How to start a cleaning business in the UK

A cleaning business is one of the few you can start with a few hundred pounds of equipment, and one of the few where good, reliable work fills the diary by word of mouth. It is also easy to start badly: priced too low, uninsured, and running everything out of a phone. This guide walks through the decisions in the order you will meet them.

Choose what kind of cleaning

"Cleaning" covers very different businesses. Most successful companies start with one and add others later.

If you are leaning towards holiday lets, our guide to starting a holiday-let cleaning business covers the differences in detail.

Register the business

• Sole trader: register with HMRC for Self Assessment. Simple, and the usual way to start.
• Limited company: register at Companies House. More paperwork, but the business is separate from you. An accountant can tell you which suits you in one conversation.
• Open a separate business bank account from the first day, and keep every receipt.
• Check on GOV.UK whether you need to register for VAT. Most small cleaning businesses don't at first, but keep an eye on your turnover.
• If you will keep customers' names, addresses and key codes, check on the ICO's website whether you need to pay the data protection fee. Most businesses that hold personal information do.

Get insured

• Public liability insurance covers damage or injury you cause while working. It isn't a legal requirement, but almost every customer with a business will ask for the certificate.
• Employers' liability insurance is a legal requirement as soon as you employ anyone.
• Make sure the policy covers holding keys, damage to the things you are cleaning, and working in empty properties.
• Tell your car insurer you use the car for business.

Equipment and products

Start with what the work needs, not a van full of kit: a good vacuum, microfibre cloths in colours for each area, mops, buckets, a steam cleaner if you will do kitchens and bathrooms, and a small range of products. For every product, keep the safety data sheet and a simple COSHH assessment of how you use it safely. HSE has guidance written for cleaning.

Price it properly

New cleaning businesses almost always charge too little. Work out what an hour of work really costs you, including travel, products, insurance and the hours you spend on admin, then add a margin. Our guide on how to price cleaning jobs takes you through it step by step.

Find your first customers

1. 1Set up a free Google Business Profile, so you show on Google Maps when people search for cleaners near them.
2. 2Ask every happy customer for a Google review, and for the names of two friends.
3. 3For commercial work, walk your local business parks and introduce yourself to office managers. Many contracts are small and never advertised.
4. 4For holiday lets, join local host groups and approach letting and property management agents.
5. 5Have a simple one-page website with your areas, services, prices from, and a phone number.

Take on staff

Growing past what you can clean yourself means taking on people. Decide early whether they will be employees or self-employed subcontractors: it isn't a free choice, it depends on how the work is actually done, and HMRC's employment status tool on GOV.UK will tell you which applies. For employees you will need to:

• Check their right to work in the UK before they start.
• Register as an employer with HMRC and run payroll.
• Pay at least the National Minimum Wage for every hour worked, including travel between jobs during the day. Check GOV.UK for the current rates.
• Have employers' liability insurance.
• Give them the health and safety information and training they need, and keep a record of it.

Many companies also ask for a basic DBS check, especially for homes and for keys. Our guide on managing staff training and policies covers which policies to give new starters and how to keep the record.

Set up your systems before you are busy

One schedule

Decide where the schedule lives on day one. A diary works for one person. With a team, you need one place where everyone sees their own jobs, with the address, key safe code and notes, so nothing depends on a message forty lines up a WhatsApp group.

Proof of work

Clock in and out times and a few photos at the end of each clean settle most complaints before they start, and give you what you need if one turns into a dispute.

Invoicing

Invoice from the work you have done, not from memory. Every missed clean you forget to bill is pure profit lost.

How RoomZoom helps

RoomZoom is software for running a cleaning business: one schedule for regular and one-off cleans, an app for your cleaners with their jobs and property notes, clock in and out, photo quality checks, client logins and invoicing from the cleans you have done. The Basic plan is free for 5 properties, 5 clients and 2 team members, so you can start with it and grow into Pro. Sign up free, no card needed.