Buying a Cleaning Business: Three Things You Need to Know

Entrepreneurs exploring the option of buying a cleaning business have many questions to ponder. Is it best to purchase an existing independent cleaning business or open a franchise? What types of cleaning businesses are out there? When buying a cleaning business, you need to be prepared. Use our exclusive list complete with everything you need to know for buying and running a cleaning business.

Types of Cleaning Businesses

There are many options to sift through when buying a cleaning business. When choosing the best one for you, be sure to consider your long-term goals and lifestyle needs. Cleaning services come in all shapes and sizes.

• Residential Cleaning Services: Also called household cleaning, you and your team would be cleaning within your customer’s homes.
• Commercial Cleaning Services: This type of cleaning business would be within office parks and buildings. You also may have schools and other community buildings as clients.
• Janitorial Cleaning Services: Similar to commercial cleaning services, janitorial cleaning also takes place in office buildings or other commercial spaces. However, janitorial cleaning consists of everyday cleaning tasks whereas commercial cleaning services are less frequent (but more extensive) and may only be on a yearly or quarterly basis.
• Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Services: Just as they sound, these types of businesses focus on the cleaning of client’s clothing. Laundromats allow for customers to clean their clothing themselves, whereas dry-cleaners require trained staff to use chemicals to clean garments.
• Sanitization and Disinfection: Typically done within offices or other shared spaces, this type of cleaning uses harsh chemicals to sanitize and disinfect surfaces – killing bacteria and viruses in the process.
• Green Cleaning Services: As climate change becomes a growing concern for many consumers, the concept of “green cleaning” is increasing in popularity. Green cleaning simply means using less chemicals that could harm the planet while still getting a deep clean.
• Pressure Washing Services: Using a highly pressurized stream of water, these types of businesses clean things like carpets, buildings, vehicles and more for clients.

Independent vs. Franchise

Once you’ve decided the type of cleaning business you want to open, you’ll need to decide whether to start or purchase an existing independent business, or purchase a franchise.

Independent business owners have a bit more flexibility in terms of making changes to their business but lack the backing of an established brand that knows product lines, service offerings, and ownership best practices and policies. Franchise owners also enjoy built-in name recognition.

First-time business owners with limited industry knowledge and experience tend to gravitate toward franchise ownership because a business model, support system, and supplier network is already in place. Independent business owners often have to go it alone and don’t have the support offered to franchise owners, including marketing, operations, supply chain management, technology, and other support departments.

Financial Considerations

Independent business owners are more likely to face unexpected initial and ongoing investment costs while franchise owners get the benefit of knowing their total startup costs upfront with less chance of surprise investments.

Startup costs for independent and franchise ownership vary according to business size, location, and the amount of work needed to make the business space work for your model. A successful franchise such as Two Maids is an affordable option with a minimum investment of $83,140. Franchise candidates can expect to pay $59,950 in initial franchise fees and will need a minimum of $23,190 in working capital.

Two Maids also offers qualified candidates up to $32,000 of in-house financing – meaning that some candidates could get their new business started for just $51,140. Refer to the Franchise Disclosure Document for details.

The Two Maids Advantage

Two Maids was founded in 2003. As we enter our 20th year in business, we now have 93 franchise locations across the country and have been recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest-growing cleaning companies in the country, as well as one the top low-cost franchises on Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500 list.

The residential cleaning industry is ripe for investment and the market is expected to reach a value of approximately $47 billion in the U.S. by 2026. Our business model is designed to provide unique benefits to our consumers that cannot be imitated by a competing cleaning company or individual.

We believe in supporting our franchisees every step of the way from initial training to ongoing support, conference calls, regional meetings, and annual conferences, and more.

To learn more about our franchise opportunity, request information today and one of our franchise advisors will be in touch.