Thursday 6 March 2014

Getting Started | How to Start/Run a Successful Commercial RealEstate/Construction Business



Getting Started

I have found that people who are successful owners of cleaning businesses seem to have a secret little society. Most of the rich and successful business people in the cleaning business have been reluctant to sit down with me or others and disclose details about the basis for their success. I believe they know that they have a good cleaning fortune established and are reluctant to share the secrets of their financial success. So, I had to learn the cleaning business the hard way. Personally, I just can’t keep quiet when so many people need help. No one helped me, so I know how hard it can be getting started without any help. I am writing this site because I believe there is enough money in the cleaning business to go around for all of us, so I don’t need to hide anything I have learned. There are some simple but effective ways of starting your contractor or cleaning business. In this chapter I will talk about handling finances, start up money, how to begin finding jobs, and advertising.


After you check on legal requirements for starting a business (see the next chapter), you’ll need to find an accountant to help you manage your financial chores. Try to check out or call all the best accountants in your area, and ask a lot of questions for as long as they are willing to give you free answers. The accountant you eventually hire will charge you sooner or later, so you might as well get as much free information as you can. For instance, you know that as an employee, your employer took taxes out of your paycheck. When you are the owner of your own business, you are the employer and you will need to figure out how much goes to taxes yourself. Actually, you’ll do better to hire an accountant. Then, when tax season arrives, you’ll take all of your income statements and pay stubs to your accountant’s office with your yearly deduction form. You won’t have to understand all the details because you’ll pay the accountant to prepare your tax return. You will learn more as you ask your accountant a lot of questions about your new business. Learn everything you can about your business finances from the accountant.

Be creative in asking your accountant questions about how things work whenever you have a chance. Ask questions like, “Why does my business have to report income four times a year instead of once like I did when I was working for my old employer?” “Why do I have to take weekly tax money from my employees, and how does this work?” “What is my business tax identification number used for?” “What payroll accounting service should I use for my weekly payroll?” Make a list of questions and get whatever help you can for as little money as possible at first. The accounting firm needs your small business and other small businesses like yours, so it will be willing to help you in the beginning for free just to get you to hire them. Continue to ask questions and learn as much as you can before you start your cleaning or contract business. This will help keep you out of financial trouble, and keep your accountant on top of the direction you are trying to take with your new business. It’s perfectly fine if you just want to be an employee working for someone else, but if you want to be an employer, you can’t ignore the financial aspects of your business or let them scare you. You don’t need to know everything about accounting laws, that is your accountant’s responsibility, but you’d better ask questions and stay on top of things, such as the taxes owed by your business and when are they due.


As a business owner, you’ll soon realize you can’t do it all by yourself. Most people start to relax a little when they finally realize that they can put some of the legal responsibility for the business on the shoulders of their accountant. In this site, I try to strip away many of your doubts and fears and replace them with lots of good, long -lasting, helpful, positive bits of knowledge that will help you start your business. All you need to know is how to do the work and run the contractor or cleaning parts of the business so that you keep plenty of happy customers. Whatever you’re not familiar with in the beginning, I’ll try to explain by showing you how to do some research and find business consultants who are full of good business tips. Sometimes, just by networking with other business professionals, you’ll come across useful start-up and long-term business information that will be crucial for your business success. You may have to spend a little start-up time at night and on weekends working for little or no money just to get a better understanding of your new contract or cleaning business. If spending some time or money advances you toward greater gains, do it. The time and money you spend will be worth it in the long run.


When you are starting up a cleaning business, you do not have to spend a lot of money up front. During the first six months or so, you’ll find that you already have the people, equipment, and cleaning supplies you need to start. For example, without breaking the bank, you clean your own house on a daily, weekly, or as-needed basis. You have a broom, a vacuum cleaner, cleaning rags, window cleaners, bathroom cleaners, trash bags, soaps, paper towels, mops, cleaning brushes, and spot removers already in a closet in your house, or in your family’s or friends’ houses. Some family and friends will give these items to you and will help you with whatever you need to start your cleaning business once you tell them a little about what you are trying to do.


Most of your first-time cleaning contracts may start out as small buildings to clean and can produce anywhere from $1,000 to $8,000 per month. Your jobs may just be one- time jobs or may require you to clean one or more days a week at a small office, store, or school. You do not need to use much of your income to begin cleaning these small buildings. These little jobs will pay you every seven, fifteen, or thirty days after you give them your invoice. The startup money you will need to spend will be for accounting, legalities, business insurance, gas, business cards, and phone/fax.

Advertising opportunities are everywhere, and if you don’t take advantage of them, your business will never get off the ground. On your way to work each day, you may drive by hundreds of buildings. Each of these buildings needs to be cleaned, maybe by your cleaning business. Yes, this type of business can be all yours to clean. Similarly, the person you sit beside on a plane or bus or start a conversation with in the grocery store or at a ball game could be your next client. During this conversation, you may be asked about your line of work. This is a good opportunity for you to show off your stuff, learned from this site. This person may just happen to be a buyer or property manager (a person that manages commercial office and industrial real estate buildings for the owners who do not have time for the day-to-day operation of their properties) with responsibility for building service contracts in his or her company. Or this person may know the person in charge of purchasing these services. After an exchange of business cards, the person might help you along or give you a few good contacts within the company. Stay ready, with your business cards always have one in pocket or hand. In other words, always look for opportunities, and keep your business cards or flyers ready to go from your hand to theirs before the end of any conversation. Later, I’ll shed more light on some resources you can take advantage of in the contractor building or cleaning industry and, at the same time, show you how to market yourself.

