Offline Marketing - Apartment Cleaning

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OperationStackola

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Hey BHW,

Had an idea for this summer - since college students are moving in/out of apartments due to universities getting out etc, I wanted to have a little apartment cleaning start up between me and my brother or one of my close friends. I was posting to see if anyone had a similar experience in this field and could give me some guidence on what I'd need. I'm making lists and researching about other companies right now, I'm trying to have obviously the lowest price and quality work and considering cleaning my friends apartment for free (it's disgusting) so I have some sample work to show local apartments. My advertising method would be just posting things on bulletin boards/craigslist. Let me know if yall have any tips! Thank you
 
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A friends girlfriend does this! she specialises in end of lease clean ups.

You want to talk to the letting agents, if you can under cut their current cleaners you will win the projects. Cleaners also have a high turn over rate due to the fact its a hard job, I'm sure this will work well for you.

Advertising on craigslist will get you a few apartments, but going to the letting agent will land you 10/15/20 if not more.
 
As a former landlord I would also suggest you may need something a little more than a good Hoover, possibly a shampooer steam cleaner or the like. To give you value added over other cleaners as they won't necessarily provide this service. Also stain removal is like gold dust as long as it's cheaper than a new carpet.

Things I would expect as a standard package would be carpets work surfaces mirrors ovens no drips limescale prints, dirt etc. Like I said shampooing can be expensive so that is value added. Add stain removal you will be king cleaner.

P.s. oven needs to sparkle.

And no smells other than fresh.
 
Setting up a FB page could be an idea. It would be easy enough to connect with the students in your area and you may also get useful information about when they are leaving or advertising for new room mates.

I'd also offer things like 'post-party' and 'pre-inspection' cleanup services.
 
Thank you all for the information. A lot of things I didn't think about. I am going to advertise on Craigslist and may even run some local Facebook ads - going to try and find a quality vacuum that can shampoo clean carpets.

I think I am going to try and go mostly 'all green' cleaning supplies to add another layer of niche to my business.

When you guys say talk to the letting agents, do you mean leasing people in the apartments office? Sorry I'm not up to date on my terms :P.


Also - what is the typical charge for this, anyone know? I've done my research but it seems to vary and I can't find any local prices. I was thinking $80 for 2 bedroom or something ?
 
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OperationStackola said:
When you guys say talk to the letting agents, do you mean leasing people in the apartments office? Sorry I'm not up to date on my terms :P.
Click to expand...

Letting agents is leasing agents... I would not target students but the pros like it was suggested... students are typically broke.
 
BassTrackerBoats said:
Letting agents is leasing agents... I would not target students but the pros like it was suggested... students are typically broke.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah word - I wasn't going after students directly but rather just saying there are some students in my area so I think the market would be boomin. Plus the fact I found nothing on google aobut apartment cleaners in my area...


List of supplies so far -

Oxyclean - $20
Sal Suds Liquid Degreaser - $20
Hoover Power Scrub - $170

This is my first business venture so I'm trying to maker sure I have everything down pat. I might make some test listings online and see if I get any interest before I go ahead and buy supplies.
 
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One thing that comes to mind is that a lot of students are lazy. I don't know where you're located but if you're targeting a city that has a high concentration of students with money you could always try advertising your service on the uni campus, hang up ads in student restaurants, ... Where I live students have to make sure their room is in top notch shape when they leave in order to get back their deposits so a service like yours would have a lot of potential.
 
One thing I would suggest is baking soda. For the shower door a lot of people will use those spray cleaners, but I've always found that they leave a residue. Instead just use a sponge with baking soda on it and it'll clean the doors.

Oh, and if you're cleaning ovens try the baking soda on the trays as well instead of oven cleaners and then fire in a lemon cut in half. Bingo!
 
I'm getting offers from those cleaning small companies all the time, they usually say something like: "Spend time with family and not with cleaning your windows" or something like thats. Also, did you think about commercial buildings cleaning?
 
I have an acquaintance who has a resale shop, and she does apartment abandonment for the contents. When the property leasers have a move out that leaves a lot of contents in the apartmrnt, they go in and remove the contents so the make ready people can go in.

Their service is an emptying service. All they do is save the good stuff and throw the big junk into the dumpster, they do not do cleaning. They do bag up all clothes they do not want for donation to charity if they are not too dirty.

They keep some clothing, especially designer, any good furniture and so on.

You would be amazed at what peopel will leave when they move, and she has college student do the clean outs on the weekends.

She started selling at flea markets, then opened a store.

Some apartment auction the stuff off, but they can discard the stuff too. Seldom is there any real treasure left, but one time they found a Stratocaster, (some kind of guitar).
 
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Don't forget insurance. You'll be in peoples homes, moving things around, insurance could be important
 
i've worked with someone who owns a cleaning franchise, and worked with 3 letting agents. If this is your first business venture into this area you will fail, and lose money. Don't let that put you off though. You'll definitely learn something.
 
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