Posts Tagged ‘small business’

 Has this ever happened to you or your employees? You plug in your vacuum cleaner, turn it on and nothing happens. You turn the switch off and on, wondering what is going on. You check the wall outlet and everything seems fine. Now what?

Troubleshooting the problem

The first step in troubleshooting the problem is to inspect the vacuum cord for cuts. If you find a cut, what are your options?

1. Splice the cord and wrap it in electrical tape? This is not a proper repair and should never be attempted.
2. Take the vacuum cleaner to a repair shop? The repair shop might charge $35 to $50 to repair or replace the cord.
   Shorten the cord to remove the cut and replace cord end? This might be an option but consider that vacuum cord lengths will vary from 30′ to 50′. Would it be efficient if the cord is now only 20′ long after removing damaged area?
3. Replace the vacuum cord with new extension cord? This would be the best option if your vacuum cleaner has a detachable power cord with a cord assembly pig tail that the extension cord plugs into. Simply match the cord size on the vacuum (the most common cord size is 16 gauge), and then choose a suitable length.
4. What if the cord is hard wired to the vacuum cleaner? This would require some knowledge of the vacuum cleaner assembly. You would remove the vacuum cleaner shroud, connect the cord wires to the vacuum motor, and reassemble the vacuum cleaner.

What if the cord is not the problem?

If the cord is in good shape, check the plug. Look for missing or loose prongs. It should have three prongs; two flat and one semi-round. The cord end that plugs into the wall outlet is called the male plug. You can purchase a good replacement male plug for $7 – $10 at a hardware store.

If the prongs are OK, remove the plug to check the wire corrections.  The male plug comes apart by removing two or three screws near the prongs. This will separate the top side from the back side of the plug. The back side of the plug may have a clamping mechanism that is held in place with two screws that prevent the wires from being pulled out of their connections.

Now check to see if all three wires are connected and the screws are holding the wires in place securely. Tighten any loose screws and then tug on each wire to test the connection.

If any wires have damage, take the following steps:

1. Remove the cord from plug and use wire cutters to cut a couple inches off the cord, removing the damaged area.
2. Split the outer cable jacket with a sharp knife about 1 inch down the cord, making sure you do not cut the insulation on any of the wires. Separate the wire jacket and the paper filling material away from the three wires (black, white and green). Use caution so you do not damage the three wires.
3. Use wire cutters to remove the wire jacket and paper material.
4. Separate the back side and top side of the new male plug by removing the two (or three) screws near the prongs. TIP: Pay attention to how the two parts come apart. Most screw holes will have to be matched with a notch or slot. This forces the installer to align the back section properly.
5. Slide the back side of the plug onto the extension cord past the area where you removed the jacket and paper material
6. Use wire strippers to strip the wire insulation back about ½ inch on each of the three colored wires. This will expose the copper wire on the green, white and black wires. After stripping each wire, twist the strands together to keep them from fraying.
7. Depending on the quality of plug you purchased, the wire connection would be made by wrapping the wire around either a screw or a heavy duty plug. A clamping device will hold the bare wire. Attach the white wire to the silver terminal, the black wire to the gold terminal and the green wire to the green terminal. Tighten each screw firmly and tug on each wire to test the connection.
8. Now you are ready to connect the back side and top side of the plug together. Line up the screw holes, notch or slots and tighten the two (or three) screws on the top side next to the prongs. Tighten each screw until it is snug.
9. You now can secure the back side of the plug to the cord by tightening the two screws clamping the cord. You want to hold the cord firmly with the clamp, without crushing the cord.
10. The last step is to plug the vacuum into wall outlet and turn on vacuum cleaner.

Tools needed to perform the repair:

Sharp knife
Wire strippers
Wire cutters
Philips screw driver
Flat head screw driver

If you or your employees have a vacuum that stops running, check the cord and plug before taking it to the repair shop. It could be a simple repair that you can do yourself with the right tools and a little knowledge, and it could save you a few dollars in repair charges.

Copyright (c) The Janitorial Store (TM)

Steve Hanson helps owners of small cleaning companies build a more profitable and successful cleaning business through his online community at TheJanitorialStore.com. Read inspirational cleaning success stories at http://www.cleaning-success.com, and sign up for weekly cleaning tips at http://www.thejanitorialstore.com.

