Starting a cleaning business
Sixteen short stories from inside a house-cleaning business, each one ending with the lesson it taught. Then the practical part: what to charge, what it costs to start, insurance, and finding your first clients.
Told first-person by a house-cleaning business owner. The work, the clients, the mistakes, and what each one taught. Captions are on by default.
How my business began, with the job nobody else would do.
The person who was supposed to share the work, and the day I stopped waiting for help.
My very first hoarder job, the auction, and the money I left on the table.
An estate auction, a very strange find, and the rule I never broke again.
The easiest good money I ever made, and why it mattered more than the money.
A client who could not decide, and the one rule that finally set her free.
The hardest part of a hoarder job, which is not the work, and how you help someone let go.
Drawn from the dementia cleanouts I did over the years.
The client who looked like she had everything, and the lesson about who hoards.
Three houses that looked the same from the doorway, and why you have to know which one you are standing in.
The job I got wrong, and the grace I never forgot.
The hardest house I ever walked into, and the bravest phone call I ever got.
The biggest backyard I ever cleared, and why the backyard tells you about the house.
The smallest job I ever took, and what clients are really paying for.
A fire, a grateful client, and the business I never meant to start.
The strangest way I was ever paid, and why it turned out to be the best.
Plain articles on the decisions that come first.
The course
Most people who start cleaning houses already know how to clean. This course is the business underneath it: what to charge, worked out from what you need to take home; your first ten clients and a tight route; the job itself; and the money side. Twenty-five lessons, each written out with its sources and narrated, and you finish with your own Opening Kit.
See the courseWe're building a complete course on starting and running a house-cleaning business, planned for January. Leave your email and we'll tell you when it opens.