How To Start A Good Cleaning Business Company In Nigeria.

Most people don’t want to spend their time doing boring work. It’s an interesting trend that’s catching on across Africa especially Nigeria, especially with people who have busy lives in the urban areas. Nowadays, fewer people want to do their laundry, wash their cars or clean their own homes. In fact, they’re willing to pay somebody else to do all these work.

It’s not only households that are outsourcing their ‘boring’ work. Organisations like schools, offices, factories, shopping malls, hotels etc. are willing to pay for professional cleaning services too! And that’s where you come in.

This article reveals why professional cleaning services is really taking off in Africa and how you too can start an interesting business in this industry. We’ve also included an interesting success story that’ll leave you inspired.

Why Is The Professional Cleaning Services Business Booming Across Africa?

Every business opportunity exists for a reason. In this section, we’ll look at the factors that are responsible for the growing demand for professional cleaning services in Africa. The information here will help you to better target potential customers and convince partners and investors of the viability of this business opportunity.

So, why is the professional cleaning business booming in Nigeria? Here are the reasons…

1. People will pay to outsource boring and time-consuming chores

Most working-class people who live very busy lives in the cities have little time and patience to do boring and time consuming work.

Fewer people nowadays want to do their laundry or wash their cars by themselves. They would rather pay somebody else to do these chores. People in the city are very happy to pay for these services so they can use the time to rest, relax and do more valuable tasks.

Most people will require professional cleaning services about once a week or month, depending on the level of cleaning required; basic or thorough. This makes private homes and residential estates a prime target if you want to enter this business.

2. Special Cleaning needs

Most times, people don’t just hire professional cleaning or janitorial services because they’re lazy. Some situations require special and trained attention.

One good example is the kind of cleaning that is required after a big party, festival or conference. It’s not the kind of mess a few ‘ordinary’ people can handle alone. You’ll need to hire a professional cleaning service if you want a good job of cleaning out all the mess.

There are other times when people and even companies need specialized professional cleaning services. If you’re moving to a new house or just finished renovating one, it’s likely that you’ll need a professional cleaning service that will use specialized equipment to clean the floors, carpets, walls, ceilings, bathrooms and toilets.

With the current boom in the construction of residential and office buildings across African cities, the demand for cleaning services is surely rising as more people and organizations move into new houses/offices and renovate old ones. As the construction crews leave, professional cleaning services move in!

3. More organisations now prefer to outsource their cleaning needs

Most working-class people who live very busy lives in the cities have little time and patience to do boring and time consuming work.

Fewer people nowadays want to do their laundry or wash their cars by themselves. They would rather pay somebody else to do these chores thus they outsource their cleaning jobs.. People in the city are very happy to pay for these services so they can use the time to rest, relax and do more valuable tasks.

Most people will require professional cleaning services about once a week or month, depending on the level of cleaning required; basic or thorough. This makes private homes and residential estates a prime target if you want to enter this business.

It’s not just people who are paying to get their cleaning chores done. Factories, offices, schools, banks, hospitals, hotels, restaurants and all kinds of private and government-run organizations are outsourcing their cleaning needs too.

But why are they doing this? Why don’t they just hire cleaners as employees?

Well, outsourcing their cleaning needs to professional service companies is cheaper, easier to deal with and more flexible for these organizations. They only pay for cleaning services when they need it. That’s why many organizations now pay a monthly or annual fee to professional cleaning companies to satisfy all their cleaning needs.

Cleaning is an essential task for all organizations, because cleanliness and hygiene is always good for any business. But unfortunately, cleaning is not a ‘core’ task for them. For example, a business will prefer to focus on tasks that make money and would rather outsource its cleaning needs to another company to take care of.

4. It’s more flexible and convenient for people and businesses

Like I already mentioned above, people and businesses prefer to pay for professional cleaning services because of the flexibility and convenience that it provides. After a busy day or week, nobody wants to spend hours cleaning the house when they could be resting, relaxing or doing other interesting stuff.

For businesses of all sizes and corporate organizations, professional cleaning services provide value in terms of cost savings, greater efficiency, professional service, flexibility and convenience. These are the main reasons why more businesses are willing to hire professional cleaning services to handle their cleaning needs.

7 Things You Should Know To Succeed In The Professional Cleaning Business

Are you ready to build a remarkable business in the professional cleaning services industry? Are you hardworking, versatile and willing to provide valuable service to people and make a healthy profit? If you meet these criteria, then you’re a good match for the cleaning business.

