One of the biggest hidden costs in a cleaning business isn’t wages—it’s travel time and kilometers. I’ve watched many businesses struggle or fail because they underestimated the impact of excessive travel expenses. If you’re paying for travel time and kilometers, you need a clear strategy to keep it under control.

This travel optimization series will walk you through how to reduce travel costs, increase efficiency, and protect your business.

1. Roadside Assistance & Comprehensive Insurance: A Must-Have

If your business pays travel and kilometers, you must require staff to have:

✅ Comprehensive car insurance – To cover accidents that could leave them off the road.

✅ Roadside assistance – To prevent lost hours (and wages) due to breakdowns.

Why? Because I’ve lost thousands of dollars paying travel costs for staff members whose cars kept breaking down or who were off the road for months after an accident. If travel is part of your business, make vehicle reliability ...

It’s easy to say you “support small business,” but are you really walking the walk? Many cleaning businesses unknowingly pour money into big corporations that don’t reinvest in local economies. If you truly want to make a difference and build a stronger, more connected community, here are five ways to ensure your money is supporting real small businesses—not global giants.

1. Choose Small, Independent Cleaning Supply Companies

Big-name cleaning suppliers care more about their shareholders and influencer marketing than they do about you. Most of their products come from overseas, and their profits go right back into corporate expansion. Instead, source your supplies from independent businesses that actually understand the needs of cleaning business owners. Many local suppliers will go the extra mile with advice, bulk discounts, and better quality control. Plus, your money stays within the local economy instead of padding the pockets of multinational corporations.

🤔 Ask ...

In the cleaning industry, it’s common to feel pressure to be “the cheapest.” We hear it all the time:

“Can you price match this?”
“I found it cheaper on another site.”
“Why is this product more expensive here?”

And while we respect every business’s right to make their own decisions, at Start My Cleaning Biz, we need to be clear: we will never aim to be the cheapest.

Not because we can’t be.
But because we won’t be.

The Race to the Bottom 👇🏻

Let’s talk about what happens when we obsess over being the cheapest.

The cleaning industry has become a battleground — not of quality, service, or innovation — but of pricing wars. And what has it led to?
❌ Sham contracting.
❌ Unsafe work conditions.
❌ Underpaid staff.
❌ Disrespected professionals.
❌ Quality corners cut everywhere.

All in the name of saving a few dollars.

This “race to the bottom” hasn’t helped us rise as an industry. It’s helped tear us down.

10 Reasons Being the Cheapest is a Red Flag 🚩

1. It’s Unsustainable
C...

 Let me start by saying this – profit is NOT a dirty word 

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You’re not greedy

You are not overcharging

PROFIT is the key indicator of a business’s health

If you are not making money and paying taxes, you are not a business.....

Sole trader or overworked contractor?... probably. Profit is the ONLY place we can grow a business from. For many years I have seen it argued that being value for money and being competitive is important and we could argue all day long about value. It’s so subjective.

Also, do not go saying more cleaning customers means more cleaning profit because if you have lots of cleaning clients and aren’t profitable, it still wont work.

I remember when I realized we weren’t profitable. The staff were paid, weekly bills paid, suppliers mostly paid, we then paid ourselves and lived and spent money on cleaning stuff. Then the BAS came and there was no money, then the super bill and the problem snow balled.

If you have ever been unable to pay your bills...

Fiona Morris is our lead trainer and the Founder of Start My Cleaning Biz. By trade, she is a trainer assessor in the cleaning sector and by night she runs a successful cleaning business. Helping people enter the cleaning industry and start up a cleaning business from scratch is her passion.

She holds qualifications in Cleaning and Business along with her training and assessment and coaching qualifications.⁠

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SO here are TEN random facts about Fiona:⁠

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💥 I hate mushrooms - I tell people I'm deathly allergic or they put them in my food anyway ⁠

💥 I have a 21 year old son who is the absolute apple of my eye ⁠

💥 I live in Newcastle with my partner of two years, Pete. Or as we all call him, Sweet Pete because he is the kindest person ever ⁠

💥 I love my 4WD Bertha and Camper Stella more than most humans should ⁠

💥 I love dogs - I'm a mum to 2 absolutely adorable cavoodles named Sassy and Lilly⁠

💥 I believe everyone has the right to independent income and that running our own ...

When preparing for a house sale, there are key things a purchaser looks for when it comes to the cleaning and the presentation. There is the usual suspects like a clean bathroom and windows - but then there are things that we don't realize actually put a buyer off.

What to do :
1. Clutter - remove all clutter possible and have nice clean surfaces
2. Clean out under all sinks and linen presses - buyers will open them and empty clean cupboards are nicer and highlight all the space that they get!
3. Appliances - oven, dishwasher and exhausts - showing a buyer that the appliances and electrical components have been looked after remove's reasons for them to argue a lower price.
4. Remove all personal photos and items, clean bedrooms and have lots of space for people to move around. They want to imagine themselves living there and your dirty socks are a reminder that they aren't!

When Quoting for a pre sale clean, remind the client that you are there for one reason;

The best price availab...

I hear so often ... how do I start? Well to sound kind of corny - you just start, one step at a time and one item at a time. You start a cleaning business the same way as you eat an elephant - one bite at a time - so let's go !

While there is a lot to consider when starting a cleaning business, a few things need to happen before we get clients. The important thing is to have all your set-up done and legals in line before you are getting clients - well, in a perfect world anyway!!

So many of our students have clients already or skip steps along the way and we wind up helping them fix the issues. There is not right and wrong way to start, just step in and get one thing done. Now once you do decide to actually start, check out our Ten Point Quick Start Guide to Starting your own cleaning business

No matter what stage you are up to, you can start making change! 

Check out our facebook page for like minded cleaners wanting to start their own cleaning business!

Fiona xxx

Monica Geller, Courtney Cox’s character from the hit 1990s sitcom, Friends, first introduced me to the concept that cleaning equipment needs to be cleaned, too.

It pains me to say that – while she’s perhaps at times a little extreme – Monica is right.

Here are six cleaning items that actually need their own cleaning regimes. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

1. The Monica-inspired vacuum cleaner… clean

The Friends gang once walked in on Monica cleaning her vacuum with a dust-buster.*

When I first saw this episode, I was horrified. However, I also know an over-full, neglected vacuum cleaner can make a room dirtier – rather than cleaner.

2. Dastardly dirt-gathering dishwasher

One of the lowest points of my domestic life was discovering the ‘black rubber strip’ along the edge of my dishwasher’s door was actually grime.

Newer models are unlikely to ever sink to this level of filth, but all dishwashers need regular cleaning.

3. Wash that washing machine

The stainless steel drum ...

NAMING YOUR BUSINESS

.....I remember thinking about my Business Name for wayyyyyy to long, basically I went mad over it! And then guess what I did - CHANGED IT LATER  ..there are so many more important things to focus on but no matter what you call it - don't have your NAME IN IT!!!!!  

Now don't get me wrong, your name is important, but not so important you should stop thinking of bigger items. I like to think the best way is to research, due diligence and then action - so below is how to go about choosing the right name for your cleaning business....

There are lots of cleaning companies out there and one of the best ways to make your company stand out is a great name!! You want it to be unique, catchy, and memorable. It’s also important to get a name that can be branded well and gives the appearance of a professional cleaning service. Recently I helped someone call their business "NewAve Cleaning or New way of cleaning !!" see what we did there?

When choosing a name for your busi...