Zero To $10K Cleaning Blueprint

In this episode, I explain exactly what I'd do if I started a cleaning business today, and how I'd scale it to $10k/mo.

We share the exact framework we used to build a remote cleaning business from nothing to consistent five-figure months. From forming an LLC to landing first clients and scaling with automation, we map the steps, the pitfalls, and the mindset that keeps you moving.

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https://www.cleaningbusinessuniversity.com/starterkit?el=podcast--if-i-started

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
If I had to start my cleaning business over again

(00:01):
today with absolutely nothingexcept the knowledge I gained
from building a remote cleaningbusiness that has generated over
three million dollars in thelast couple years, this is
exactly what I would do.
You see, me and my wife JanokaHardstock have helped dozens of
people launch remote cleaningbusinesses that make five to ten
thousand dollars a month withintheir first 90 days without
cleaning a single homethemselves.
In this video, I'm breaking downexactly our step-by-step system
to go from zero to ten thousanddollars a month with a remote

(00:24):
cleaning business today so thatyou could just copy and paste
the steps.
Let's dive in.
So step number one, we're gonnatalk about setting up your
business foundation.
We spent weeks on this trying toget the perfect steps.
We found that most people spentsix months on this step.
I'm gonna show you how to do itin the next 48 hours.
So step number one, getting yourLLC register.
And if LLC protects you legallywhen running your business, you
can do this online in moststates for under$200, and it

(00:45):
takes less than a week in mostcases.
Step number two, we're gonnatalk about opening your business
bank account.
And this keeps your personal andbusiness finances separate and
it makes taxes way easier at theend of the year.
And most banks let you open onewith your LLC paperwork.
You will use this to collectpayments from your clients and
your cleaners and get yourbusiness insurance.
And it protects you and yourclients, and it's required
before you take your firstbooking.
Most cleaners should have theirown insurance too, but you need

(01:07):
yours as well.
You can use Hiscox, you can useNext Insurance, you can use
Thimble.
There are tons out there thatgive you general business
liability insurance.
Next is setting up your websiteand booking system.
You need a simple way forclients to book and pay you
online.
And the goal is to make it fastand easy for your clients to
find you, book you, and pay you.
Don't overthink this.
Doesn't need to be fancy, itjust needs to work.
Some of the tools you can use toget this done will be TidyTrack,

(01:28):
which is one of our automationsoftwares.
You can use Launch 27, you useBooking Koala, you use Zenmates.
All in all, you're probablylooking at$1,500 to start the
business.
And that may seem like a lot tosomeone who's never done this
before.

But here's the truth (01:39):
staying where you are will cost you way
more.
Every single month is anothermonth of missed opportunities.
One of our students waited eightmonths to start because they
were waiting for the perfectmoment.
And the perfect moment neverhappens.
And we showed them what theamount of six-figure earns we
had within that time, they couldhave been one of them, guys.
So before I go to step two, ifyou want the full training that
goes deep into all the detailsof building a remote cleaning

(02:01):
business using our framework,click the link in the
description and register for ourfree training.
Now let's get back to the video.
Step number two, finding yourcleaning partners.
This is where most people quit,guys.
They interview three to fourpeople, they get rejected, they
get ghosted, and think thisdoesn't work.
But here's what they don'trealize every no is getting you
closer to your Michelle.
And let me tell you a little bitabout our Michelle, one of our
first cleaners, and we foundthem from Craigslist.
She had over 10 years ofexperience but was struggling

(02:23):
with finding consistent workbecause she had no online
presence.
Within three months of workingwith us, she was making more
with us than her previousfull-time job.
Here's exactly how we found her.
So Facebook groups in your localarea, you could search your
city, state, and the wordcleaner.
You'll find dozens or hundredsof people advertising their
services day in and day out.
The difference between successand failure isn't talent, it's
persistence.

