What does it take to start a commercial cleaning business?
To start a commercial cleaning business you need a registered business, liability insurance, basic janitorial equipment, a reliable way to bid jobs from labor hours, and a few recurring accounts. Most of the work happens after business hours, and most clients pay a fixed monthly price under a written contract.
There is real demand. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics counts about 2.43 million janitor and building cleaner jobs, and 35% of them are in services to buildings and dwellings, which is the contractor side of the industry that a janitorial business belongs to. Many offices, clinics and stores would rather pay a contractor than hire and manage their own cleaners.
Here is the order most owners follow when they work out how to start a janitorial business (some call it a janitorial cleaning business, and the steps are the same):
- Pick a niche. Choose one type of building you can clean well, such as small offices or medical suites.
- Register the business. Choose a structure, get an EIN, open a business bank account and check local license rules.
- Insure and bond it. Buy general liability before your first walkthrough, and add workers’ compensation when you hire.
- Buy starter equipment and chemicals. Keep a safety data sheet for each product.
- Build your bidding method. Time yourself, learn production rates and price from labor hours.
- Write your templates. A scope of work, a proposal, a contract and an inspection checklist.
- Find prospects and walk buildings. Visit, measure, ask questions and send a proposal within two days.
- Clean, inspect and keep the account. Most commercial accounts are lost to slipping quality, not price.
- Hire when the hours outgrow you. Add part-time evening cleaners as contracts cover their wages.
If you are still deciding between homes and businesses, the general guide on how to start a cleaning business covers the shared first steps. The rest of this guide focuses on what is different about commercial work.
Commercial vs residential cleaning: what changes for the owner
A commercial cleaning business cleans while the building is empty, gets paid monthly by invoice, and sells to a manager who cares about consistency more than sparkle. Residential cleaning is daytime work, paid per visit, sold to a homeowner who notices every detail.
| Factor | Residential | Commercial |
|---|---|---|
| When you clean | Weekdays, during the day | Evenings, nights or early mornings, when the building is closed |
| How you price | Flat price per visit by home size | Monthly price built from labor hours |
| Agreement | Often informal or a short service agreement | Written contract with a scope of work and a notice period |
| How you get paid | Card or cash at each visit | Monthly invoice, often due in 15 to 30 days |
| Who buys | The homeowner | An office manager, owner or property manager |
| Supplies | Your chemicals and tools | Your chemicals and tools, plus paper towels, toilet paper and liners if the contract says so |
| Proof clients ask for | Reviews, maybe insurance | Certificate of insurance, sometimes a bond, references and a written proposal |
The cash flow gap
The biggest surprise for new owners is the gap between paying cleaners and getting paid. Say you win a 10,000 square foot office cleaned five nights a week. At 3,000 square feet an hour that is about 72 labor hours a month. At $18 an hour plus 20% for payroll taxes and workers’ comp, labor costs about $1,560 a month. If you bill at the end of the month on 30-day terms, you may cover close to two months of labor, around $3,000 with payroll taxes, before the first check arrives. Keep that much cash on hand, or ask new clients to pay at the start of each month.
Which buildings should a new janitorial business target?
Start with small offices of 2,000 to 10,000 square feet: they need simple equipment, one person can clean them in one to three hours, and there are many of them. Add medical suites, churches or property common areas once your systems work.
| Niche | Why it works | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Small professional offices | Simple scope, steady schedules, easy to find by walking business parks | Small monthly totals, so travel time eats margin |
| Medical and dental offices | Higher standards mean better prices and loyal clients | More restrooms and exam rooms, slower production, bloodborne pathogen training |
| Property common areas | One property manager can control many buildings | Managers compare bids hard and expect fast response to problems |
| Churches and event spaces | Once or twice a week, open floor plans, flexible timing | Heavy cleaning after events and weekend demands |
| Gyms and fitness studios | Daily cleaning, visible results | Locker rooms and showers take time; some want early morning service |
| Retail stores | Mostly floors and restrooms, quick to clean | Floor care machines and very early start times |
If you are working out how to start an office cleaning business in particular, also pick a tight service area. Accounts that are ten minutes apart let one cleaner do two or three buildings in an evening. Accounts forty minutes apart can turn a profitable bid into a loss once you count drive time.
