Starting a business these days is not an easy task that can be done overnight without facing the hurdles arousing from various sources. Since, the scope of starting own business is expanding these days are the more and more entrepreneurs are setting up their businesses; therefore, the competition is rising along with the need for providing better quality services. The paper would analyze the starting up of a Cleaning Company business, which would be supported by a detailed business plan, marketing plan, hiring and bidding plan, and other useful information that must be required and understood before initiating the business. Let’s start of with the business plan first.
Business Plan
Vision
Our vision is to take the company at the peak position in the market, where it would be the only best choice for the clients and as well as for the workers to work in.
Mission
Our mission is to provide best quality and timely services to our clients in order to keep them contented, gain customer loyalty, increase sales, and market share through penetration strategy.
Overview of the Business
The business of cleaning company revolves around the ‘service’ industry, where cleaning services would be provided by the skilled and experienced workers of our company. Since people hesitate from cleaning their products with oils, detergents, and other fluids; therefore, this business would provide them with “a healthy cleaning experience and protect them against harsh chemicals; it is by cleaning their places and products with essential oils that possess wonderful scents” (Page, 2004).
Our Clients
When it comes to cleaning industry, there are two main target markets: commercial and households. The households normally “consist of residential maid services, along with carpet cleaners, window cleaners and a variety of other cleaning services required on a less-frequent basis”; whereas commercial side would be “dominated by janitorial services, along with cleaning the places, carpets, windows, furniture, and other stuff of the companies or businesses, rather than the individual consumers” (Entrepreneur, 2010).
Requirements for Starting the Business
Following are the several requirements that need to be met up before starting the business. First, the labor or workers should be there for the business who possess strong skills and abilities in cleaning activities and as well as some experience. Second, location for the business must be chosen in a facility that lies within the suburb and is close to majority of the households and companies, so that business may become popular, clients can reach us easily, and travelling costs can be minimized. Third, sources for investment must be analyzed. One can use his or her own resources if they are enough, or can reach others such as, friends, family, banks, partners, or venture capitalists for help. Fourth, depending on the investment being made, the building can either be rented or purchased if purchased, then insurance of the building must be done and all legal procedures must be completed. Fifth, vehicles must be arranged since this business deals with providing services at the client’s place, so it would require travelling and taking our equipments with us. Sixth, set up a few phone lines of toll free number so that the clients can easily catch and ask for assistance (Khali, 2010).
Seventh, SWOT analysis must be conducted before starting the business, which would provide a clear picture of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats the company has. And based on those analyses, it would be very easy for the company to devise its business strategies and implement accordingly to get favorable outcomes. And finally, PEST analysis should also be done, that is Political, Economical, Social/Cultural, and Technological, which would help the business to understand the necessary considerations and factors of the environment (Daft, 1997).
Marketing Plan
Product/Service
The company would use the natural and quality products such as, essential oils, detergents, chemicals, and fragrance, which would not only make the cleaning up of places and products effective but would also give a refreshing look along with satisfying the clients because they often hesitate in using those chemicals by themselves.
Price
Price would neither be low, not would be high. It would totally be according to the quality and size of our services. If the cleaning requires a lot of time and especially, the products or places that are in a very bad condition, so the prices would go up. We would not charge low prices because it might create an image in the minds of the clients that our services are not that reliable. Nonetheless, the key aspect of pricing our services would be ‘time’, where per hour rate would be charged from the clients.
Place
The company would have to decide which areas to segment and what parts of those segmented areas should be targeted; moreover, the financial background, demographic characteristics, and annual income should be understood deeply in case of households. It is because it would be easier to develop a market niche; for instance, targeting and providing services to the upper class households because they can easily afford to get their houses cleaned extensively since paying money for it is not an issue for them unlike the lower class people.
Promotion & Publicity
Once target market is defined, the promotion of the company along with its services can be done in several ways. First, use the most common element of marketing, i.e. Advertising. Advertising for the cleaning company can be done via newspapers, household magazines, cook books, and radio (Kotler & Keller, 2006). Advertising on television would be too expensive for the company to afford at its early stage, and might not be that effective. Secondly, mobile marketing is a new, cheaper, and effective way of promotion these days. Therefore, the cleaning company must put its name, sign or logo, and contact information over the vehicles so that more people see it and contact the company asking for services. Third, flyers should be printed and floated across the city where they would be hanged at the hair dressers, gift stores, bakeries, grocery stores, restaurants, and other fast food stores.
Fourth, place the door hangers outside the company along with the small signboards near the facility where the company is situated. This would result in grabbing the attention of people who would come to know that some new cleaning company is offering its services. Fifth, internet can turn out to be the most lucrative and effective method of promotion, where brochures can be emailed through email marketing; groups or forums can be formed on the social networking sites such as, Facebook and MySpace; and low cost ads can be placed at certain websites.