(02:44):
So the question is are you goingto be the person who gives up
after five interviews, or areyou gonna be the person that
pushes through and changes thegame?
So we talked about experiencedcleaners.
So you search your Facebookgroups locally, you'll find
people advertising and they arealready doing work.
You just need to connect themwith the clients.
Another place you could go isCraigslist under the services
section.
Our first cleaner came fromCraigslist, apps like Thumbtack,

(03:04):
where cleaners are alreadymarketing, they're already
active.
Ask existing cleaners forreferrals.
A good cleaner usually knowsanother good cleaner.
This is how you build yourroster fast.
Now, what to look for wheninterviewing cleaners?
We don't ask questions about arethey good at cleaning?
Everyone believes they're goodwith cleaning, right?
But we ask them do they havetheir own cleaning supplies?
Do they have their own reliablevehicle?

(03:24):
Do they have their owninsurance?
That's a non-negotiable for us.
We're looking for experiencedcleaners who not only know what
they're doing, but they havegood communication skills and
professionalism.
Now, how to treat your cleaningpartners.
These are our business partners,not our employees, right?
So we pay them well, we pay themon time, we pay them via direct
deposit every single week.
So you also want to communicateclearly about expectations and

(03:45):
standards.
If they succeed, you succeed.
Remember that.
Our very first booking was onBlack Friday.
We literally was excited.
We started our business, BlackFriday comes and we got our
first cleaning.
But here's the challenge thenight before the clean, our
contractor called down and saidthey couldn't make it.
We literally panicked.
My wife was like, listen, maybewe shouldn't be doing this
business, and maybe it's notmeant to be.
And for a moment, I almostbelieved her.
Then I remembered our why.

(04:07):
Why did we start this?
We were tired of paying off thisdebt.
So I got on Facebook at 11 p.m.
I went to local Facebook groupsand I found someone the very
next day.
That desperation taught me themost important lesson always
have a backup.
So here's why step number fourin this process is so important
having a backup cleaner.
So over the last seven years,we've done over 10,000 jobs and
we've learned this lesson aswell.

(04:28):
Sometimes cleaners call out justbefore the booking.
So if you don't have backupcleaners, you are going to be
screwed.
So make sure you don't make themistake that we did.
This is where most people quitand they don't realize that
every single no is getting themcloser to that person, that
client, that clean that's goingto take them to that next level.
So now let's talk about gettingyour first cleaning clients.
We got our cleaning partners, wegot our business, we got our

(04:49):
brand.
But let's talk about gettingclients.
And you might be thinking themarket is oversaturated.
Here's why that's actually greatnews.
Because when you think about it,you aren't launching next Tesla
or SpaceX or next billion dollarcompany.
So that means that there'scompetition, that means there is
demand, which also means thatthere are more clients than
companies in almost every singleindustry.
And this is how we got our firstclient within 24 hours of

(05:11):
launching.
But let me tell you what almostkilled that first booking doubt.
So I just told you about nothaving that backup and what it
did to us, but we were able tofind that person in the very
next day.
So that taught us that lesson.
But think about that.
While you're listening to us,someone else in your city is
booking their first cleaning,their first client, and the
cleaning industry grows by fivepercent every single year, and
that's millions of dollars ofnew businesses.

(05:32):
The question is, are you gonnaget a piece of that pie or are
you gonna watch from thesidelines?
So, first client, tap into yournetwork first.
We're always going to say startwith your internal network,
friends and family.
Send out a message and callthem.
Hey, I just launched my cleaningbusiness.
Can you lend me a hand?
Do you know any referrals?
Anyone looking for cleaningservices in the area?
Anyone that might be looking forthis, most will be willing to
support you or send you people.

(05:54):
The more no's you get, thecloser you get to that yes.
So if they say no, ask them isthere anyone that you might know
who might need this service?
One of our students was able toget over 20 bookings their first
month by just telling theircoworkers, telling their church,
don't keep an internal.
We tell you guys, launch inpublic.
Tell your long guy, tell yourbarber, tell your hairstylist,
your babysitter.
One of our students literallytold this long guy about his

(06:14):
cleaning business and he gavehim two to three clients right
away, which was valued at over,I think it was over a thousand
dollars.
One client was like 550 and theother was like 560.
That's over a thousand dollarsfor just two clients.
Another place you could go isnext door.
Within 24 hours of launching,that's where we got our first
booking.
We were advertising on nextdoor.
We saw people looking forservices and we marketed
ourselves.
We advertised that we justlaunched our cleaning service

