Top Challenges Cleaning Business Owners Face and How to Overcome Them

It’s one of the worst nightmares of any cleaning company if the cleaners don’t show up on time. The company schedules multiple cleaning sessions daily and can’t afford to lose clients or keep them waiting. Similarly, no commercial client wants the office to be dirty before the employees start coming to the office.

One of the most effective ways to deal with this issue is to have a proper communication channel, such as online software. This way, the managers assign the tasks visible to all the cleaners.

Planning is crucial when it comes to taking time off from work, which also applies to cleaning employees. By giving advance notice of their casual leave requests, they can ensure that arrangements are made to cover their absence. However, unexpected emergencies can happen to anyone, so it's wise to have a backup cleaner on hand if needed. With a contingency plan in place, your cleaning company can continue to provide top-notch service even when unexpected absences occur.

Premium cleaning and exceptional customer service are critical to a successful commercial cleaning business. Conversely, poor customer service can be highly frustrating for the customers, such as:

The commercial cleaning business should invest in a dedicated customer support team that can respond to customer queries. But on the other hand, they can outsource to a reliable customer service company that can route the questions to the company.

Inadequate cleaning services or skipping the desired steps can severely harm the business leading to unsatisfied customers. At worst, if the cleaning services don’t improve, the company starts to lose customers and get bad reviews online and website.

The cleaning industry can resolve the issue by standardising the cleaning process. For instance, the cleaners should carry a list of the cleaning tasks and check them as they complete different cleaning steps.

Finally, after the cleaning session, the customers can review the list and verify the cleaning quality before signing off. Similarly, while cleaning commercial buildings, the cleaners can pass the weekly cleaning schedule on a board and tick mark them for a week before submitting them to the company management.

The trick is to document every cleaning step and make it a routine, so the cleaners don’t forget any step which can degrade the cleaning quality. But conversely, documenting also promotes a two-way handshake between the cleaners and customers to ensure trust and long-term relations.

Most of the commercial cleaning businesses in Australia are family-run; hence, the operations are handed over from one generation to another. Sadly, old habits and strategies die hard while the existing operation doesn’t change over time, making it difficult for the cleaning industry to adopt new technology and innovations.

Without a change in business operations, persistent challenges are inevitable. To overcome these challenges, it's crucial to enhance the hiring process by bringing on young, talented managers who can develop innovative strategies for marketing the cleaning company through online channels. By embracing new ideas and approaches, the cleaning company can stay ahead of the competition, attract new customers, and retain existing ones. This proactive approach to hiring and marketing ensures the business's long-term success.

The years-old industrial cleaning companies don’t leverage the potential of social media to attract new customers. Conversely, the website serves as an online shop where cleaning businesses can exhibit their work and add clients’ testimonials.

With hundreds of cleaning businesses operating in your area, the real challenge is survival by offering a distinctive value proposition. Running a cleaning company requires less investment; that’s why it’s highly competitive, leading to saturation.

Being a cleaning company, you should be able to answer a simple question,“ What are we offering to the clients that the competitors aren't?” Of course, everyone is offering regular, commercial, residential, and deep cleaning, so what strategy should the cleaning company implement to retain and attract potential clients?

Thanks to evolving technology, cleaners can use robot vacuum cleaners, power hoses, sweeper scrubbers, and efficient chemicals to perform cleaning tasks in less time.

Similarly, businesses can invest in inventory management software and applications allowing customers to schedule cleaning sessions online. In addition, a mobile app will enable customers to pay and rate the cleaners after the cleaning.

As the cost of cleaning services and operations increases, the overall labour and cleaners' prices increase proportionally. Especially after the global pandemic, people are more conscious about cleanliness and hygiene necessary for the family’s health.

That’s why cleaning companies hire competent cleaners with years of experience who demand higher wages than beginner cleaners.

The cleaning industry can play an essential role in addressing this challenge by creating a hierarchy of cleaners based on their expertise levels, from beginner to advanced.

Next, in-house proper training allows the expert cleaners to train the new cleaners regarding the cleaning steps and use of different chemical cleaners. Similarly, every group should include at least one supervisor or experienced cleaner to guide the cleaners through the cleaning service.

Finally, the cleaning companies can invest a one-time cost in management software and other advanced cleaning equipment to promote smart working instead of extensive manual effort. For instance, the cleaning staff can use a commercial-grade pressure vacuum to clean the factory floors without scrubbing and washing.

People are now more conscious about sustainability and environmental-friendly cleaning products. Unfortunately, many cleaning businesses have used standard cleaners and acids to remove stubborn stains and rust. These chemical cleaners usually have a pungent smell that harms people suffering from asthma or allergies.

That’s why people are inclined towards green cleaning, in which commercial cleaners use eco-friendly and sustainable cleaning solutions, thus supporting the cause of sustainability.

It’s not a challenge, but an opportunity for cleaning businesses to increase the market share among environment-conscious people.

The primary goal is to switch to sustainable cleaning techniques using less water and microfiber cloths instead of paper towels.

Another exciting domain that cleaning services should explore is minimising waste. Cleaning companies have a golden opportunity to expand their business by recycling the collected trash and designing affordable items.