Running a successful housecleaning company requires two separate but equally important competencies: Great cleaning skills and even better business skills. A successful cleaning professional is one who can offer his or her clients sparkling, reliable and ethical cleaning services while effortlessly balancing the administrative requirements of running a company.
According to entrepreneur.com, today's typical housecleaning service "has several cleaners on staff, and the owner participates minimally in the cleaning duties, if at all." Certainly some owners still work alongside their employees in each customer's home. As a company grows, however, most owners find that their time and attention is better spent on operations.
And that list of operations is long: Pricing, billing, scheduling, ordering supplies, payroll, customer relations, personnel management and marketing. While the tasks are not necessarily high-tech, they do require a focused attention and keen number crunching ability. Some smaller-sized cleaning services may still put pencil to paper to balance their books and manage their schedules. But for the majority of housecleaning companies today, automation is the answer.
Business software is an invaluable asset for any-size cleaning company-whether they clean three houses a day or 300. While the benefits of business software to both small and large companies may be similar, their resources-particularly time and money-are vastly different.
According to destinationCRM.com, the typical small business demands that software solutions be easily adapted to their needs-"endless tweaking is not allowed." The most important factors, then, in the software choices of small businesses boil down two words: "Easy and inexpensive."
For larger businesses, on the other hand, the software solution "has to fit them, not the other way around." Customization and flexibility are key for a big business, especially one whose personnel structure is highly diversified.
Capitalizing on the growing demand for automated solutions, a plethora of software companies have jumped into the service industry market. There is now a wide range of service industry-friendly products, which offer up solutions that may include pricing, billing, scheduling, ordering supplies, and payroll. Products range from modular to one-size-fits-all.
Stories from the Field
From pest control companies to physicians' offices-to your housecleaning company, the service industry is ripe for automation. A good software solution will more than pay for itself in found hours and earned efficiency. To better understand how the right software can transform a company, consider some of these success stories from the field.
- The New Jersey-based Bug Doctor has landed some of the biggest contracts in the Tristate area-from Yankee Stadium to Rockefeller Center to the United Nations. In just 15 years, the company has grown from a one-truck company to a 20-fleet business with over $3 million in annual revenue. Yet, even as their client list grew, the Bug Doctor's profits weren't keeping pace. The main culprit? Excessive overtime costs and insurance liability on the vehicle fleet. After implementing its new business management software program, the Bug Doctor saw instant results: In just the first month of operation, overtime expenses were reduced by more than 50%. Plus, the company started maximizing its vehicle assets and improving bidding procedures. "With the overtime reduction alone, we've more than paid for our new software," raved the Bug Doctor Founder, Stuart Aust. Talk about squashing that bug!
- Physician Michelle Greiver, a family doctor for more than 20 years with a small, community-based practice, knew there had to be a better way to manage patient care than her cumbersome, inefficient paper files. When Dr. Greiver transitioned her practice to a high-security, Internet-based software solution, she was able to efficiently track, share and manage patient care. Her office staff is now more efficient and cost-effective. Billing is more thorough. And Dr. Greiver can take a proactive approach to patient care thanks to her new hand-held, electronic charting system. Plus she managed to dump her old files, recycling a few tons of paper in the process!
Finding the Right Software Solution For Your Business
With a handful of software solutions being marketed directly to the service industry-and dozens more for businesses in general-you are bound to be asking yourself: How do I pick the right one?
Here are a few questions to consider:
Who is behind the software?
Before you evaluate the pros and cons of the software itself, take a look at the company that developed it. Is it a company that specializes in the service-industry? Or is it a mass marketed product from the big PC companies? Surely their products are solid, but a smaller niche company may have housecleaning specific options that more closely meet your needs.
How much does it cost?
The cost and fee structure of business software programs varies greatly from provider to provider. Some run several hundred-or a few thousand-dollars, paid up front. Others providers quote a monthly service fee, which may be easier to afford when you're getting started. But keep in mind that with a monthly fee, you are essentially renting-rather than buying-your software.
What kind of support does the provider offer?
With some software programs, you buy the box and then you're on your own. Many providers, however, will offer an initial 30-day period of support while you learn you way around the software. A few companies guarantee lifetime support. With one of the best records on customer support is The Clean Team, whose new Housecleaning Business Manager™ is the only software package on the market today designed exclusively by and for professional housecleaners.
