How to: raise finance for your cleaning business

You’ve scrubbed, cleansed, scraped and decontaminated – and you’re still barely scraping together the pennies to start your own cleaning business.

Indeed, a cleaning company is a great money spinner for those looking for the satisfaction of running a small business, and it requires less cash than a larger operation. Yet securing finances for such a proposition can be tricky.

Since the financial meltdown of 2008, banks have grown increasingly reticent to dole out loans, especially to businesspeople who aren’t old hands. While trust has been slowly recovering, finding finance from traditional avenues continues to be difficult.

You’ll need a special selling point to bolster your business plan if you want to make your bank manager part with their cash. Here are just a few.

Get special

A run of the mill cleaner isn’t hard to come by. If you’re a major company, all you have to do is ring up a cleaning contractor and they can send over an entire platoon to you in a matter of hours.

But there are some spills and stains that need a particular kind of assistance. Specialist cleaning services, such as crime scene cleaning, graffiti removal and void property cleaning, require more skill and, as such, pay a higher rate.

You won’t need a mop and bucket for these jobs – they require specific and potentially expensive tools. Familiarising yourself with acids and chemicals might sound daunting, but it’ll be worth a pretty penny in the long run.

When you head to the bank with a service in high demand like specialist cleaning, their ears will pique. So get studying those chemicals.

Clients are power

If you’re already working for numerous clients in a separate business, then you’ve got the ideal entry point to nab some customers for your new enterprise.

Provided you’re in a position of trust with these clients, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t mention your business idea to them and form a tacit agreement that they’ll provide custom for you when you’ve established yourself.

Banks need a promise that you’ll be able to recoup their loan – and a guarantee from forthcoming clients is the ideal way to do that.

Know your finances

You weren’t trained in the art of moneymaking. You don’t have a degree in finance. But that doesn’t mean you’ll always be on the back foot when you’re in a meeting for a loan.

Know your business inside out, like you’d been practicing it for decades. That way, you’ll always know when your bank manager is in the wrong.

Before you make your business proposal, you should understand,

• profit margins

• financial projections

• how many staff you intend to hire

• And the challenges you’ll face before starting.

Bank managers aren’t trying to trip you up in a meeting, but they do expect a comprehensive account of your finances. So check, check and double check before any request for a business loan.