Whether you own a residential or a commercial cleaning business, you need a mode of transportation to visit the clients. Not only that, but the cleaners have to take transport cleaning equipment and supplies, such as sweeps, mops, chemicals, vacuum cleaners, etc.
However, the question is whether a cleaning business needs to invest in a van or a car.
Lucky for you, the following guide answers the question, considering the scale of the cleaning business and the area served.
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Below you’ll find Best Vehicle for a Cleaning business.
Why Do Cleaning Companies Need to Invest in Vehicles?
Before deciding between a van or a car, let’s briefly understand the importance of buying a company vehicle, especially for a cleaning business.
Quick transportation, which can carry all your cleaners, as well as equipment, serves the following purposes:
The growth of the cleaning business depends on how quickly the cleaners can reach their destination. Not only that, but the size of the company vehicles determines the loading and unloading time.
Besides swift cleaning services, a company vehicle offers safety to the employees as they commute from one area to another. Similarly, the expensive cleaning equipment also stays protected in a vehicle, thus, offering a better return on investment in the longer run.
A vehicle doesn’t just serve as a mode of transportation but also as an active marketing and advertising board. For instance, many cleaning businesses transform their vehicle and paint the logo and contact details.
This way, whether the vehicle is moving or parked outside the customer’s place, the nearby people can learn about the cleaning business and call for further inquiries. Hence, cleaning companies need to make strategic decisions before investing in a vehicle to represent their cleaning brand on the roads.
Buying insurance for the company vehicle guarantees a long-term and safe investment.
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Key Considerations While Buying the Best Vehicle For Cleaning Business
It’s time to discuss the factors that affect a cleaning company's decision while buying a vehicle.
Fuel Efficiency
One of the most significant concerns of cleaning company owners is fuel cost. As a result, the owners include the fuel cost while finalising the profit margins and setting the cleaning price.
It’s best to select a vehicle that offers better gas mileage within the city. For instance, you can determine the fuel mileage based on your serving area, whether it’s a rural area, a suburb, or a city centre.
Once you have evaluated the service area's road and traffic conditions, you can buy a car or a cargo van offering more gas mileage.
The vehicle used by the cleaning company is mainly on the roads. That’s why investing in a vehicle with better mileage is best. However, more mileage comes with a higher vehicle price tag. Nonetheless, the cleaning company can save hundreds of bucks while saving fuel.
Fuel efficiency plays an integral role in cleaning company branding, especially when offering green cleaning. For instance, if you provide eco-friendly cleaning, it’s best to buy a fuel-efficient, hybrid, or battery-operated vehicle to support the green cleaning cause.
Insurance Costs
Vehicle insurance coverage is a must based on the state you are operating. Many cleaning companies consider vehicle insurance a luxury; however, it’s necessary to ensure the safety of your employees, vehicle, and cleaning equipment.
You can conveniently get a quotation from the insurance agent based on the following information:
Once you get the initial quotation for different models, you can select between a car or a van for regular transportation. It’s essential to understand that commercial insurance is usually more expensive than personal vehicle insurance.
While buying a vehicle, the cleaning company must cover all the legal grounds and register the vehicles with the state using commercial plates.
Many cleaning companies use personal vehicle plates to cut down the insurance cost. However, there is a higher risk of confiscation if law enforcement authorities find out about the personal number plates.
A pro tip: You can save thousands of dollars repairing the company vehicle after an accident if you opt for insurance.
Maintenance Cost
It’s best for cleaning companies to research while buying a vehicle, such as the availability of the services and spare parts. Similarly, you can check if the third-party mechanics can replace the parts or repair the vehicle for less than the dealership.
Cleaning companies try to save money by buying second-hand commercial vehicles. It is a decent deal earlier; however, the older the vehicle is, the more maintenance it requires.
On the other hand, buying a new vehicle saves the cleaning company from the hassle of visiting the car mechanics more often.
A cleaning business can’t afford to delay customer cleaning service if the vehicle is out of order or requires unforeseen maintenance. That’s why routine maintenance, oil change, and cleaning are necessary to ensure the longevity of the cleaning vehicle.
Other short-term vehicle check-ups include
Conversely, long-term vehicle maintenance tasks include
Finally, if you are concerned about lower maintenance costs, buying a vehicle with an extended warranty is best.
Space
It’s one of the essential considerations when deciding between a car or a van. Ideally, the best vehicle for a cleaning business has seating space for all the cleaners. Not only that, but it also offers sufficient space to keep the equipment.
Here, the cleaning business needs to evaluate the following things:
Total serving area
Some examples of cars with enough space and extra room to fulfil the cleaning business purposes are:
Price
Being a cleaning company owner, the one-time cost of the vehicle matters. The vehicle is undoubtedly an asset as it’s in the ownership of the cleaning company; however, it requires cash which the companies either car loan from the bank or use the profit.