(06:36):
and asked anyone in theneighborhood if they needed
cleanings.
So within 24 hours, we got ourfirst booking.
Share your journey on socialmedia.
Don't build in silence.
Start posting about what you'redoing, how you're doing it, how
you're building a journey, andthen choose the platform where
you have the most followers.
That could be TikTok, that couldbe Instagram, that could be
Facebook, that could be threads,whatever it is.
You can start with the freemarketing.
Now, once you get that set up,we're gonna talk about setting

(06:58):
up your Google business profile.
It's free and it shows up whenpeople search for your cleaning
service in your area.
So, Anthony's cleaning service,you can now Google that and it
will come up, right?
So getting your first reviews asfast as possible.
So if you have any previousclients, you have any previous
customers, ask them to leave youreviews.
One of our first reviews wasfrom someone who didn't even use
our services.
She called five companies.

(07:18):
We were the first one to pickup.
And even though she didn't useour services, she said they were
the first company that picked upand they were extremely polite
on the phone.
Five star review.
And once you get those reviews,respond to every review within
24 hours, good, bad, orindifferent.
Also, on your Google Businessprofile, make sure you're
posting updated content.
And some of our first pictureswas just literally washing our
dishes and putting them on ourGoogle Business profile.

(07:39):
You got a dirty room and youclean it after, post that on
your profile.
It sends signals to Google tolet them know that you're
active.
Also, joining local Facebookgroups, posting helpful content
about cleaning tips.
We literally joined over a dozenlocal groups and we were just
posting content.
People ask about cleaningservices, people are asking
about referrals.
We were posting in there.
Don't spam people, providevalue.
If they are already asking forthe service, that means they're

(08:00):
looking for it.
Then that gives you theopportunity to mention it,
right?
So you're providing value tothem.
And then we talk about leadgeneration platforms.
So we talked about GoogleBusiness Profile.
You could use services likeGoogle Local Services or Local
Service Ads.
You could use Thumbtack, youcould use Yelp.
Customers are already lookingfor cleaners on these platforms.
Yes, you do pay per lead, so therisk is controlled.
So if you don't get leads, youdon't pay.
But one way to stand out is beone of the first people to

(08:22):
respond.
We literally have automation setup where we're usually the first
response, and the first responseusually gets the booking.
So when people say speed tolead, that is literally it.
Quick story, guys.
When we were trying to find a uhhandyman, we called about 10
companies.
I said the first company thatcomes out and fixes this urgent
issue, I am willing to pay topdollar.
And out of the 10 companies,only two got back to me.

(08:43):
And the first one that got backto me, out of those two, got my
business.
So think about it like that.
Respond as soon as possible, setup notifications so that you can
respond to this.
Then you can move over to localservice ads and it puts you at
the top of search results.
Start with a small budget andscale from there.
Track which leads convert toactually bookings, how many
people are picking up the phone,and then you have to understand
how to answer the phone.
What are you saying to them?

(09:03):
How are you getting in the book?
And then also focus on gettingrecurring customers.
Offer that to every single leadwho comes in.
Weekly and bi-weekly clients aregonna be your foundation.
And one recurring customer isworth multiple one-time
customers.
We have one customer that paidus over$66,000 over the course
of five years.
They get their home cleanedevery single week.
Now you give them incentives torebook you for recurring

(09:24):
services, and your goal is tobuild up long-term client
relationships.
We're gonna talk aboutautomating your business
operations a little bit.
Now, this is the name of thegame.
So I want you guys to picturethis.
It's 18 months from now, youjust checked your phone and you
saw a$2,000 booking come inwhile you were asleep.
Your biggest stress is notdeciding which family vacation
to book.
That's not fantasy, but that'swhat happens when you build the
right system.
Most cleaning business ownershave 5, 10, 15 reviews.

(09:46):
While our business has over 500reviews with a 4.8, 4.9 star
rating.
All we had is a simpleautomation review process that
makes it simple.
So here's our automated reviewprocess.
Number one, set the expectationsbefore the service.
Let clients know that your jobis to ensure their satisfaction
and you'll be contacting everysingle client at the end of
every clean to ensure they aresatisfied.

