How to Start a Cleaning Business: Prices for Your First Homes

To start a cleaning business, set up the legal basics for your state, choose who you clean for, buy a supply kit, and write prices for the three cleans you will sell: standard, deep and move-out. Then quote every new customer a deep first clean followed by a recurring standard clean. That first-visit rule is what keeps your early jobs from running at a loss.

Choose who you clean for

Residential recurring work (weekly, every two weeks, monthly) is the easiest start for a one-person business: steady, scheduled and close to home. Move-out cleans pay well per visit but come one at a time. Office cleaning runs on evenings and contracts. Pick one to start, so your prices, supplies and schedule all fit the same kind of job. Exterior cleaning (driveways, siding, decks) is a separate trade with its own equipment; see how to start a pressure washing business if that is the work you want.

"One caddy per clean, packed the same way every time"

Set up the business basics

Rules vary by state and city. The SBA's 10 steps cover structure, registration and a business bank account. Get an EIN from the IRS if you will hire, and check the SBA licensing guide for your local business license. Get general liability insurance before your first paid clean, and ask about bonding if you will hold customers' keys.

Build a supply kit you can carry

A vacuum, a mop and bucket, microfiber cloths, gloves, scrub brushes and a short list of products you trust. Keep it small enough to carry in one trip. Restock after every job, so the kit is complete before the next one.

"The starter kit: a vacuum, a mop, cloths and a few products"

Write your prices

Price by home size, then adjust for rooms and the type of clean. Our house cleaning price calculator starts at $0.09 per square foot for a standard clean, adds $10 for each bedroom over three and $20 for each bathroom over two, and multiplies by 2 for a deep clean and 3 for a move-out. Those are editable starting points, not market averages:

Here is the rule that saves new cleaners the most money: never price a first visit as a standard clean. A house that has not been cleaned professionally takes far longer the first time. If you quote $180 standard for a 2,000 sq ft home and spend a deep clean's worth of hours on it, you have worked half the day for free. Quote the first visit at the deep price and the recurring visits at standard, both on the same quote, and the customer sees why. Try it with your own home sizes:

"Kitchens and bathrooms take the time; price for them"

Check the result against your time. Work out your real hourly cost with the labor cost calculator: with a $25 wage, payroll and overhead, and 65% of paid hours billable, it needs $84.62 an hour at a 25% margin. If a 1,500 sq ft standard clean at $135 takes you two hours, you are at $67.50 an hour, so adjust the rate or the scope. If you carpet-clean as an add-on, price it separately with the carpet cleaning price calculator.

Get the first customers and keep them

The paper version holds up for the first few homes. The wall is the admin around them: re-typing room prices into every quote, keeping the recurring schedule straight and chasing payment after each clean. Driveway Desk keeps your prices and customers, schedules the recurring visits and sends the invoice when you finish. See plans and pricing. If you are pricing the bigger apps, see what Housecall Pro costs or a simpler Jobber alternative.

Mistakes that cost new cleaning businesses money

• Standard price for a first clean. The first visit is a deep clean in all but name.
• No written scope. "Clean the house" grows to include the oven, the fridge and the windows.
• Hourly pricing for recurring work. As you get faster, you earn less. Flat prices per home reward speed.
• Scattered customers. Two homes on one street beat two homes across town, the same route rule that drives a lawn care business.

"Bathrooms over two get their own adjustment"

Start with prices you can defend

Set up the basics for your state, pick one kind of customer, carry a small kit, and quote every new home a deep first visit and a standard recurring price. Price your first three homes with square-foot cleaning rates before you send a single quote.