It’s best to decide on a budget before selecting between a van and a car. A cargo van costs more than a car; however, it provides more space. The cleaning business owner can make trade-offs between the facilities and the allocated budget.
One of the most significant mistakes new cleaning business owners make is spending lavishly on vehicles, considering them as a part of the marketing campaign. It’s true to a great extent; however, it’s best to have a conservative approach to allocating some money to operational costs.
If you are starting a cleaning business, you don’t need to burden yourself by investing in a vehicle. It’s because you don’t incur a one-time cost buying a vehicle; instead, you need to consider the daily fuel and maintenance costs.
Hence, renting a vehicle or buying a second-hand car is best until your business reaches break-even.
Safety
One of the primary objectives behind investing in a vehicle is equipment safety and employees. That’s why the vehicle should include airbags and ample cargo space. Also, you can check the crash test ratings of the shortlisted company vehicles.
Additionally, the vans qualify to be the perfect candidates to pick up and store expensive cleaning equipment. For instance, the vans are enclosed and can protect heavy equipment in bad weather or storms.
It’s not just about vehicle storage space but also driving safety. The cleaners must secure the place after loading the vehicle with the supplies and chemicals; the cleaners must secure the place.
The heavy equipment and cleaning products shouldn’t slide off towards the driver. Most premium vans feature heavy-duty steel partitions to separate the cab and cargo area.
Colour
As mentioned, a cleaning business vehicle serves as a billboard to promote cleaning services. Hence, you need to modify its exterior by painting the company’s logo, contact details, and the cleaning message.
Instead of painting the entire vehicle with the paint colour according to the cleaning company’s branding, choosing a vehicle with the same colour is best. You can save thousands of dollars by not re-doing the vehicle paint.
Additional Features
Loading and unloading the cleaning supplies also help the cleaning companies decide between a car or a van. For instance, companies can quickly load lightweight supplies in a car; however, it’s impossible to load floor machines.
Besides a van, the cleaning companies also buy ramps and platforms with hydraulic arms to load and unload the equipment.
Sometimes, the cleaning companies need to do some customisation to rearrange the cargo space to install some shelves, boxes, and containers to store the cleaning supplies.
Finally, checking the weight limit while buying any cleaning business vehicle is best. For instance, the cleaning company can weigh the equipment they want to transport and check the supporting weight limit.
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Vehicle By Residential and Commercial Cleaning Businesses
The cleaning industry is diverse and residential services, carpet cleaners, and janitorial services require different types of vehicles.
A residential cleaning business requires comparatively lesser equipment than a commercial cleaning business. It’s because commercial cleaners have clients, such as corporate businesses, factories, and other manufacturing companies. As a result, commercial cleaners need to use heavy-duty vacuum cleaners, carpet cleaning machines, and pressure washing.
Similarly, the total amount of cleaning supplies varies significantly between commercial and residential cleaning businesses. Hence, it’s best for commercial cleaners to invest in a cargo van rather than a car.
Conversely, the residential cleaning company can assess the types of services they offer to the customers. For example, a company car should suffice if they offer daily cleaning.
However, many cleaning businesses offer different services, such as windows, doors, carpets, and deep cleaning. For this purpose, the total amount of supplies is more than the regular cleaning.
If that’s the case, the residential cleaners also need to buy a cargo van to store and transport all sorts of cleaning supplies to facilitate multiple customers during the day. But, again, it’s because the cleaners don’t come to the office, collect the supplies and visit the next one.
Instead, the cleaners usually keep all the equipment required during the day in a cargo van and commute from one customer to another. Hence, if the total number of customers served during the day is more, the cleaning business can buy a cargo van rather than a car.
For instance, an SUV or a minivan satisfy all the requirements of a cleaning business as it can store and trap or vacuum mops, chemicals, and brooms. But conversely, it’s not possible to transport the floor machinery in a minivan.
How Many Vehicles Does a Cleaning Business Require?
During the first year of the cleaning business, a pickup truck suffices to transport the cleaning supplies. It’s because the cleaning company has relatively less cleaning load, which it can manage with a single truck.
The primary purpose of using a single vehicle is to save money and enhance profit. However, once your cleaning business is up and running, it’s time to scale the cleaning operations and attract more customers.
You need to buy more vehicles for your cleaning company. However, the question is how many vehicles you require. Then, the cleaning company can use the previous year's data to project the cleaning services for the coming years.
Other factors to consider while buying more vehicles include
Final Thoughts
The key takeaway of the above guide is to share all the essential factors cleaning companies need to consider while buying a cargo van or car.
First, the cleaning business must evaluate the business requirement, allocated budget, employees' safety, and marketing goals. Once you have the above information, you can make a well-informed decision about the best vehicle.
