Starting a cleaning business in Tennessee takes five moves: register the business, register for the business tax, set up insurance, put up a bookable website, and land your first clients. Tennessee costs more than most states to register, with a $300 LLC and a $300 annual report, but there is no sales tax on cleaning and no state income tax. My sister Jen and I built Oak Bay Clean to $2.8M in sales over four years on a model that works in any market, and this is the Tennessee version, with the actual costs, the tax rules, and where your first clients come from in Nashville, Memphis, and Knoxville.
The model Jen and I use does not require you to buy supplies, a van, or equipment. You hire independent contractors who bring their own supplies, clients book online and leave a card on file, and you pay your cleaners out of money the client has already paid. That is what keeps the startup cost low, even in a booming market like Nashville.
The short answer: how to start a cleaning business in Tennessee
Here is the whole path in order. The rest of this post backs up each step with Tennessee numbers.
- Cleaning the houses yourself, lowest cost: start as a sole proprietor for under $300 and add an LLC later.
- Building a company that runs without you: form an LLC ($300), register for the business tax, set up insurance, and put up a bookable website.
- The Tennessee detail to know: there is no sales tax on cleaning, but budget for the higher registration costs, a $300 LLC, a $300 annual report, and the franchise and excise tax.
- Fastest to your first paying client: email Realtors and property managers about move-out cleans while your Google ranking builds.
For most people who want a business rather than a job, the company path is the one Jen and I teach, and it is what the rest of this guide walks through.
How much does it cost to start a cleaning business in Tennessee?
You can start a cleaning business in Tennessee for under $300 if you clean the houses yourself, or for roughly $900 to build a company, because Tennessee's registration fees are higher than most states. The LLC costs $300 at minimum, and the annual report is another $300.
Here are the Tennessee line items for the company path:
| Line item | Cost |
|---|---|
| LLC filing (Articles of Organization) | $300 minimum ($50 per member, up to $3,000) |
| Annual report | $300 a year minimum, due April 1 |
| Business tax registration | $15 to the state, plus about $15 to your county or city |
| General liability insurance | about $30 to $100 a month |
| Booking and website software | from $67 a month, often free for the first 30 days |
Tennessee is the priciest of the nearby states to register in, and its LLCs also owe a franchise and excise tax with a minimum payment of $100, so budget for that as you grow. The upside is no state income tax and no sales tax on cleaning. The reason the rest of the startup cost stays low is the contractor model. For the full breakdown, read how much it costs to start a cleaning business.
Do you need a license or permits to clean houses in Tennessee?
Tennessee has no general statewide license for house cleaning, but almost every business registers for the state business tax, and your county or city adds a business license. This is general information and not legal advice, so confirm your own city's rules before you start.
A few Tennessee specifics:
- Business tax and local license. You register for the state business tax with the Department of Revenue for $15, then get a county or municipal business license for about $15 once your gross receipts pass the local threshold.
- Franchise and excise tax. Tennessee LLCs pay a franchise and excise tax based on net worth or income, with a minimum of $100, so account for it as the business grows.
- Workers' compensation. Tennessee requires workers' compensation once you have five or more employees. On the contractor model your cleaners are independent contractors rather than employees.
For the general version of this question, read do I need a license to start a cleaning business.
Do you charge sales tax on cleaning services in Tennessee?
No. Tennessee does not tax residential or commercial cleaning services, so you do not collect sales tax on a standard clean, even though the state's sales tax rate on goods is high. This is general information and not legal advice, so confirm your situation with the Tennessee Department of Revenue.
You would only collect sales tax if you sell products. For the cleaning service itself, there is nothing to charge clients. Keep in mind that while Tennessee has no state income tax, your LLC still owes the franchise and excise tax, which is separate from sales tax.
How do you register your cleaning business in Tennessee?
You register a Tennessee cleaning business with the Secretary of State by filing Articles of Organization for an LLC at $300 minimum, then registering for the business tax. Most cleaning owners choose an LLC because it separates personal assets from the business.
The order Jen and I would follow:
- Pick your name. Use your city or town plus the word clean or cleaning, like Franklin Cleaning Services or East Nashville Clean. That is what gets you found on Google and AI search. We walk through this in how to name a cleaning business.
- File the Articles of Organization with the Tennessee Secretary of State, $300 minimum.
- Get an EIN from the IRS, which is free and takes a few minutes online.
- Register for the business tax with the Department of Revenue and get your county or city business license.
- Set up general liability insurance before you take on clients, and file the $300 annual report by April 1 each year.
You can clean as a sole proprietor first and form the LLC once the money is coming in. There is no wrong order as long as you have your local registration and insurance before you are charging clients at scale.
Where do you find your first cleaning clients in Tennessee's cities?
Your first clients in Tennessee come from two places: Realtors and property managers who need move-out cleans, and Google once your business name and profile are set up. The paid social following you think you need is not where the money is.
Move-out cleans are the fastest opening, because most cleaners avoid them. Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Clarksville, and Murfreesboro all move a steady volume of homes, and Realtors and property managers book these constantly. One relationship like that did a lot for us. One email to a Realtor named Danielle turned into 47 cleans over the following years, which is $16,718.34 in revenue from a single email.
Three things to get right before you spend a dollar on ads:
- Answer the phone. About 70% of cleaning companies do not answer on the first try, and only 30% call back after a voicemail. Answering puts you ahead of most of your competition in any Tennessee city.
