How to Stretch Your Cleaning Company Budget by Doing More with Less

Find out how your commercial cleaning company budget can go further and do more without getting bigger. 

Your commercial cleaning company budget is the hub of everything you do. It’s the control center that tells you how many contracts you need to meet your expenses, how many people you can hire, when you can buy new equipment, what to charge for a job, and when you can expand your business. 

Whether your budget is large or small, it covers many of the same things. And it still has to do the work of ensuring your company has the money necessary to function. Even so, not all budgets are the same. Some are way more efficient than others. These efficient budgets help you do more with less. 

Certainly, that’s helpful if your budget is tight and you’re still building your business. But it’s also helpful for more established companies. Careful budgeting can give your company plenty of money to thrive, create profits, and offer good pay and benefits to your employees. 

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Turn your commercial cleaning company budget into a lean, green machine

I should start by saying that careful and strategic budgeting isn’t necessarily the same as an austerity budget. You “may” need to get into hard cuts and learn to get by with the absolute basics if you’re in a dire financial situation. 

However, stretching your cleaning company budget is more about making your money work for you and making strategic choices about how and where you use it. So, let’s look at a few ways to make that happen. 

1. Add it up. Before you can stretch your cleaning company budget, you have to know where you stand. Look back over your last several months and add up all of your spending and all of your income. Anything from credit card statements to utility bills to gas to payroll to supplies count. Do not count any outstanding invoices or money that has not come in yet, even if you’re expecting it. If it didn’t touch your bank account, then it doesn’t exist, at least for these purposes. 

2. Take an objective view. Now that you’ve added up everything that’s come in or gone out, where do you stand? Did your business savings or checking account grow during that last quarter or half year? Did it hold steady? Did it shrink? A shrinking account means you’re spending more money than you’re bringing in. That is not a sustainable situation, so you may need to take a critical look at your spending and find out where you can cut back. 

3. What can you cut? This is the most potentially challenging part of dissecting your cleaning company budget. If you’re spending more than you’re making, this may be especially difficult. However, even if your account is growing, you still want to look at areas where you might be wasting money. Again, we want our money to work for us, and if we aren’t getting as much as possible from each dollar, we’re spending money we don’t need to spend. 

4. Really. What can you cut? This is not the place to cut back on employee benefits or wages. Nor is it the place to ask people to work without breaks or skip lunches. Though it may seem to help your budget initially, it will only backfire. However, there is likely a lot you can cut, especially if you think long-term. For example, are you spending a lot on equipment repairs? It might be time to update your maintenance schedule or invest in new equipment. Are you buying ready-to-use cleaning solutions? They have their place, but overall, it’s often less expensive (and more eco-friendly) to buy concentrates rather than RTU solutions. 

5. Track your supplies. There are numerous reasons to track your cleaning supplies. But one reason that impacts your cleaning company budget is to reduce or even eliminate waste. Over time, you can easily see if there are anomalies in how much of a product you’re going through. Then it’s hopefully just a matter of improved training to correct the issue. 

6. Make smart investments. Stretching your commercial cleaning company budget isn’t only about making cuts and finding places to trim. It’s also about making choices about how to best spend your money. For example, a good accountant can help you save money on taxes. Certification courses can open up new avenues of jobs and revenue. 

7. Invest in janitorial software. Speaking of software, we’re obviously biased, but we believe high-quality janitorial software can save you a lot of money and increase your revenue over time. Good janitorial software can help you make better bids, streamline your scheduling, and help track inventory. 

8. Take advantage of free advertising. While “free” advertising will take some time, it doesn’t have to cost any money. Social media sites, local community forums like Nextdoor, and word of mouth are all great places to spread your message. 

9. Do your best to avoid loans. You may not be able to avoid loans altogether. But remember that loans, whether from a bank or through credit card purchases, come at a cost. So before you make purchases on credit or through loans, think about the true cost, and consider whether the purchase is something you can save for and buy with cash later on. 

It might not sound like fun, but spending time with your budget is vital to the success of your commercial cleaning business. Spend some time with it and you might be surprised how much money you can find!