Volumes have been written about how to make money online. Many of them are fantastic (check out Tori’s Content Producer page for proof).
Despite the convenience of technology, there are still plenty of ways to make money off line, too. Today, we’ll look at one of the oldest professions known to mankind and how you can make some pretty good money doing it.
No – not that profession. No, the one we’ll look at is completely legal, inexpensive to start and easy to market: cleaning houses.
While it may not seem to be the most glamorous businesses to start and run, it is lucrative and can provide you with a steady source of income. Here are a few things you need to get started (and you probably already own most of them):
1 mop
1 vacuum
1 bottle glass cleaner
3 rolls paper towels
1 dust mop
1 dust rag or mitt
1 can of dusting spray
Yeah, you already own this stuff. You have to clean your own home, after all. You can use the same stuff to clean other people’s houses as you use to clean your own.
Before you put out the word that you’re a cleaning professional, though, you may want to determine the scope of your work. Most of us have heard the old maid joke, “…and I don’t do windows.” If you choose to do windows, will you also do the outsides, as well? Determine whether it’s in your best interest to clean messy children’s rooms, too (some kids’ rooms look like cyclones hit them!). Will you also do laundry?
Most house cleaners choose to stick to the following duties:
Cleaning the kitchen
Cleaning the bathroom(s)
Dusting
Vacuuming
Mopping
If you choose to take on more duties, like kids’ rooms and windows, be sure to charge more.
Speaking of pay, you’re probably wondering what kind of money you can make by cleaning up after other people. In small towns or quiet suburbs, you might charge $20 to $40 for small to mid-sized homes. In higher-income locations (and bigger houses), you might charge anywhere from $50 to $100.
A FEW WORDS ABOUT MONEY: It’s often wiser to charge by the project. That way, if it only takes you two hours to clean a house you charge, say $80 to clean, you’re making $40 per hour. You’ll lose clients if your rate is $40 per hour, but if you work quickly and the results are spotless, they’ll consider $80 to be a steal. If you clean three houses per day at this rate, you’ll earn $240 per day, which is $1200 per week! That’s $60,000 per year!
Now that you’ve got the supplies to start, determined the scope of what you’re willing to do and figured out a pricing plan, it’s time to get some customers. After all, no business survives without customers.
There are some very cheap – and free – ways to market yourself. Putting an ad on craigslist, for instance, is free. To reach the affluent, however, you’ll need to market to them directly. Hey – they’re probably going to make up the bulk of your clients. You can zero in on the affluent by attending Kiwanis and Rotary Club meetings as a guest. Mention your new venture and pass out a few business cards (which you can print out on your computer). Many businesspeople don’t have time to clean their own houses and are more than willing to fork over cold, hard cash to keep their places clean.
Once you have one or two regular customers, ask them to tell their friends and colleagues about you. You’ll be surprised by how fast your business will grow through word-of-mouth (which is the cheapest, most effective method of publicity). Before long, you’ll be making a ton of cash in your house cleaning business!