In this section, you’ll learn a few important basics about the professional cleaning business that should help you get started as soon as you’re ready. Here we go…

1. Before you start, choose your target customer

There are basically two main types of customers in the professional cleaning business: Consumer (Residential) and Commercial (Office buildings etc.)

Why is this classification important? Well, the type of clients you choose to serve will determine what type of equipment you’ll need, how much you’ll charge, and the nature of the cleaning services you will be expected to perform.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the two main customer types:

• Commercial clients, such as office buildings, hotels, hospitals, schools, airports etc., usually require nightly or weekend-only janitorial-style cleaning. Washing the floors, cleaning the bathrooms, emptying trash cans, cleaning kitchen areas, and washing doors and windows are typical tasks that are often included in this type of service. This type of work is steady and pays well.

• Consumer or Residential clients usually require ‘maid services’. This includes general cleaning and tasks that are specific to the clients’ needs. You may usually have to work while the client is at home, and when you build trust, you could be given the keys.

Providing Residential cleaning services will mean having a diversity of clients, since most homes only need to be cleaned once a week or so. This type of work doesn’t often pay as well as Commercial clients but you could become successful by serving a lot of residential clients.

2. You’ll need materials and equipment. You can buy some and lease others…

Depending on the services you’re offering and the kind of clients you get, you’ll need to have a range of materials and equipment to help you do a very good job. Brooms, buckets, rags, stain removers, trash bags and safety gear (rubber gloves, aprons, coveralls and dust masks) are just a few of the basic and affordable materials you’ll need. Don’t forget, gloves and masks are a very important if you’re going to be handling toxic cleaning chemicals.

You should also ensure that your equipment used in cleaning are always clean and in good working condition at all times. It projects an professional image for your business.

3. Employees – Hire carefully!

Hire only qualified workers. The people who do the actual cleaning work (your employees) are the face of your business. Anything they do poorly or wrongly could potentially damage the reputation of your business.

That’s why you should only hire hardworking, committed, honest and customer-friendly people. Apart from these qualities, they should always appear clean, neat, and wearing attractive uniforms. This helps to create a good image for your business. You should also do background checks on the people you hire to be sure they don’t have a criminal history.

Another important thing you should know is that you can easily lose employees in this business. The employee turnover in the professional cleaning and janitorial services industry is high. So, to attract and keep the best and loyal employees, you’ll have to pay competitive wages and offer good perks.

Another good idea is to consider working with a hiring agency on a job-by-job basis if your projects will vary in size and length. This will prevent employees from being idle and quitting during slow times.

4. Marketing – How to find and keep customers.

The great thing about this business is that you can build a very successful cleaning business on referrals from satisfied customers. If you do a good cleaning job, your happy customers will gladly recommend and refer you to their friends, family, neighbours and colleagues. But you need those first customers to get started, right?

Finding your first few customers isn’t always easy but you can start with your friends and relatives, neigbours, former co-workers and employers, social groups and clubs, church or religious acquaintances.

Another great marketing strategy is to design marketing materials (like fliers, brochures, business cards etc.) that clearly lay out your services and communicate the uniqueness of your business. Drop off fliers, door hangers and business cards to new businesses in your area as well as other businesses within your target market. Introduce yourself to managers of these businesses in person or by phone and ask if you can provide professional cleaning services.

5. Your reputation matters a lot in this business. Guard it!

As you begin working for clients, it’s very important to do your job well and respect your clients’ space. Any sign that personal property has been tampered with, damage has been caused and gone unreported, or something has been stolen, can ruin your reputation as a cleaning business.

Here are a few things you and your employees must always keep in mind:

• If something gets broken while you’re on the job, let your client know and either replace the item or reimburse your client right away.

• Put items back where you found them after cleaning them. Don’t touch people’s personal items unless you’ve been instructed to do so.

• Stay out of rooms you haven’t been instructed to clean. You don’t want to be accused of something you didn’t do.

You and your employees must always operate and behave in such a way that your clients, whether residential or commercial, will be comfortable trusting you and your employees with unsupervised access to their homes, offices and facilities.

6. Office versus Vehicle: which is more important?

The truth is, you can start a professional cleaning business from your home. It’s unlikely that your clients will visit your office, unless you’re serving really large organizations that may want to confirm your existence. Otherwise, all you really need is a good space to safely store all your equipment and materials.

