Оглавление
Susan Bewsey. Start & Run a Home Cleaning Business
START & RUN A HOME CLEANING BUSINESS
Introduction
1. Shining In The Spotlight
1. Before You Get Started
2. Is This The Business For You?
3. Filling In The Vacuum
4. You’re On Your Way
2. Sweeping The Nation: Getting Started
1. Targeting Your Market
1.1 Assess your market potential
1.2 Identify your customers
2. Assessing The Competition
3. Legal Requirements. 3.1 Zoning
3.2 Insurance
3.3 Licenses
3.4 Business taxes
4. Choosing A Business Name
5. Choosing A Business Structure
5.1 Sole proprietorship
5.2 Partnership
5.3 Corporation
6. Professional Services: Your Lawyer And Your Accountant
7. Purchasing An Existing Business Or Franchise?
8. Leasing Versus Purchasing
3. Setting Goals And Financing
1. Your Mission Statement
2. Forecasting Your Needs. 2.1 Analyzing your costs
2.2 Your cash flow projection
2.3 Calculating your break-even point
3. How Much Should You Charge?
4. Keep Your Forecast Up To Date
5. Raising The Money
6. Your Business Plan
4. Polishing Your Technique: Getting Organized
1. Knowing Your Business
1.1 A little clean fun
1.2 What you’ll need on the job
2. Organizing Your Headquarters
2.1 The home office
2.2 Locating away from home
2.3 Arranging your office
2.4 Site security
2.5 Vehicle
2.6 Telephone lines and cell phones. 2.6a Separate business line
2.6b Answering machine, voice mail, and answering service
2.6c Cell phones
2.6d Your telephone voice
2.6e Tips for your answering machine/voice mail message
3. Organizing Business Records
3.1 Your billing/payroll system
3.2 Your bank statement
3.3 Your B/F (bring forward) system
4. Computers and Technology
4.1 Software
4.2 Printers
4.3 The Internet as a resource
4.4 A digital camera
5. Working With Suppliers. 5.1 Making contact
5.2 Getting the best price
5.3 Environmentally friendlyproducts
5. Marketing
1. Visibility: Let People Know You’re Here
2. Creating Your Image
3. Advertising Strategy
4. Yellow Pages
5. Promoting Your Business At Trade Shows
6. Direct-Mail Marketing
7. Cross Promotions
8. Timing
9. Gain Maximum Interest
10. Using Color In Your Promotional Materials
11. Word-of-mouth marketing
6. Rags To Riches: Pricing Your Work
1. Your Goals
2. Quoting Basics. 2.1 Have information ready for the client
2.2 Always visit the premises
2.3 Estimating and quoting techniques
3. Pricing
3.1 Charging by the hour
3.2 Charging per job
3.3 Charging on commission
3.4 Markup procedure
4. Tenders And Bidding On Contracts
5. Save Money For Your Client; Save Time For You
6. Forms Of Payment
7. Going Solo
1. Do You Want To Go Solo?
2. Research, Research, Research
3. Strategic Planning
3.1 Marketing plan: What advertising will you need to do?
3.1a Identify who you are
3.2 Production plan: What tools of the trade will you need to be ready to “spring” into action?
3.2a Products and equipment
3.2b A uniform look
3.3 Cash/Profit plan
3.3a Quoting the job
3.4 Financial plan: How much money do you want to make?
3.5 Time plan: How much time are you going to use to generate income?
3.5a Schedule your clients
3.6 Human resources plan: What will you do if you get sick or injured?
3.7 Succession plan: What to do when it’s time to leave the business
8. Going Into Labor: Your Hiring And Staffing Needs
1. Your Goals For Hiring
2. Analyze Your Staffing Needs
2.1 Who is your ideal worker?
2.2 Attracting your staff
3. Break Down What The Employee Must Do
4. Interviewing. 4.1 Where
4.2 The application form
4.3 What you need to know
4.4 Designing your interview questions
4.5 The interview
5. The Trial Period
6. Uniforms
7. Legal Requirements. 7.1 Know what’s required
7.2 Notify the tax department
7.3 Other requirements
7.4 Additional steps to take
8. Benefits And Incentives
9. Termination of Staff
9. Training: Making It Fun and Informative
1. “Fun”Damentals
2. Setting Up A Training Facility
3. Meeting Company Standards
3.1 Encourage employees to learn by doing
3.2 Try to keep it simple
4. Tips For The Trainer
4.1 Tell or describe the task in detail
4.2 Show or demonstrate how the task is done
4.3 Have each employee try the task
4.4 Observe the trainee’s performance
4.5 Praise the employee or offer redirection
5. Incentives
6. Scheduling. 6.1 Balancing different needs
7. Injury And First Aid
8. Breakage
10. Clients And How To Keep Them
1. Meeting With The Client. 1.1 Appearance and grooming
1.2 Turn on the charm
2. Good Clients And Bad Clients
3. Saying Goodbye Or Withdrawing Services From A Client
4. New Clients: When To Say No
5. Special Concerns
5.1 Children
5.2 Tradespeople
5.3 Damages
5.4 Valuables
5.5 Breakage
5.6 Running out of product
5.7 Inadequate client equipment
6. Security
7. Special Services. 7.1 One-time or seasonal jobs
7.2 Assisting personal domestics
7.3 Pet sitting
11. The Daily Run
1. How It All Comes Together
2. Keep Your Staff Up To Date
3. Handling Complaints
12. Cleaning “Fun”damentals
1. Cleaning Tips
2. CLEANING TIPS FOR YOUR CLIENTS
3. TIPS FOR HOME-CLEANING TEAMS
4. Tips For Window Washing
5. Tips For Wall Washing
6. Tips For Cleaning New Building Projects
7. Tips For Cleaning Offices
8. Know Your Products
9. Inventory Control. 9.1 JIT inventory
9.2 Labeling your bottles
10. Product Safety
13. Quality Control
1. Make One Staff Member Responsible For Each Job
2. Adjust Work And Team Schedules
3. Your Collections Policy
4. Client Problems
5. Employee Theft
6. Be Available For Clients
14. Services For Downsizing Homeowners And Estate Cleanups
1. A New Market
2. Services You Can Offer to Downsizing Homeowners
3. Estate Cleanups
4. Disposal of Household Chemicals
5. Pricing
6. Growing Your Business
15. You’re On Your Way
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Other Titles in the Start & Run Series
Notice to Readers
Self-Counsel Press thanks you for purchasing this ebook
Contents
