starting a commercial cleaning business, any info on startin

dannylightning · 04-16-2010, 11:13 AM

i seem to be out of a job at the moment, at the produce delivery job i kept hurting my back, the first time it locked up and for about 2 weeks i could not even stand up streight, when i went back to work i hurt it again, off for 2 more weeks, went back to work for a few weeks and pulled it out again, well i decided it was best tell them i either need a warehouse position where i did not halve to lift a lot of weight or i was going to halve to quit, taking 2-3 hundred lbs on a dolly up and down steps and such things is just too much for me. my chiropractor suggest that i find a different job also so im working on starting my own commercial cleaning business.

the main thing i need info on is how to write up a good contract, i made up bid proposal sheets and had nice post cards designed to go put in company's mail boxes, post cards look way more professional that fliers. right now i think all i need is to get a contract written up and find out if i need to get a business license, than start getting my post cards out there and hope to get a few accounts.

the best thing about a cleaning business it it will not cost much money if you start off small, in most small offices all you need is cleaning products, a mop, mop bucket, a good vacuum and things like that, after getting every thing in order such as paper work, contracts and a few hundred bucks you are ready to start working, (as soon as you get a account) after things start going well you can invest in floor scrubbers and buffers and start cleaning bigger places like retail stores.

i have exp doing this, i was employed by walmart on the floor crew, i know how to strip and wax floors and run all the equipment. i also spent 2 hours a day cleaned the dining room and restrooms at a restaurant i worked at. and i enjoyed doing it. so i decided this is what i should go for.

bonehead · 04-16-2010, 11:40 AM

Good luck with it Danny.

dannylightning · 04-16-2010, 12:53 PM

thanks

alantf · 04-16-2010, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dannylightning

the main thing i need info on is how to write up a good contract,

Danny, please believe me when I say that I'm not trying to knock you - but I think you'll be the first to agree that spelling, grammar, punctuation etc. aren't your strongest assets. While we, on this site, can understand & not be bothered about it, a legal contract is quite another thing. I really do believe that you need professional help - both with the actual wording, & the legalities. :2tup: :2tup:

alanmcorcoran · 04-16-2010, 02:17 PM

Danny,

Most small business contracts are really backstops to the informal relationship you have with the clients. Enforcing contracts implies you have the resources to bring the power of the courts to your side (which, unless you can afford lawyers or the claim is small, is typically out of reach for most small operators.) So try and make sure you have a good non-binding relationship with your accounts even if you do have signed contracts, because that is a better barometer of the business.

Here are three ideas:

1) Contact several large cleaning businesses and get copies of their contracts. Cut them down and adapt the genral principles for your use. (Keep the general principles, don't use anything that seems proprietary to a particular business.)

2) Check out LegalZoom.com

3) Many contracts of public entities are searchable on the internet.

I recommend you try to find a family friend that is a lawyer to help you get started for free. "Regular" lawyers can be very expensive when starting out - generally you can't get much done for under 5K.

Finally - are you sure you want to start a labor intensive business with a bad back? A website might make a lot more sense. Good luck to you and take care of your back. My understanding is you are still a pretty young guy and back problems can quickly morph into things that take over (and severely limit) your life.

dannylightning · 04-16-2010, 03:26 PM

I know my spelling, punctuation and writing skills are not exactly perfect,. If I actually set down and take my time and proof read what I have written it comes out much better, it just takes me awhile to do it. I will definitely have some one who's English skills are much better than mine go over any thing like this before I go out into the world and look like some kind of joke. I was not blessed with much of a attention span so it was always extremely hard to lean any thing that I was not interested in.

Cleaning is not exactly back breaking work, when I cleaned the walmart and that restaurant it was extremely easy, no hard physical work at all, vacuum the carpets, mop the floor, dust knickknacks, clean toilets and such things. I worked at fedex stacking packages in containers and delivering packages for 5 years, I never had any back problems that were caused by that job, at this last job they would stack a pallet of product up over you head and put 6 poorly stacked 50 pound bags of onions on top of the pallet. than when you tried to get them down they would slide off and fall on your head and every thing else. that is just one of the many examples, or dollies that woluld break when you were wheeling 300 lbs of product down a ramp. cus they would never fix any thing properly or buy new equipment. people were getting hurt at that company constantly. most people would quit with in the first month.

i do have back pain a lot but it is mostly muscle pain, i have had my back go out about 3 times in the last 13 years, until i started my last job.

well i got to run so im gonna type the rest of this out really fast. i was looking for commercial cleaning/janitorial contracts online, all i could find were small samples that you cant read because they want to sell you their already made up general cleaning contracts, i did find a few contracts online but they did not seem to be what i was looking for. do you really think a business is just going to hand out a copy of their contracts to some one who is going to be the competition. im not exactly sure they would do that but i guess it would be worth a shot.

music man · 04-16-2010, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dannylightning

do you really think a business is just going to hand out a copy of their contracts to some one who is going to be the competition.

