I hear ALOT of people talk about this business and how profitable it is.

One lady I work with does this once a week, she cleans several houses in the Westerly/Watch HIll, RI area where all the 'rich' people live. (yes the RICH people, I know the Kellogg family has a summer home there) She works for 3 hours, they provide all the cleaning supplies and she calls it 'easy money'. I'm not sure if she declares this as income on her taxes or not, but she does enjoy it and relys on this money every week. Word of mouth has spread and she has several houses that she will do in one day.

I got asked last year if I might be intersted in doing something like this with a friend of mine. I DID consider it, but decided I didn't want to do it.

Would anyone every consider this as a 'be your own boss' business??

Pros?? Cons??

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~Missy~Mommy
Meghan8.Samantha7,Cameron4

I used to clean homes when I was a college student and it was a tough job. The people that I cleaned for expected alot and I usually left exhausted. I do have a friend here in OH that has her own business cleaning model homes and she seemed to do pretty well. I think if you have the time and energy and you know how much you are willing to take on it might be worth a try.

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In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.Mother Teresa

I did it one summer while I was in high school with a friend. I had a lot of fun actually and it was fun to go out and see how other people live! But it was my friend's business and I really didn't see how the "business" end of it went.

I don't think it would do well in my area. There are a lot of Mennonite women here that do this sort of thing and they have very good reputations of being very clean.

I would worry more about being bonded and having insurance in case I broke something

Also, I guess i am parnoid, but what if you got an older person that misplaced something expensive and then accused you of taking it and called the police. Or what if a family member took something but you got accused for it.

See I told you I was parnoid

I live in a college town and for several summers cleaned for a property management company. When students would move out of an apartment, the manager would call me and let me know when the new tenants would be arriving and I would clean the empty apartment before move-in. It was all very flexible and usually I had a couple of days to get the job done, which meant I could do it early in the morning or in the evening and work around my regular job. This was mainly just available in the summer time, with a few around Christmas. I don't do that as much anymore, but I do clean one evening per week for a small business downtown. It's only a couple of hours per week and I earn an extra hundred bucks per month. I know I'm cheaper than a cleaning service, I do a good job and the business likes that if they need to communicate with me, they don't need to go through a lot of people to get to me. It's all very informal and low-key. Also, I am on their pay-roll and filled out the necessary tax paperwork, so it's all perfectly legal and legit.
If you're really interested in this, I'd talk with a manager of a small business that's just opening in your town. Maybe compare your prices with the cleaning services in the area.

I have done this a few times.. i just don't seem to make enough money to keep doing it..

I hate cleaning houses!!!! I my father owns and Office Cleaning Business and I grew up helping my parents. Lets just say, I had more money than most of my friends in JR high because I earned it!

Anyhow...we tried houses....houses have to be detailed and sometimes you get REALLY messy people and other times...you walk in and it's pretty clean...so you think...do big deal...but it turns out that the person is really picky! You probably can make about $20 an hour if you get the right people...however...I would consider office cleaning!

I would look up state laws and insurance. If you don't have any employees it should be pretty easy! I would start w/ people I know who have small businesses.....like law offices and things like that. You can spead the word around and I'm sure you have friends, that have friends, that own businesses.

My dad's company has many customers and employees. We does everything from floor-work, everyday jobs, to offices that cleaned twice a month! I like office cleaning because the people aren't as picky and it's less tedious. I mean we just, empty the trash cans, dust the office furniture, vaccume, clean bathrooms, clean kitchen areas (or lunch rooms), and vacumm/sweep hall areas.

You can get into a routine and it's really easy! You can usually cut your time in half...once you get going...happens gradually..but it happens! My husband and I clean 2 buildings...twice a month (2nd and 4th weekends)....each one takes us about an hour...cleaning together (in other words...2 man hours)...one buildng give us $75 per clean...the other ..$100 per clean. So we make close to $50 an hour...each! Yes..that is $350 a month...for 4 hrs worth of work..together! It really helps!

do your research online...my father usually charges by "square footage" of the building...you need to look up your local market and go from there!

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Bekah
Co-founder and CEO of the NOVITZKE FAMILY INC.

Wow, thanks for that perspective. YET another idea to consider, office cleaning. That does pretty good too!

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~Missy~Mommy
Meghan8.Samantha7,Cameron4

My friends mom cleans both house and businesses. She has one business that she cleans tues, wed, fris, sat, and sun. Its a strip club. She makes $350 a week and its only about 2 hours a day so 10 hour a week. . Thats about 35 an hour. She has to clean the mirrors behind the dance floors, vacumme, wipe down tables, do the bathroom, and mop the stages and thats it. . . Shehas several other businesses some she does once or twice a week and just that one 5 days and then theres another she does m-f. I think it only takes 30 minutes and they pay her 100 a week. Not bad money at all

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I currently have a cleaning business. It was not hard to start up but did cost a bit of money. In order to work for commercial apartments I have to be licensed, bonded and insured. Its great work and good money. I worked today for 3 1/2 hours and made 75 bucks. It is hard getting your name out there . For me its a great job as I am always home when my daughter gets out of school. I provide all my own cleaning supplies. I clean both empty homes and occupied homes. I have to say I prefer the empty ones. Make sure if this is something that you want to do you set your guidelines with your clients immediently. They will try and take advantage of you. I find that having a set price works the best for me rather than hourly. If you have any questions I would be happy to help. I love being my own boss.

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