productive day!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Eric10x10]

Great job on getting started.

How do you go about managing the staff? Are they all on-call, waiting to be assigned new work?

Also, $4 CPC isn't bad at all for this space.

Over time, you should be getting that CPA down which would increase your profit margin quite a bit.

 

[dawp]

Great job on getting started.

How do you go about managing the staff? Are they all on-call, waiting to be assigned new work?

Also, $4 CPC isn't bad at all for this space.

Over time, you should be getting that CPA down which would increase your profit margin quite a bit.

I found some cleaners that work part time, so there is always someone that is free to do the job.
I just text them like: ”hi, are you free at X-date to do some cleaning?”
I have talked to all of them in person before, to know that they will do great job.

Yes, i am going to increase my pricing little bit and stop overpaying for cleaners (i pay much better than the others) to increase the profit


Skickat från min iPhone med Tapatalk

 

[Eric10x10]

I found some cleaners that work part time, so there is always someone that is free to do the job.
I just text them like: ”hi, are you free at X-date to do some cleaning?”
I have talked to all of them in person before, to know that they will do great job.

Yes, i am going to increase my pricing little bit and stop overpaying for cleaners (i pay much better than the others) to increase the profit


Skickat från min iPhone med Tapatalk

Sweet.

How did you find the part-time cleaners?

It also looks likes that an average person working at McDonald's earns about $13/hour in Stockholm.

With that in mind, $24/hour (you pay your cleaners) is almost twice as much. There's definitely room there for reduction should you wish you increase the profit margin.

Although my suggestion would be to look into optimizing your AdWords campaigns first so you could get that ($40) CPA down as much as possible.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[dawp]

Sweet.

How did you find the part-time cleaners?

It also looks likes that an average person working at McDonald's earns about $13/hour in Stockholm.

With that in mind, $24/hour (you pay your cleaners) is almost twice as much. There's definitely room there for reduction should you wish you increase the profit margin.

Although my suggestion would be to look into optimizing your AdWords campaigns first so you could get that ($40) CPA down as much as possible.

I found them by positng a job offer, in local listnings website (aka craigslist) and one by a friend of mine.

Yeah, mcd workers get paid $13/hour but the price for the restaurant is almost double as much to pay them this money (high taxes, health care).

So the cost of one worker cleaning one hour is $24, but he/she gets around $12 on his/her account. The rest is taxes, obligatory health care, etc.



Skickat från min iPhone med Tapatalk

 

[jpanarra]

Awesome stuff,

I love seeing doers on here. I'm not sure if you're doing this, you can post in the 'gigs' part of craigslist and you can outsource them quickly if needed. The only risk is that you might get sued by hiring somone that you dont trust and they ended up robbing the place.

Do you have business insurance, since you have employees that are going into residences something is bound to happen sooner or later. If you get into a lawsuit at least you'll have the funds from the insurance policy.

 

[Gutzofter]

Thanks to @IceCreamKid I started a cleaning business.
I have created a website (i am a webdev so it was easy, just took a lot of time). Then i learned some adwords stuff (read few-hours-udemy-course). And it was up and running.

I have improved my website several times (copy, images, features, pricing), to improve conversion rate. Getting my first customer was hard (Took around $200 on adowrds because i sucked at it back then), but i did it. And every next customer was easier to get (and cheaper). The competition here in Stockholm is really big, but I can outwork them and deliver the service much better.

So, how does it work?
A visitor lands on my website. Book a cleaning in the form. I get an email about it. Then i send it to local cleaners i have contact with. They do the job. Then i send the invoice. Simple, right?

So here is how it looks now in digits:
CPC: ~ $4
CPA: ~$40 (so every ~10th visitor becomes customer)
I charge: ~$34 per hour of cleaning
Cost of cleaner: ~$24/hour (including taxes, obligatory health care and retirement stuff)
Profit/hour of cleaning: ~$10 ($34 - $24)

So every customer need to take at least 4 hours of cleaning so he/she pays itself of (adwords).
Around 40% of customers becomes regular customer (cleaning 1-2 times per month).

It takes also time to learn business and money stuff (taxes, managing customers, stuff), but i am moving forward. It's definitely not a fastlane, but only my small steps towrds entrepreneurship.

I am going to write some updates here every now and then (~once per month, it's a slow process)

If you have any questions I will be glad to answer them!
Have a productive day!

You might want to add more channels. Specifically, free. This can help reduce CPA. Another thing is to check your CLTV (repeat business). Referrals are also another channel.

Try Google My Business - Free Channel
Yelp - Free Channel

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.