Don't go in and ask for them as the competition, more like go in as a potential client and get a copy of there contracts to "look" over. :2tup:

alanmcorcoran · 04-16-2010, 07:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by music man

dannylightning wrote: do you really think a business is just going to hand out a copy of their contracts to some one who is going to be the competition.

Don't go in and ask for them as the competition, more like go in as a potential client and get a copy of there contracts to "look" over.

Yeah what he said. I realize this is a bit sleazy and if you are a staunch idealist skip it. Having started and run a number of small businesses i have found that ideals sometimes are a luxury when you are starting out.

music man · 04-16-2010, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alanmcorcoran

Yeah what he said. I realize this is a bit sleazy and if you are a staunch idealist skip it. Having started and run a number of small businesses i have found that ideals sometimes are a luxury when you are starting out.

Ideals are a luxury in life period.

dannylightning · 04-17-2010, 12:56 AM

well one problem with getting a commercial cleaning , usually they want to come out and look at the place and bring their bid sheet, you check off all the things on the bid sheet that you would like to have done at your business, once you do that and they determine how many man hours it is going to take than they decide how much to charge, only than do they break out the contract stating you agree to have them come in and do every thing requested on the bid sheet and those things are all they are obligated to do and all that good stuff.

i could give it a try but i do not own any kind of commercial building for them to come and give me a estimate for. so one of those commercial cleaning contracts might be kind of hard to get a hold of. unless they will just give me one to look at, like music man suggested. you never know, they might.

i could always say that i am going to be opening a business and that i have heard good things about the company and would like to check out their contracts. it might work.

i met a guy tonight over at my friends house, he says he could probably have one of his lawyer friends write me one up for free. but that was just a maybe, he works at a law firm. he said he will try to hook me up but if he cant do that he can find out what i am going to need as far as business licenses and how much it will cost.

