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How to Start a Cleaning Business – The Critical Importance of Systems

Take a close look inside any service business start up, and you’ll very often see the same picture. An owner/operator stuck balancing the drive for new business and getting existing business serviced, all the while trying to pay the bills and answer phones. One of the recurring themes that you’ll hear from us at the How to Start a Cleaning Business Blog is the importance of putting systems in place early on so that all parts of the business function smoothly whether you’re there or not.

Every aspect of the business needs to be systemized in the company’s infancy so that down the line you’re offering a consistent product at a reasonable price, growing your business steadily without pulling your hair out, and getting paid to do the work that you’ve just finished.

Here are three of the most vital areas of the cleaning business start up that need to be systemized when the doors open.

Develop a marketing strategy

Many cleaning business entrepreneurs immediately shy away when we begin discussing marketing. It’s one of the areas that they know they need to dial in and focus on, but don’t have a clear enough picture of what should be happening with marketing to take control of it. We’re not saying that you need to spend vast sums of money on marketing here. But before you spend $1 on ANY form of marketing or advertising, you need to understand your demographic and your market so that once that first marketing dollar leaves your wallet, you can effectively evaluate whether or not it was money well spent. You’re never going to get it right each and every time you employ a marketing strategy. That’s why you MUST be able to evaluate your efforts.

Develop an operational checklist

It’s an inevitable situation. You start the business cleaning properties yourself along with your two trusty employees. Then you get the call that your child is sick and needs to be picked up from school. You leave your two fantastic employees to finish the last three houses of the day and that evening, the calls start to come in. They missed the master bathroom at the Jones house. They completely forgot the kitchen counters at the Smith residence. And guess who gets to go back and literally “clean up the mess” tomorrow. Yes, you do. An operational checklist is absolutely critical in the cleaning industry. When you go to McDonald’s do you think they just guess at how long to cook your fries or what they’ll put on your hamburger for toppings? No, they don’t. They deliver the same product each and every time. And you must do that as well in order to manage and meet customer expectations.

Employ a communications strategy

Far too many cleaning business owners are coming close to the edge of sanity each and every day trying to balance operations and coordinating communication with prospective customers and existing …

Working From Home: Organization Is Key!

One of the best things about working as a writer is the fact that you are able to do so from anywhere in the world, providing that you have something to write with. However, most writers still find that they need somewhere that they are able to store all of their materials, as this means that they know where to look when they need to find something. It is very easy to suddenly find yourself surrounded with bits of paper that you’re not even sure if you need, so it is therefore important to make sure that you spring clean your work space every so often.

The first thing that you need to do is to work out what you need to keep and what you don’t. You should make sure that you keep everything to do with the financial side of your writing, as these are things that you may need to refer to later, but there are often lots of pieces of scrap paper that you’re able to simply get rid of.

If you are registered as self employed, then it is vital that you keep good records of every payment that you receive. To do this, you could buy a box file that is specifically for this purpose, and you would then be able to keep everything in date order, which means that you could easily find information when it is needed. It may help to buy a shelf, as this means that you would be able to place a number of files upon it, and it would be out of the way of your working space.

If you keep money in your office, then you should make sure that you have a safe. This is the best option to prevent your money from being taken, and it can sit in the corner of your office without taking up too much space at all.

Being hygienic is vital, as things like surfaces and keyboards can attract a lot of dirt. You should make sure that you wipe these down regularly so that you keep on top of the cleaning before it gets too much for you.

Once you have done this, you should find that you are now in the perfect environment to carry on with your work. You will be much more productive, and this will show in the quality of your writing and your mood whilst you are working.…

Profit From the Rate Cuts Around the World – Look to the Currency Market

Are you sick of the stock market?  Are you staying up late worrying about your retirement account?  Is your stomach permanently tied in knots because of volatility?  Are you dizzy from the markets being up 300, down 800, up 100, down 700.  Are you looking at your statements just wondering why all your money is disappearing?

Is it time to try something new?

Let me tell you, many investors believe buy and hold is dead.

What do I mean?  Just look at the stock market over the last 10 years. Back in early 1999 the Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed 10,000. Today, almost 10 years later the market’s in exactly the same spot.  No joke.

So if the equity markets aren’t the place to be what’s left?

Have you thought about trading currencies? These days, currencies are easy to trade.  You can do it right from your own brokerage account.  No need to open new accounts or learn a new trading language.