Sixth, business cards of the employees of the company must be floated to others who may include family members, friends, former employers or co-workers, social groups, or other acquaintances. It is because it would create word-of-mouth that works more effectively than the advertising campaigns because one might doubt the ad content, but he may not doubt the person who is recommending him to take the services of the company. And finally, referral program should be initiated where the existing clients would be given discounts if they refer the company’s services to others and let them take those services from us (Page, 2004).
Hiring Plan
To have a skillful and experienced workforce would be the key element before starting of the business. Therefore, hiring would be done through adopting the following techniques. First, the number of employees to be hired would be determined depending on the portfolio and size of the business and as well as the number of areas to be served. Second, the company would include the elements of equal opportunity for every employee or candidate in their culture, no matter which background, ethnicity, or race they are from. Moreover, discrimination in terms of hiring, compensating, training, and promoting should be eliminated from the organization. Third, job ads would be placed in the newspapers where the eligibility requirements would also be mentioned. After that, those who have certain skills and experience related to cleaning houses and offices, would be interviewed and given asked to perform the cleaning tasks on a trial basis for a few days.
Both part-time and full-time opportunities would be made available for the employees whether they are the workers or office staff. As far as the compensation of workers is concerned, they would be paid on hourly basis, as in how many hours they have worked. Whereas, when it comes to the office staff, they would be paid on their performance. Performance-based compensation plan would be implemented where the employees are paid based on their level of performance and productivity (Mc Shane & Travaglione, 2003). The more business they bring in, the more they would be paid.
Plan for Renting/Purchasing Equipments
Of course starting the business from scratch is not an easy deal, since a huge investment is required. And in this case, the building or office would be purchased and insured, but this would not be the case with working equipments, at least in the beginning. In fact, the working equipments would be taken on loan from the vendors or manufacturers until the business starts flourishing. It is because if the business does not go as sound as expected, God forbid, then the investment made on the material and equipments would go in vain. Moreover, it would also be an incentive for the workers to work carefully and effectively, so that there should not be any damage, loss, or theft of those equipments since they have to be returned back.
Bidding for a Contract
Once the business has taken off and the company has some clients, the clients would be given an option to subscribe for the cleaning services with our company. The subscription would definitely have a nominal fixed price, but the packages offered to the clients along with the discounts would be quite enticing. The company would focus more on the commercial sector, since it can bring on more business from a number of businesses operating in the city. Secondly, the bidding would be done through tenders that are normally posted by the companies in the newspapers for various services that they require. Therefore, our cleaning company would bid for the tenders and accept the tender for a reasonable price – neither low nor high.
Estimation of Costs
The costs incurring from the land, building, and insurance would be fixed; nevertheless, there are some other costs too that would have to be dealt with properly, since they are variable. First, the cost of labor would depend on the number of hours a particular labor or worker has worked. He or she would be paid accordingly, which is variable cost. Secondly, the costs of parts and materials would also be variable, since they would be taken on the need of the work depending on the demand for our cleaning services. If the demand increases, then the need for hiring more labor would rise, along with that of materials and equipments. To a rough estimate, the total number of employees and labor would be around 30 for the first two months, who would incur the total payroll cost of $55000 per month. And as for the material costs, they would be around $20000 per month.
Conclusion
Therefore, the cleaning company would be providing services to the households and as well as to the commercial side with the sheer quality and efficiency. The marketing of the service would be done through newspapers, internet, flyers, and word-of-mouth. Skillful labor would be hired after conducting their trial work. Clients would be given an option to subscribe to our services and tenders would be accepted from companies on a reasonable price. The costs of labor and material are variable and would easily be covered by our growing sales.
References
Daft. R. L. (1997). Management. Fourth Edition. U.S.A. The Dryden Press
Entrepreneur. (2010). How to start a cleaning service. Retrieved on July 29, 2010. From http://www.entrepreneur.com/startingabusiness/businessideas/startupkits/article41426-6.html
Khali.S. (2010). How to start a Cleaning business. Retrieved on July 29, 2010. From http://www.homebusinesscenter.com/how_to_start/cleaning.html
Kotler. P. & Keller. K. (2006). Marketing Management. Edition: 12th. India. Prentice Hall of India.
McShane. S. and Travaglione. T. (2003). Organisational Behavior on the Pacific Rim. Australia. McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Limited.
Page.P. (2004). How to start a house cleaning business on a tight budget. Retrieved on July 29, 2010. From http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Start-a-House-Cleaning-Business-on-a-Tight-Budget&id=5122