A good, small, low-price business advertising campaign starts by printing business cards and flyers. Include details about your business’ specialty. If you do not have a specialty, your cards and flyers should say “all types of building repairs” or “all types of cleaning services” with a few details and all of your phone numbers and your address. (A post office box is a good idea so you don’t have to give out your home address to strangers.) Do a good job for your new and existing customers, and you’ll grow your business fast by taking advantage of word-of-mouth advertising. Today’s technology also allows you to quickly advertise your business in many ways. One piece of technology is right at the tips of your fingers, your computer. You can create a quantity of flyers to pass out, e-mail, or print them and mail to potential clients. You can set up a website and put the website address on your flyers, in the local new paper and on business cards so people can get more information about what you are doing at any time of day or night. In this way, you’ll be encouraging people to inquire about your business. Potential clients will check your website or call to ask about your business. This will help get the ball rolling and start the phones ringing a little more quickly.


In this informative how -to-guide, we’re going to cover working and profitably managing your cleaning business in many different ways, so that you can bring home an increased income each month. However, before deciding to quit your full-time job, you’ll want to make sure that you have a few things in place and ensure that this is really what you want to do. This site will help you make this very serious decision. Health insurance and a good income for you and your family should be one of your top priorities. In today’s world, you have a lot of access to technology, and it is in your best interests to utilize it for business research. Without today’s technology, it took me months of trial and error to find the most adequate and reasonably priced health, business, life, liability, and auto insurance. These days, you can quickly conduct an online search to find coverage that will not hurt your budget as you set up your business. Again, before you quit your job, make sure you have mastered the information in this site and learned as much as possible from other sources like the Building Service Contractors Association International.


It is vital that you research and review your financial situation with a good financial planner or accountant before you think about quitting your full -time job. One way of going out of business fast and going back to work for someone else is to be ignorant about what it will take to support you, your family, and your new business responsibilities. You could find yourself in a lot of financial trouble if you assume prematurely that your new business is strong enough to fully support you and your family. In the beginning, stay with your full-time job and operate your new building cleaning service in a part- time capacity (nights and weekends) until you get the hang of it. You’ll know when it’s the right time to quit your old job. And believe me, your accountant and banker will help you recognize the right time.


Your new business and its cash flow can eventually bring all the money needed to support you and your family. To do so, however, you need a business plan. It’s not hard to do on your computer. You can contact a Small Business Development Center (working with most colleges) in or near your town for free help developing your business plan. They will also help you jump over a lot of other business hurtles at little or no cost. You need a plan for the banks and investors to read, but also to give yourself a way to stay focused on what you want to do, how much you plan to spend, and when you want to do what. Working within the guidelines of your small business plan is important for you and your staff. A plan will help you get started by setting out your one- to five -year goals for your new business. Reading your business plan each month, over and over again, no matter how well you think you know it, will help the company and you stay on your business track to get you where you want to go on time and within budget. Don’t be a know-it-all; read your business plan and study it diligently. You didn’t put a plan together just for the banks and investors to read, but to give yourself a way to stay focused and achieve a successful business.


I’d like to also suggest that in the beginning you personally do door-to-door advertising, passing out your business cards or flyers.
Try to stay close to home, working in your state and the two states that are close to your state. A tri-state area will be plenty, when starting out on your door to door advertising campaign. In this business you must be willing to do a little traveling in order to reach out for new opportunities. In time you may work in all fifty states, as your business grow. You must market yourself and your business without spending a lot of money. One of the best ways to do this in the beginning again, is going door to door. Like it or not, you need to become a door-to-door salesperson in the start-up period to advertise and get the word out about your new business. Try to set a goal of distributing at least fifty flyers and/or cards per day (or about three hundred per week.) This may take you about an hour each day. Be persistent as you strive to reach your business goals.


Go to the strip malls, large office complexes, new construction sites, government or military base buildings, doctors’ office, schools, city and state buildings, downtown offices, apartment complex-office, church, movies, night clubs, residential/homes, and cars in parking lots (if it is safe to do so), and most of all, hand-distribute your flyers and cards to people dressed in business attire when you see them. Please do this without breaking any laws. Be aggressive with this start-up procedure, but be polite. For example, if you go to a door that says, “No Soliciting,” be respectful of this request and move on to the next door or building.


As a door-to-door representative, you’ll experience a little rejection or a “no I do not want your flyer” just ignore this and hang in there. In any type of business, you have to develop a thick skin and accept a little rejection. As you go to your bank with a larger paycheck, you will soon forget the rejections. At times, you’ll even get the “poor building cleaner” look as you go door to door. Just ignore the looks and remember that one day you just might have the opportunity hire that person to work for you doing part-time cleaning of the building they now work in full-time. In the business world, it is eat or be eaten, destroy or be destroyed, by others who are trying to get rich just like you. Keep trying each and every day so you end up on top.


To get started, I’ve shown you that you need to find an accountant, come up with a business plan, figure out what you need to spend, and start advertising to those who may need your services. Above all, you need to be sure you are doing what you want to be doing, and that you are making decisions that are good for you and your family. Then all you need to do is follow your business plan, and commit your time and energy to following the plan I am setting out in the rest of this site.

Increasing your income is still your priority and you can do that in a short time by starting your own cleaning or other building service business. One job will lead to the next, and if you continue to recruit new clients, your business will continue to increase. Before you know it, you will be on your way to making dirty millions the clean way. But to do this, you will need to keep learning and you need to be persistent.

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