However, you may need a vehicle to function properly in the cleaning business. Because most of your work will be done at your client’s location, a vehicle is actually more important than an office space for your business.

Whichever you choose, your vehicles should always be clean, running properly and neatly marked with your company name, logo, contact information (telephone number and email) and the services you provide. Don’t forget, a dirty, dented truck that belches smoke won’t impress your clients.

7. Pricing is important. Whatever you do, don’t lose money!

Before you give your price for any cleaning jobs, you need to take into account the cost of labour, materials, and overhead. You need to consider all these costs so you can figure out how much to charge for your services and make a profit. You’re free to negotiate prices with each new client, but it’s good to have a baseline in mind so you’ll be able to stay in business.

Remember, in many cleaning situations, you may be competing against the customer himself. If your price is high, he or she may think, “For that much money, I can just do this myself.”

Do some research to find out how much other cleaning businesses charge for services like floor cleaning and janitorial services so you can remain competitive.

Contact us at Cleaneat today for your professional consulting cleaning services.

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Importance Of Air Freshners In The Office.

Today people are using air fresheners at home and in cars. This creates a wonderful fragrance which in turn helps in making the ambience wonderful and fresh. Fruit and lemon rich fragrance Air-freshners create a refreshing image to your company and if you have good taste and a sense of good brand image, you would source the dealers of air freshners in Lagos, Nigeria.

Often, There are unpleasant smell at the office. This is generally due to inadequate air passage. You might not be able to stay in such an environment where there are unpleasant smells. There can be any other reasons due to which you can get bad smell in your office environment. The best way will be to use an air freshener to make the surrounding environment fresh and fragranced. You can contact professional brands who are suppliers of air freshners in Nigeria to supply to your company.

Getting a very well invoked fragrance will be really important as soon as the brain receives odors there will be instant invocation and memories create some unpleasant mood. It will be really important to get your mood in a perfect order in order to stay healthy physically and mentally at the work place.

Unpleasant smells are frequently found lurking in bathrooms and the musky offices, which make using those facilities bothersome and at times unbearable.  While its main benefit is to eliminate odors, there are many other benefits other than spreading a pleasant smell.

Importance Of Air-Freshners At The Office.

Flexible: Air freshener service can be installed virtually anywhere in your building. 

Natural: Most air fresher services, use natural essential oils to make their scents. The freshener contains no volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) or aerosol products. And although most fragrances are strong and overpowering, Air fresheners leave a light, fresh fragrance behind. You don’t have to worry about getting burned out on one scent; Most Air fresheners come equipped with a number of  fragrance /scent options for  you to enjoy a variety of aromas that you like.

Neutralizes: Some fresheners simply mask the smell of malicious odors instead of neutralizing them; however, air fresheners that eliminate odors completely as to avoid mixing uncomplimentary smells together are available at Cleaneat. It truly creates a fresh, clean smell completely void of ghastly whiffs and scrunching noses. 

Convenient: By choosing a good air freshener service provider, you will benefit from full installation, maintenance, and refills by service technicians Usually there is no additional charge for battery changes, and technicians will make sure your freshener doesn’t run out.

Designs: There are many design, sleek and classy and not old fashioned bulky air fresheners available these days .Also their closed system is ideal for hanging and decreases theft & vandalism. The design is also safety-minded as children can’t tamper with it and animals can’t reach it. 

Positive change in mood: There are situations when you are in a tremendous off mood while working. Even you feel like breaking your head. But, if suddenly if you get a fresh smell of lemon or natural flower, it will instantly change your mood and you can easily get in to moon on with salinity and peace in mind. You can easily concentrate on your work or speak to everyone without spoiling your mood. Air fresheners are very well associated with well being of human being with a boost to positive attitude.

Killing airborne pathogens: Some microorganisms and airborne pathogens are present in the environment that sometimes creates unhealthy atmosphere at the work place. If you can use the air fresheners with natural essential oil extracts, the airborne pathogens will be eradicated with the natural air fresheners. 

Eliminating undesirable odors: None of the individuals would like bad odor capturing them when they enter home or bathroom. Thus, the cosmetic manufacturers are making air fresheners of different fragrance and aroma according to the likes of individuals. This will help eradicating all undesirable odors from your rooms, bathroom and environment.

