To scale a cleaning business, document your systems, know your numbers, use software for manual tasks, hire and train your first cleaners, create a strong team structure, and protect what you’re building with cleaning business insurance.
You’re booked solid and ready to move beyond the hands-on scrubbing. It’s time for you to expand your operations, increase revenue, and let your business handle more of the work for you. Here’s how to scale a cleaning business in six practical steps.
Six Steps to Scaling Your Cleaning Business
- Document Your Systems
- Know Your Numbers Before Adding Employees
- Move Scheduling, Booking, and Invoicing Into Software
- Hire and Train Your First Cleaners
- Build a Smart Team Structure
- Protect Your Cleaning Business With Insurance
What Does It Mean to Scale a Cleaning Business?
Scaling a cleaning business means you’re in a stage where you can earn revenue faster without working harder. Rather than offering additional services that you provide yourself, your business grows in a way that brings in more money — without costs and effort growing at the same rate.
For many small cleaning business owners, this shifts your role from doing the actual cleaning to running the operation, allowing employees to cover more jobs and generate revenue for your business.
If you’re starting a cleaning business from scratch, it’s best to solidify your model with experience before setting a goal to expand. This way, you’re confident that your services and systems work and can be applied at a larger scale.
Quiz: Are You Ready to Expand Your Cleaning Business?
Take our quick quiz to find out if you’re ready to expand your cleaning business. Spoiler: if your business has consistent demand and a solid operational system, it’s probably time to scale!
2-minute self-check
Are you ready to hire your first cleaner?
Answer 8 quick questions to see where you stand and what to tackle before you add payroll.
See the full ready-to-hire checklist
You're likely ready to hire your first cleaner if you can say yes to most of these:
- You've turned away or waitlisted jobs in the last 2 months.
- Cleaning hours are crowding out quoting, invoicing and follow-ups.
- You have a written checklist someone else could follow for each service.
- You know your cost and profit per job.
- You have about 3 months of steady, recurring bookings.
- You schedule and invoice with software, not texts and memory.
- You know whether you'd hire W-2 employees or 1099 contractors, and your state's rules.
- You've checked whether your insurance covers employees and the work they do.
Insights From an Industry Pro
“Hiring someone to do the work was definitely a learning process, but it was essential. At some point, there are only so many houses you can clean in a day, so once you’re getting more work than you can take on yourself, that’s probably the sign. The biggest learning curve was realizing that if you want it done a certain way, then it’s your responsibility to explain it to someone else.”
How to Scale Your Cleaning Business, Step by Step
Learning how to expand a cleaning business doesn’t have to feel like toiling on a stubborn stain. Let’s break down each step so you can feel confident about building your dream cleaning company.
1. Document Your Systems
First, ensure you have clear, proper documentation for each service type. This includes SOPs (standard operating procedures) that detail exactly how each process must be carried out. For example, for a standard home cleaning, list the steps from beginning to end, with a checklist of all tools and products to use.
The goal is to create a written guide for someone else to follow, so they can clean a client’s home (or other space) exactly how you would — the right way. Aside from cleaning service SOPs, you also need to write instructions for other duties, including scheduling, taking payment, and communicating with clients.
Your documentation should also include your standards for quality and how you’ll check for it. For example, you may require before-and-after photos of each job to ensure services are being performed correctly.
Insights From an Industry Pro
“The biggest thing was creating structure around how jobs were scheduled and what we expected at the home. We use online scheduling, detailed cleaning expectations, checklists, and photo documentation, so the cleaner knows what the job requires and we have a way to verify quality. The goal was to make the process repeatable instead of relying on me personally being at every cleaning.“
2. Know Your Numbers Before Adding Employees
Calculate your numbers so you know exactly how much each job costs, how much profit it yields, and what pricing works once you’re paying someone else to do the cleaning.
You likely need to raise your cleaning fee to cover the cleaner’s compensation.
Example: Pricing a Standard Home Cleaning
| You Clean | Your Employee Cleans | |
|---|---|---|
|
Transportation |
$8 |
$8 |
|
Supplies |
$10 |
$10 |
|
Overhead |
$12 |
$12 |
|
Cleaner wages (example: $20/hour x 3 hours) |
N/A |
$60 |
|
Payroll taxes and workers compensation insurance |
N/A |
$9 |
|
Price Charged |
$150 |
$150 |
|
Total cost |
$30 |
$99 |
|
Estimated profit |
$120 |
$51 |
When you clean a client’s home yourself, that $120 is your pay plus profit. Once someone else does the cleaning, the same $150 job leaves you $51.
If you have more employees doing more jobs at the same time, that brings in more revenue for you, but that profit still has to cover your time running the business.
Raising the price to $175, for example, raises your profit to $76 per job. Multiply that across all the additional jobs your business provides at a larger scale, and you dramatically increase your earning potential.
Ensure your numbers are accurate before you hire help, so there isn’t any guesswork about how profitable your larger-scale operations will be.
3. Move Scheduling, Booking, and Invoicing Into Software
Before you scale your cleaning business, create a clean system for your business management tasks and utilize software for scheduling, booking, and invoicing. Performing these manually may work fine when you’re running a one-person operation, but with a team in the mix, staying organized is crucial.
Once you start overseeing multiple jobs in various locations in a day, things can get messy — the opposite of what your business is all about. So, start with cleaning business software for:
- Scheduling cleaners: Who works when and where?
