More Than A Side Hustle
More Than A Side Hustle
Zero To $10K Cleaning Blueprint
In this episode, I explain exactly what I'd do if I started a cleaning business today, and how I'd scale it to $10k/mo.
We share the exact framework we used to build a remote cleaning business from nothing to consistent five-figure months. From forming an LLC to landing first clients and scaling with automation, we map the steps, the pitfalls, and the mindset that keeps you moving.
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If I had to start my cleaning business over again today with absolutely nothing except the knowledge I gained from building a remote cleaning business that has generated over three million dollars in the last couple years, this is exactly what I would do. You see, me and my wife Janoka Hardstock have helped dozens of people launch remote cleaning businesses that make five to ten thousand dollars a month within their first 90 days without cleaning a single home themselves. In this video, I'm breaking down exactly our step-by-step system to go from zero to ten thousand dollars a month with a remote cleaning business today so that you could just copy and paste the steps. Let's dive in. So step number one, we're gonna talk about setting up your business foundation. We spent weeks on this trying to get the perfect steps. We found that most people spent six months on this step. I'm gonna show you how to do it in the next 48 hours. So step number one, getting your LLC register. And if LLC protects you legally when running your business, you can do this online in most states for under$200, and it takes less than a week in most cases. Step number two, we're gonna talk about opening your business bank account. And this keeps your personal and business finances separate and it makes taxes way easier at the end of the year. And most banks let you open one with your LLC paperwork. You will use this to collect payments from your clients and your cleaners and get your business insurance. And it protects you and your clients, and it's required before you take your first booking. Most cleaners should have their own insurance too, but you need yours as well. You can use Hiscox, you can use Next Insurance, you can use Thimble. There are tons out there that give you general business liability insurance. Next is setting up your website and booking system. You need a simple way for clients to book and pay you online. And the goal is to make it fast and easy for your clients to find you, book you, and pay you. Don't overthink this. Doesn't need to be fancy, it just needs to work. Some of the tools you can use to get this done will be TidyTrack, which is one of our automation softwares. You can use Launch 27, you use Booking Koala, you use Zenmates. All in all, you're probably looking at$1,500 to start the business. And that may seem like a lot to someone who's never done this before. But here's the truth: staying where you are will cost you way more. Every single month is another month of missed opportunities. One of our students waited eight months to start because they were waiting for the perfect moment. And the perfect moment never happens. And we showed them what the amount of six-figure earns we had within that time, they could have been one of them, guys. So before I go to step two, if you want the full training that goes deep into all the details of building a remote cleaning business using our framework, click the link in the description and register for our free training. Now let's get back to the video. Step number two, finding your cleaning partners. This is where most people quit, guys. They interview three to four people, they get rejected, they get ghosted, and think this doesn't work. But here's what they don't realize every no is getting you closer to your Michelle. And let me tell you a little bit about our Michelle, one of our first cleaners, and we found them from Craigslist. She had over 10 years of experience but was struggling with finding consistent work because she had no online presence. Within three months of working with us, she was making more with us than her previous full-time job. Here's exactly how we found her. So Facebook groups in your local area, you could search your city, state, and the word cleaner. You'll find dozens or hundreds of people advertising their services day in and day out. The difference between success and failure isn't talent, it's persistence. So the question is are you going to be the person who gives up after five interviews, or are you gonna be the person that pushes through and changes the game? So we talked about experienced cleaners. So you search your Facebook groups locally, you'll find people advertising and they are already doing work. You just need to connect them with the clients. Another place you could go is Craigslist under the services section. Our first cleaner came from Craigslist, apps like Thumbtack, where cleaners are already marketing, they're already active. Ask existing cleaners for referrals. A good cleaner usually knows another good cleaner. This is how you build your roster fast. Now, what to look for when interviewing cleaners? We don't ask questions about are they good at cleaning? Everyone believes they're good with cleaning, right? But we ask them do they have their own cleaning supplies? Do they have their own reliable vehicle? Do they have their own insurance? That's a non-negotiable for us. We're looking for experienced cleaners who not only know what they're doing, but they have good communication skills and professionalism. Now, how to treat your cleaning partners. These are our business partners, not our employees, right? So we pay them well, we pay them on time, we pay them via direct deposit every single week. So you also want to communicate clearly about expectations and standards. If they succeed, you succeed. Remember that. Our very first booking was on Black Friday. We literally was excited. We started our business, Black Friday comes and we got our first cleaning. But here's the challenge the night before the clean, our contractor called down and said they couldn't make it. We literally panicked. My wife was like, listen, maybe we shouldn't be doing this business, and maybe it's not meant to be. And for a moment, I almost believed her. Then I remembered our why. Why did we start this? We were tired of paying off this debt. So I got on Facebook at 11 p.m. I went to local Facebook groups and I found someone the very next day. That desperation taught me the most important lesson