Keeps Your Work Environment Fragranced: You can stay away from the bad smell if you are using air fresheners. Your home will be really fragranced with the good smell. The air around you will be refreshing as well. You can apply this in your drawing room where you are going to grace your guest. Your relatives and friends visiting your home will be delighted.

Portrays positive frame of mind: If your employee is not having good mood, the fragrance can easily give a drastic change over the mood and help improve his or.her effectiveness at work. Yes, the good fragrance helps in providing positive mood to every employee. 

Air freshners come with unique varieties and are available at Cleaneat Office Nigeria.

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Why Your Company Should Outsource Her Cleaning Jobs.

Outsourcing your office’s cleaning services is a strategic business move for your company. Maintenance services are one area where outsourcing is a good decision in the middle of a towering work load and tight budget. If your goal is to make your company more efficient money-wise and time-wise, then you will be pleased to see these 9 benefits of outsourcing your company’s cleaning jobs.

1. There are different types of cleaning companies. Traditional ones hire employees/workers, typically for minimum wage. Franchise companies have owner operator teams – they invest time, money and effort and want to be successful. In an unsupervised environment, this model typically delivers better results.

2. Cleanliness is the primary concern of quality commercial cleaning companies . Office cleaning companies in Lagos,Nigeria are also focused on this standard as the staff is trained and their quality of work is assessed. The cleaning staff is not your responsibility, but the responsibility of the cleaning company. You are also saved from liability and other concerns with managing of additional staff.

3. Availability of staff. 

The issue of holidays, leave of absences, and other attendance-related concerns is now eliminated. Contracting an outside cleaning company means they will be sending crew your way no matter what. If your regular cleaner is unavailable, it will not be a problem since they have a replacement team ready to go.

4. An outsourced company has the highest standards of health and hygiene. These companies spend time and money on safety training and have high cleanliness standards since they are trying to maintain quality at all times. A good cleaning company can be rated among the top ten best cleaning companies in Lagos.

5. When you hire a professional office cleaning company, they will stay up to date with the best products and cleaning equipment. A standard cleaning company uses only most innovative and effective cleaning equipment.

6. Outsourced cleaning services can be modified to suit your budget. You can customize a cleaning schedule to fit your company’s needs.

7. You can keep the costs down by adjusting the frequency and cleaning. You can scale up or scale down the amount of cleaning in your office depending upon your needs. If you need more cleaning, you can make a phone call to achieve this. You do not have to hire additional staff on your own.

8. Save money. 

With outsourced cleaning services, you save money on maintenance, employment, equipment, uniforms, inventory, and other related expenses. It’s not your core business, is this really where you want to spend your time? We can assist you on the process of starting a good cleaning service company in Nigeria.

9. Save the environment. You can hire a company that is eco friendly . A good office cleaning are committed to the environment and will not only use the right products but will use sustainable systems as well.

If you are ready to hire a great janitorial service company, contact Cleaneat today. You can get our estimate for services on-line, it’s easy, just click here

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How To Clean Sky-Rise Buildings.

Window washing is a tiresome and time-consuming task, but whether you want to do it or not, it has to be done rather regularly. It may be relatively easy to wash the windows of your house, but it’s a bit more challenging when you’re hanging hundreds of meters above the safety of the ground. Cleaning sky rise building is one of the most dangerous job in the world, it is required you hire a professional cleaning company in Lagos, Nigeria to do this job.

Here is how sky-rise cleaning is carried out;

Window-Cleaning Equipment

Since window cleaners have to work at such great heights, there’s an array of tools and equipment that they have to carry while working on buildings. A typical window cleaner’s equipment consists of a rope protector, a safety rope, a rope-grabbing tool, a descent mechanism, lanyard and suction cups. These tools not only protect the professional cleaners from any untoward incidents, but also help them clean a building’s facade at a rapid speed with great efficiency. 

While working on the facade of a building, the worker is attached to an anchor, which is mounted on the roof. This anchor ensures that the workers can clean windows as they descend vertically. You have probably noticed that window cleaners don’t descend smoothly; they proceed to the next, lower floors in a fashion that appears as though they are ‘dropping’ through each floor one at a time. The height of a single drop – the measurement of one vertical cleaning operation from the roof to the floor below – varies according to the building in question.

At first, cleaners used to stand on the window ledges and hold onto the frame for support to clean windows. Imagine that! This was obviously not a very safe method to clean the windows of tall buildings, so leather belts were eventually introduced. These belts, attached to anchor bolts, held the worker safely in air. Later still, scaffolds were introduced for even more safety and convenience.

