If you’ve ever thought about being your own boss, cleaning homes is the perfect side hustle that can easily become a main hustle. Once you build a client base, you will have more work than you will know what to do with!
What’s great about this hustle is that there is always someone willing to pay to have their home cleaned. When you first start out, you want to gain clientele, so you should charge lower prices to draw people in (but be sure not too low). After you start obtaining regular clients and you prove how well you clean their houses, most clients will be willing to pay good money for you to fit them in your busy schedule! With a little time and experience, you can make upwards of $90 an hour.
Cleaning homes has relatively low startup costs. If you already have reliable transportation, all you will need to buy is some basic cleaning supplies
Something to keep in mind about this side hustle is that it requires you to be reliable and dedicated to your work. Unlike other gigs where you can do it whenever, this one requires you to make a schedule and abide by it.
Step 1: Decide what services you want to offer. Some house cleaners offer a basic cleaning of the home such as sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, etc. Other cleaners offer more advanced packages, including scrubbing and dusting. This is a sample of what cleaning services you can offer:
Step 2: Calculate what your competitors are charging. You want to be sure you aren’t selling yourself short when it comes to offering your services. Take the cost of each competitor and divide it by the number of competitors. This will give you the average cost and is a good starting point.
Let’s say one competitor charges $30 per hour, another $45 per hour, and another $40 per hour. You will add $30+$40+$45=$115. Then you will divide $115 by 3 to get $38, which is the average rate to charge per hour for services.
If you do 2 hours per client at $38, book 3 clients a day who all choose additional services, it would look something like this:
As you can see, cleaning homes can be a lucrative business!
Step 3: Figure out how long it will take you to clean. As you begin getting clients, they will look for estimates on how long it will take you to clean the home to get an idea of your cost. You can get a rough idea of how long it will take you to clean various areas around the home by timing yourself while cleaning at your own home.
Step 4: Begin advertising. Now that you’ve come up with your services and prices, you can start advertising your business! Social media is the perfect way to do this and even better- it’s free. Create a business facebook page and invite your friends and family to join and share to help spread the word. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to do that:
You can also list services on websites such as craigslist, Nextdoor (app), flyers, and ask satisfied customers to leave positive reviews. No better advertisement than word of mouth!
Step 5: Buy your supplies and get to work!
Tips: The best way to make more money while cleaning is to of course ALWAYS give it your best! Clients have been known to give cash tips and gifts to their well-loved house cleaners.
Another tip is to offer packages that you can add onto your service package such as deep cleaning windows, cleaning appliances, and polishing pots and pans. Clients may choose a specific package and then think “Hey, I could use a deep clean of my windows too!” And BOOM! Additional work that your client may not have thought of on their own.