  Another reason to look at currencies: we are on the edge of a recession, not only in the United States but around the world as well.  And I’m not the only one who sees this happening.

Apparently the major central banks around the world feel the same way – they all cut rates in emergency sessions last night.  Our own Federal Reserve cut rates 50 basis points.  Major investors the world over see the risks to the global economy.  In order to preserve investment dollars they’re moving to safe investments.

The safest investment in the world is the US Dollar.

I know what you’re thinking.  “My money is already in US Dollars.”  That’s great!  This gives you an even better opportunity to profit.  And here’s how to do it.

Currencies trade in pairs.  Let me give you an example.

Global investors had moved a good deal of money into Australia over the last few years.  The economy was humming along and their money was earning high levels of interest (in excess of 7%).  This means they owned a great deal of Australian Dollars (The local currency).

A few months ago the Australian economy started to weaken.  Consumer spending slowed, and as commodity prices fell, the economy’s growth slowed.  At the same time the US Dollar was getting stronger.  The risk in Australia seemed big, so money flowed from the Aussie Dollar to the US Dollar. As a result the value of the Aussie Dollar fell. 

Just yesterday, the Reserve Bank of Australia cut interest rates by 1%. This was a huge move.  Consider most rate cuts are 0.25% or 0.50% at the most.  The reserve bank went a full percentage point.  This weakened the Aussie Dollar even more.

Profiting from the fall.

Over a month ago I recommended to short the Australian Dollar.  We went short by purchasing carefully selected put options.  These options spiked in value over the last few weeks and now …

Daily Office Cleaning

One of the most important factors to consider when managing an office is how daily office cleaning will contribute to the efficiency of your office.

When there are no distractions for staff or you, more time will be devoted to completing their work. Dirty desks, full bins and messy floors can be big distractions.

One way in which many offices achieve a clean office is through either archiving or digitising paper files. If you file them onto your office network, then there is no longer any need for the paper file, and so it can be disposed of. When you magnify this by the number of pieces of paper you have in your office, it will make a significant difference to the cleanliness of your office, presenting it in a professional manner to potential clients.

Ensuring that you keep the amount of paper files low will reduce the amount of cupboards and lockers you need for storing out of date files. If you do choose to digitise your office filing system, you will need to resource a back up system of some kind to ensure 100 percent office continuity, in case something happens to your data.

Another office cleaning tip is through setting aside time to actually do it. By timetabling in cleaning time to your business schedule each week you will be able to give the office the deep clean that it needs; removing waste paper, rubbish and all the other mess your staff leave around! If you do need to keep some paper documents, assign them in order of priority, putting the highest priority on top of your storage base and the least at the bottom, allowing easy access to the items you need the most.

Possibly the best tip we can give you is that instead of doing all the work yourself, hire a commercial cleaning company instead. This will allow you to focus on bringing in more clients and profit for your business while still keeping your office presentable and an efficient working environment. When you hire a cleaning company, make sure they can provide references for their current clients and follow these up to make sure they do a good job.

Most cleaning companies are prepared to sign Non Disclosure Agreements as they will be in your office and could potentially see things that should not be public knowledge.

In conclusion, the few office cleaning tips we have offered here will help keep your office as efficient and attractive as possible, attracting new clients and bringing in more profit for your firm. By just following these tips, you’ll instantly transform your mess into success!…

Cleaning Supplies an Office Cleaning Company Should Have

Office cleaning companies take care of all of the picking up, scraping off, throwing out, and cleaning up of offices to keep them looking great. There is a lot of work that goes into making sure the office looks perfect, and along with that, there are a lot of office cleaning supplies that are needed to achieve this.

There are many different office cleaning supplies that every company should have and should know how to use. The basic supplies consist of mops, brooms, and dustpans; they keep the floors dust-free and squeaky clean. A vacuum is vital in cleaning; most companies have carpet in their offices and it needs to look elegant and clean at all times, especially when clients are coming in and out of the office. Industrial vacuum cleaners are essential, because regular vacuum cleaners may not pick up all of the dirt left on the carpet after a long day of work.

Anti-Static Cleaners and Air Dusters are extremely important in keeping sensitive electronics such as, computers, fax machines, printers, and copy machines (anything that can potentially be damaged by liquids) clean. Anti-static cleaners are for removing the dust on computer monitors, and for preventing that dust to come back. Air dusters are cans filled with compressed air that release a blast of air onto the equipment to remove the dust.