always have a backup. So here's why step number four in this process is so important having a backup cleaner. So over the last seven years, we've done over 10,000 jobs and we've learned this lesson as well. Sometimes cleaners call out just before the booking. So if you don't have backup cleaners, you are going to be screwed. So make sure you don't make the mistake that we did. This is where most people quit and they don't realize that every single no is getting them closer to that person, that client, that clean that's going to take them to that next level. So now let's talk about getting your first cleaning clients. We got our cleaning partners, we got our business, we got our brand. But let's talk about getting clients. And you might be thinking the market is oversaturated. Here's why that's actually great news. Because when you think about it, you aren't launching next Tesla or SpaceX or next billion dollar company. So that means that there's competition, that means there is demand, which also means that there are more clients than companies in almost every single industry. And this is how we got our first client within 24 hours of launching. But let me tell you what almost killed that first booking doubt. So I just told you about not having that backup and what it did to us, but we were able to find that person in the very next day. So that taught us that lesson. But think about that. While you're listening to us, someone else in your city is booking their first cleaning, their first client, and the cleaning industry grows by five percent every single year, and that's millions of dollars of new businesses. The question is, are you gonna get a piece of that pie or are you gonna watch from the sidelines? So, first client, tap into your network first. We're always going to say start with your internal network, friends and family. Send out a message and call them. Hey, I just launched my cleaning business. Can you lend me a hand? Do you know any referrals? Anyone looking for cleaning services in the area? Anyone that might be looking for this, most will be willing to support you or send you people. The more no's you get, the closer you get to that yes. So if they say no, ask them is there anyone that you might know who might need this service? One of our students was able to get over 20 bookings their first month by just telling their coworkers, telling their church, don't keep an internal. We tell you guys, launch in public. Tell your long guy, tell your barber, tell your hairstylist, your babysitter. One of our students literally told this long guy about his cleaning business and he gave him two to three clients right away, which was valued at over, I think it was over a thousand dollars. One client was like 550 and the other was like 560. That's over a thousand dollars for just two clients. Another place you could go is next door. Within 24 hours of launching, that's where we got our first booking. We were advertising on next door. We saw people looking for services and we marketed ourselves. We advertised that we just launched our cleaning service and asked anyone in the neighborhood if they needed cleanings. So within 24 hours, we got our first booking. Share your journey on social media. Don't build in silence. Start posting about what you're doing, how you're doing it, how you're building a journey, and then choose the platform where you have the most followers. That could be TikTok, that could be Instagram, that could be Facebook, that could be threads, whatever it is. You can start with the free marketing. Now, once you get that set up, we're gonna talk about setting up your Google business profile. It's free and it shows up when people search for your cleaning service in your area. So, Anthony's cleaning service, you can now Google that and it will come up, right? So getting your first reviews as fast as possible. So if you have any previous clients, you have any previous customers, ask them to leave you reviews. One of our first reviews was from someone who didn't even use our services. She called five companies. We were the first one to pick up. And even though she didn't use our services, she said they were the first company that picked up and they were extremely polite on the phone. Five star review. And once you get those reviews, respond to every review within 24 hours, good, bad, or indifferent. Also, on your Google Business profile, make sure you're posting updated content. And some of our first pictures was just literally washing our dishes and putting them on our Google Business profile. You got a dirty room and you clean it after, post that on your profile. It sends signals to Google to let them know that you're active. Also, joining local Facebook groups, posting helpful content about cleaning tips. We literally joined over a dozen local groups and we were just posting content. People ask about cleaning services, people are asking about referrals. We were posting in there. Don't spam people, provide value. If they are already asking for the service, that means they're looking for it. Then that gives you the opportunity to mention it, right? So you're providing value to them. And then we talk about lead generation platforms. So we talked about Google Business Profile. You could use services like Google Local Services or Local Service Ads. You could use Thumbtack, you could use Yelp. Customers are already looking for cleaners on these platforms. Yes, you do pay per lead, so the risk is controlled. So if you don't get leads, you don't pay. But one way to stand out is be one of the first people to respond. We literally have automation set up where we're usually the first response, and the first response usually gets the booking. So when people say speed to lead, that is literally it. Quick story, guys. When we were trying to find a uh handyman, we called about 10 companies. I said the first company that comes out and fixes this urgent issue, I am willing to pay top dollar. And out of the 10 companies, only two got back to me. And the first one that got back to me, out of those two, got my business. So think about it like that. Respond as soon as possible, set up notifications so that you can respond to this. Then you can move over to local service ads and it puts you at the top of search results. Start with a small budget and scale from there. Track which leads convert to actually bookings, how many people are picking up the phone, and then you have to understand how to answer the phone. What are you saying to them? How are you getting in