Target market ideas???

[Kathleen]

Well, Said Dan...Amen... along with 3 hell mary mary's...

[FreedomClean]

Hmmm. I feel I should weigh in on this matter, I'm just not sure how. About a year ago I decided to start thanking the Lord for all I have instead of whining about what I don't have. I was tired of feeling let down by God when I didn't win the Powerball every week. (Ok, that was kind of tongue in cheek, but strictly to illustrate my point).
So, every day I thank Him for my family, for my familie's health and safety and for all He has blessed with me with in this life. Did God actually hand me the jobs I have? Probably not, I don't think He works that way. But He did give me a brain and a mouth and every other tool necessary to do this work and run this business. In that context, I guess you could say that he did give me all that I have. For that I thank Him every day.

[Kevin]

redavenger said:

I started out a small commercial cleaning service and I finally got a small account for a employment agency! But it took me 2 months to get that and it is only once a week. I am professional in appearance and polite but I can seem to get any accounts going. If I don't get some more accounts now, not soon-now, I wont be able to keep this going. And then I have to go back working for "the man."
My target is small offices. I have distributed around 1000 cards and flyer's to Dr.s, Dentist, hair salons, employment agencies, financial advisers, attorneys, churches, veterinarians, and a larger real estate agencies and property management groups. It seems that I covered most of the city itself, population 75,000.
I am going out to the metro area now and I am wondering if you folks might have some ideas concerning who I should target that I might not have considered. What type of businesses need a cleaning service that I have not thought of? Also, what about larger office buildings with multiple suites-How do you get into those. Thanx for your input!

Well to get the topic back on topic. First you pointed out a very good fact that many new business owners should be aware of. From the time you start your marketing for janitorial contracts it could be months till you land an account. The hardest part of finding janitorial contracts is finding who is purchasing cleaning. And even once you do that, if you have a good service, more professional, more options with an average or better price. The current janitorial service provider willl have to be removed, that could take months. My advice is the advertisements your using should not be so strongly worded towards janitorial contracts, but the services that can be purchased. Break them into seperate services floor care, carpet cleaning, window washing...etc. So in this case your chances of getting jobs increase, single purchases while waiting for the big janitorial contract. You have to keep on marketing, but I think a large problem is new cleaning services and janitorial service wannabees go broke in the process, they keep on using marketing that does not work, that everybody else is using, or has already been tried. A good question for you is what makes your business any different than every other janitorial service, and if a customer chooses you instead, what is the benefit?

This is the worst time for any new service and destroys the industry in whole. Marketing with no results, using up operational money. What usually happens is by the time the new service is broke or so far in debt, a call comes in for that janitorial contract, You need it so bad you underbid it, get the money to keep going. This starts a life carrer of underbidding. One job pays for the other...etc, etc,

[jahra352]

For all the start-ups that are frustrated because they aren't getting the customers, some advice:
Just keep getting out there and deliver your business cards or fliers to as many businesses as possible. Stick with smaller businesses for a while. Once per week office cleaning will make you excellent money as you add on more locations. The most important thing is to follow up on your information by phone. Tell them what makes your company so much better than the rest. (We keep your facility fully dusted at all times, ceiling vents always cleaned, etc.). No one is doing either of these things consistently! Even though most will say no at first, call every month until their current company messes up, and they will mess up eventually! The small offices are usually very picky, and the small cleaning companies are usually better with the fine detailed cleaning. The more info handed out, the more companies to call each month, the more business will come your way. Just stay at it. It will happen in bunches, both getting accounts and losing accounts. I typically charge $80.00 minimum per cleaning for a small office with a once per week cleaning. That's with about 1-2 hours per cleaning. That's $40.00 - 80.00 per hour, not bad when you string 10 of these accounts together! You also can sleep if you lose one of these accounts as compared with one larger account that makes the same as 10 small ones.
Just stick with it. Very few people started with immediate success, so believe that you can do a better job than the competition and relay your confidence to your prospects!
Good Luck!
Peter Weiss
Total Maintenance Services of N.J.