Gum removers, all-purpose cleaners, bleaches, and industrial strength glass cleaners are also critical supplies to have in an office cleaning business. Gum removers are not only used to remove gum from the carpet, but can also be used as a cleaner for rugs. All-purpose cleaners work to help remove grease and dirt from tabletops while keeping their surfaces safe. Bleaches are used to disinfect tabletops and office desks, usually containing chlorine which helps kill bacteria. Industrial strength glass cleaners are powerful enough to keep the office windows streak free and clean.

Keeping an office clean and looking good is crucial in a company, and companies like Jani-King offer exceptional office cleaning services.…

Efficient Office Cleaning

In a world that is now plagued by sickness and disease, which is spread by oral or physical contact between people, office cleaning is no more but a matter of choice. This business necessity allows you to keep the disease at bay and to ensure that you are not responsible for any adverse development in the health of your employees. Little things like touching the microwave handle as a community without cleaning it regularly or office coffeepots or door handles including the other electronic devices like computers and phones can result in illness.

It is therefore essential to have a regular office cleaning. This could be taken in yourself or you can actually decide to hire professionals. There are a number of professional cleaning services that are now available. These professionals provide cleaning services with products that are tested in the laboratory and are based on your choice of cleaning products. They are environmentally friendly too. It is not unusual to employees who think nothing of cleaning systems.

They completely accept unconscious that living in unhygienic condition is an unhealthy abstract so, regular cleaning should be done. However, the need has to be addressed by you either as an employer or an employee, at some time or the other.Today, most offices in the world hire cleaning services that take care of all the minimum requirements for cleaning of offices like sweeping, vacuuming, removing trash, dusting and disinfecting common workplace.

It is far better to invest wisely in a cleaning service for office rather than dealing with the loss of thousands of dollars paying for the relief of health due to unhygienic conditions. Cleaning your office is a necessity that can not be ignored. It is essential to establish a regular disinfection of various work areas and the use of green cleaning procedures. Apart from the individual, it pays to consider and incorporate office cleaning within the set business routine. It calls for the equal assistance from employers and co-workers. It is necessary to understand that quite a large proportion of daily time is spent in the office and it is our interaction at the workstations that could expose children and other family members to disturbing health developments.…

Saving Money Through Your Phone Bill

Saving is an essential these days. In the past, a lot of people forgot about having to save some money because everyone was just so well off. Now that the economy has taken a turn for the worse and has never recovered, each and everyone needs to bear in mind that every penny saved can go a long way. That is one of the hard lessons that was brought home to us by the economic crisis that we are undergoing. Things have changed and they will never be the same again. Now all that we can do is to count every penny and hope that somehow things will get better in the future. On the bright side, this economic crisis has taught us that we should never take things for granted. We learned that money is something that should be cherished.

Well when it comes to saving, we all have our own practices that have been tried and tested by our experiences. Here are just some of the best ways to save on your phone bill, that we have come across in recent years. A phone service is a necessity, there’s no arguing with that, but do we use all the services in our plans that we pay for? Just take a look at these tips and see if you could use them.

Cutting back on the plans- if you think that you are wasting some money on a plan that’s too high with what you are actually using then go lower. Service providers will have all sorts of plan and there is surely one that will fit your needs. You could even demand that they give you a special plan. That will surely take out some amount from your expenses.

Take advantage- It’s high time that you be the one to take advantage of your phone provider. Call them and tell them that you will be dropping their service if they don’t give you a better deal. Chances are you will get what you want. Ask to speak with a manager or someone higher who could authorize changes on your account right away.

Look for other providers- Check out what the competition offers you and if its something better, then drop your service right away. just be sure that you do not commit to any contract, if you can help it, so you could just drop them right away.

For more information regarding finance, like facts about debt consolidation no equity, check out other online articles today.…

The Disadvantage Of Factoring Receivables – Why Confidential Accounts Receivable Finance Works!

Looking for a creative, ‘outside the box’ Canadian business financing solution? You may have investigated factoring receivables already but either didn’t understand how accounts receivable financing works, or, probably more to the point weren’t comfortable with how it works for your firm on a daily basis.

We’ve got the perfect solution for those worries, and its called confidential receivable financing, in Europe its more commonly known as C I D, confidential invoice discounting.

Let’s examine why this type of business financing works in general, and then let’s focus in on why our solution makes a solid solution even better.