- Put your prices online. About 95% of cleaning companies have no transparent pricing on their site. Flat-rate prices a client can see are the biggest thing standing between a lead and a booking.
- Let people book at 10pm. A live booking widget that takes the card means you capture clients while they are interested, without a phone call.
The tool Jen and I use for both of these is ConvertLabs. It puts an instant-quote form on your site, so a client picks their options, sees a flat-rate price on the spot, and books with a card in about 60 seconds. Our own widget turns about 33% of the people who fill it out into paying clients. You can get 30 days free at convertlabs.io/blueprint. That is an affiliate link, so Jen and I earn a fee if you sign up, at no extra cost to you.
For the full playbook, read how to get clients for a cleaning business.
Where do you find cleaners in Tennessee?
You find cleaners in Tennessee the same way you find clients, by posting where people already look for work and screening for reliability over experience. Your cleaners are independent contractors who set their own availability and bring their own supplies. You are screening for dependable people who will represent your brand well.
Indeed, Facebook groups, and Craigslist still work across Tennessee's metros, and the state's large service workforce means there are people looking. Tennessee does not have a worker-classification law as strict as California's, so the independent contractor model is straightforward here, though you still follow the federal IRS rules on who counts as a contractor. This is general information and not legal advice. Hire for reliability and communication, pay your cleaners well, which on our model is 60% of the job, and treat the relationship as a partnership. We cover the full process in how to find and hire cleaners.
New owners worry about three things with contractors. Here is how the model answers each.
- Quality control. You bring on cleaners who already know how to clean, so quality comes from feedback rather than training. Clients rate every clean, you pass that straight to the cleaner, and anyone who slips stops getting offered work. Your standard travels through the feedback loop.
- Will a cleaner take my clients? The client books, pays, and keeps a card on file through your system, so the relationship and the billing stay with your brand. Your contractors get a steady stream of pre-sold jobs they never had to find or quote, which is what they would give up by going around you. A non-solicitation clause in your contractor agreement backs it up.
- Could I get in trouble for treating employees like contractors? You keep them genuine independent contractors through how the work runs. You offer gigs through ConvertLabs and they accept or decline, they wear their own clothes, take their own transport, and bring their own supplies, and you set what a finished home should look like while they choose how to get there. Put that in a written contractor agreement and it holds up to the control test above.
Is a cleaning business profitable in Tennessee?
A cleaning business is profitable in Tennessee, and how fast the Nashville metro is growing works in your favor. Jen and I built our own business, Oak Bay Clean, to about $2.8M in sales since July 2021 at roughly a 28% margin, running it with 18 cleaners, from Canada. The same model works for the owners we coach across Tennessee, because profit comes from the model, not the zip code.
The way we set prices is to charge flat-rate packages by square footage and number of bathrooms, landing around 75 to 80% of the most expensive cleaner in your market. Nashville is one of the fastest-growing metros in the country, so Realtors and property managers are moving homes constantly, which keeps move-out work coming. Clients pay at the time of the clean, your contractors are paid out of that same money, and you keep the spread. Because Tennessee does not tax cleaning, there is no sales tax to manage, though you do set aside the franchise and excise tax as a cost of the LLC.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to start a cleaning business in Tennessee? Under $300 if you clean houses yourself, or about $900 to build a company. The LLC costs $300 at minimum and the annual report is another $300, which makes Tennessee pricier to register than most states.
Do I need a license to start a cleaning business in Tennessee? There is no general statewide cleaning license, but you register for the state business tax and get a county or city business license. This is general information, not legal advice.
Do I charge sales tax on cleaning in Tennessee? No. Tennessee does not tax residential or commercial cleaning services, so you do not charge sales tax on a clean. You would only collect it if you sell products.
Do I need an LLC to clean houses in Tennessee? No, you can start as a sole proprietor, but many owners form an LLC to separate personal assets from the business. A Tennessee LLC costs $300 to file at minimum, plus a $300 annual report.
How do I get my first cleaning clients in Tennessee? Email Realtors and property managers about move-out cleans, set up your Google Business Profile, and put transparent prices and a booking widget on your site. Nashville's fast growth keeps move-out work coming.
How much can a cleaning business make in Tennessee? There is no structural cap once you have a team. Our own business has done about $2.8M since July 2021 at a 28% margin. Tennessee's growing metros give you a deep pool of clients to price against.
Should I start with residential or commercial cleaning in Tennessee? Residential. Clients pay at the time of the clean, so the money funds the business. Neither is sales-taxed in Tennessee, so that is not the deciding factor. Commercial pays slower, so add it later, once your cash flow can carry it.
Where to start
The steps are the easy part. Getting your first clients and keeping good cleaners is the work, and that is exactly what Jen and I walk through in the free 22-Day Cleaning Business Master Checklist and the 22-Day Blueprint ebook. A few guides that pair well with this one:
- How to start a cleaning business in 2026 (step-by-step guide)
- How much does it cost to start a cleaning business
- How to name a cleaning business
- How to get clients for a cleaning business
About the author
Victoria Westcott co-founded Cleaning Company Blueprint with her sister Jen. Together they built Oak Bay Clean, their cleaning company in Victoria, BC, to $2.8M in sales since 2021, running it with a team of contractors. Vic writes these guides from inside the business, sharing the model and the numbers behind it. More about Vic and Jen.
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