If you own a small commercial cleaning company, chances are you started out cleaning (or still clean) smaller sized buildings. You probably clean each location one to three times per week, and the accounts may bring in $250 to $500 a month in revenue.

The nice thing about these accounts is that they are generally profitable, and quick and easy to clean. Another nice thing about these accounts is that you haven’t put all your eggs in one basket, so if you happen to lose one every so often, it’s not devastating to your business and it’s fairly easy to replace the account.

But if you’re like most of us in this business, you aspire to take on larger buildings. The thought of taking on a new account that brings in $1500 – $5000+ a month is pretty exciting. Think of how quickly your business could grow. But it can be a little intimidating when you first start going after these larger sized buildings. The thought of hiring several employees, managing the building five to seven nights a week, and buying equipment and supplies for that large of a facility can be intimidating.

Here’s the good news. Managing the cleaning of a larger sized building is really not much more difficult than managing the cleaning of a small sized building. In fact many people find it easier to manage a larger sized building. That’s because all the employees are working in one location every night instead of moving around from location to location, working a varied schedule.

Another benefit of cleaning larger buildings is that it is easier to retain employees when they know they have a set schedule at the same location every night. When you are able to retain employees, you spend less money on hiring and training new employees, plus the quality of the cleaning is better with long-term employees. In addition, you or your supervisors will spend less time traveling from building to building to building, making sure employees showed up to work and checking up on the cleaning.

As far as profit, you’ll find that the larger accounts are less profitable than the smaller accounts (as far as the percentage of profit), but the total profit dollars is much higher. And if you provide a total package of services including floor care, window washing, etc., you’ll be able to offset some of the lost profitability of the general cleaning.

So if you’ve been afraid to go after larger accounts, don’t be! You just may find that you like it even more than the small profitable accounts you’ve been cleaning.

Copyright © TheJanitorialStore.com. All Rights Reserved.
Steve Hanson helps owners of small cleaning companies build a more profitable and successful cleaning business through his online community at TheJanitorialStore.com. Read inspirational cleaning success stories at http://www.cleaning-success.com, and sign up for weekly cleaning tips at http://www.thejanitorialstore.com.

Did you know that the United States Government has contracts with small businesses worth over $1 trillion a year? They are the single largest “customer” for the janitorial industry. Add state and local government contracts to this and you have huge potential to add to your client base. Before you start the application process, you need to understand how getting a government contract works. As with most government decisions, winning a janitorial contract requires going through bureaucracy involving very specific procedures and requirements. Learn the steps in order to get a government contract. You may find that your business is not eligible for government contracts or that you don’t even want to try.

To obtain federal government contracts, you first need to register with the Central Contractor Registration (CCR), which is basically a database the government creates that collects, validates, stores, and disseminates data necessary to award contracts to businesses. To do this, you need what is called a DUNS number, which is a unique number assigned to your business to identify you. If you do not have one, you can get one at http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform. You will also need your Tax Identification Number (TIN), Taxpayer Name, Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) information, and statistical information about your business. To resister, go to https://www.bpn.gov/ccr/default.aspx where you can also get answers to specific questions. As you can see, this is already a tedious and meticulous process, but a necessary one.

The next thing to do depends on your specific company makeup. If your company has 51% or more ownership by someone who is “socially or economically disadvantaged” or woman-owned, you need to register as “disadvantaged” or Sec. 8(a) certified. Many government contracts are awarded specifically to those companies who meet these criteria. You can find more information at the Small Business Administration (www.sba.com) on how to register for this status.

Another thing you can do is apply for a government grant. This is not a very common occurrence in this industry, but is not unheard of. For example, if your company hires the mentally-challenged individuals or ex-convicts, there may be some help to be found. Here is a link to an article on our site about grants that you may find helpful.

You can also sign up for PRO-NET, which is basically a listing from which government contracting officers choose vendors to meet their needs. PRO-NET is a free service offered through the SBA website at http://pro-net.sba.gov/ .  It is integrated with the CCR, therefore has access to the information you have already submitted when you registered. Believe it or not, they actually made this easy for you!

Another SBA-sponsored program is called The HUBzone Empowerment Contracting Program. The intent of this program is to provide federal contracting opportunities for businesses located in distressed areas. As long as you meet the specified criteria, this program maintains a list of preferred vendors from which Federal agencies choose their contractors. Again, the SBA website tells you how to obtain this status for qualified applicants. As you can see, the SBA is a valuable resource in your efforts to obtain government contracts.

