How to Start a Cleaning Business Philippines

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How to Start a Cleaning Business in the Philippines: Have you ever thought about starting your own cleaning business in the Philippines? If so, the question is, how do you best go about it?

In today’s article, we will cover a step-by-step guide on how to start a cleaning business in the Philippines and ask some of the more challenging questions, such as, is a cleaning business profitable in the Philippines and how much it costs to start a cleaning business.

Steps to Start a Cleaning Business in the Philippines

1. Shape Your Cleaning Business

Step 1. Design your business. First, you should research and figure out what kind of cleaning business you want to start. This will guide your path on making decisions later on.

For example, do you want to be a commercial janitorial service for office buildings? Or do you want to be more of a boutique service for households in your upscale village or condominium? 

Then, after you have figured out the kind of business you want, you can go into the specifics of your services. For example, you can come up with a list of cleaning services you want to offer based on your target market.

Then, you could devise a subscription service for homeowners or contract-based job orders for companies or whatever scheme you find will work for your new venture.

2. Create Your Business Plan

Step 2. “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail,” or so the saying goes. Before starting your cleaning business, you first have to create a business plan. This will help solidify your vision through a specific strategy to get your business off the ground.

Doing so will force you to get realistic and look at your numbers. Will this be a full-time or part-time venture? Will you start from home or get a commercial space for your newfound profession? How many people should you hire? What services will you offer, and how much will you charge? You can answer all of these questions with a business plan. Filipino Wealth has an official business plan and financial plan for the Philippines, which can be downloaded for free.

3. Create Your Cleaning Business Branding

Step 3. What’s in a name? Your business name gives the first impression to your would-be clients, so you want it to be something equally eye-catching and memorable.

The name of your business should make you stand out from the competition at first glance and should be unique but not hard to spell or pronounce.

You can also make it specific to a certain niche in the cleaning industry. To make your business even more attractive to customers, you can also design a logo. Lastly, the name and logo you choose should be consistent with your branding but still allow growth.  

4. Register Your Cleaning Business In The Philippines

Step 4. Make it official. Ah yes, the paperwork. It is recommended to get this done as early as possible, not just to get it out of your way but also to legitimize your cleaning service.

To start a cleaning service in the Philippines, you will need to register your business name with the Department of Trade and Industry. You can find the step-by-step registration guide here, or you can also go to the nearest DTI office and bring a valid government-issued ID and fill out the business name registration form there.

However, a business name registration is not a license to operate a cleaning business in the Philippines. Therefore, you will also need the following:

• Barangay clearance. You can get this from the local Barangay Hall for less than 100 pesos. In addition, you will be asked for a photocopy of your DTI registration and a contract of lease or tax declaration for your business area, if applicable.
• Community Tax Certificate (CTC) or Cedula. This can be obtained at the City Treasurer’s Office for a minimal fee. Then, you need to fill out the Community Tax Declaration Form (CTDF) and bring a valid ID and registration certificate.  
• Contract of Lease or Tax Declaration. If you are renting a space, a lease contract will be one of the requirements for other permits. However, if you own the place of business, then a tax declaration would suffice.
• Mayor’s permit. The Mayor’s permit or business permit is necessary for all business operators. You can get this at the Business Permit and Licensing Office (BPLO) at the City Hall. You will also need to fill out an application form, submit the initial requirements and pay a fee of around 500 pesos. Then, depending on your city, the business permit can be released on the same day or after 3-5 business days. 
• BIR Registration. Registering your business with the Bureau of Internal Revenue is necessary to formalize and legalize your cleaning business operations in the Philippines. You will need an accomplished BIR Form 1901 or 1903, DTI Registration, Mayor’s permit, and a contract of lease (if rented) or tax declaration (if owned) for your business space if applicable. The Annual Registration Fee is P500. You can find more information about the BIR registration from their website at https://www.bir.gov.ph/. 
• Others. Depending on your cleaning business in the Philippines, you may also need a Fire Safety Inspection Certificate, Locational Clearance, Building Permit, Electrical Inspection Certificate, and a Sanitary Permit. All of these can be obtained through your local government units (LGU).

5. Market Your Cleaning Business In The Philippines

Step 5. These days, having a social media presence is important for businesses to be known and reached by potential customers. Social media can help you build brand awareness, increase your customer base through word-of-mouth, and maintain existing customers.

A Social Media Marketing Industry Report published by Michael Stelzner, founder of Social Media Examiner and the Social Media Marketing Society, states that 60% of business owners’ strongly agree’ that social media is important to their business.

Investing in building a following allows you to harness engagement with your community and generate sales. In addition, unlike traditional advertising, social media marketing is less expensive, fairly easy to learn, and DIY is perfect when starting a cleaning business in the Philippines.

For example, you can try one strategy by giving discounted rates to friends and publishing their honest reviews on your page. This way, you can further improve the quality of your services and build trust among prospective clientele. 

6. Monitor Your Cleaning Business And Grow

Once you have registered your business, built a brand, and started to see your business develop, the final step is to monitor your business closely to help the business grow.

You may find that when you start a cleaning business, it is more financially rewarding to work with certain types of clients or perhaps offer different kinds of services.

In addition, later down the line, you may start to offer your products to customers. The most important area when growing a business (especially a cleaning business) is scalability.

One common advice I often give those looking to start a new business, such as a cleaning business in the Philippines, is to apply the Start Stop and Continue method.

Ask yourself these three questions.

• What Can I Start Doing That Will Have A Positive Impact On My Business
• What Can I Stop Doing That Will Help My Business Save Money
• What Can I Continue To Do To Help My Business Grow

Is A Cleaning Business Profitable in the Philippines? 

