Who Do You Want To Clean?
OK, let’s get right to it, because the sooner we answer this question, the sooner you can get the kind of cleaning business you’ve always dreamed of having.
Remember last time, when we asked…”What kind of accounts would give you a steady income, be easy to staff, easy to manage and give you a “shot” at extra work year round?”
Put another way, “What kind of accounts would give you the best chance at growing a large, profitable and stable cleaning business?”
Well, here was the answer for us…office cleaning!
Specifically; 3-5 nights per week, office cleaning, performed in the early evening, for owner-occupied professional, medical, industrial and manufacturing buildings, over 7,500 square feet, within a 50-mile radius of our office.
You may want to take a second to re-read that because every part of it is important.
It became our target market – our niche!
So, our target account
might be a manufacturing company in an industrial park near us, where we clean the whole front office, as well as the plant restrooms, locker room and lunchroom, Monday – Friday from 6 PM- 9:30 PM.
First, let me be clear.
Our answer doesn’t have to be your answer. There’s more than one road to get to a destination.
Your answer, your target market, may be floor maintenance for grocery stores and retail centers, construction cleaning, residential- maid services, or apartment clean-ups.
And IF you can profitably grow in those target markets, AND get the kind of steady income AND stable operation you need to give you the financial freedom and business lifestyle you pictured…more power to you!
But, for Tony and I, office cleaning was “The Ticket”.
Nothing is perfect, but in general, office cleaning was the right target market for us for several reasons:
It gave us a steady, reoccurring monthly income.
It allowed us to grow, grow, grow.
It was relatively easy to staff.
It was relatively easy to manage.
It gave us extra, specialty work year round.
By the way, if the description of our target market sounded very specific; it is!
We find the more specific we are about our goals, the better chance we have of achieving them.
Isn’t that true for everyone?
So, we determined to aggressively go after our target market, while avoiding, whenever possible, taking on other types of cleaning.
The impact of this decision was huge!
It focused us like a laser beam, and helped us quickly create a stable, profitable business, like the one we pictured.
You can use this strategy to FOCUS your company too.
You Can Do This, You Really Can!
Dan
Comments
2020-04-29 20:29:04
Free trial
CleanGuru
2020-04-30 08:34:49
Hi RoxAne, Yes, if you were asking if we offer a free trial, we do. You can try out our software for 30 days at no charge. If you have any questions, just let us know. We'd be happy to help. Best regards, Dan
2021-10-21 16:49:17
I recently started my business in April 2021 as you may know you have to wear several hats being a business owner. I try and i have the most diffcult time finding leads since I still hold my regular employment, I may have to wait until next year to begin again when I retire in February. I not sure what to do. Bewildered. Any suggestions.
CleanGuru
2021-10-22 13:16:13
Hi Carolyn, thanks for your message and question. First, you're not alone in your feelings; for most people who have other important and time-consuming responsibilities, it can be hard to get leads and jobs flowing in when you have other important responsibilities. But, to help, whether it's for now or after February when you plan to retire, here are some marketing strategies/ideas to keep in mind. As you can imagine, it’s a good idea to have an detailed marketing strategy with multiple steps that build one on top of the other to attract clients to CALL YOU, to ask for a bid! However, your specific question was on marketing and growing your cleaning business, and in that area, here are a couple ‘keys’ steps: 1. Decide on who you want to clean. Rather than a broad, shotgun approach, we suggest cleaning businesses target a certain type of building or customer ( i.e. medical and professional offices that require 3-5 nights per week cleaning that can be performed in the evening after 5 PM.) 2. Once, you determine who you want to clean, we suggest you build a list of companies that meet that criteria. There are many ways to do this. For example, online business list sites can be helpful in doing this. 3. Next, you can call each location to determine the name of the person or persons responsible for hiring the cleaning service at the buildings on your list. 4. Then, we recommend you begin to send a series of powerful direct-response marketing pieces to the attention of the decision maker (the person in charge of hiring the cleaning service) at the businesses on your targeted list, following a preset schedule.
2022-08-24 10:56:09
hello and thank you fir all yiur emails they are really helping me in achieving what i need to do to be come what i want to be but i have one questions what is the best way to locate businesss occupied owners how do you know they are the owners of the building they are running or working from ?
CleanGuru
2022-08-24 12:54:24
Hi Diana, thanks for your kind words and question. To help answer, I will forward a free copy of a book I wrote where I share marketing, selling and profit strategies business partner and I used to grow our cleaning company. In Tip #11 on Page 47 of the book, I talk about making 'S.M.A.R.T Calls' and how they can help you learn about who is in charge of hiring the janitorial business at different buildings you'd like to possibly bid on cleaning for . I hope you find one or more ideas helpful in growing your cleaning business. Wishing you all the best, Dan
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