Now that you have a feel for what is involved in just becoming ELIGIBLE for government contracts, our next article will move on to the specifics on how you actually bid them.

Copyright TheJanitorialStore.com. All Rights Reserved.
Steve and Jean Hanson helps owners of small cleaning companies build a more profitable and successful cleaning business through his online community at TheJanitorialStore.com. Read inspirational cleaning success stories at http://www.cleaning-success.com, and sign up for weekly cleaning tips at http://www.thejanitorialstore.com.

I wanted to share one of the great books I studied to get my cleaning business started. Start Your Own Cleaning Service (Start Your Own ) was put out by Entrepreneur magazine.  They are now on the 2nd addition of Start Your Own Cleaning Service (Start Your Own ).  This is a great book that has some great tips to get started with minimum cash up front.  Here are a few things the book covers:

• Current statistics and trend forecasts that keep you ahead of the curve
• The ins and outs of finding customers
• New ideas for hiring and training employees
• What equipment and supplies you’ll need (and where to find them)
• How to use technology to make your business competitive
• Up-to-date legal, tax and insurance requirements
• How to avoid common pitfalls
• Surefire tips for growing your business

The book only cost $11 bucks on Amazon.  The information I got from the book is priceless.

 Start Your Own Cleaning Service (Start Your Own )

So sales are slow and you need to pull out all the stops to get new accounts. Marketing, marketing, marketing. You have a good “product.” You manage it well. Your clients are happy. Operationally, you seem to be doing well. The problem is sales are down. What to do? How are you going to set yourself apart from the competition? How about some innovative sales ideas? Those are always good, right? Well, whatever increases your sales is good for business, right? Well, not always. There is a fine line between an innovative marketing idea and a gimmick. Good marketing is a long-term effort to further your business’s goals. Gimmicks may provide a short-term gain, but are they worth it in the long run? Gimmicks have also turned into scams, certainly something you don’t want to be associated with.

What are some common gimmicks in the cleaning industry? Probably the most well-known is used by unscrupulous carpet-cleaning companies. Known as the “bait and switch,” they will offer the client the “bait” of a low cost for their service. Once they are hired, they try the “switch” of add-ons to increase their sale. The “gimmick” is tempting the customer with low cost to get the sale. Offering introductory offers, coupons, free cleanings, and specials are acceptable means to attract clients. But when you take advantage of a customer and try to get them to upgrade to something they did not initially agree to, then you enter the world of unethical behavior. You can, however, offer clients introductory offers with the intent of making up for any losses by generating future revenue through continued service. Establishing trust with your clients is an important part of building your business. Even one poorly planned campaign can destroy your credibility if you aren’t careful.

Another pitfall of using gimmicks is you may be perceived as not being a “serious” company, as many people do see gimmicks for what they are: a sales tool. Too many special offers, coupons, cutesy ads, or other “gimmicky” promotions may have the effect of making you seem desperate, not a true competitor in your field. Do you want that reputation? You may see short-term results, but your long-term goals are not being met.

Promotional items do have their place in a marketing plan, however. The reason you see so many personalized pens, caps, coffee, etc. is that they work. It is a proven fact that such promotional materials result in far better name recognition than print ads. Pens are a staple of such types of promotion because almost everyone uses them at work, but here you run into the problem of differentiating yourself, since so many companies give out pens. Keep in mind, too, that you can use promotional items for current clients as well. It is well-established that it is far easier to keep a client than get a new one! So are these gimmicks? Some may think so, but others call them good marketing tools.

Finding the balance between what is simply good marketing and excessive use of gimmicks can be a hard one to find. The gray area between the two is subjective, so there is no definitive answer to whether a “gimmick” will work for your cleaning company or not. Unethical use of gimmicks is not only short-sighted, but eventually counterproductive. You need to determine any costs involved with any marketing idea, and weigh them against their benefit and how they fit into your long-term goals. Gimmicks should not be used as a crutch to get by, but a tool in your marketing arsenal.

Copyright (c) The Janitorial Store (TM)

Copyright TheJanitorialStore.com. All Rights Reserved.
Steve Hanson helps owners of small cleaning companies build a more profitable and successful cleaning business through his online community at TheJanitorialStore.com. Read inspirational cleaning success stories at http://www.cleaning-success.com, and sign up for weekly cleaning tips at http://www.thejanitorialstore.com