How to Start Your Own Domestic Cleaning Franchise

If you’d love to start a home cleaning franchise but you’re not sure where to start, keep reading. In this article, you’ll discover what a domestic cleaner does, why running your own business in the domestic cleaning sector can be so profitable and ideal, and how you should go about starting a domestic cleaning franchise to ensure its ability to achieve long-term success.

The cleaning industry directly employs almost a million people in the UK, with domestic hygiene operatives making up a strong 35% of the total figure [British Cleaning Council]. Though the industry was impacted by COVID-19, an increased consumer focus on hygiene has seen it bouncing back in no time in the latter half of 2021. If you’d like to make a career change with a domestic cleaning franchise, there’s never been a better time to get to work.

What does a domestic cleaning business do?

In the industry, there are essentially three types of cleaning franchise: Domestic cleaning franchises like Poppies, commercial cleaning franchises like Dublcheck and specialist cleaning franchises like HOODZ. As you can imagine, there’s some overlap. Specialist cleaning franchises will usually work commercially or domestically providing their niche service, and some franchise networks work across the domestic and commercial sectors.

A domestic cleaning franchise, also known as a home cleaning franchise, is a business that offers cleaning services to customers for private living spaces like houses and apartments. As a franchisee working with this type of cleaning franchise, a day in the life is likely to include some or all of the following tasks:

• Household cleaning tasks like hoovering, dusting, mopping and surface cleaning (if you’ve made a smaller, more hands-on investment)
• Management of a team of cleaners (if you’ve made a managerial-style investment – usually at a higher price point)
• Business management 
• Communicating with, negotiating with and regularly updating customers
• Marketing your franchise and attracting new clients
• Responding to/resolving customer service issues effectively and efficiently

Why consider running a house cleaning franchise?

Given that the cleaning industry contributes £55.5 billion to the UK economy each year [British Cleaning Council], it’s easy to see that there’s plenty of demand in the area. Plus, as touched on above, post-COVID British customers are more focused than ever on protecting their hygiene – and willing to invest in it. Beyond demand, which is of course the most important factor of all when you’re figuring out whether to go ahead with a new business venture, there are even more advantages to starting a domestic cleaning franchise. Including these:

• You’ll be able to find an ideal investment option at a lower-than-average cost
• You’ll enjoy a diverse, varied working life in which no two days are the same
• You’ll always have the support of your franchisor to turn to
• You’ll be doing essential, recession-proof work (meaning relative financial stability)
• You’ll enjoy high levels of repeat custom and referral
• You’ll be able to update your business easily to meet changing customer priorities

How to start a domestic cleaning franchise

Start your domestic cleaning franchise in the right way and identify the ideal investment opportunity for your unique personal situation by following these three steps...

1. Consider your strengths and find the right franchise fit

The first thing you need to do on your journey towards investing with a domestic cleaning franchise is figure out whether you truly belong in the world of domestic cleaning. Determine whether your skills and abilities match up with the skills and abilities that would be ideal for a franchisee in this area. Though you often won’t need any experience, you WILL need transferable skills such as customer service, people management and attention to detail in order to thrive.

At this stage, you should also explore all available franchise avenues and look at the associated skills and abilities to determine your suitability. As mentioned above, many specialist cleaning franchises work within the domestic sphere. 

As you work to determine your ideal area of investment, you should make sure to check out some more niche domestic cleaning franchise opportunities. Do you, for instance, think you would enjoy a career running an oven cleaning franchise like Prestige Oven Cleaning? Where do your skills feel best suited within the world of domestic cleaning? 

2. Research the market you’ll be entering

When you have an idea of where you’ll fit and a few opportunities to consider for further suitability – based on factors like cost of investment – it’ll be time to dive more deeply into the domestic cleaning industry itself. A sector so in-demand is, by nature, also very competitive, and you’ll need to remember this. As a jumping off point, here are some of the biggest trends shaping the cleaning world right now. Look into them, and position yourself at the forefront of the industry before your franchise has ever even opened its doors:

• Rising consumer demand for future-proof cleaning products and services
• Rising consumer demand for eco-friendly and sustainable products and services
• The continued popularity of “cleanfluencers” like Sophie Hinchliffe/”Mrs Hinch”
• The growing prominence of tech, from its role in the actual cleaning process, all the way to its support with all things customer service/keeping clients in the loop

3. Do your due diligence

Finally, you’ll come to step three. This step is arguably the most important of all, because it’s the one that will ensure you actually get what you pay for. Here it is: Do your due diligence with a franchise investment before you legally commit to it. Fully assess the opportunity in front of you, review the Disclosure Document thoroughly, and have a legal professional look over your franchise agreement before you sign. Do NOT invest until you can answer all of the following questions (and any more than matter to you):

• How have existing franchisees found their experience with the franchise?
• What will the training and support I’m provided by my franchisor consist of/look like?
• How long will it take for me to recoup my investment?
• What should I expect to be earning by the end of year one/two/three/so on?
• What happens if I choose to sell my franchise – how does that process work?
• Will I have room to grow with the franchise and expand my investment level?

Become a franchisee and start running a franchise in the home cleaning sector today

If this article has left you more than ready to start a domestic cleaning franchise of your own, now’s the time to deepen your industry (and franchise) research. Stay on Point Franchise. Find out how to choose the cleaning business that’s right for you, and discover the top cleaning trends of 2021 in even more detail.