There are several different sectors of the cleaning industry your company may choose to target, the three main divisions are commercial, domestic, and specialised cleaning services. Each one differs slightly and requires a specific strategy to target that market. If you are planning on setting up a cleaning company you should choose which areas you wish to move into.
The following contains some information about the three core services in the cleaning and maintenance industry.
- Commercial Cleaning Industry
This is a blanket term used for any cleaning company who is contracted to work for a variety of businesses or corporations, ranging from small enterprises to multinational firms.
Commercial cleaning companies provide a service to a variety of businesses, they generally work in buildings such as:
- Schools
- Airports
- Office blocks
- Government buildings
- Restaurants
- Shopping centres
- Warehouses
- Medical facilities
It is a massive industry, which employs a huge number of workers, it is highly competitive, and most employees tend to be at the bottom end of the pay scale. If you decide to target this sector, there is a lot of contracts on offer, but there is considerable competition between cleaning firms, furthermore, a lot of companies require you to provide cleaning supplies such as bin liners, toilet paper, and soap. If you choose this sector you will need to create an effective team of workers who can properly maintain large premises.
Equipment
This sector requires a cleaning company to use a range of different equipment, from a commercial vacuum cleaner to a variety of chemical cleaning compounds and sprays.
- Residential Cleaning Industry
The second option is the domestic sector, this is a residential cleaning service which focuses on people’s homes. It is important to carry out some market research before deciding to concentrate on domestic cleaning as this sector is dependent on socioeconomic backgrounds and geographical areas. A high majority of domestic cleaning companies choose to operate in affluent areas for obvious reasons.
In general, this sector does not require as much heavy-duty cleaning machinery as cleaners are working in homes, most employee’s clean houses during the workday. It is important that you recruit a team of trustworthy individuals as they will be working in people’s homes in close contact with their personal belongings.
Typical cleaning equipment for these workers includes:
- Dust pans
- Buckets with cleaning solution
- Wet floor signs
- Vacuums
- Bin bags
- Sprays and cleaning agents
- Specialised Cleaning Industry
This is a service which focuses on specific cleaning tasks such as windows or floors. For example, your business may concentrate solely on cleaning floors, they will use a variety of methods to provide a specialised service to their clients. Floor cleaning services could comprise of:
- Polishing & stripping vinyl surfaces
- Polishing & sealing tiles
- Power cleaning tiles
- Scrubbing & cleaning tiles
A specialist cleaning company should provide exceptional service in their chosen field of business.
There are numerous advantages to choosing each industry, like anything in business, it is important to recognise your target market and provide a service which is in demand.