In general terms when you ‘factor ‘ your receivables you essentially sell them to the factoring firm. That can be done on a one of basis, on a periodic basis, or all the time. That’s one of the key advantages of this type of financing, you only use what you need, and… More importantly, you only pay for what you use!

Paying for what you use in accounts receivable financing is key because factoring, in general terms can be a more expensive type of financing. We say ‘can be’ because quite frankly if you use it properly it actually could be a cheaper method of financing than your bank. That’s a point our clients are always amazed at when we discuss this type of Canadian business financing.

The cost of factoring receivables can be significantly offset, or in some cases removed completely by your firm using these funds to take supplier discounts and purchase more efficiently and at better prices.

And… Think about this carefully, if you can finance your receivable the days you issue the invoice (that’s what factoring does) then you are in a position to generate funds to sell more products and services to your customers, generating additional margins and profits. Or, of course, you could take the non factoring approach and wait for your customers to pay you in 30, 60, or… dare we say it, 90 days. And that hasn’t worked for you in the past, which is why you are looking for a better solution.

So lets examine how factoring works, and lets get you over the hump, so to speak, on why our preferred type of accounts receivable financing is confidential invoice discounting.

When you generate an invoice under a factoring receivables agreement you receive 90% of the invoice in the form of immediate funds the same day. The other 10% is a holdback, and is remitted back to you promptly when you customer pays, less the financing charges, which are typically 1.5 – 2% for a 30 day period.

In 99% of traditional factoring arrangements the factor company verifies your invoice with your customer and actually collects it. Under confidential invoice discounting you bill and collect your own receivables, and are in a position to finance your firm without your customers and suppliers having anything to do with how you finance …

Specialists In Catering Equipment Finance

When Kirk Smith was establishing Armada Finance in Exeter in the seventies, his focus was mainly on funding catering equipment for the hospitality and leisure industries, whether it be an oven for a hotel restaurant or a coffee machine for a local cafe. Over time the business grew and evolved; facilities offered got larger, the variety of equipment Armada would fund increased and referrals started coming in for different types of businesses.

Although the Armada team today are experts in funding the full range of equipment required by businesses in all sectors, the leasing of catering equipment is still core to the business, with Armada having a wealth of experience specialising in this area and long established, trusted relationships with equipment suppliers. Armada professionals have a unique understanding of the needs of the service industry. We know that a quick response is needed for an urgent replacement of essential equipment such as an oven or freezer, which if broken could be a disaster for a business and that ‘cash is king’ to any entrepreneur.

The hospitality sector covers a huge range of businesses, from hotels, restaurants, takeaways and cafes to pubs, wine bars and night clubs – Armada has funded equipment for them all. Recent support has included the complete fit-out of the kitchen for a new restaurant in Leeds, a range for a fish & chip shop in South Wales and carvery units for a pub on the Isle of Wight. However, catering equipment is also required for businesses in all sorts of other sectors. Armada has funded mixing equipment for a food manufacturer in Preston, kitchen equipment for play centres and coffee machines in convenience stores and offices.

With the service industry soon to benefit from the influx of visitors to the UK for the 2012 Olympics, Armada looks forward to helping businesses get ready to make the most of it.…

If you’ve always wanted to work from home, good news — there are plenty of jobs out there that can be done from the comfort of your computer! Here are three great ways to pay your bills without having to leave the house.

Become a Content Writer

Content writers work on everything from blog posts to product descriptions and even social media posts that people all over the world will see. On top of this, you’ll get to write about a wide variety of topics and may even learn a few things along the way. If you’re interested in writing professionally, you should have a strong ability to write well and learn quickly; good grammar skills and communication are also important here.

Find a Data Entry Position

As long as you have a computer and Internet access, you can get a job in data entry. Essentially, you would be adding and updating information in a company’s computer system, most likely through spreadsheets. In most positions, you’ll get plenty of training with the software before starting the job. If you enjoy routine and examining fine details, this may be the position for you.

Try Customer Service

Many customer support representatives are actually operators working from home — in this position, you would accept calls on a company’s behalf and assist customers with product issues, complaints, questions and anything else they need help with. For anyone who still wants to interact with customers from the comfort of home, this is a great way to go!

Making money from home might seem impossible, but it’s actually quite easy to find a position that works for you. Remember: most work-from-home jobs will require a good Internet connection and/or access to a phone, so make sure you’ve got the right equipment for the job before applying.…