5 Simple Ways to Grow Your Cleaning Business

Growth of any kind takes time, determination, and persistence. If you want to grow in your knowledge of a topic, you do your research, read books, and talk to people who know more than you do. If you want to grow in your physical strength, you get yourself to a gym, work with a personal trainer, and make small, daily steps toward change. And if you want to grow your business, you must start with the basics and move up from there. Even if you’ve been in the cleaning game for a long time, this may be the right moment to make some changes or upgrades to how you run your business. Change can be your friend if you let it! While change can be overwhelming, it doesn’t take long to assess your business needs and start with a clean slate, even if that means you only make one change at a time. Let’s look at this like a ladder. A ladder may have a lot of rungs, but you always climb a ladder the same way – from the bottom up. So, let’s start climbing!

Rung 1: Create and Commit to Your Core Values

All business owners want to be successful, but if you haven’t created or committed to a set of core beliefs and values for your business, you’re not working as hard as you should! The core values you have as a business owner are tantamount to the success of your business. If you value money but don’t have a core value about saving or budgeting well, you won’t ever get the kind of monetary success you’re looking for. If you value your employees but don’t treat them with respect or train them properly, you’ll never have the kind of team you want. When you have set a standard for your business, every decision made, employees hired, and job completed will be based on that standard.

Rung 2: Use the Best Systems

Too many business owners attempt to upgrade all their systems at the same time. Or they use their time on systems that won’t really create growth in any area. Whether it’s with your cleaning processes, the software system you use to organize your business or attracting clients via communication on social media, you need to pick your battles and find what works best for your company, your niche, and your community. Finding a great software program to automate some of your processes will really help you stay organized and structured, especially if there’s an app to use on the go. If your employees are involved, make sure there’s a consensus among them so you can limit confusion and frustration. The systems you set up aren’t just for you – they’re for everyone involved in your business.

Rung 3: Keep Your Employees Happy

If you’ve built your core values well, then your employees will be committed to excellence. Your employees are critical to your success. After all, the quality of their performance determines whether your customers are satisfied. Look for ways to motivate your employees to do their best or to push them if they seem to be lacking. Train them well – if you haven’t properly trained your employees, it’s time to start! Don’t micromanage and always treat them with respect. Provide bonuses or incentives for top performance. Finally, consider offering perks such as letting them use company equipment in their own homes.

Rung 4: Get Good at Networking

Whether with people in your community, partnering with other businesses, getting your company onto social media, or refreshing your marketing campaigns, you need to start marketing. You need to get your company’s name out into your community. Thinking local is huge, especially in today’s culture. Join your town’s Chamber of Commerce and find related businesses. You may be able to help each other find new customers. There may be a business leadership group in your community where you can build your network base. If networking is a foreign concept for you, find some good resources, do searches online, and talk to other people in your industry who do marketing well. It’s up to you to improve this rung on your ladder! Networking helps to build brand recognition too! And don’t give up on the old school tactics – put up flyers, knock on doors, and make some cold calls.

Rung 5: Take Care of Your Current Customers

If you’ve followed through and made to this rung, then you know that the foundation you’ve built is really all for this rung – your customers! Every business needs customers. While obtaining more clients or following up on potential leads is important for growth, remember that we’re climbing a ladder here, and you can’t grow if your current clientele isn’t a priority for you. If you miss a rung on a ladder, you’ll most likely fall. If you neglect your current customers, your business will suffer. If you’re already doing everything you can to make sure your customers are happy, then you can keep climbing. But if you see that improvement is needed, step up your customer service game. You can try being friendlier, increasing or improving communication, offering new or improved services, or taking suggestions or requests seriously. This will not only make your customers happy but also create loyalty to your business.

Let’s Get to the Top of the Ladder!

If you’re committed to growing your business and climbing the ladder, the best way to help the process is by using the best tools. And the best tool for handling most aspects of your business is a cleaning business management system like Janitorial Manager. Our software was specifically designed to be easy to use and can help you create and sustain the proper systems for your cleaning company. Give us a call or schedule a free demo today!