r/cleaningbusiness

I’m talking about equipment you thought you needed but ended up barely using, replacing, or realizing wasn’t worth the money.

For those who’ve been in commercial cleaning for a while, what would you skip if you were starting over?

I love cleaning and hate talking about money. However it's something I'm determined to get more comfortable with how do you deal with a potential client saying your price is too high? Last time I said have a nice weekend and didn't justify the price 😅

Do you give a breakdown of all works included?

Any advice around pricing structure would be appreciated 🤍

When I started I let cleaners bring whatever supplies they had at home. Every house got a different result. One cleaner used a great glass cleaner, another used paper towels and window cleaner on everything, and I had no idea which version of my service a client was judging me on.

Now every cleaner gets the exact same kit on day one. Microfiber cloths, an all purpose cleaner, a glass cleaner, a bathroom cleaner, a vacuum, a mop, a bucket, gloves, and trash bags. I buy it all in bulk so it costs me less than the random stuff they were buying themselves.

Two things changed. First, every home gets cleaned with the same products, so the quality is consistent no matter who shows up. Second, the mid job store runs stopped. Nobody texts me at 2 pm saying they are out of bathroom cleaner.

If your cleans feel uneven from one cleaner to the next, standardize the kit before you blame the people.

Im sure most of us are doing the same stuff, ads, flyers, door to door. What actually works well though for you guys?

>Hi all. I'm a solo founder researching the commercial cleaning industry before building anything. Not selling, no links. I'd really value hearing how you actually do it today.
>
>How many commercial sites do you service regularly?
>
>How do you check cleaning quality — paper, an app, spreadsheets, walk-throughs?
>
>What happened the last time a client complained about quality?
>
>How do you show clients the work was done well?
>
>What software do you pay for today, and did you try it yourself or talk to sales first?
>
>Even a short answer to one question helps. Happy to share a summary of what I learn with everyone here.

Hey all — commercial cleaner in San Jose, CA (SF Bay Area). Looking to get more work with apartment complexes (unit turns + common areas).

Currently treating it like any other commercial account: submitting bids, trying to get on preferred vendor lists, etc.

Would love to hear from people who’ve done this successfully:

1. How are you getting in front of property managers / leasing offices without being a pest?
2. What do they actually care about most (speed, price, insurance, documentation, reliability)?
3. Any tips on getting preferred vendor status with property management companies?
4. Common mistakes when bidding apartment work?

Appreciate any practical advice. Thanks in advance.

Playing with the idea of doing topless cleaning services, or topless mowing, etc. just wondering if there even is a demand on the market for it. Or even a community of people who even want to invest into that. Also bonus question, what would you consider “fair” pricing for such a thing?

We’re getting ready to form a commercial cleaning company with three equal owners, and we’re trying to make the right tax decision before we get too far down the road.

We originally planned on a multi-member LLC taxed as a partnership. Our accountant is leaning toward having the LLC elect S-corp taxation instead.

I understand the basic S-corp argument around payroll/self-employment taxes, but I’m more interested in how this actually works in the real world for people running cleaning companies.

Our priorities are pretty simple:

1. Legally minimize the personal tax hit for the owners.
2. Keep as much money working inside the business as makes sense so we can build reserves, buy equipment/vehicles, hire, and grow.

What caught us a little off guard is learning that with partnership taxation, we can owe personal taxes on our share of company profit even if we leave that money sitting in the business.

Our accountant also talked about distributing profits to the owners, paying the taxes, and then potentially loaning money back into the company. That seems a little circular to me, so I’m curious what other owners actually do.

For those of you who have been doing this awhile:

• Are you taxed as a partnership or S-corp?
• At what level of profit did S-corp taxation actually become worthwhile?
• How do you handle profits you want to leave in the company?
• Do you make tax distributions to the owners?
• Have you ever distributed money and then loaned it back to the company?
• If you were starting over, what would you do differently?

We already have an accountant, so I’m not looking for Reddit to replace a CPA. I’m trying to understand what has actually worked for other cleaning business owners and where the traps are before we make the decision.

I'm a small cleaning business owner and I'm curious how folks here are using AI or automation.

What's actually worked for you, what backfired? Especially around client communication, scheduling, follow-ups.

Anyone with real experience?

It is just me, or does everything just hurt?? My back constantly hurts, my feet hurt, I am going to physical therapy for my shoulder, a few times I show up and I am just not physically able to complete the clean. I work by myself so I have no extra help, and I do not really want to expand to getting employees. To be honest, sometimes I will get halfway through a rental, sit down to rest for 10 minutes and it is so hard to motivate myself to finish. It seems that when I hear about other cleaners they are working longer hours than me and are able to do it in a faster time and I just don't know how that's possible. I'm in my late 20's I dont feel like I should be hurting this much. Every clean that takes longer than about 3 hours it mentally draining because I feel like I am having to push myself, leading me to feel even more burned out. Thank you, and I am happy to have found this community.

Hello! I am opening a cleaning business. I have a name and some money set aside to get licenses done. Most of my start up materials are ready to go aside from a vacuum.

(Any backpack vac recommendations that come with a carpet attachment would be great too)

Where I am SO lost is licensing, both with the state and local. I have decided that I want to go to LLC route and I know my village requires licensing for home based businesses. I really want to avoid using my home address as the business address because it would be really uncomfortable for Google Maps to show my house as a business, especially since no one should need to come here until I have employees. Of course, this isn't my only privacy concern. Originally I was planning to use a virtual address (ipostal1) across the board but the more research I do shows that simply wont work at the local level AND Illinois has some new laws regarding using virtual addresses for LLCs in general.

I know I should just wait until I am connected with a mentor from score.org (this suggestion is under every single reddit and facebook post I read) but I was just looking to see if anyone had any advice in the mean time.

Any other Fun Facts or tidbit tips you all have for me would be greatly appreciated as well. I am new to business owning and would love to be able to skip some bumps in the road. I'm a little lost on where to look for insurance, though I think I would like to stick local and support a small business. Thanks for your time!! <3

I’m trying to simplify the number of products I carry.
What all-purpose cleaner do you use most often for everyday commercial cleaning?