Nowadays, there are different ways in which window cleaning is done based on certain requirements. The type of working mechanism depends entirely on how the work is to be done. The most common window-washing mechanisms are: Bosun’s chair, boom, carriage and portable davit.

Bosun’s chair is a modern invention and is meant for a single washer. It offers access to tight areas of an edifice, while keeping the washer safely seated in a comfortable position. It’s ideal for conditions of prolonged and dedicated window cleaning.

‘Boom’ is the oldest and most commonly used mechanisms historically. It consists of a scaffold that carries multiple washers and therefore allows a group to work simultaneously. Note that this is a permanent system, i.e., it is fixed on the roof of the building to be used as and when required.

‘Carriage’, on the other hand, is a better alternative that is becoming increasingly popular these days. The carriage is mounted atop a rail on the roof, allowing it to move left and right over the facade. Just like a Boom, it not only holds multiple washers at a time, but also offers a clear advantage over a Boom in terms of movement. A Portable davit is the cheapest mechanism among these options; it also enables access to multiple areas of a facade while carrying a group of washers.

These cleaning equipment are available at Cleaneat online shop. Contact us today for your professional sky rise building cleaning services.

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The Importance Of Sanitizing Touchable Surfaces In The Office

People spend much time in their workplaces, shopping, in schools, hospitals, and other commercial facilities. Such areas with high traffic of people have higher chances of playing host to microscopic organisms and germs. There is also a threat of sickness and infections in places where people are in contact with each other every day if proper hygiene and sanitation measures are not followed. No matter what kind of facility it may be, it is important to ensure that all surfaces are clean and fresh. However, just cleaning touchable surfaces with soap and water is just not enough to keep the place clean, hygienic, and safe; and sanitization of surfaces is crucial. Most Nigerians already know about hand sanitizers, but can they be used for cleaning touchable surfaces? Let's see

Cleaning is the removal of dirt by physical or chemical means while sanitization is the process of reducing or getting rid of microbes on surfaces to make them hygienic. Sanitizing touchable surfaces kills the germs and microorganisms that soap and water cannot.

Cleaning focuses on the appearance of surfaces making them safe and free from dirt and bad smells, but sanitization is the additional of anti-bacterial products or heat to kill germs, bacteria, and other microorganisms on pre-cleaned surfaces. We cannot see the bacteria and microorganisms that make us sick and by sanitizing touchable surfaces you lessen the possibilities of getting sick. 

Sanitization focuses on non-porous surfaces like floors, tables, and textiles within a medical or healthcare environment. All surfaces need to transmit fewer germs and organisms per touch. 

Certain surfaces like door knobs, curtains, among others are a common source of contaminations since their operation require users to touch them using their hands. Sanitizing touchable surfaces can reduce the spread of transmittable diseases like flu, and the spread pathogens. You need to take proper precautions to prevent the spread of diseases in your office, organization, or place of work.

Bathrooms and floors in commercial places are a breeding ground for potential harmful microorganisms since they are high traffic areas no matter what industry it may be. It is certain that bathrooms are the biggest concern in both commercial and domestic areas since bacteria and viruses from un-sanitized bathrooms can spread throughout the facility or house and spread infections and illnesses to the inhabitants. 

Traditional cleaning can hardly eliminate these microorganisms or prevent them from spreading. It is only sanitization that can make such surfaces safe for all the users because it promotes good health.

Your organization can incur financial losses due to poor hygiene. The loss can be in the form of customers going elsewhere due to poor hygiene or spread of diseases, increased returns of products, and poor employee morale. Frequent exposure to pathogens makes your immune system weak and may cause problems in your routine and physically fit life, and you can reduce this exposure by sanitizing touchable surfaces in your organization.

Whether it is your business, industry, retail store or any other facility, sanitization of touchable surfaces is necessary for proper hygiene. Luckily, commercial cleaning services have the skills and experience to keep these places clean and free from germs and pathogens. Most of these commercial cleaning services are equipped to clean and sanitize any business premise that is likely to be nesting dangerous microorganisms. You should not wait until your business is in less than the ideal condition; consider hiring a professional commercial cleaning service in Nigeria  to help you provide a healthy environment for your employees, customers, and guests.

You can get the latest hand sanitizers and cleaning tools at Cleaneat Online cleaning products shop . Click here to buy.

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