the book? And then also focus on getting recurring customers. Offer that to every single lead who comes in. Weekly and bi-weekly clients are gonna be your foundation. And one recurring customer is worth multiple one-time customers. We have one customer that paid us over$66,000 over the course of five years. They get their home cleaned every single week. Now you give them incentives to rebook you for recurring services, and your goal is to build up long-term client relationships. We're gonna talk about automating your business operations a little bit. Now, this is the name of the game. So I want you guys to picture this. It's 18 months from now, you just checked your phone and you saw a$2,000 booking come in while you were asleep. Your biggest stress is not deciding which family vacation to book. That's not fantasy, but that's what happens when you build the right system. Most cleaning business owners have 5, 10, 15 reviews. While our business has over 500 reviews with a 4.8, 4.9 star rating. All we had is a simple automation review process that makes it simple. So here's our automated review process. Number one, set the expectations before the service. Let clients know that your job is to ensure their satisfaction and you'll be contacting every single client at the end of every clean to ensure they are satisfied. Number two, you want to make it fast and easy for your clients to leave reviews. Send them a direct link, no hunting, no QR codes. The timing is super important. Ask them when they're most likely to respond, which is more than likely going to be right after the service. Step number three, follow up consistently. Don't just do one and done's, have a follow-up sequence. We have over 200 reviews in the last couple months just using that automated follow-up system. And this builds without you having to run it. So we set up an online booking platform so that clients can find book and pay us 24/7. And then we use a system called TidyTrack, which is our own platform that handles everything automatically when it comes to reviews. So now your clients book and pay you without touching anything. If you want to try that, I'll put the link for it in the description, Tidy Track. But set up your automated confirmation emails and reminder, set up your automatic payment processing. The money comes in, then you pay your cleaners weekly via direct deposit. You could use something like Stripe, or you could use a system like Gusto or ADP. Now remove yourself from the day-to-day operations because once it's set up, we manage our business in about one hour per week. And this was our biggest lesson delegation, guys. The cleaning business was our very first business ever. We learned early on that you need to delegate the back-end work in order to scale. So hiring virtual assistants to answer the phones and handle scheduling. We have an operations manager to handle the day-to-day larger issues, and this allows you to focus on growing your business and not being stuck in the business. Track your metrics that should bring focus on your business. Which marketing channels bring the best customers, customer retention rate, cleaner performance and reliability. How well are your cleaners actually doing? And then also, what are your biggest revenue generators and profit margins? Now we're gonna talk about scaling at$10,000 a month and beyond. But let me paint two pictures right now. So picture number one is five years from now, you're still at your job making the same money, having the same conversation about someday. Your kids are asking you why you never have time for the games, or you see a post from someone who started their cleaning business same time you watch this video. Now they're making ten to fifteen thousand dollars a month. Like, how would that make you feel? But picture number two, you took action, you started with cleaning, like most of our students have done, you built your foundation, now you're expanding. We got a student who literally launched their business and closed a$50,000 commercial contract, or the Tiptons who are parents who worked a nine to five job and they just hit one million dollars and they added big contracts to their cleaning business. Now they have the option to stay at their jobs or leave. But this is what it's really all about. It's not just about the money, it's about getting your time back, guys, creating options for yourself. So you can expand your service offering, you can start with residential cleaning and build your foundation, get your reviews up, learn the business, learn the game, add deep cleaning services for higher-ticket jobs, move into commercial contracts. This is where some of our students make the big money one-time hits, like our student Corey, like we told you, who closed a$50,000 commercial contract. One was signed on that line$55,000 plus floor care. And then the Tiptons did a$93,000 in one month contract. Commercial clients pay bigger jobs, but that allows you to scale your marketing once you're profitable, reinvest in what's actually working. Don't eat the profits of your business when you first start, double down on the marketing channels that bring in the results. So if you find out that Google Local Services is working for you and you make a little bit of profit, don't just take that and go spend it. Put that back into the business and expand, right? Because once you're profitable in one area, you can now replicate this system over and over again. Same system, same results. That's how you get to six and seven-figure businesses. And now you build a team so that you're not the bottleneck. Today, our business has handled over 150 cleanings a month. We have a full-time operation manager, we have a full-time customer service agent, and our business runs almost entirely on autopilot. Our students have collectively done over$18 million in revenue using this same exact process I just outlined. However, I know that having a plan and actually executing it are two totally different things. That's why we created a free masterclass that breaks this down in each of the steps in a lot more detail. Just click the link in the description to register. It's completely free and is designed in a way that gives you full clarity on how you can get started with a remote cleaning business and take the first steps you need. So, again, register for the training below using the free link. We also got some other resources down there for you. And if you want to see how students built a$1 million remote cleaning business, then watch this video next.