Maid Service

Not Just for the Rich Anymore

The number of women working outside the home has now exceeded the 45 million mark and continue to grow. Is it any wonder that more and more women are finding it impossible to keep up with the responsibilities of a career and home? An off shoot of this phenomenon is an upsurge in the demand for good maid services.

Starting a business in this industry requires very low initial expenses and, other that good organizational ability and not hating housework, not a great deal of experience. It is also an industry where you can work alone actually doing hands-on work or you can spend time managing a group of employees and rounding up jobs. There are really only three areas of overhead expenses you'll need to worry about: advertising, supplies and insurance.

Cleaning Up

Of course the service you'll be providing is house cleaning, and you probably know hoe to clean a house. But that doesn't mean you know how to run a house cleaning business. Even if you are running a solo enterprise, it will be necessary for you to advertise your service and set up your schedule to ensure that each client receives the services he or she is paying for. You will need to have liability insurance in case of breakage and have a good idea of who will furnish the equipment and supplies (you or your client).

If you are intending to hire employees to do the cleaning, it is even more imperative to hone your organizational skills and keep on top of scheduling, marketing, purchasing of supplies, and all the work that goes along with hiring employees, i.e., advertising, interviewing, and checking references.

You will want to formulate a plan for the way you want your employees to do the work at hand. You may want to design a training course or write a manual detailing the methods you would prefer your employees to use. Go over this information with your employees before you send them out on a job and it is probably a good idea to go with your new employees on their first assignment in order to teach them your methods by example, and to see if their techniques and standards meet with your own.

Some Maid Services provide a checklist for the employee to take with them on each job so that you have a record of the time spent on the job and any extras such as laundry, oven cleaning and/or window washing for which you need to add additional charges.

Many services use a team system, sending a group of maids (2 to 4) to visit the same houses each week. This allows them to become familiar wit the customer's needs to rotate chores to reduce the monotony.

Some services don't like the team system cause clients may prefer to have their own personal housekeeper who will be in the house for a set period of time each week. Also, a team will probably not develop a loyal following that an individual maid might if he/she gives exemplary service.

You may wish to furnish all your own supplies and equipment thereby ensuring that you will have quality tools of the trade to use and/or supply to your employees. Or you may wish to have the supplies and equipment with you, or having an employee riding the bus carrying a mop.

Making a Name

There are a number of advertising methods available which won't cost you an arm and leg. You can hand out or mail flyers via bulk mail. Most supermarkets have bulletin boards where you can put you name and number. In most areas, there are a number of neighborhood or pennysaver newspapers who charge very reasonable rates for advertising. And if your employees are driving to and from assignments, you can have magnetic signs made to attach to the car doors for mobile advertising.

Spend some time thinking about the most lucrative geographic area at which to target your advertising. Maids are no longer an exclusive luxury for the very rich, but low income households can't afford their services either. Target professional neighborhoods where the average income in $40,000 or more and both spouse are working. Families with children probably have the greatest need for your services.

The majority of your business will probably come from residential homes, but don't limit yourself. Be creative! Perhaps you could offer gift certificates for your clients to give to friends for pre-holiday clean-up or new mothers. You may not be looking for one-time cleaning jobs, but if a person wants you to clean their home for the holidays, and you do a bang-up job, you could turn them from one-timers into steady clients, or get good-as-gold referrals from them to their friends.

There are plenty of real estate agents out there who might have apartment houses that need cleaning or could recommend you to their buyers to clean houses for sale. Newly built homes also need cleaning before or after a sale, so try contacting building/construction entrepreneurs who could use your services.

Targeting offices may not be the best use of your advertising dollars. They frequently require a complicated bidding process and more heavy janitorial work than you are prepared to do. They can be lucrative but perhaps not fit within your parameters.

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