The cleaning industry has two primary market groups: consumer and commercial. The consumer
arena consists primarily of residential maid services, along with carpet cleaners,
and
a variety of other cleaning services required on a less-frequent basis. The commercial arena is
dominated by janitorial services, which typically provide a wider range of services than maid
services, along with other cleaning companies, such as carpet and window cleaners that target
businesses rather than individual consumers. While it's recommended that you decide on a niche and
concentrate on building a business that will serve your chosen market, it's entirely realistic to expect
to be able to serve multiple markets successfully.
Before you leap into the cleaning business, it's important to look at it with 20/20 vision. Though
technology has certainly had an impact on cleaning services, this is not a high-tech business. Nor is
there any glitz to it. And there will be times when you'll have as much trouble as Rodney
Dangerfield getting respect.
But the upside is that you can build an extremely profitable
that will generate revenue very
quickly. Most cleaning service businesses can be operated on either a part-time or full-time basis,
either from home or from a commercial location. That flexibility gives this industry a strong appeal
to a wide range of people with a variety of goals.
Another positive aspect of the industry is that within each category of cleaning businesses are market
niches and operating styles that vary tremendously. Salt Lake City janitorial service owner Michael
R. says, "We offer a wide range of services to a very limited clientele. We have refined our customer
base to a group that we feel we can best serve in a way that will allow us to maintain those
permanently."
This means you can build a company that suits your individual style and talents. If you like doing the
work yourself, you can stay small and do so. If your skills are more administrative in nature, you can
build and manage teams to do the work. For peo