Register the business, then insure and bond it
Form your business, get an EIN, open a separate bank account, check local license rules, and buy general liability insurance before your first walkthrough. Add workers’ compensation when you hire and a bond when clients ask for one.
Registration
- Structure. Many owners form an LLC to separate business and personal assets. See the guide to choosing an LLC for a cleaning business, which also covers business codes. Janitorial contractors are usually classified under NAICS code 561720, Janitorial Services, which you will need for government bids.
- EIN. An Employer Identification Number from the IRS is free and you need it to hire and to open most business bank accounts.
- Licenses. Most places do not have a special janitorial license, but cities and counties often require a general business license. Our guide to cleaning business licenses walks through what to check.
Insurance and bonds
Commercial clients and property managers almost always ask for a certificate of insurance before you start, and some ask to be named as an additional insured. These are the median costs for cleaning businesses that bought through Insureon (updated August 28, 2026):
| Policy | Median monthly | Median yearly | When you need it |
|---|---|---|---|
| General liability | $59 | $705 | From day one |
| Janitorial bond | $9 | $112 | When clients ask, or once employees hold keys |
| Workers’ compensation | $114 | $1,364 | When you hire employees (rules vary by state) |
| Commercial auto | $250 | $3,001 | When the business owns a vehicle or your personal policy excludes work use |
Medians are a starting point, not a quote. The full breakdown, including what each policy excludes, is in our guide to insurance for cleaning businesses.
Equipment, chemicals and OSHA safety rules
You can start with a backpack vacuum, a microfiber system, a flat mop, restroom chemicals and wet floor signs. Rent or buy floor machines only when an account needs them. Once you have employees, OSHA rules on chemical safety apply.
Starter kit for routine office cleaning
- Backpack vacuum (faster than an upright for offices with many desks)
- Color-coded microfiber cloths and a flat mop system with extra pads
- Janitorial cart, trash liners in the sizes your accounts use, and a step ladder
- Neutral floor cleaner, glass cleaner, a disinfectant registered for the surfaces you clean, and a restroom cleaner
- Dilution bottles or a dilution system, so every cleaner mixes the same strength
- Wet floor signs, gloves and eye protection
Machines like auto scrubbers, burnishers and carpet extractors are expensive. Rent them or price them into a specific bid instead of buying them up front. For a fuller list, see the cleaning business supplies list.
Hazard Communication
OSHA’s Hazard Communication standard (29 CFR 1910.1200) requires employers whose workers use hazardous chemicals to keep labels on containers, keep a safety data sheet for each chemical, and train workers on both. In practice that means:
- Keep a binder or shared folder with the safety data sheet for every product your crew uses, and bring the relevant ones to each building.
- Label every spray bottle you fill from a concentrate.
- Train each new hire on the labels, the data sheets and the protective gear before their first shift, and write down that you did.
- Keep a short written program that lists your chemicals and how you train.
Bloodborne pathogens
If your cleaners can reasonably be expected to contact blood or other potentially infectious materials, as in medical and dental offices, OSHA’s Bloodborne Pathogens standard (29 CFR 1910.1030) applies. It calls for a written exposure control plan, training, protective equipment and the hepatitis B vaccine offered to exposed workers at no cost. Price that training into medical bids.
Keys and alarm codes
Commercial clients hand you keys, fobs and alarm codes. Keep a key log that records which cleaner holds which key, give each cleaner their own alarm code when the system allows it, and collect keys the day someone leaves.
What it costs to open a janitorial business
A solo owner can usually open a small commercial cleaning business for a few thousand dollars, plus enough cash to cover one or two months of payroll while you wait for clients to pay. The ranges below are planning estimates, so replace them with your own quotes.
| Item | Planning range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Business registration | Under $50 to $500 | State LLC filing fees vary widely; local business licenses are extra |
| General liability, first year | About $705 | Insureon median; often paid monthly |
| Janitorial bond, first year | About $112 | Insureon median |
| Starter equipment | $1,000 to $3,000 | Backpack vacuum, mops, cart, ladder, signs; estimate |
| Chemicals, liners and paper stock | $200 to $600 | First month; estimate |
| Proposals, business cards, website | $100 to $500 | Estimate |
| Working capital | One to two months of payroll | Covers net 30 payment terms |
Working capital is the line most new owners skip. Use the cash flow example above: one five-night office account can mean about $3,000 of labor paid out before its first invoice is paid.