04-16-2010, 11:13 AM	#1
dannylightning Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: akron ohio Posts: 893	starting a commercial cleaning business, any info on startin i seem to be out of a job at the moment, at the produce delivery job i kept hurting my back, the first time it locked up and for about 2 weeks i could not even stand up streight, when i went back to work i hurt it again, off for 2 more weeks, went back to work for a few weeks and pulled it out again, well i decided it was best tell them i either need a warehouse position where i did not halve to lift a lot of weight or i was going to halve to quit, taking 2-3 hundred lbs on a dolly up and down steps and such things is just too much for me. my chiropractor suggest that i find a different job also so im working on starting my own commercial cleaning business. the main thing i need info on is how to write up a good contract, i made up bid proposal sheets and had nice post cards designed to go put in company's mail boxes, post cards look way more professional that fliers. right now i think all i need is to get a contract written up and find out if i need to get a business license, than start getting my post cards out there and hope to get a few accounts. the best thing about a cleaning business it it will not cost much money if you start off small, in most small offices all you need is cleaning products, a mop, mop bucket, a good vacuum and things like that, after getting every thing in order such as paper work, contracts and a few hundred bucks you are ready to start working, (as soon as you get a account) after things start going well you can invest in floor scrubbers and buffers and start cleaning bigger places like retail stores. i have exp doing this, i was employed by walmart on the floor crew, i know how to strip and wax floors and run all the equipment. i also spent 2 hours a day cleaned the dining room and restrooms at a restaurant i worked at. and i enjoyed doing it. so i decided this is what i should go for. Login or Register to Remove Ads
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04-16-2010, 11:40 AM	#2
bonehead Senior Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: elgin,tx Posts: 907	Re: starting a commercial cleaning business, any info on sta Good luck with it Danny. __________________ Standing with the PGR until they stand for me.
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04-16-2010, 12:53 PM	#3
dannylightning Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: akron ohio Posts: 893	Re: starting a commercial cleaning business, any info on sta thanks Login or Register to Remove Ads
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04-16-2010, 02:17 PM	#5
alanmcorcoran Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Anaheim, CA Posts: 2,926	Re: starting a commercial cleaning business, any info on sta Danny, Most small business contracts are really backstops to the informal relationship you have with the clients. Enforcing contracts implies you have the resources to bring the power of the courts to your side (which, unless you can afford lawyers or the claim is small, is typically out of reach for most small operators.) So try and make sure you have a good non-binding relationship with your accounts even if you do have signed contracts, because that is a better barometer of the business. Here are three ideas: 1) Contact several large cleaning businesses and get copies of their contracts. Cut them down and adapt the genral principles for your use. (Keep the general principles, don't use anything that seems proprietary to a particular business.) 2) Check out LegalZoom.com 3) Many contracts of public entities are searchable on the internet. I recommend you try to find a family friend that is a lawyer to help you get started for free. "Regular" lawyers can be very expensive when starting out - generally you can't get much done for under 5K. Finally - are you sure you want to start a labor intensive business with a bad back? A website might make a lot more sense. Good luck to you and take care of your back. My understanding is you are still a pretty young guy and back problems can quickly morph into things that take over (and severely limit) your life. __________________ [hr:5yt6ldkq][/hr:5yt6ldkq] http://alanmarkcorcoran.com Motorcycles, Music, Musings and More… Login or Register to Remove Ads
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04-16-2010, 03:26 PM	#6
dannylightning Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: akron ohio Posts: 893	Re: starting a commercial cleaning business, any info on sta I know my spelling, punctuation and writing skills are not exactly perfect,. If I actually set down and take my time and proof read what I have written it comes out much better, it just takes me awhile to do it. I will definitely have some one who's English skills are much better than mine go over any thing like this before I go out into the world and look like some kind of joke. I was not blessed with much of a attention span so it was always extremely hard to lean any thing that I was not interested in. Cleaning is not exactly back breaking work, when I cleaned the walmart and that restaurant it was extremely easy, no hard physical work at all, vacuum the carpets, mop the floor, dust knickknacks, clean toilets and such things. I worked at fedex stacking packages in containers and delivering packages for 5 years, I never had any back problems that were caused by that job, at this last job they would stack a pallet of product up over you head and put 6 poorly stacked 50 pound bags of onions on top of the pallet. than when you tried to get them down they would slide off and fall on your head and every thing else. that is just one of the many examples, or dollies that woluld break when you were wheeling 300 lbs of product down a ramp. cus they would never fix any thing properly or buy new equipment. people were getting hurt at that company constantly. most people would quit with in the first month. i do have back pain a lot but it is mostly muscle pain, i have had my back go out about 3 times in the last 13 years, until i started my last job. well i got to run so im gonna type the rest of this out really fast. i was looking for commercial cleaning/janitorial contracts online, all i could find were small samples that you cant read because they want to sell you their already made up general cleaning contracts, i did find a few contracts online but they did not seem to be what i was looking for. do you really think a business is just going to hand out a copy of their contracts to some one who is going to be the competition. im not exactly sure they would do that but i guess it would be worth a shot.
	0

04-17-2010, 12:56 AM	#10
dannylightning Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: akron ohio Posts: 893	Re: starting a commercial cleaning business, any info on sta well one problem with getting a commercial cleaning , usually they want to come out and look at the place and bring their bid sheet, you check off all the things on the bid sheet that you would like to have done at your business, once you do that and they determine how many man hours it is going to take than they decide how much to charge, only than do they break out the contract stating you agree to have them come in and do every thing requested on the bid sheet and those things are all they are obligated to do and all that good stuff. i could give it a try but i do not own any kind of commercial building for them to come and give me a estimate for. so one of those commercial cleaning contracts might be kind of hard to get a hold of. unless they will just give me one to look at, like music man suggested. you never know, they might. i could always say that i am going to be opening a business and that i have heard good things about the company and would like to check out their contracts. it might work. i met a guy tonight over at my friends house, he says he could probably have one of his lawyer friends write me one up for free. but that was just a maybe, he works at a law firm. he said he will try to hook me up but if he cant do that he can find out what i am going to need as far as business licenses and how much it will cost.
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