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The demand for foreclosure cleaning services is currently at an all-time high. While that may not be a gamechanger for everyone, those who offer foreclosure cleaning services can attest to their relative economic benefits.
Foreclosure cleaning can be quite tasking. Thus, if you are looking to start a foreclosure cleaning business, you will need to brace up for some hard work and make your schedule as flexible as possible. This is because you can be called for a cleaning gig at any time — even weekends.
However, the crazy workload should not stop you from running a foreclosure cleaning service. The business is in-demand, rewarding, and profitable. The average price for foreclosure cleaning ranges between $500 and $2,500 depending on the property.
You can run the business part-time and be pleased to know that you can also make extra money from the foreclosure business through the sale of abandoned items in the properties you clean. But, you need to seek the consent of your clients before doing so.
If you will like to start a foreclosure cleaning business, then this article is for you. It educates you about starting a lucrative foreclosure cleaning business, giving an estimate of your starting budget.
How to Start Your Foreclosure Cleaning Business?
If you consider getting into the foreclosure cleaning industry, then it is reasonable to have some questions about how to set yourself up for business and kickstart the foreclosure services. Here are four main steps you need to take getting started with your foreclosure cleaning business.
Choose a company name.
The journey of starting any business starts with why you are going into the business, your fundamental values, your target audience, and how to run a profitable business. You can run the company as a sole proprietor or form a partnership with another person or group. Then, choose what business model that works best with you. After these preliminary steps, you need to select a name for your business.
The company name should be catchy, communicate your fundamental values, and be closely related to what you do.
Register and obtain a license
Everywhere in the world, you need the government’s approval to run a business. You can quickly get your business approved by obtaining a license and registering it with appropriate government agencies and other bodies.
If you’re going to hire workers at some point, you will need to make sure you get workers’ compensation insurance. Apart from a license, here are the basic requirements you will have to meet before starting your foreclosure cleaning business.
- Liability insurance
- Contractor license
- Business Planning
- Legal Business setup
- Income and tax reporting
Get Trained
You will need to get the requisite knowledge and on-job training to run a successful foreclosure cleaning business. If what you’re doing is buying into an existing cleaning business franchise, the franchisor likely already has training guides for you, which eases the learning process.
However, you need to get the necessary skills and training involved in foreclosure cleaning by yourself if you are starting from scratch. Either way, ensure you have an adequate understanding of how the business works before you start.
Marketing and Advertising
Once you have your licenses, insurance, business permits, and training, the next thing is to commence your marketing and advertise your business.
Banks and Real Estate Owned (REO) management companies are likely to be your potential employers because they are always in charge of foreclosed properties.
It would be best if you tried launching your marketing campaign from here. Real estate agents usually have properties for sale, many of which may be foreclosures.
The agents and even the REO people understand that the cleaner the properties look, the easier it would be to put it out for sale.
That makes foreclosure cleaning a win-win for them and you. Agents always have a property to be cleaned up, so do your best anytime you can work with one.
One area that people always overlook in their marketing strategy is to create a website for their business. It’s 2020, and you need an online presence to succeed as a business. Irrespective of size, most companies today have a presence online (and that includes your competitors).
Why You Need a Website for Your Foreclosure Cleaning Business?
A website gives you an avenue to provide additional info about the services you offer and the price for each. It acts as a lead generator, allowing clients to match their online searches with your business.
You should do well to update your website regularly and add pieces of information your potential customers can use to reach out to you.
We can go on and on about the usefulness of having a website for your business. It also allows you to show testimonials and reviews from satisfied customers.
This can be accompanied by “before” and “after” photographs. Testimonials show clients some samples of your previous projects, and how you always get the job done.
Besides, a good testimony goes a long way in motivating some potential customers to do business with you.
How Much Do You Need to Start Foreclosure Cleaning business?
Guess what? You don’t need a huge capital or several years of planning to start a foreclosure cleaning business. Most times, all you need is necessary cleaning skills, cleaning supplies, feasible and sustainable business plans, and selling cleaning business templates, invoices, and the right contacts. Starting a small to medium scale foreclosure cleaning business in Canada is around $6,000.
Most of your effort at the initial stage should be geared towards landing regular clients through elaborate advertising and a powerful marketing campaign.
This is where most of your budgets go to, aside from the purchase of cleaning supplies. Well, maybe not really, if you have access to REO’s and property agents you can bank on to work with you and even refer you to friends.
Meanwhile, by the time you start getting jobs, bear in mind that you will have physical work to do, such as moving large items, actual cleaning, removal of floor coverings like tiles and carpets.
This is where the flexible work schedule we talked about earlier comes in. Be flexible and willing to get your hands dirty; then watch your business grow in size over time.
Conclusion
You can have a fulltime job and decide to run a foreclosure cleaning business as a part-time job. Or better still, you can take on the business as your fulltime job.
Once you start the company on the right path, make the right connections, be flexible, and hardworking, you can be sure the business would make you a significant income in no time.
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