Hiring and managing an evening crew
Hire when your accounts need more hours than you can clean yourself, starting with part-time evening shifts of two to four hours. Pay at or above local wages, train to a written checklist, and inspect every building on a schedule.
- Pay. The median wage for janitors and building cleaners was $17.71 an hour in May 2025, according to the BLS. Local wages vary a lot, so check job ads near you. For more on pay, see how much cleaners make.
- Employees or contractors. If you set the hours, train the work and supply the products, your cleaners may legally be employees, whatever you call them. Get this right before you hire, because it decides payroll taxes and workers’ comp.
- Job posts. Say “evening shifts” and the neighborhoods up front. The cleaner job description tool gives you a starting post you can adapt for commercial work.
- Checklists per building. Write a room-by-room checklist for each account and keep it in the building. The cleaning checklist template is a quick starting point.
- Inspections. Walk each building at least monthly, score it against the checklist and send the client a short note. Clients rarely complain before they cancel, so find the problems first.
How to price your first accounts
Price commercial work from the labor hours each visit takes: square feet divided by a production rate gives hours, then add payroll costs, supplies, overhead and profit. Quote the result as a monthly price.
A worked example for a 10,000 square foot office cleaned five nights a week:
- 10,000 sq ft ÷ 3,000 sq ft per hour = 3.33 labor hours a visit
- 3.33 hours × $18 = $60 in wages, plus 20% payroll burden = $72
- Supplies (5% of labor) $3.60 and overhead (15% of labor) $10.80 = $86.40 cost per visit
- $86.40 ÷ (1 − 20% margin) = $108 a visit
- 5 visits a week × 52 ÷ 12 = 21.67 visits a month, so $108 × 21.67 = about $2,340 a month
Run your own numbers in the free commercial cleaning bid calculator. For per-hour and per-square-foot benchmarks, minimum charges and how to raise prices on existing accounts, read our guide to commercial cleaning prices and rates.
Where your first contracts come from
Most new janitorial businesses win their first accounts from small offices they visit in person, property managers, local networking groups and subcontract work for larger cleaning companies. Government contracts come later, once you have references.
- Walk business parks. Ask for the office manager, leave a one-page sheet, and ask when their current contract renews.
- Property managers. One relationship can lead to several buildings and their tenants.
- Networking. Chambers of commerce and referral groups put you in a room with owners who sign cleaning contracts.
- Subcontracting. Larger janitorial firms sometimes need help with small or distant accounts. It is a way to learn the work while you build references.
For scripts, the walkthrough, the bid itself and government bidding, read how to get commercial cleaning contracts. When you win, put it in writing with the cleaning contract template.
Write a one-page janitorial business plan
A janitorial business plan can fit on one page: your niche and service area, your prices, how many accounts you need to pay yourself, your hiring trigger and your cash needs. Write it before you spend money, and update it every quarter.
A commercial cleaning business plan should answer these questions:
- Which buildings will you serve, and within what radius?
- What is your target hourly rate per labor hour, and your minimum charge per visit?
- How many accounts, and how many labor hours a month, do you need to cover your costs and your own pay?
- At how many hours a week will you hire your first cleaner?
- How much working capital do you need for net 30 payment terms?
- Where will your first ten prospects come from?
A quick way to answer question 3: in the example above, the office account leaves about $468 a month after labor, supplies and overhead. If you clean it yourself, you also keep the $1,560 of labor. Add up accounts like that until the total covers what you need to earn. The business plan guide and the free plan template cover the longer version banks ask for.
If you also clean homes or plan to, BroomBook handles the residential side: recurring schedules, a crew app with checklists and clock-in, and payroll export. It is built for residential cleaning, so weigh it against your commercial needs.