(10:08):
Number two, you want to make itfast and easy for your clients
to leave reviews.
Send them a direct link, nohunting, no QR codes.
The timing is super important.
Ask them when they're mostlikely to respond, which is more
than likely going to be rightafter the service.
Step number three, follow upconsistently.
Don't just do one and done's,have a follow-up sequence.
We have over 200 reviews in thelast couple months just using

(10:28):
that automated follow-up system.
And this builds without youhaving to run it.
So we set up an online bookingplatform so that clients can
find book and pay us 24/7.
And then we use a system calledTidyTrack, which is our own
platform that handles everythingautomatically when it comes to
reviews.
So now your clients book and payyou without touching anything.
If you want to try that, I'llput the link for it in the
description, Tidy Track.

(10:49):
But set up your automatedconfirmation emails and
reminder, set up your automaticpayment processing.
The money comes in, then you payyour cleaners weekly via direct
deposit.
You could use something likeStripe, or you could use a
system like Gusto or ADP.
Now remove yourself from theday-to-day operations because
once it's set up, we manage ourbusiness in about one hour per
week.
And this was our biggest lessondelegation, guys.

(11:09):
The cleaning business was ourvery first business ever.
We learned early on that youneed to delegate the back-end
work in order to scale.
So hiring virtual assistants toanswer the phones and handle
scheduling.
We have an operations manager tohandle the day-to-day larger
issues, and this allows you tofocus on growing your business
and not being stuck in thebusiness.
Track your metrics that shouldbring focus on your business.
Which marketing channels bringthe best customers, customer

(11:31):
retention rate, cleanerperformance and reliability.
How well are your cleanersactually doing?
And then also, what are yourbiggest revenue generators and
profit margins?
Now we're gonna talk aboutscaling at$10,000 a month and
beyond.
But let me paint two picturesright now.
So picture number one is fiveyears from now, you're still at
your job making the same money,having the same conversation
about someday.
Your kids are asking you why younever have time for the games,

(11:52):
or you see a post from someonewho started their cleaning
business same time you watchthis video.
Now they're making ten tofifteen thousand dollars a
month.
Like, how would that make youfeel?
But picture number two, you tookaction, you started with
cleaning, like most of ourstudents have done, you built
your foundation, now you'reexpanding.
We got a student who literallylaunched their business and
closed a$50,000 commercialcontract, or the Tiptons who are
parents who worked a nine tofive job and they just hit one

(12:13):
million dollars and they addedbig contracts to their cleaning
business.
Now they have the option to stayat their jobs or leave.
But this is what it's really allabout.
It's not just about the money,it's about getting your time
back, guys, creating options foryourself.
So you can expand your serviceoffering, you can start with
residential cleaning and buildyour foundation, get your
reviews up, learn the business,learn the game, add deep
cleaning services forhigher-ticket jobs, move into
commercial contracts.

(12:34):
This is where some of ourstudents make the big money
one-time hits, like our studentCorey, like we told you, who
closed a$50,000 commercialcontract.
One was signed on that line$55,000 plus floor care.
And then the Tiptons did a$93,000 in one month contract.
Commercial clients pay biggerjobs, but that allows you to
scale your marketing once you'reprofitable, reinvest in what's
actually working.

(12:54):
Don't eat the profits of yourbusiness when you first start,
double down on the marketingchannels that bring in the
results.
So if you find out that GoogleLocal Services is working for
you and you make a little bit ofprofit, don't just take that and
go spend it.
Put that back into the businessand expand, right?
Because once you're profitablein one area, you can now
replicate this system over andover again.
Same system, same results.
That's how you get to six andseven-figure businesses.

(13:16):
And now you build a team so thatyou're not the bottleneck.
Today, our business has handledover 150 cleanings a month.
We have a full-time operationmanager, we have a full-time
customer service agent, and ourbusiness runs almost entirely on
autopilot.
Our students have collectivelydone over$18 million in revenue
using this same exact process Ijust outlined.
However, I know that having aplan and actually executing it

(13:36):
are two totally differentthings.
That's why we created a freemasterclass that breaks this
down in each of the steps in alot more detail.
Just click the link in thedescription to register.
It's completely free and isdesigned in a way that gives you
full clarity on how you can getstarted with a remote cleaning
business and take the firststeps you need.
So, again, register for thetraining below using the free
link.
We also got some other resourcesdown there for you.
And if you want to see howstudents built a$1 million

(13:57):
remote cleaning business, thenwatch this video next.