How to grow a cleaning business

In order to expand your cleaning business, you’ll probably want to consider a business growth plan.

Getting a plan in place helps you to set targets, plot your marketing strategy, and compare your business against achievable goals in order to check progress.

Before you start scaling up, however, you need to think how you will grow.

What does business growth look like for you?

Before you start trying to generate more cleaning leads and winning those jobs, it is good to recognise that growth is not just about finding more work.

Having an effective growth plan in place should include the following points:

• How you’re planning to scale up
• How quickly you’re planning to grow
• What marketing activities you’re planning
• How you plan to finance your growth
• Adding new services or locations to your offering to reach a wider audience

As your cleaning business grows, you want to make sure your skills remain to the fore. After all, it is the quality of your work that got you to a position where you’re able to grow.

Once you’ve set out a business development strategy, the next phase will be to think how to grow your cleaning business at a sustainable rate.

Planning for business growth as a cleaner

If you want to grow your cleaning business at the best speed to suit you, then you need to consider scalability. That means, how possible is it for you to grow in a few key areas.

• Services – Are you able to take on more work by varying your service offering?
• Area – Are you able to reach a wider radius or different locations?
• Staff – Are you able to take on another pair of hands to help you achieve growth?
• Equipment – Do you need to buy more cleaning tools or cleaning products?
• Leads – Do you have enough work coming your way?
• Repeats – Do you offer services or skills that people will want to use you again and again? Could you book them into a diary?
• Referrals – Is there a referral scheme that could bring you more customers?

Knowing what you need to get in place before you start to grow means that it will seem like a much easier process. Rather than having issues scaling up, knowing how to grow a cleaning business before you try will set you up in a better place to succeed.

We’ve put together a handy guide to help you with your journey. Why not download it today and apply it to your growth plans?

Marketing your cleaning business

A key part of growing a cleaning business is making sure your potential customers know about you! And on top of that, making sure that more people can find you too.

On top of that, it is good to promote about the different types of cleaning services you can provide.

But what’s the best way to market your new cleaning business?

• Website – The best way of highlighting your cleaning business online
• PPC / SEO – Technical ways to raise the visibility of your website
• Social media – A friendlier way to reach potential customers
• Local ads – To raise your profile in the area where you’re based
• Events – Trade related or local events to show off your skills or services
• Sponsorship – Such as local landmarks or sports team, showing community spirit
• Billboards and signs – More prominent advertising can be seen by broad audiences
• Vehicle branding – Striking visuals on your van or work car help you be seen with ease

From print marketing to traditional word-of-mouth recommendations, knowing how to market your cleaning business is crucial.

How to grow your cleaning business

Once you’ve done the groundwork, planning and assessing, it is time to venture out and start using your growth techniques.

If you’ve planned everything, with a steady rate of growth looking like it is possible, then you’ll want to get going with your business growth.

How that looks will vary from cleaning business to cleaning business, and will also rely on the plans you’ve set up. If you’re expanding in a certain way, make sure to focus on that.

But by and large, an overall approach to growing a business involves the following:

• Make a plan – Get it all in writing, to plot where you’re going and how to get there
• Sort your finances – Plan how you’ll pay for the expansion of your cleaning business
• Carry out marketing – Budget accordingly, and carry out a range of advertising
• Hire more staff – Whether that is a new hire or an apprentice, make sure you can the additional work by bring on another pair of hands
• Target new areas – Especially if you want to work further afield such as another town
• Find new customers – It is important to carry out lead generation and marketing
• Fill your calendar – Make sure you’re available when people want cleaning work done in their homes, whether on an emergency or standard basis
• Assess your progress – Regularly check how it is going – using your business development plan for reference and comparison
• Continue your growth – Once you’ve seen signs of growth, don’t stop there – make sure you maintain the rate of change to avoid stagnation

Once you’ve made a plan to grow and followed the steps, your cleaning business should be starting to show signs of growth.

But how else could you scale up your cleaning enterprise?

Growing your cleaning business with Checkatrade

Marketing costs time and money, so it’s important to be discerning if you’re short on either.

With our digital marketing strategy and strong online presence, becoming a Checkatrade member makes it easier for customers to find you.

First, you’ll get a business profile on the UK’s leading trade directory. You’ll also have an online listing on Google – something that can take months to achieve otherwise.

Get more leads

In 2024 alone, there were over 893,000 job searches for cleaning work on the Checkatrade website.* That means a substantial volume of interest in services like yours. Would be a shame to miss out, wouldn’t it?

Help to secure more work

As Checkatrade have been around for over 25 years, people that want work doing in their homes can recognise our brand. We have the tick that homeowners trust, helping you to win more business.

Save money

Get exclusive access to our partners, with exclusive offers and discounts there to help cleaning businesses save money on business essentials. Log in to our member’s area today to see what is currently available!

Getting to grips with a Checkatrade membership

As a Checkatrade member, you can display customer reviews, testimonials, and examples of your work on your profile page. You can also manage customer enquiries on-the-go, directly from the Checkatrade app, keeping everything in one handy place.

And with the Checkatrade tick by your name, it makes your marketing just that little bit easier.

We’ll also help you with exclusive marketing materials and discounts on business essentials. Find great savings on workwear, tools, training, equipment, insurance, fuel, and more.

* Internal search data from users of the Checkatrade.com website in 2024