Now let’s crunch some numbers. With prevailing rates at P1,999 for areas 35sqm and below, estimated at around 4 hours of cleaning, you can make upwards of P15,000 – P20,000 per week.

This is a lot considering workers make more than the minimum wage (P537 per day in Manila, P310-420 in the provinces) every month. And that is just with one cleaner.

Because cleaning products and maintenance of a cleaning business in the Philippines is low, a cleaning business can be profitable, especially with high ticket services. However, if a business only has a few customers and their expenses are high, profitability decreases, and badly managed cleaning businesses can also become unprofitable.

Expanding your business with more cleaners, booking larger cleaning jobs, and maintaining your clientele will surely spike your revenue along the road. But, again, this falls under scalability.

You can specialize in your niche and eventually expand to other niches such as commercial cleaning, car interior cleaning, outdoor cleaning, or even start your line of cleaning products! 

Everyone needs a cleaning service every once in a while. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, homeowners have become more conscious about sanitizing and disinfecting their living areas. However, where the regular help might not be enough to cut it, this is where you can come in with your specialized services.

If you do a great job cleaning their place, customers are more likely to book you again and become repeat customers, ensuring a steady source of revenue for your business. 

To start a cleaning business in the Philippines, you don’t need an army of cleaners at your disposal. You can even complete cleaning jobs on your own.

However, as your brand becomes more popular and you start booking larger orders, you can consider hiring help. You can easily find suitable candidates among former maids, working students who can work part-time, moms, returning OFWs, or TESDA-trained NC2 certificate holders for housekeeping. 

How Much Does It Cost To Start A Cleaning Business In The Philippines?

Starting a cleaning business in the Philippines is quite cheap. You can start with just yourself as a workforce or hire one cleaner to get your business started.

To fully register a business, purchase equipment, and market your business, a cleaning business in the Philippines can be started for under P10,000. However, this can be started for much less or more depending on the scare of your business.

This way, you can maximize your profits by lowering starting overhead costs. You also don’t need a lot of expensive cleaning equipment right away. Operating with just enough to get buy will do, as long as you clean the space as if it is your own.

• Registration costs. Of course, you want tooperate a legitimate business, so you need to have all necessary registrations in place before you start. As mentioned earlier, this can go for around P2000-3000 for the fees, notarization, etc.
• Cleaning equipment. Investing in good-quality cleaning equipment upfront can reduce your expenses down the road. That means better quality services and less need to replace equipment like brooms, dustpans, brushes, mops, and vacuums. Most of these can be obtained for around P1000. You may also need to provide yourself with rubber gloves or other protective equipment, especially when utilizing harsh chemicals.
• Cleaning supplies. These are the consumables – trash bags, cleaning solution, soap, dishwashing liquid, bleach, disinfectant spray. As with the cleaning equipment, you should have enough to use for your first few customers for less than P1000, and you can also get them at promotional rates in cleaning supply stores or online. You can save on these costs based on your usage while maintaining a quality cleaning service. Having supplies you know how to use is also a plus as it allows you to work better and faster.
• Vehicle. A vehicle is necessary when you have to lug big equipment around, but not so much when you are just starting. You can use your vehicle or use/rent transportation services in the metro for cheap. 
• Others. As your business expands, you may need to buy equipment for specialty services (like carpet cleaning) or to make it easier to cover bigger areas (such as with a floor machine).

What are the different types of cleaning businesses in the Philippines?

Finding a niche is important when you are just starting your new venture. This can help you build a solid customer base without spreading yourself too thin trying to provide all possible services.

For example, focusing on a curtain cleaning service also keeps start-up costs in check while delivering satisfactory results. First, let’s look at the different types of cleaning businesses:

• Basic home cleaning. Perhaps the most common cleaning service available in the market, home cleaning also has the most customers. Homeowners busy with their careers or caring for young children may need an extra hand to keep their homes spotless. This usually means regular housekeeping or laundry (wash, dry, and fold). Besides the usual cleaning of rooms and bathrooms, deep cleaning of tile grout and couches/mattresses may also be required.   
• Outdoor cleaning. You might have chanced upon ASMR videos of patio or pool cleaning – satisfying. Some cleaning services specialize in power washing driveways, pool areas, exterior facades, roofs, or other outdoor, hard-to-clean areas.
• Moving in & moving out deep cleaning. Moving into or out of a new home can be very stressful, and then there is still the clean-up to think about. That is why post–construction or renovation cleaning services have become increasingly in-demand. Unlike regular home cleaning services, these require special attention to make sure homes are ready for occupancy by the new owner or tenant. This service can also be recommended to customers who have not had their homes cleaned in a while.
• Car interior cleaning. Living out of a car is still frowned upon in society, but we spend more and more time inside our vehicles, especially with the traffic. Because of this, more and more car owners require assistance in cleaning the interior of their cars intensively, a service not covered by the regular carwash.
• Janitorial services. Often employed in large commercial spaces, janitorial services require more staff to perform maintenance of office buildings’ work areas, common areas, restrooms, and reception areas. This service includes mopping, sweeping, dusting, polishing, and waste removal. 
• Disaster cleaning and restoration. The Philippines only has two seasons – dry and rainy. As a result, some places are particularly prone to typhoons and flooding, thereby requiring specialized cleaning services to help families and businesses get back up on their feet after a major disaster.
• Sports cleaning. The perfect breeding ground for bacteria also opens a good market for cleaning businesses. Gyms, stadiums, and other sports facilities require top-notch cleaning of all equipment, surfaces, and floors. 
• Medical cleaning. Hospitals and clinics require the highest standard of cleaning in the market to ensure that all surfaces and equipment are perfectly sanitized before and after use.