By: Cathy Green
I recently received a note from a woman who is thinking about starting a maid service business. An edited version of her letter is below:
What would you advise me to do? Do you think I should start the biz now or wait till the economy gets better. I do not have a job… I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Admin, but have not been able to get a job.
In my previous jobs I was a manager of a health care agency and nanny agency, so I do have the supervisory experience. I will greatly appreciate your input, advice and knowledge.
Because it is easy to read information in “bullet” format, I will put my response in bullets:
I will refer to the woman who wrote me the note as “Sarah”.
a. My advice to you, “Sarah” is to begin by reading every blog, book, website, etc. that you can find on the topic of starting a business in general and a maid service in particular.
PLEASE don’t skip that step. Why walk blindly into a situation?
Some of the books I read are as follows:
How to Start a Home-Based Housecleaning Business by Laura Jorstad and Melinda Morse
Start & Run a Home Cleaning Business by Susan Bewsey
Not only did I read those two books, but I read articles online. I went to Debbie Sardone’s consulting website and took advantage of various articles and free audio tapes that she made available.
I then kept hearing about a book called The E-myth by Michael Gerber. I purchased and devoured it. In my case, I was already doing everything that the author suggested. So for me, the book confirmed that my instincts were correct. However, I highly recommend that people read the book over and over again until they fully comprehend what the author says. Not only should people read it, but they should DO what he suggests. The book is a must read for all small business owners.
b. Another thing I did was to find a local maid service owner who owns a million dollar a year business. IF possible, try to find a local [FREE] mentor. He was helpful in terms of giving me advice and guidance on pricing. Because of him, I felt comfortable raising my prices. You also can consider hiring a professional mentor. Personally, I did not want to spend money on hiring a consultant.
c. I joined Debbie Sardone’s mailing list. She owns a million dollar maid service in Texas. And I have sat in on one (to date) of her group telephone consulting classes. The classes are affordable. The one I sat in on was on the topic of eco-friendly maid services.
As a direct result of what she said, I opened my service up to also offering conventional products. Not everyone trusts that eco friendly, natural products clean well. So I now give clients the choice between the two products, as opposed to dictating to them that I will only use eco friendly products. Her class was offered for less than $30 and it was very helpful to me.
In her note to me, “Sarah” also asked whether or not she should start a maid service company right now in this economy.
I cannot answer that question for Sarah. She needs to answer that for herself.
My advice to Sarah is to do some research via internet. Check out the local towns in her area. Search out which areas have residents who make the most money. Only people who have disposable income can afford to hire a maid service on an ongoing basis.
After Sarah targets those areas, she needs to make some marketing decisions because clearly, the people will need to know she exists.
Sarah mentioned that she is not working. That means that she won’t be able to purchase the insurance that she will need for the maid service business. It is best to save, save and save until you have enough savings to really start the business right.
e. Write a business plan. It need not be fancy but put your company’s vision down on paper and edit it as necessary.
f. Personally, I started my business by hiring TWO employees. Looking back, I was very, very bold. I was able to talk them into trusting that if they came to work for me, I’d find enough houses to keep them busy—and I DID!
My advice to Sarah is to not get stuck in the horrible trap of trying to work “in” her business as a cleaner, plus work “on” her business as the owner. The book, The E-Myth will explain why that rarely works.
People who work “in” their business don’t really have a business. Instead, they have a job that they have created for themselves.
I’ll stop here. There is too much information to place in one article. I have barely scratched the surface on how to establish a successful company.
Word of caution. If you rush into this without enough money and without a plan, you will have a company with a shaky foundation on your hands—and you will fail. It’s really that simple.