- Booking jobs: Make sure clients can book quickly and easily online
- Invoicing: Let software handle invoicing so your business gets paid on time
Some cleaning business software options, such as Appointy and ZenMaid, have features that let you automate scheduling and manage your clients, cleaners, and payments all in one place. Once you offload these tasks to smart tech, you free up time to focus on scaling further.
4. Hire and Train Your First Cleaners
Your first hires will be cleaning in your place, so take your time finding the right people. Start with referrals from clients and friends, as well as local job boards. Some key attributes you want in employees include reliability, attention to detail, and strong communication skills.
Before you make an offer, decide whether you’re hiring W-2 employees or independent contractors (1099). The main difference comes down to control.
If you want to set their schedules, provide their supplies, and set standards for how work is performed, hiring W-2 employees might be the right fit. But if you’re comfortable with allowing cleaners more flexibility in how they work, hiring independent contractors may suit your business better.
Once you hire, train staff with the systems you already built, including:
- Shadow shifts
- Written checklists for each service type
- Quality checks
Pro Tip
Once you hire your first employee, you’re typically required by the state to carry workers compensation insurance. The rules vary depending on where your business is located, so make sure you know your requirements and have the right coverage in place before your team heads to their first jobs.
5. Build a Smart Team Structure
Scaling means building a business that doesn’t need you for every job. (It’s a little scary at first — we know!) Letting go requires a strong team structure, so your business holds steady at every operational level.
Common roles cleaning businesses need include:
- You, the owner: You used to do all the cleaning, scheduling, and invoicing, and now you oversee all work and let your business scale naturally
- First cleaners: Hiring professionals allows you to clean less and spend more time on building client relationships
- Crew leads: Experienced cleaners help run job sites, train new hires, and handle quality checks on your behalf
- Operations or office manager: You may eventually hire someone who handles scheduling, payroll, and customer service, so you can focus on branding and marketing
At each stage, hand off the task that takes the most of your time but doesn’t necessarily require your experience. Most cleaning business owners start with the cleaning itself, then scheduling, and finally, day-to-day management.
Insights From an Industry Pro
“Trusting someone else to represent the quality of the company was probably the hardest part. When you're the one doing the cleaning, you can see everything yourself. Once someone else is doing the work, you have to manage quality through standards, communication, photos, customer feedback, and accountability instead of physically being there. I still pay close attention to quality, but I had to stop believing I needed to personally clean every home for the customer to get a good result.“
6. Protect Your Cleaning Business With Insurance
More cleaners, more clients, more opportunity to grow — but also more ways for things to go wrong. For instance, one of your employees may break a client’s heirloom vase or get injured while lifting a heavy vacuum. Cleaning business claims like these can be devastating for a growing business.
Cleaning business insurance helps protect what you’re building, so one accident doesn’t undo all your scaling efforts.
Core Coverages Cleaning Businesses Need
- General liability insurance: Designed to cover third-party injury or property damage claims, such as a client tripping over a cleaner’s equipment on-site
- Tools and equipment coverage (inland marine): Insures your movable cleaning equipment against theft or damage
- Workers compensation insurance: State-mandated benefits for employees’ work-related injuries or illnesses
- Commercial auto insurance: Built to cover accidents involving your business vehicles, such as a collision on the way to a job site
How Your Risk Changes as You Expand Your Cleaning Business
As you take on more clients and hire people, new risks come with each stage. It’s crucial to match these exposures to the proper coverage to protect your business as it grows.
| Growth Stage | New Risks | Coverage to Consider |
|---|---|---|
|
Solo |
Damage to a client’s property, a client slipping on a wet floor, or stolen or damaged equipment |
General liability insurance, tools and equipment coverage |
|
First hire |
An employee gets hurt on the job; an employee is accused of stealing from a client |
Workers compensation (required in most states once you have employees), janitorial bond |
|
Multiple crews |
More jobs happening at once, equipment spread across vehicles and job sites, and employees driving for work |
Tools and equipment coverage, commercial auto insurance |
|
Commercial contracts |
Clients require specific limits and proof of insurance |
Certificates of Insurance (COIs), additional insured endorsements |
Dig deeper with our Small Business Insurance Guide (+ Free Checklist).
Marketing Your Growing Cleaning Business
Once your systems and teams can take on more work, it’s time to fill the schedule! For ways to promote your business, explore our guide on how to market your cleaning business.
Ready for larger, recurring work? Learn how to get cleaning contracts with businesses and commercial property managers.
Grow With Insurance Canopy
No matter where you are in your business ownership, Insurance Canopy is here to help protect your dream (and all the hard work you put into it)! Check off your insurance to-do with our affordable, top-rated cleaning business insurance starting from $39 per month.
FAQs About Scaling Your Cleaning Business
How Do I Grow My Cleaning Business Fast?
The fastest way to grow your cleaning business is to get more clients without burning out. Focus on getting referrals from happy clients, building a strong online presence, and selling recurring cleaning services to your current client base.
What Type of Cleaning Business Is Most Profitable?
Commercial cleaning is often the most profitable cleaning business because contracts bring larger, recurring jobs (and predictable revenue). Specialty services, such as move-in and move-out cleaning or window washing, are also profitable because they offer a niche benefit that commands higher rates.
The most profitable model for your business depends on what your local market needs and how you can fill that gap with your services.
What Insurance Do I Need to Scale My Cleaning Business?
Most cleaning businesses start with general liability insurance. It’s designed to cover claims that your work damaged a client’s property or injured someone. As you grow, you may also need:
- Workers compensation once you hire employees
- Tools and equipment coverage for gear that moves between job sites
- Commercial auto insurance for vehicles you use for work
