30. How I started a construction cleaning business and won a £25,000 contract in 3 months (4 Steps)
The Outsourced Cleaning Model
Three years into running my commercial cleaning business, I joined a mentoring group.
I was introduced to different growth models and the one that attracted me the most was the outsourced model.
The biggest operators in the cleaning industry are FM companies.
They work on a fully outsourced model and robust processes in place to manage suppliers and guarantee service delivery.
I like this model. It’s simple to implement and manage.
Once you have the right systems and processes in place, it can also be used to scale.
Agenda
Find a niche, Solve a problem
Recruiting
Finding the work
Service Delivery
Find a niche, solve a problem
In 2014, the UK Government published the Barker Report on housing supply.
One of the key findings in the report was that at least 210,000 private homes were needed in the UK to prevent a housing crisis.
At the time, the UK was building around 115,000 homes a year, which meant that there was a shortage of 1 million homes in the country.
An ideal market - lots of room for growth.
I started a construction cleaning company off the back of this insight.
I focused on small to mid-sized contractors building residential developments of between 10 - 75 units.
Easy to access with less formal RFP (Request for Proposal) requirements.
After speaking with a few of these contractors, I found that reliability and cleaning quality were common problems.
Two problems I was going to solve.
Recruiting
Now I needed to find the right suppliers.
The first thing I did was jump in Google and search for cleaning companies specialising in construction cleaning.
I called large national companies and small local companies to get an idea of price range, services and requirements. At the same time, I was building a list of potential suppliers I could work with in the future.
My biggest takeaway was that bigger cleaning companies often outsource small contract work to smaller, specialist cleaning companies.
One national supplier gave me the contact details of a team they used. I contacted them and explained I would find construction projects if they could delivery the cleaning and we split profits 60 (supplier)/40 (me).
They agreed. I was in business.
Finding the Work
My approach was simple. I Googled “building contractors” and “construction companies” in St Albans (where I was living).
These businesses usually have live projects listed on their website.
For 3 months, all I did was drive.
I drove to sites, their offices, even to the business owner’s home to introduce myself and ask to quote for ongoing projects.
I got a lot of no’s, but I quickly learned who’s responsible for arranging cleaners and how sites are set up.
On smaller projects (<20 units) - the site manager is the main contact. They hire contractors, monitor building costs and project progress.
On bigger projects (>20 units) - the quantity surveyor, contracts manager, buyers or procurement is the main contact. They all have different responsibilities that include budgeting for building costs and awarding contracts to suppliers.
My approach and these insights lead me to winning our first project - a 30 unit residential development - worth £25,000.
Service Delivery
After recruiting my cleaning supplier, I focused on building a good relationship with them.
I knew very little about construction cleaning, so I would spend time learning from them.
I involved them in the site visit and pricing process.
They knew how their costs and how deliver first fix, second fix and sparkle cleans.
They told me what to take pictures or videos of and I sent them site plans to help price up the work.
I remained the principal contact for the client and deal with any on-site issues or delays.
All the contractor had to do was carry out the clean.
And they did. Very well.
I used this first experience as a test case.
I developed processes for recruiting, onboarding and managing cleaning contractors.
I created documents, templates and checklists to provide to site managers, surveyors and procurement when quoting for and delivering cleans.
Over the next 2 years we grew from cleaning 30 unit developments to cleaning Kia, Audi and Porsche garages in London and the South East of England.
With the right management, systems and controls in place, outsourced construction cleaning can work.
Content to check out
In this week’s episode of The Growth Lab podcast, I have a chat with Rune Sovndahl, CEO of Fantastic Services about how you can provide a fantastic cleaning service. Listen here.
Prefer watching over listening? Check out The Growth Lab podcast on YouTube.
Thanks for reading!
Matt @ The Growth Lab
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